Charlien rolled over

I think this deserves it's own post. 

I was very excited. It happened on Monday, 8/29. Charlie really surprised me.  He was showing no interest in rolling over but all of a sudden, he showed interest.  That day he was staying with his Grammie.  He started rolling to his side and after working on it all day, he went to his side and then all the way over.  Timing could not have been any better because he did it in front of his audience of both Mommy and Daddy. :-)

Way to go Charlie!  We are looking forward to sharing many more "firsts" with you.

GOOD MORNING

and Happy Friday from Charlie!!

Loving the Bouncy Seat

Mommy was in the shower and Charlie was busy playing. 

Mommy's Greatest Catch

Splish Splash in the Bath

Where did the weekend go?

It seems that it's that time where we are getting ready to wind down and are ready for the week.  Our weekend went too fast, but I have a feeling this is going to be the way it is going to be for a while.  I will anxiously await the weekend for more time with my boys and they will all go fast. 

My first week of full time went excellent.  It was hard to be away from Charlie and by Thursday, I was ready to be at home and spend more time with him.  However, I will say on the bright side of things, it was a great week.  The mornings and evenings went well.  Daycare was wonderful.  I had a good work week.  Charlie transitioned into our new schedule well and they ladies at daycare are already in love with my sweet boy.  The only part that could have been better is the sleep situation but at this point, I am starting to accept that it's not going to change overnight and it's going to take weeks.

Friday, Charlie's daycare report said he had been sneezing a lot.  Friday night about midnight, Charlie was up and wasn't his normal.  He had a runny nose, goopy eyes, and felt hot so I took his temp and he did have a slight fever.  Daycare crud, already?  Luckily, Saturday morning the fever was gone but the congestion was not.  Matt's parents had asked to keep their grandson this weekend so we planned early in the week for Charlie to visit on Saturday.  Charlie apparently did great for them and the congestion was better through the day.  Here's some pics from Charlie's visit at Grandpa and Grammie's house.

I missed my boy a lot on Saturday and was excited to get back to him and must admit that I couldn't wait for our day together on Sunday. What can I say other than I am missing our time together and the transitioning has definitely been harder on me than it has been on Matt and Charlie. This morning, Charlie woke up though and his congestion was back and he was not himself. Matt and I aren't sure what is going on. He doesn't have a fever but he is super fussy and has wanted to sleep a lot today. Not our ideal day for sure, but we are hoping that tomorrow he will feel better.

We did manage to have some fun with the Hamricks today, despite Charlie's mood.

Charlie tried out Wyatt's jumperoo and I think he's a fan.  I know he would have loved it more if he felt better. 

 

Happy 3 months Charlie from your Mommy

 

Charlie,

You are growing way too fast. Another month has flown by. You had many adventures. You went to the beach for the first time with your mommy and daddy. You met your Pops, Mim and Aunt Meredith there. You also traveled a whole 9 hours (give or take) to Kentucky to meet family. The drive took us a long time but you were a champ for both long road trips. You are a great traveler so far!

You are a happy baby and are much more interactive which has been a blast. You babble and laugh and it's the cutest thing your Daddy and I have ever heard. We love hearing your noises and love that you talk back to us and tell us stories.

This month you discovered your hands and everyday you look at them more and more.

You also discovered your feet. While you can't figure out how to use your hands to touch your feet, you love to look at your feet and laugh and talk to them.

You are loving your toys and have a few favorites.

You love for us to read to you and we love it too.

 

You are noticing your big brother these days.

 

Wally loves to be in the same room as you too.

As you can tell, we have enjoyed playing with you this month and loving on you.

You love love love bathtime and it's so much fun to watch you play in the water.  You are so very sweet after your baths.

