Real Life Parenting: vomit.

Sick babies are never fun. Charlotte is very healthy, and for that we are truly blessed. Today she succumbed to her 3rd illness though (the first being a head cold at 7 months and the second being a high fever from some sort of virus at 9 months). The really sad part about this time is that I didn’t even know she was sick! One moment we were playing by the pool, the next she had thrown up and was feverish. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and as I look back on the course of the day it seems completely obvious that she was sick.

My first clue should have been the surprise waiting for me in Charlotte’s crib when I went to get her this morning:

No that isn’t blood. It’s blueberries from her dinner last night. She must have thrown up at some point in the night. I feel awful that she slept in yucky blueberry regurgitation, but she never woke up or cried so I had no idea! I thought that it was the blueberries that upset her tummy so I didn’t think much of it. Also I’m sure Charlotte will thank me for posting this lovely photo of her ‘bed head’ and blueberry ‘schmear art’ in 15 years.

I got Charlotte cleaned up and started the sheets soaking {I’m fairly certain they will never come clean but I’m willing to give it the ‘ol college try…. not that I would have ever spent this much time cleaning something in college. I most likely would have just thrown it away}. After nursing for a bit after waking up she actually vomited again! I know, I know… any sane person {parenting experience or not} would have figured out that something was wrong.  I thought it was because she drank too fast and choked, which is something she used to do when she was much younger. I just assumed her tummy couldn’t handle the amount she drank.  After that she ate a great breakfast and was her usual giggly and playful self so I wasn’t worried.

We visited my office for lunch and Charlotte socialized with all her loves there and was on her best behavior.

After that we met up with some buddies for a spashy play date.

Charlotte wasn’t in love with the cold water, but she loved watching her buddies play.

After a little while though I could tell she was beginning to not feel well and then she threw up again after nursing!

I am so sad it took me that long to realize I had a sick kiddo on my hands. I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. She was just as playful as usual until the afternoon when her fever spiked. Poor baby. 

For a kiddo battling a tummy virus, though, she certainly had a very successful day: Standing unassisted for the first time and SO proud of herself.

Does that look sick to you?!

 

Real life parenting: multiplying dishes

I just did a weeks worth of dishes. Not even kidding. Bottles, bowls, coffee cups, almost every pan we own…The only counter space in our kitchen not covered by dirty dishes was in front of the microwave and Keurig {priorities}. Granted, we have minimal counter space to begin with so it gets covered quickly, but there really was no excuse for the filth… I just didn’t want to do dishes. There’s something about washing bottles that I really despise. Thank goodness we go through minimal bottle paraphernalia because I breastfeed {nursing, for the win}!

Also {apparently I drank truth serum tonight} my husband told me yesterday that he would do the dishes because ‘I don’t want you to hate me’.
Yikes.
Me: ‘I won’t hate you’
Him: ‘well, I don’t want you to be mad at me’
Me: ‘I won’t be mad at you’
Him: ‘well, I don’t want you to have disdain for me’
Me: ‘ok’

It seems I have a pretty bad habit of being grumpy towards him when I have to do the dishes. I H.A.T.E. doing the dishes. Wrinkly fingers, dry skin, the bits of food circling the drain… Gah, just typing that gave me a full body shiver.
Nevertheless, it makes me feel awful to think that my husband would do something just so I wouldn’t be grumpy towards him, and especially for something that i have no grounds to be grumpy about. I definitely need to work on my servant’s attitude. I started tonight by washing with a smile on my face.

Also, since we are already confessing, I’ll offer full disclosure: after I finished washing everything and cleaning the counters I rewarded my ‘awesome housekeeping’ with a giant bowl of icecream {and a few spoonfulls straight from the carton}.

The four letter word.

Love.

I just need to brag on my husband for a moment and how awesome he is at showing love.

