I call this one an ode to cheeks…
Monthly Archives: March 2015
I’m the baby!!
Before Charlotte, there was Toby. He was our puppy baby for sure. We took him everywhere with us, we cuddled him, we coddled him… He was the babe.
But there’s a new girl in town and Toby’s definitely feeling the shift.
He’s always been a bit neurotic, but since Charlotte was born, it’s gone to a whole new level. He’s constantly shaking in fear or growling like a rabid dog.
For the past week, we’ve been giving him this natural pill that’s supposed to relax him. It’s made from casein and is supposed to emulate the relaxation created from mother’s milk… Or something like that.
Regardless, I feel like there has been a slight difference. His growl outbursts seem to be a bit rarer and we’ve had many more sweet moments (at least in my opinion).
But as Toby becomes reunited with his calmer, less psychotic self, he’s started his re-election campaign for baby of the house…
“Look how sweet I am in this high chair!” i swear, we did not put him in here. No idea how he managed to get himself in there, but once he made it, he stayed put for quite some time.
“See? I can be quiet and sweet!”
the reigning princess takes back her thrown.
Sleep Regression
As a lovely side effect of Charlotte’s cold, she’s suffering (well, we’re all suffering) from some major sleep regression. The girl does NOT want to go to sleep. Maybe it’s because we’ve been coddling her or she’s getting used to us coming in at night or maybe it’s her stuffy nose… I have no idea.
What I do know is that she has been crying every time we put her down. Whether it’s for a nap or bedtime.
It’s horrible.
Not just because I HATE when she cries, but also because she’s walking scooting around with red circles under her eyes, yawning non-stop. She needs sleep.
Last night we had to go in at least twice to suction her nose, rock her around, nurse her… beg her to sleep. Ya know, the norm.
Today, nap one is rocky. I just put her down and even before I put her in her crib, she wasn’t having it. So, she cried for a few minutes and now is awake and quiet in the pack and play (I can hear her scratching her nails on the vinyl over the monitor). PLEASE, BABY… close those eyes!
Ugh… she’s crying again…
Wish me luck!
Terms of Endearment
I don’t know about you, but I am a total nickname person. I rarely call my husband by his name unless I’m mad, at which time it usually sounds more like, “Mark – kah.” Otherwise, he’s Marky or Babe or Baby… or Lovey… or Marcus… you get the idea… I love nicknames.
When it comes to Charlotte, the same holds true. That small child has SO many nicknames, it’s a little crazy.
So, before I forget them or before she demands I call her “Char” or something way cooler than anything I currently call her, I thought I’d get them all down on the record.
- Charlie (this is probably the most common)
- Bunny (this or any of the following variations are the second most common)
- Bunny Girl
- Bun Bun
- Bun Buns
- Bunzo
- Bunzo Benini
- Lovey Girl
- Charlie Girl
- Charlie Pie
- Charlie Face (this is a Mark nickname)
- Charlie Poo (Mark again)
- Sasquatch (this is what we call her when she’s sassy)
- Tiny Person
- Tiny Face
And those not used as frequently…
- Sassy face
- Sassy pants
- Pumpkin
- Baby
I feel like that’s all of them… am I missing any?
Does anyone else do this or is my sweet little lady the only one who took forever to learn her name(s) because she has so many!
On The Mend
Last night, Charlotte’s two night streak of night wakings ended. I was pretty grateful for the extra sleep, because I’m definitely fighting off her cold.
She woke up seeming much better! No fever, nose was still stuffy, but not nearly as bad, and she just looked better.
The negative?
Apparently she has decided she’d like to make up for lost time with her toys and is boycotting her morning nap to leave more time for playing.
I tried letting her cry it out, I tried going in periodically to soothe… Nothing worked.
So, after 1.5 hours, I’m letting her burn off steam…
Still Sick But Getting Better (I Hope)
My sweet girl was still sick today. She had a fever early this morning and again this afternoon.
However, her temperament was way better. Yesterday she was inconsolable and barely napped… Today, she took three naps, each over an hour, not to mention the fact that there were far less tears.