As for other fun facts, you started daycare on Monday and your mommy went back to work full time. Prior to that, we had 2 weeks of Mommy working part time and transitioning back to going back to work.  While going back to work has been hard, I love to carry pictures of you around.  I have a lot of people to show them to and it's so much fun to talk about you even though you aren't around.  You have enjoyed a good visit with your Mim this month. You had a day with your Aunt Courtney and your Grammie too. 

You last weighed about 15.5 pounds at the doctors office. I estimate that you are 16 pounds. I know your length has increased too as I can tell it in your clothes. You are still wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. You are in size 2 diapers but I don't think that's going to be for much longer as they seem a little snug. You eat about 4 ounces every 2-3 hours. Most of the time you do make it 3 hours but sometimes you get hungry before time and I feed you on demand which I am excited that your daycare is going to continue. I think you and I need to be on a schedule though and I am hoping you will naturally fall into one.

You still seem to battle some reflux which stinks. I hate to see you dealing with tummy pain. Otherwise, you are a very happy, healthy baby. You continue to not be a great sleeper, but you did sleep through the night one night this month so I'm hopeful that we are on the cusp of many more. Your mommy likes to dream of that anyways.

You have excellent head control. We can tell a huge difference in just a couple of weeks. You like to sit up. You use your bumbo some and seem to enjoy sitting in it and playing.

You have no interest in rolling over so that may not happen for a while.

Your daddy and I are amazed at your poops. I never understood why our friends always talked about their babies poops but I now understand. This is a very normal occurence these days.

Sorry for sharing your dirty laundry!

We love you so much baby boy and are excited for the future months. I look back and can't believe how much you've changed in just one month. Time surely does fly. I don't even know how your daddy and I made it without you. You melt our hearts daily.

I love you so very much!

Day 1 at Daycare

Updated on 8/9/11:

Charlie's first day at Skipwith Academy was a success. 

Friday, Charlie and I went by to drop off his stuff which made today a little easier.  I knew that it was going to be a much harder day on Mommy than me.  They encouraged me to feel free to call and check in if I needed.

Today, we had a great morning.  I had to wake Charlie up this morning and he was so sweet, smiling from ear to ear.  We got out the door without problems. It was a little hard for me to leave him but I managed to make it to work with no tears.  :-)

He met his teacher, Ms. Belinda, this morning.  She wasn't there on Friday.

Here he is with Ms. Belinda and Ms. Jaunita.

Matt picked Charlie up and he was asleep when he got there.  Charlie got a great report and even a star sticker beside his tummy time.

He was tired tonight and is fast asleep now.  Here's hoping he sleeps better tonight! 

Update:
Charlie slept well.  He only got up 3 times from 7:30 last night until 6:40 this morning (woke up on his own):  twice to eat and once where Matt had to rock him for only 10 minutes.  Huge improvements and Mommy and Daddy are happy!  :-)

Sleep

I think this says it all....

It did have "Welcome Charlie" and I told Matt that I needed to take that down since he is almost 3 months old and he suggested that I take off the welcome and put sleep.  :-)

Before reading further, I think this blog is more for my therapy and rather boring for anyone to read so feel free to just look at the sweet picture of Charlie and not read my long rant.  :-)

There hasn't been a day where we haven't discussed sleep in some capacity.  It seems to be a large focus for Matt and I.  I keep reading books and blog posts, etc.  Sometimes, I find myself trying to read other blogs for babies that are Charlie's age to see how they are sleeping and I find myself getting very angry at these complete strangers that complain that they would like more than 6 hours.  I am trying it all from swaddling, making sure he gets good naps through the day, establishing a bedtime routine, a strict bedtime, etc.  A strict bedtime is hard though because it somewhat restricts us from getting to do fun things so last night, Charlie stayed up an hour later than normal because Matt and I were out having fun.   