The other weekend I was really dragging. All mommies get the drags occasionally, but this particular day it was really bad – I was still recovering from the sickies that invaded our house last week {Charlotte and I both battled a bad virus} and I was running on minimal sleep secondary to the unfortunate combination of a 9 month old who requires a middle of the night snack and a mom who stayed up way too late reading. I was able to snag a short power nap; emphasis on the short part because Charlotte woke up from her nap about 20 minutes after I laid down {isn’t that always the case?}. Chris had gone to some sort of church function {worship band practice I think?} so he wasn’t available to entertain Charlotte while I continued napping. I begrudgingly got Charlotte from her room and trudged downstairs. Charlotte, as I’m sure most wise babies do, has a way of getting deep into your soul and tugging on your heartstrings in a way you never thought possible. There’s not much of a chance for anger or grumpiness to linger when she’s around. I wish I could say all grumpiness fades, but let’s face it… when you’re tired, you’re grumpy. No matter how ‘sunshine and rainbows’ your life is, when you are sleep deprived, you will be mean or impatient or pessimistic… or all three. On this particular day, though, I was greeted by this arrangement waiting for me in the kitchen:

All the supplies and directions for making myself a cup of french press {side note: once you go FP you don’t go back. Our Keurig barely gets any love these days}. The water was ready to be heated, the timer ready to start, grounds already in place, and step by step directions given. In that instant all grumpiness and frustration disappeared.

This is love.

Not just coffee.

Good coffee.

And at a time when he knew I needed it most.

I didn’t ask. I didn’t hint. He just knew.

This is love.

And just to get all the annoying bragging done in one post so as not to drag out our sappy love and make people nauseous, as I sit writing this he is at the grocery store buying me ice cream and peach Snapple.

love.

Spring done gone got away from me!

It is June 1st. I repeat. JUNE FIRST! It makes me sick to think of how quickly we are closing in on ‘B’Day {which is, of course, Charlotte’s first birthday}.

This post, though, will serve to catch you up on all the Baker ‘happenings’ so far this spring. My apologies for the massive photo binge that is about to happen.

Chris and I had an awesome day-date some time a few weeks back {if we’re being honest it was more like a month… maaaaybe two months back} . We took Charlotte to spend the afternoon with Papa and Honey {my parents}. On the way out to their house we stopped at Bergey’s Dairy farm for a little family adventure.

She did not like the sheep. I don’t blame her. I seriously thought it was fake. I’m still not 100% certain it was living.

Waiting for ice cream {for mommy and daddy, of course}. I wish so badly this photo wasn’t blurry. Still completely adorable.

Meeting the cows.

We love our Little Gym classes. Next week is Show Week {the last ‘performance’ of the semester}, but Charlie is already enrolled in her summer Bugs class which will start the following week so we won’t even skip a beat!

She loves Ms. Jackie… the one who provides an endless supply of shakers and bubbles in class.

Papa came to play during a class.

Charlotte is very good at independent play and exploration with toys.

Putting the little people horse in, taking horse out, putting horse in again, taking horse out, throwing horse, crawling to get horse, mouthing horse, beating horse against boat and so on. 

Charlotte absolutely adores her two cousins and I am so grateful that she gets to spend Tuesdays and Thursdays with my sister.

We had a yard sale a few weeks ago. It was pretty much rained out; actually more like ‘fogged’ out because a low fog/rain cloud hovered over my driveway the entire day.  Chris and I have such a wonderful family support system: my parents, my in-laws, and my sister-in-law all came to help us. Since there weren’t many customers, my mom busied herself helping me get organized and encouraging me to purge even more. That’s what she does, professional organizing, and boy did I need her help. The other grandparents kept Charlotte entertained.

Since business remained slow, Chris and his dad replaced our kitchen sink. It was, of course, harder than they anticipated, but they were eventually successful.

 

The next weekend we decided to try our hand at yard sale round #2, which was much more successful thanks to the sun actually arriving for the day and sticking around a bit. Also, Charlotte learned how to drive.

