Charlie Update at 2 months

We had our 2 mth. appointment and shots today. Overall, it went really well. Charlie's stats are now: 11.15 lbs (50%); 23.75 in. (75%); and 50% for head size. Just yesterday I went through all of his clothes that he has outgrown... we are now onto 3-6 mth clothes mainly because his tourso is so long! I even bought a cute little smocked outfit this past weekend that was 0-3 mths thinking that we could get at least 4 weeks out of it... but, due to his length we won't be able to wear it once. I guess cousin Cooper is in luck! About the shots... poor little Charlie. His face got sooo red and he was definitely "sad Charlie" and now he is passed out. The good news is that he LOVED the oral meds they gave him. He couldn't get enough! They supposedly taste similar to baby Tylenol, so we should be good to go when I have to give him that.

In other news, Patrick and I have just started the "Crying it Out" (CIO) method with Charlie. It's confusing because some books say that babies aren't able to sooth themselves until 4 mths of age, so why would I want to let him CIO knowing that he might just get himself so worked up that he's hard to console? Some books also say that giving a baby a paci will help him to sooth himself. (So, give him a paci, right?) But, when that paci falls out of his mouth, every 10 min., it gets really difficult to keep going in there and putting it back into his mouth. Other books say to start the CIO process as early as 1 week of age! So, anyhow... we decided to give it a try. I've read that if you are going to let him CIO you have to do it whole heartedly and EVERY time you put him down for naps/bedtime. Charlie's naps were rough yesterday, but by bedtime he cried for 30 minutes and then just tuckered out! So, now, I know he can do it and the plan is to continue to let him CIO and pray that the crying time decreases. Wish us luck!

Guess What?... I'm 2 mths old!

Charlie's growing so quickly! I can't believe he is already 2 mths. old. And I can't believe how much he has changed just in those 8 weeks. We go to our 2 mth check-up on Tuesday, but for now, here are a few pics. (Thanks Mrs. Budofson for Charlie's new blanket. He loves it!)

Walks with Charlie

So, for a couple of days this week Charlie and I have been changing up our walks to really see the neighborhood. A couple of days ago we were near White Rock Trail and stumbled upon about 11 peacocks just hangin out in people's front yards and in the street. I didn't have my camera, so we decided to try again today. Behold:



Random, isn't it? They were about 3 feet away from us and all I could think was "Please, don't hurt Charlie". These houses are right next to a wooded lot and you can hear more peacocks in the woods cawing to each other. I wonder how many are back there. Here's what Charlie thought:

Good Bye Mr. Bumper

Two nights this week I have found Charlie in a different spot than where I had left him. At 8 weeks, Charlie is now mobile enough to scoot himself around in his crib. So, what used to look like this:
Now looks like this:
I am so glad we paid money to have a bumber for 2 months!

And because our little houdini is breaking free from his swaddle (refer to the picture above) we have decided to move from swaddles to sleep saks. We tried it yesterday for a couple of naps before letting him wear it at night. The first nap did NOT go well, but by last night he had it down and slept through the night with no problem.

Traditions and Values

Since our family has grown from two to three I have been thinking a lot about family traditions that I want to impliment and values that I would like to instill in our children.

Traditions: Patrick and I have 2 that we started when we got married. Patrick implemented having bratwursts on the night of the Rangers first home game every season. I have brought one from my family of having a special New Years feast of caviar, pate, smoked salmon and champagne/sparkling cider. In addition to these, I plan on stealing some from our smart and creative friends. I love that The Watt's have a nightly "Family Prayer" time. And I love that The Greer's, instead of putting tons of candy into their children's Easter egg baskets, put flowers for the kids to plant wherever they would like. While all of these traditions are, obviously, very different they are what make a family. (If anyone has any other suggestions of traditions that we can steal, please pass them along! :)

Values: Sure, I want my children to learn good manners, learn how to eat healthy and how to help out around the house, but more than this what are the values I want to teach them to make sure they become good poeple? Here are a few off the top of my head:
1. Be nice to EVERYONE- No matter what color, size, shape or age. It really is that simple!
2. God first, others second, I am third. (Gotta love that Camp Fern motto!)
3. Don't let anyone tell you that you CAN'T do something. You CAN to whatever you want. BUT... if those things that you do should fall under the heading of "ILLEGAL", know that by doing them they will inevitably hurt you or someone that you care about.
4. Have an open mind... You can't possibly be right all of the time.
5. If you make a mistake, admit it. Everyone makes mistakes... it's human nature. But, by not admitting it you will find yourself heading down a path of trying to cover up that mistake... and you will, most likely, wind up making more of a mess for yourself. Easier just to admit it from the beginning.
6. Look for the good... in every person and/or situation.

These are all the random thoughts for now. Happy Earth Day!

Teams I follow

The Georgia Bulldogs because my daddy went there (although, I only have a 3T to show my support... I guess I'll have to grow into liking the Dawgs)

The TCU Hornfrogs because my mommy went there

Texas Tech because my grandparents Allen went there (and because Jeff Dillard sent me this t-shirt)

and, of course, the LSU Tigers... well, because they're the best!

Who do I look like?

Some people say I look like daddy
A lot of people say I look like my Pappa
A few people say I look like my mommy
What do you think?

What a fun weekend!

This weekend Charlie's Uncle Jay and his girlfriend, Genna, came to visit:
And Pappa (Muslow)came. Charlie and Pappa hung out...
and had long talks:
Thank yall for coming to visit! We had a great time.

