A Few Random Updates

Posted on July 29, 2015 by playinghousewi

I have been so terrible about tracking Charlotte’s milestones… The worst!

So here’s the latest and greatest from the wonderful world of my sweetie pie, Charlie:

Charlotte currently has 7 teeth!!! 4 on top, 3 on the bottom, and one more desperately working its way to the surface on the bottom.
As of Charlotte’s party, she blows kisses. Talk about melt worthy. Today when I was about to put her to bed, she quivered with excitement, blew me a kiss and then pulled my face in for a real smooch. Doesn’t get any better. Plus, it makes me laugh because I totally get that overwhelming sense of happiness and love that literally erupts out of you.
Charlotte has been saying mamamama, dadadadada, woof, bababa for awhile… BUT it’s been random and not always directed at the right thing (woof was always directed at the dog or cat). However, the other night, Mark and C were sitting in her chair… I got up to walk out of the room and as I made it to the door way, Charlotte looked up and said, “MaMa!” Yay!!!! Baby’s first word 🙂 My mother in law also told me that when she got her from her crib this afternoon, Charlotte kept saying, “mom mom mamamama” as if to say, “where’s my momma???” So cute. She also kept pointing at her bread tonight and saying “ba” – such a smartie.
The mini Chiquita still refuses to walk. She cruises on her kitchen and other toys, but no walking.
We had C’s check up today and she is 20 lbs (54 percentile) and 30″ (75th percentile) – way to go!! Still tall 🙂
Charlotte loves quesadillas. They might be her favorite food. We pack them with black beans and chicken and veggies and cheese… Mm!
Move over quesadillas… You’ve got nothing on berries. Charlotte loves berries more than mommy. No joke. Raspberries are #1, strawberries are #2, and mommy is #3
On Monday we went to Mark’s friend’s going away party. Charlie must have been feeling the brofestivities vibe going on because she was all about her daddy. Either that, or she understood me when I told her to make daddy feel bad for going away on business this week (kidding…). Either way, she literally burst into lip-curling, breath-snatching SOBS anytime Mark handed Charlotte over to me. It was crazy. We had the worst ride home sans daddy. I almost cried. That little lip and the gasping for air cry is just so sad. Oy… And the whimpers. Our girl rarely cries, so it was some serious stuff
A spoon is an essential part of every meal. Charlotte will eat at least 30% more if she’s given a spoon at mealtime. Don’t be fooled, the spoon is rarely used for eating.
Charlie is still breastfeeding at least 4 times a day.
Charlotte wore her first pigtails on Monday!!! So cute.

That’s all for now!

Bon Voyage!

Posted on May 22, 2015 by playinghousewi

We are officially off! On our way to Santa Fe, NM to celebrate the marriage of two great friends and of course, have a little fun along the way.

I’m going to desperately try to not obsess over my little pumpkin… But no promises. I am definitely already missing her.

She was a little avocado-covered cutie yesterday…

Partner in Crime

Posted on April 10, 2015 by playinghousewi

Charlie and I went to the grocery store this morning to make sure she and Daddy had enough food to sustain them for the weekend (I’m going away with my girl friends!!). I’m very lucky to say that this is the first time I’ve had to take her with me (alone) for a VERY long time. Mark and I have been in a position where one of us can always stay back with her while the other shops.

Anyway, knowing Charlotte’s happy-go-lucky personality, I wasn’t woo worried… despite the fact that we were creeping up on nap time.

To say that my expectations were blown out of the water would be an understatement.

She was happy and excited and smiley and plain old fun to be with. She was waving at people, giving out smiles and laughs… She definitely made shopping way better than it would have been on my own.

And now, an hour later, she’s still excited from our shopping trip.

Looks like I have a new partner in crime.

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!

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…

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.

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.

PHEW!

Posted on March 11, 2015 by playinghousewi

As of 8:30 this morning, my 48-hour “holy-shit-I-might-be-pregnant” panic was over. On Sunday morning, I woke up feeling really uneasy. Later that afternoon, my nausea was accompanied by a splitting headache… both of which have been desperately trying to ruin my week ever since.

At first, I assumed I had a bug of sorts. Then, on Monday, my mom asked, “You aren’t pregnant.. are you?” Well shit. I don’t know… I mean, probably not. We’re pretty careful, but I’m not on the pill or anything…

As I started to dwell over the idea of being pregnant and panic over the similarities of my current symptoms to those symptoms of early pregnancy, I decided to take a home pregnancy test. The test came back negative, but somehow I felt no relief. That night I literally sat up from around 2:30 until 5 am just freaking out.

Tuesday I was still feeling sick. Super uneasy, headache, sleepy. So, I decided to go to my doctor. “Are you pregnant?” she asked.

My doctor decided to take a blood test to determine whether or not I was with child. The test results would be in Wednesday morning.

I spent the remainder of the day feeling severely anxious.

Obviously I want more babies, but a few things were really throwing me off…

1) Because of my c-section, my doctor told me to wait at least 18 months between deliveries to avoid complications.

2) I’m not ready for Charlie to share the spotlight. The whole idea makes me feel guilty and I want her to have more time with just us.

3) I’m not ready to be pregnant again. As selfish and childish as this is, this was probably my biggest hang up. I’m enjoying this non-pregnant time. We have a trip to New Mexico planned for May and for some strange reason, I really don’t want to be pregnant when I turn 30 this May. I want to throw back some wine and have a carefree celebration. Not to mention the fact that I’d like to have a non-pregnant summer. I want to camp and drink Sangria and enjoy… without being pregs. Selfish? Duh. I’m okay with that.

Anyway, I was very… VERY relieved to hear that I just have some weird virus of sorts. But with my relief came a level of guilt. I mean, I’m sure that after the shock wore off, I’d be really happy and grateful and excited to be having a little babe.

Future baby, know that whenever you arrive, we will be SO happy to welcome you into our family and I will very happily give up wine and sushi and deli meat. But tonight, I’m drinking wine.

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.

And now her 33 and 34 week pictures!

Toby Proves that Male Dogs are Bitches, too

Posted on March 9, 2015 by playinghousewi

Last Wednesday, I was eating my salad at my desk when Charlotte distracted me. I can’t remember what she did, but regardless, something happened to cause me to abandon my salad.

When I looked back, Toby was munching on some lettuce he had stolen from my bowl. “Toby, NO!”

He got in his psychotic dog defense mode. A new level of crazy that Toby has adopted since Charlotte’s arrival.

Anyway, he started growling and being crazy and I yelled again and shooed him away from the remaining lettuce. He then strutted his 6lb frame past me and directly to Charlotte’s car seat where he proceeded to lift his leg and give me a nice, ammonia-laced fuck you.

Needless to say, I was speechless and Toby was banished.

Can you believe that the day before I had actually said that I thought Toby was starting to like Charlotte?

It’s been a rough few days since then, but I think Toby and I are officially on the mend…