Charlotte has gotten so much better at being in the church nursery {ie: away from me}.

The best plan is ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ – once she has even an inkling that mama is nearby but not holding her she resorts to Llama drama {which she learned from the Llama Llama books of course. More on those in a bit}.

We love meeting up with other mommy’s and babies from our mom’s group for outings and play dates.  We love to go to the mall or the park.

Charlotte is also learning to get along with her friends and is starting to understand the word ‘gentle’

{probably because I say it over and over again, but repetition is key}! Of course she still swats at other babies because, let’s face it, that’s what babies do, but she is learning. I can see it!

My birthday present from Chris was a membership to the Zoo so we can go any time we want! We have had several beautiful days there {though one of them just happened to coincide with the field trip day of nearly every elementary school in the area}. I got some practice with maneuvering two kiddos instead of just one during one of the outings, which was a great experience and OH so exhausting.

We attended an event at the zoo to meet the author of Llama Llama Red Pajama {and other silly alliterative and rhyming books} and have her sign our books. Charlotte could have cared less, but I absolutely love this book series {I think my love for books serves me well as a pediatric speech pathologist, though sometimes I do go a bit overboard}

 

I love this particular series because the little Llama is always full of drama, which reminds me of a very expressive 9 month old I know.

 

Mother’s day was a blur. I sometimes forget that I am a mother, and I definitely forgot that mother’s day is a holiday that applies to me now! Last mother’s day Charlotte was busy making me nauseous and puke-ey. This mother’s day Charlotte was busy making me laugh and smile {and chase after her, and wipe her bum}. What a difference a year makes, and well worth all the Llama drama, I’d say.

 

I rekindled my love for the library last week. I hadn’t been for well over 5 years. Sad, I know, but all that is behind me now and we will just move forward with our relationship {though it’s not completely over between Kindle and me}. Charlotte loved our library outing too, though she didn’t quite understand the ‘quiet’ rule. Her new favorite game is to see how her voice echoes in new places. The bathroom at chic-fil-a wins, hands down. She gave quite a performance in there last time. The library echo was less effective, but that didn’t deter her one bit. I just hope we are allowed back in.

My mother and father-in-law have been wonderful the past few months by watching Charlotte for Chris and I while we attend our foster parent/adoption training classes each Wednesday evening. They even feed us dinner, which is such a blessing because it is a scramble to try and get to the classes on time because of Chris’ work schedule and rush hour traffic.

 

Chris threw me a beach bbq birthday party at the beginning of May. It was absolutely frigid but I was so blessed to have many of my friends shiver out in the cold with me. Charlotte wasn’t really in to the whole sand thing, but I certainly tried to get her to touch it a few times. She is not keen on novel textures and immediately goes into ‘superman’ mode with her arms back and her back arched in order to avoid touching it. We’ll keep trying.

Just soaking up all the snuggles I can get from her before she doesn’t want anything to do with mommy anymore and slams her door in my face before writing in her diary about how much she hates me. What?! Just mentally preparing myself for 16 years down the road.

Addendum.

That’s a silly word.

But I have a few more bits of info for Charlotte’s 9 month update. More for my sake than for yours {since I haven’t written a stitch of info in her baby book… no judgement please}. I am counting on these blog posts to remind me of everything she has been up to when I do eventually sit down to write.

• Charlotte had a perfect 9 month well check. She is now 2 ft 4 inches tall {50th percentile, but it seems giant when you put it in those measurements} – I prefer to say 71cm! She weighs 15lbs 13oz {10th percentile} – only a 1 lb 8 oz difference from her 6 month checkup… but still healthy and growing… just itty bitty.

• I forgot to mention the teething marathon Charlotte has been enduring in her 8th month. As you remember, she got her first 2 bottom teeth just after her 4 month birthday. I don’t have a good photo of her new chompers yet, but there are now 2 others accompanying the first bottom 2 and 4 big chicklets on the top for a total of 8 teeth!