I’m hopeful that her little nosey will dry up, her fever will break and maybe… Just maybe… She’ll sleep through the night tonight.
the snot-nosed princess
“mommy, I don’t feel well!”
She is such a sweetie pie… even when she doesn’t feel well.
My Name is Melissa and I have a Mom Bob.
Since my wedding, I’ve been talking and talking and talking about chopping my hair, but have always chickened out. I’ve had long hair for as long as I can remember and have become weirdly attached to it. Weirdly because 9 days out of 10, I totally hate it. It’s bulky and my ends are dry and splitting into severe 7-part trees… it almost always ends up on top of my head in a messy bun… it’s a pain in the ass to style.
BUT, I just couldn’t imagine getting rid of it.
Any of it.
Since having Charlotte, I’ve thought about it even more. I needed something to simplify my hair life. In fact, a few months after having her, I had a “wave” put into my hair… which is a less embarrasing term for a perm.
The perm was okay. It did it’s job. For a bit, I could leave the house without drying it all the way and it would look pretty good… until I threw it into a pony tail.
Anyway, this past week, I decided I would never be able to get over the idea unless I actually did it. It was time to get over my fear of having a mom haircut and just do it.
So, 2 hours and 7.5 inches later, I have short hair!
BEFORE:
Which on a normal day, looked more like this: 
AFTER:
Which on a normal day, looks more like this: 
Love it? Hate it?
I still haven’t decided…
My Baby is Sick
The poor bunny has been sick since last night when she woke up in the middle of the night crying her little face off (twice).
She literally spent a decent amount of the day crying very hard… Although, we did have some happy times, too.
We took a bath and splashed around, we played… And actually, Charlotte pulled herself up to standing by herself today.
The negative: tiny Charlie has such a runny nose, she’s sneezing, coughing and has had a fever since late afternoon.
If she’s still sick tomorrow, I’m going to bring her to the doc just to be sure she doesn’t have an ear infection.
One thing that was interesting… I was really insecure about whether or not I would be able to tell if Charlotte had a fever by touching her head. All day, I kept touching her head to see if I thought she had a fever. All day I was unsure… Until late this afternoon.
I just knew. The feeling of her face and her whole body.
It felt good to know I had that mom skill. But poor bunny.
Saved by the Big Girl Poop
I had two baby poop blunders today. This morning, I’m changing little miss’s diaper with my mom Playing the role of entertainer (have I mentioned that charlotte is a squirmer?). I’m in a spacey zone when all of a sudden my mom starts yelling, “Melissa! She’s not done!!”
I look down to discover more poop… BUT! Unlike what I expected, this was slow and steady, big girl poop. Literally, one week ago, there would have been nasty explosive baby poop all over every wall… But today, nada! It just made it’s pasty way into the diaper that was sitting under her.
Later in the afternoon, I was once again changing a poop diaper and was one again spacing out. I was in a routine, not really paying attention, ready to go home for the day. I slid the poopy diaper out of the way, not noticing how close I was to the edge of the desk (aka my changing table at work). All of a sudden, KERPLUNK!
The damn diaper fell poo-side down on the carpet. Shit!
I finished changing her, plopped her on the floor in front of her toys and made my way back to the fallen dipe.
To my pleasant surprise, it was barely a mess! I was once again saved by Charlie’s big girl poo. So, a few wipes and antibacterial spray later, we were good to go!
As my apology for all the poo talk, here are a couple cutie pie beet face pics for your enjoyment.
Two Years of Wedded Bliss
Love this man.
As I mentioned the other day, yesterday was my two year anniversary with the hubs. It’s crazy to think it’s already been two years, but when I think back to all the amazing experiences and memories we’ve shared, it feels like it must be longer than that.
When I think of all the heartache – losing three grandparents in less than a year – and all the joy – welcoming the sweetest little angel into this world – we’ve experienced and grown through, I know that getting married was the best decision of our lives. We really complement eachother so well. We work so well together. Our life is ours. Not his or mine.
I’m very, very grateful for my husband.
Cheers to our beautiful wedding, our amazing love and our lifelong friendship.
And now, enjoy our lovely wedding video (we watch it every year on our anniversary… two years running 🙂 )
Playing House 