Speaking of last night, it was a particularly bad night.  We consider an average night for the last week to be going in 3 times for about 30 minutes to an hour during an 8-9 hour period.  Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.  So, Matt's word to describe last night was "unbelievable".  We were up and down all night.  Matt tries getting up with him for all non-feeding times and I do the feeding times.  Since he only eats every 3 hours, Matt is getting up more than me.  Charlie is fast asleep this morning.  It appears the boy may be exhausted.  Wonder why!!  I worry about the next week of working full time and struggling at night to get sleep, but know that we will get through it. 

I probably join all parents in saying, I have the cutest baby in the world and have never seen anything so sweet in my life.  I wouldn't trade my baby for any other baby.  However, when people say, "Is he a easy baby?", I find myself struggling with how to answer it.  Yes, he is a good baby and more importantly he is my baby who I love dearly.  However, I wouldn't say he is the easiest baby and at the same time I would be offended if someone else said he isn't an easy baby because he is my baby who I love more than anything which makes me the only one allowed to say that he isn't an easy baby.  Makes sense, right?  I reluctantly type any of this because I know there could be far worse and there is and I am sure there are other moms that would read this blog post and get very angry and say exactly what I have said, "She doesn't know how good she has it."  I do realize how good I have it; I have a healthy happy baby which is all I pray for.  So, I will deal with all those other bumps in the road but I just may complain from time to time.

Charlie has struggled with reflux which is apparently very common and doesn't bother most babies.  However, he is one of the babies that it seems to bother.  His throat is raw and he sometimes cries through nursing but more often cries through burping because it hurts when it comes up.  I hate it too because I feel so helpless during those moments.  I never knew much about babies with reflux but in true Stephanie fashion, I've put my time in researching it and obsessing about it.  I think I've done all that I can do which is slightly unfortunate since it's better but not gone.  Charlie is just going to have to grow out of it a little and I will continue to work with the pediatrician to find some medicine that will help him in the meantime.  The pediatrician has changed his dose on his medicine 3 times since we started it and have talked about switching him to something else. 

Charlie is also a horrible sleeper, some to do with the reflux and otherwise just not a great sleeper. I realize a newborn baby and sleeping is an an oxymoron and I probably get laughs from some people who think I just don't realize that babies don't sleep well and I just hope those people keep their comments to themselves.  I do realize that but I would argue that Charlie has struggled a little more than your average baby. I don't know that this had anything to do with it but I slept great until I got pregnant and I struggled through those 9 months.  Now that my body feels great and I can sleep, Charlie won't let me.  (I see this being a theme for the rest of my life.)  Everyone said, it gets better once they are 2 weeks or wait until 4 weeks and then they will go for 3 hour stretches or at 6 weeks it will all be better or you should be golden by 12 weeks. Well, we are at 12 weeks, and he has had enough good nights to count on one hand and more nights than I would like where I really think he slept better when he was just born! So, I have a baby who doesn't want to sleep unless he is held which my pediatrician believes is more behavioral. The last couple of weeks, Matt and I take turns getting up with him and sitting and holding him so he at least sleeps because we don't know what else to do.

People tell me that I won't remember this time and right now I argue that I won't forget.  The last 3 months have been some of the most joyful months of my life and I look forward to many more months and years that will create so many more fond memories which will replace the memory of sleep deprivation.  :-)

Thanks Mim

My mom left our house on Thursday but had been here for about 2 weeks.  She rearranged her schedule to come early after I called her, telling crying to her that I had mastitis and Charlie wasn't sleeping.  Matt had a boys weekend planned, with their annual decathlon, which they all look forward to every year and I didn't want him to miss it.  However, I was slightly majorly nervous about being by myself with Charlie, given my state of sleep deprivation and my own physical condition which I won't go into but let me say that I have struggled through this breastfeeding and am still struggling but am currently sticking with it for Charlie.   Anyways, after mom threw her stuff together and came on, she immediately pitched in and even took some of the night shifts that weekend so I could sleep.  I went back to work part time on the Monday following and was having anxiety about it so Mom helped me iron clothes, vacuum, etc. to make me feel more prepared.  Actually, she pretty much did everything so I could spend my time with Charlie.   For the last couple of weeks, on top of keeping Charlie, mom did the housework to include laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.  She prepared Charlie's bottles, organized my breast milk in the freezer, and even pack my lunches for work.  For those that know my mom, none of this would surprise you because she is always such a hard worker.  I have never seen her sit and be waited on, which I hope one day that she will let me do for her.

