It’s all fun and games until someone poops in the tub

Posted on April 2, 2015 by playinghousewi

This weekend, Charlie and I were taking our second bath together ever. The first was so sweet and fun, I was pretty excited for the second.

We got in and Charlotte was playing with the water from the faucet and enjoying the bubbles from the bubble bath.

I had her sitting on my crossed legs when all of a sudden I felt her flex her muscles in her tush a couple times.

Then, I felt something weird touch my leg. I instantly grabbed her and sprung to standing.

“Maaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrk!!! She pooped on me!”

The husband was instantly roaring. As I stood there in my swimsuit, holding my naked babe, with tons of poop at my feet, Mark pulled out his camera.

After he finally sTopped laughing, he began scooping the poop out with a bag. Unhappy with his tools, he went to go find some other instruments. While he was gone, Charlotte started to fuss and suddenly, I was hit in the leg by MORE poop!!

One log, then another!

What the heck!?!

It was literally more than she’s pooped at one time in quite awhile.

I’m the baby!!

Posted on March 27, 2015 by playinghousewi

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

Posted on March 26, 2015 by playinghousewi

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

Posted on March 25, 2015 by playinghousewi

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

Posted on March 25, 2015 by playinghousewi

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)

Posted on March 25, 2015 by playinghousewi

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 Baby is Sick

Posted on March 24, 2015 by playinghousewi

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

Posted on March 20, 2015 by playinghousewi

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.

Baby Comparison

Posted on March 12, 2015 by playinghousewi

Before Mark and I got married, I decided to use some crazy software online to see what our babies would look like. Now, before you start judging, this was done for comedic value… not to ensure he would provide me with adorable children.

Anyway, I’ve been going through some old pictures and came across the two baby pics and thought it would be funny to compare them to our sweet Charlie girl.

This fake baby is a little funny looking…

This fake baby kind of has a Charlie vibe… kind of…

And now, the real deal…

The real Miss Charlie Gitel is WAY cuter than her fake counterparts.

Weeks 33 & 34

Posted on March 10, 2015 by playinghousewi

I’m feeling totally behind on my weekly updates. I haven’t been keeping up with taking photos on Wednesdays and I’m all out of whack. But I swear, I’m going to get back on track… and, while I’m at it, tackle the mountain of laundry I’ve been ignoring… but that’s besides the point.

The past two weeks, which have blurred together a bit, have shown more big changes for the little one.

Charlotte is officially rocking 6-9/6-12 month clothing (SUCH a big girl!)
Everything is grounds for a round of applause. Walk into the room… Charlie claps. Smile at Charlie… clap, clap, clap. Charlie crawls 3 feet… big claps. You get the picture… LOTS of adorable clapping going on in this house. And not to be THAT person, but she’s a good clapper. Not any of that sissy, noise-less clapping for our girl… she’s got the sound down pat.
She is a professional crawler. She’s really quick and makes the silliest panting noise (with her mouth in a cartoon-like, excited oval) when she’s crawling towards trouble (ie: outlets, cords, space heaters, computers, danger).
Charlie appreciates the glory in a high five. Well, a high 75. She pretty much always gives you 8-35 high fives in a row, but she does each one with passion behind it… and a smile on her face.
She’s been doing this crazy shaking excited thing where literally her whole body quivers. I’ve done some googling… supposedly this is due to her immature nervous system. It’s pretty cute… and very silly.

SMOOCHES! She’s sooooo stingy with her kisses, but when she gives them, they’re melt-worthy. When she doesn’t give them, it’s embarrassing. Ask for a kiss when she’s not giving them out and she will either a) pull your hair or b) slap you in the face.

She’s been pulling herself up to a kneeling position and has pulled herself to standing (for a short period of time before wiping out) a handful of times.

Oooo, what’s this??

She’s been going down for her naps really well. She coos and has full conversations with her stuffed animals in the sweetest little voice.
She’s been mommy-sessed. If you’re not familiar, that’s a clinical disorder where one is obsessed with their mommy. Charlie’s got it bad. She will literally crawl across the room to get to me and then starts trying to crawl up my leg while whining and/or crying. I secretly love this. I mean, I did carry her inside of me for 43 weeks… I’m okay if she plays favorites once in awhile.
I’m baby-sessed. Nothing new…
She’s been doing SO well with solid food. She now eats sweet potato, peas, apples, applesauce, carrots, rice pasta, chicken, lamb, rice and lentils, grapes (just the meat… no skin), beets, potatoes, oranges (although they were a bit acidic for her), toast (rice flour)… she loves to eat!
As for talking, she’s a total chatterbox. She does a LOT of dadadadada… and some mooommmm. There have been a couple of times I thought she was saying dada to Mark, but I’m not really convinced. Words she does know… although, she does not say them, include “Toby” and “Milk.”
Charlotte takes great pride in CHUGGING her sippy cup. She literally chugs and half the time, pulls away from the cup with serious amounts of water pouring out of her mouth as she gasps for air. So special.
She waves!! I love this. It’s the cutest thing ever. She always has a huge smile on her squishy face and just waves away.
Favorite book: Tiny Puppies or Touch & Feel Farm Animals
Favorite toys: Piglet, Minnie & her Bun Bun… oh! And the orange string my dad swings around in the office. AND… how could I forget? Toby & Ollie, her kitty and puppy.