I hear a baby stirring in her crib and starting to wake from her afternoon nap so that will have to be it for now!

Charlotte’s 9 month update

Charlie Grace is now 9 months old. In order to get her to sit still for even a moment I had to resort to mega bribery using her favorite toys: pink puppy, giraffe and monkey, and a peekaboo ball. It worked… sort of.

At 9 months, Charlotte:

• Weighs… who knows how much. Her 9 month well check is tomorrow so stay tuned! All I know is that she is able to wear a few 9 month outfits, but is mostly still in 6 month clothing {and size newborn shorts, apparently}… so still itty bitty compared to most of her peers, especially when she is wearing a disposable. When she has in a cloth diaper {which is practically always} she is able to wear 9 month clothing because her round rump fills it out.
• Loves to be outside {mama’s girl}, but is still cautious on grass and mulch at the playground. Not so cautious about eating said mulch and grass, though.

• Loves to ‘read’ books {and gnaw on book corners}

• Has become quite mobile; she loves to zip around the house chasing Baxter down, grabbing his tail and making a ‘vvvvv’ sound. Not sure why she pairs that sound with him, haha, but she is persistent and it’s so funny how he tries to ignore her.
• Loves playing peekaboo {really she just loves being surprised… which must come from Chris, because we all know I don’t do well when frightened or taken off guard}

• Loves to pull up on/climb onto/climb over anything and everything in her path. Last week she climbed the first flight of stairs in our home {with Chris spotting her of course}
• Is beginning to eat more volume at each meal. This morning she ate an entire banana! She is also quick to remind me at each meal that she prefers to feed herself; it’s hard to keep up with her demands! I think more finger foods end up in the “food graveyard’ below her highchair but she is persistent and it keeps her really busy so I can finish other things in the kitchen. Win – win! Her main source of nutrients is still nursing and she is showing no signs of weaning. Each month that passes I allow myself a mini victory dance for that accomplishment  
• Is still loving her classes at The Little Gym. She’s the cutest bug in class! {note: opinions may be biased}

• Has been introduced to her daddy’s video game love {don’t worry, she just gets to mash the buttons on the remote, no screen-time for her }

• Continues to babble throughout her day and has said a few more words after we say them {what we in the ‘speech’ world call direct imitation}: up, ball, puff, all done, hey, bye bye, dada…and my personal favorite…. apple. She’s a little distracted by her cheering squad of ladies at the nephrologist’s office, but still delivers

• Is not yet sleeping through the night. She will typically wake up once {but occasionally twice) each night, usually around 3am to nurse. She takes two naps during the day {one around 10am and the other around 1:30 or 2pm}. She is flexible with her schedule though and goes down easily for the most part.
• Has graduated to a new ‘big girl’ carseat {thanks to Lola and Grandpa Baker}. It was difficult to finally decide on one, especially since our current car is small… not the most ideal for a giant carseat. She seems so itty-bitty in it now but I know it will keep her safe. The only drawback is that it is hard for her to fall asleep because it is not as reclined as her previous seat. This is the only photo I have of it since it is so spankin’ new. I think it’s a good representation of Charlie Grace at 9 months though: pink cowgirl boots, leopard print dress, pigtails, and snuggled with her favorite toy-of-the-day… a spoon.

It’s driving me nuts that the mirror in the above photo is crooked. If I am driving I have to have it straight before we can leave the driveway!

This little miracle has grown into a sweet squishy nugget with oodles of personality and confidence. I can’t believe it’s been 9 months already. Time to start planning the 1st birthday. I am in serious denial.

Later this week I hope to post about what we’ve been up to for the past month. Spring always seems to bring with it a slew of events and activities. I was just telling someone a few months ago how easy it would be to find a time to hang out because “our schedule is so flexible”… just kidding, I can barely find time to put a stamp on a card and stick it in the mail right now!

Just for laughs.

We are so lucky to have such an expressive baby who oozes oodles of personality.