(This is for a project that I am currently working on for Charlie.  Will post more about it when I'm done!)

Mom, I think you know how thankful I am for all your help but I want you to know that I'm thankful to have such a wonderful mom who really works too hard at times.  I love you!  You outdid yourself the past couple weeks, but will never admit it.  I can't say enough about how nice it has been to start back to work and be able to come home everyday and just focus on Charlie and not have to worry about any of the other stuff, which has to be done.  I realize that I had it really good and it made going back to work so much easier.  Matt and I appreciate all your help.  Thanks again for taking care of our boys!  Charlie and Wally love their Mim and I will miss you immensely.  :-)

I would be remiss to not mention that over the last 3 months, I have a new found amount of respect for all those moms that do it on their own...whose husband is in the military or they are a single parent and doesn't have support from family.  I am fortunate to have a supportive hands-on husband who loves being a dad.  Matt works very close to home, comes home for lunch, and has a very predictable work schedule.  I also have a wonderful and supportive mother- and father-in-law and sister-in-law in the same town.  All of which who have been able to help with Charlie and Wally over the last few months when needed.  They are a huge support system.  And, my family, who lives farther away than I like, but make the trip to Richmond as often as they can.

Happy Anniversary!

Year 3, we get to celebrate with our newest part of the family. 

Charlie decided to start celebrating about 4 this morning which wasn't exactly in the plans.

Matt, this year you gave me the greatest gift of all.  You are a great husband, father, and best friend.  I love you so much and look forward to the years to come.  

Meet the Greats

that is...the Great-Grandparents.

Mim, Charlie and I did some traveling this past weekend.  We made it a long weekend and set off to see some family in Kentucky.  We left Wednesday after work.  We went about halfway since it's about a 9 hour trip and that helped break the trip up. 

Wednesday night, something very strange happened though and something I thought I might not see for years.  Charlie slept through the night!!  From 9pm until 6:15am and that is definitely worth bragging about (the problem is that he hasn't repeated it since but we'll work on that).  I woke up and couldn't believe it and neither could my mom. 

Our first stop was to go to Verona Kentucky which is outside of Cincinnati.  We went to see my Grandpa Bill and Nanny.

Four generation picture:

They were both so excited to see him and met us at the car as soon as we got there. Of course, they both wanted to hold Charlie right away.

 

Nanny made Charlie this stocking for Christmas. 

Charlie and I played in this recliner. 

I had to show it to him.  My sister and I used to go straight for the recliner and then 'take turns' sitting in it when we were there.

We spent a lot of time visiting and catching up. The visit was short but we had to make our way to Berea, Kentucky to see more family.

Charlie met his Great-Grandpa.
We had a nice visit on Saturday with some of the rest of the Stephens clan. 

Charlie met his Uncle Stevie (well, that's what I call him).  Uncle Stevie actually goes by Noel to everyone outside of the family. 

 

Charlie got held and cuddles from his Aunt Margaret

and his Aunt Mere.
He met his Aunt Elaine, my grandma's sister. 

 and Estes.

Charlie had a great day meeting everyone but I think it did wear him out.  He was such a great napper all day and slept at great times, like during dinner and other moments.  He just slept wherever we put him down.

Thanks to Mim for all the help with Charlie and riding with us.  He did pretty great in the car.  By the end of the trip, he was done with traveling but who could blame him.  I'm so glad we made the trip and were able to see everyone but it may be a while before we will do another long trip like that again.  We had such a nice time and will now have to get back into our routine of the work week.