OKC Visit #2

Charlie and I decided to go up to see the Leclercq's this week. We are all trying to get the kids to sleep through the night at this time, so it was interesting trying to regulate feeding and nap schedules. But, Charlie impressed everyone by sleeping 8 hrs. straight without budging. And, he was even in the same room with the babies who were up at all times during the night. (He also slept for another 8 hrs. last night at home, so maybe we are in the home stretch!) Since the Leclercq's regularly weigh the triplets, Charlie got to take a ride on the scale... he is now up to 11 lbs. 4oz! We had a great time, but as always, I am reminded how simple and easy we have it with just one baby! Here are some pics from the trip:

Isabelle, Charlie, Cooper and Sophia

Charlie and Cooper get to share a crib

We took all of the babies on an outing to lunch.

Cousin play time!

Easter

Thanks to the Horsch's for hosting such a wonderful Easter brunch. We had fun hanging out with yall and the Greer's! Unfortunately, we were all slackers when it came to getting pictures, so we have none to post. We had 4 kids total- Charlie (6 wks), Sam Greer (10 mths), Nathan Horsch (14 mths) and Jack Greer (2.5 yrs). All of the kids, with the exception of Charlie, had an Easter Egg "Hunt" which consisted of picking up eggs off of the carpet. (It was rainy outside.) And the adults enjoyed yummy food and drinks. It was a great way to spend Easter.

The Gang!

Here is a picture from last Fridays play date. From left: Rhodes Hamilton (9.5 mths), Anna Carol Hardaway (8.5 wks), Dean Williams (4 mths), Charlie Allen (6 wks). Sweet Anna Carol is going to have a hard time choosing between all of the boys!

Breakthrough!

Charlie had a very busy day yesterday. We had our first play date with some friends. (Thanks Claudia for hosting!) We then came home to nap for a bit. When Patrick got home we went over to the Hardaways house to meet Anna Carol and show off Charlie. Then, the three of us went to a late dinner. Charlie was pooped by the time we got home. We gave Charlie his bottle at 10pm and put him down. Charlie proceeded to sleep until 4:45am!!! HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! We pacied him until about 5:30am and gave him his morning bottle. We are so proud of our little Charlie! To show you all how happy we are about it:
(I love it when he does that!)

Six Weeks In...

During my 9 mths of pregnancy I was one of those people who thought that we "needed" all of the baby products out there. I was fortunate enough to receive most of them as gifts from friends and family. And, while I am thankful for everything we have, I now know, six weeks in, that we don't "need" a lot of the items we have. We do use most everything though, just for the simple fact that we have it and I would feel bad if it went unused. But, there are some items that we use almost daily that I feel we could not go without. (Again, I realize how fortunate we are... most babies don't have a lot of these luxeries and make it through life just fine.) Here is a Top 10 list of things we love:
1. Graco Snugride Car Seat: It's safe and light to carry.
2. BOB Jogging Stroller: it's expensive, but is definitely one of the best purchases we made. We have used it almost everyday that it has been nice out. The best thing about it is that we can use it not only now, but for many years to come as well.
3. For Lounging: The Boppy and the Swing: We feed Charlie in the boppy and lay him in it when we want him to hang out with us on the couch, but don't want to hold him in out laps. And the swing is a favorite to rest in.

4. For Feeding: Due to our brestfeeding issues, I am strictly pumping and giving bottles. So, we couldn't go without our Medela Freestyle Pump and our Dr. Brown Bottles (and, at times, our Similac formula for a little supplimentation).

5. For Sleeping: These swaddlers work great for us right now. And the Sleep Sheep is a life saver. The white noise and heartbeat sounds put Charlie right to sleep!

6. Paci: we are still hooked on to our Soothie that we got in the hospital
7. For Bathing: We love this tub just for the fact that it comes with the infant net. In the picture are the other favorites we use during bath time.
8. Monitor: We originally got the most expensive TV monitor on the market. We still have it, but feel like it's not a necessity just yet (I'm sure we will get a lot more use out of it as Charlie gets older and starts to roll over and when he starts to stand up). For now, we like just the cheap sound monitor... it's basically a walkie-talkie.
9. Diapers: We like Pampers. I feel like they hold everything in the best
10. Friends: My TCU friends all have boys and live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex (with the exception of Molly, who has Ellen and lives in Kansas City). Charlie has gotten tons of hand-me-downs that he is borrowing from everyone. The picture is just one of five boxes that we now have. Thanks girls!
I'm sure as time goes on we'll find tons other things that make our Top 10 list. For now, these things have made life much easier!

Bumbo

Today we took a nice bath, got dressed and tried out the bumbo for the first time. We might not be quite ready for it yet, but it made for some cute pics!

Our 1st Outing

Charlie and I went out to lunch on Wed. and to run some errands. It was our fist time to be out without Patrick. Everything went very smoothly and made me more confident that I can take him places by myself. Thanks to Amanda and little Rhodes for meeting us for lunch!

Milestones and more...

Well, I think that we are officially out of our newborn clothes. Now that Charlie is 5 weeks old he barely can fit into them. Yet, the 0-3 months are still a little big. This isn't so sad because at least we got to wear the newborn clothes for 5 weeks. Remember when the doctor told me that I was going to have a 9 lb. baby? I thought that we would just skip the newborn outfits all together!

In other big news... I found out yesterday that I don't have to go back to work until next school year! I thought since I had to go on bed rest 5 weeks before my due date, that I might have to go back for the last 5 weeks of school. But, it turns out that I get to stay home with our little Charlie! Both he and I are very excited!