{though I wish that personality would pipe down when it’s time to sleep}!

“Pipe down Baxter, I’m working the ‘pouting’ angle with Mom”!

Just wanted to share with you all a little bit of the

drama that unfolds daily from my 8 month old.

Babies just keep growing, there’s no stopping it: 8 months.

I’m not gonna lie to you – This post is over 2 weeks old, so Charlotte is technically  8 1/2 months old now. I started this post 2 weeks ago on her 8 month birthday but things have not slowed down for a second around here in the Baker home. I’m sure this is what I can expect for the rest of my life as a mother.

Another thing that I feel confident in reporting… I will never again get a nice still photo of my daughter. It was a huge challenge to take her photos this month. Typically I take a few of her on her back and a few of her in the rocker in her nursery. This month’s series also showcases some nice shots of her confined to her crib {out of necessity, and slight frustration… but mostly necessity}.

Toy bribery was also successful in catching her attention for a moment.

Next month I may have to resort to ironing a number on her back as well to make my job a little easier.

Notice the lovely red mark on her forehead? Proof of her numerous attempts to escape the confines of her crib.

 

At 8 months, Charlotte:

• Is crawling everywhere. Notice the scuffed up knees?
• Has become a daredevil {and I’m pretty sure we have the Little Gym to thank for that… giving her a crazy amount of confidence… how dare they!}. It only took a few days of being mobile before she began pulling up on things, first to her knees and now all the way to a stand.
• Has been struggling with her nap/bedtime routine because of this newfound mobility . As soon as we place her down into her crib she bolts to the corner that is closest to the door, pulls up to a stand, and assumes her ‘i’m so desperate to get out of here’ stance with her head thrown back in the most dramatic way. I don’t have a photo of her standing at the end of her crib, but this is her talking to herself and exploring her spacious sleeping quarters at 9pm.
• Has 2 top incisors coming in {barely peeking through the surface of her gums so no photo yet!} so she is gnawing on anything and everything she can get her hands on and has also started to drool. She has never been a drooly baby before these teething episodes so this is a new experience for all of us.
• Has said her first word – “dada”. You can read about that adventure here. Her new favorite sounds to make are: ‘ooph’ {which she vocalizes any time she is ‘working hard’ – as in ‘these blocks are so heavy it’s taking all my might to lift them, ‘oooph’} and ‘mmmm’ when she is eating something yummy.
• Has been enjoying 2 meals a day of purees {about 2 ounces each meal} and will not eat any more than that despite my best efforts to stuff her {particularly before bed time}. She still nurses about 6-7 times a day. She is loving some new fruits and veggies this month in additional to her usuals: papaya {provided by her Lola Pam}, kiwi, clementines, and peas. The clementines and papaya are some of her favorites to have in the mesh teethers – I limit the clementines, though, because of their high acidity. I am just now getting around to introducing peas because I had a difficult time finding froze peas without salt added {and kept forgetting to look for other brands – I finally found some at Trader Joe’s but have since found them in several different grocery stores, usually from organic brands}. I don’t make all of her food from frozen, but there are several types that are much easier to prepare from frozen than when buying them fresh; mostly green beans and peas}. Once the local farmer’s markets open up we will be experimenting with many more fruits and veggies – I can’t wait for seasonal watermelon!!!
• Love. Love. Loves her Little Gym classes. Here she is with the other Bugs playing with some bubbles. I love watching her socialize with the other kiddos, even if she is a bully {pulling hair, rounding up all the shakers for herself.. you know, all the typical 8 month old stuff}

• Is not really ‘waving’ anymore, though I’m not too concerned because I know she has been developing so many other skills these past few weeks – something has to take the back burner!
• Is not quite sure of the grass, cement, and mulch mommy has put her on during play-dates at the park, but is warming up to the idea that she may have to move on them someday.
• Can entertain herself  independently for quite a long time {in a safe place like the pack-and-play, of course} until she notices me walk past and realizes that I haven’t been watching her every second of the past 15 minutes… then she becomes dramatic and the laundry/cleaning/anything mommy-related is put on hold until I can get her distracted again.
• Loves being outside in the sun, just like her mommy. She refuses to keep a hat on, so I just try to be diligent about applying sunblock and sticking mostly to the shade when we are at the park.
• Is now pretty good about sitting up in the front of the cart, though she did throw her first mega tantrum in Michael’s the other day when I wouldn’t let her hold the spray paint. She wailed and did her usual ‘throwing her head back for dramatic effect’ move, but then hit her head on the back of the cart seat, so wailed some more. It was rough and that cashier said to her: ‘Is that you who was making all that noise?’ Yikes. And I know this joy will only continue as she gets older. I am fairly certain God gifted me with a daughter who is exactly like me when I was little – Sorry mom for all I put you through.

 

We love our bug and find ourselves saying ‘I love our family’ almost every day.

Thank you God for this sweet life you have entrusted us with!

It’s official: First word.

Charlotte said her first word on Sunday.

It was epic.

I feel that as a speech therapist mommy I have been critical of judging Charlotte’s ‘firsts’. She was actually technically crawling (mobile) before I gave her a gold star on her report card for crawling because to me, it wasn’t crawling until she was actually moving forward – she moved sideways and backwards way before she moved forward.

When it comes to ‘talking’, Charlotte has been pretty vocal since early on; this is her at 2 months, starting to express her little inner personality {apologies for the long videos, I didn’t have time to edit them down this week. Just fast forward if you hate adorable-ness}:

and at 4 months:

Then the ‘throat clearing’ phase at 6 months:

And now at 8 months {I wouldn’t say this clip is very representative, seeing as how most of her communication as of late consists of screams and shrieks because she is frustrated with mommy for ‘cramping her style’, but this clip is definitely easier on the ears}:

Chris and I have been hearing Charlotte babble ‘mamas’ and ‘dadas’ in the most hilarious ways over the past few months and she has imitated ‘bye bye’ and ‘hey’ {I’m pretty sure it was a ‘hey y’all… in her best southern drawl, ha!} when listening to us talk. I was waiting for her to spontaneously verbalize with purpose before counting it as her ‘first word’ and she delivered on Sunday evening. I had her in her highchair munching on some frozen peaches {in her mesh teether, of course} to soothe her poor teething gums. When Chris came home from small group and walked through the door she looked right over to him.. ‘dada’, and without skipping a beat went right back to gnawing on her fruit. It was so adorable. She was so proud of herself. And so were we.

A quick morning update.

Here’s a brief Baker family update {and a mini photo purge} – I haven’t posted in weeks, there is so much you’ve missed.

• Chris and I have begun taking foster parenting classes through the City of Virginia Beach. Let me answer some questions that you may have to save you from having to ask them: It will take 9 weeks to finish the classes. A home study must be completed before anyone will be placed with us. No, we don’t know if we are ready for another child to be added to the mix {who does?!}. Yes, we are freaking out about bed space, car space, and pretty much just space in general. Yes, we will have age parameters for whomever will be placed with us {3 and under}. Yes, I am terrified. Yes, we are trusting God – He is leading us down this path so we are trusting in His best judgement. I’m trying to keep my ‘thinking’ and ‘planning’ out of it because that can only screw things up. No, we are not parenting experts {as we haven’t even gotten to the tough parenting tasks with Charlotte yet}, but as long as there are children in the world who need loving, patient, kind adults in their life to live out and show Christ’s love for them then we will be obedient to what God asks of us.
• Charlotte is now quite mobile and is crawling everywhere and pulling up to her knees. She will be 8 months on Thursday of this week so I will fill you in on her latest developmental milestones in her 8 month update post.

 

That’s all I have time for at the moment, I hear one little 7 month old who wants to get up and join the action.