WHEW! This has been a REALLY tough month for sweet Charlotte!
Let's start off with her nine month "stats" -
Weight - 20 pounds, 11 ounces (82nd percentile)
Height - 29 inches (92nd percentile)
Head Circumference - 45-1/2 centimeters (90th percentile)
Charlotte was sick, sick, sick for a good couple of weeks. We spent countless hours in the pediatrician's office trying to get some answers and even more hours at home feeling helpless and frustrated because there were no quick solutions!
Our normal extremely happy, very energetic, well-fed little girl was feverish, lethargic, fussy, not eating at all, and had large, dark circles underneath her eyes. The initial diagnosis was a virus but days later her fever spiked and she was worse so upon further testing the pediatrician discovered she had a kidney infection. After two shots, three days on antibiotics, and still no change we went back to the doctor and although her kidney infection was resolved she still had a virus. Finally after five days on antibiotics our old Charlotte slowly returned.
We still do not have her back on a good schedule. When she was sick she was waking up a couple of times a night wanting to be rocked so we are working on breaking her out of that habit. She falls asleep between 630p and 730p and will wake up between 6a and 7a. She will usually get up once or twice a night. She takes two naps a day anywhere between 45 minutes and 2 hours.
Just like her brother, Charlotte sleeps with her arms tucked underneath her and her behind up in the air. ;-)
Speaking of Henry, Charlotte adores him! Anywhere Henry is Charlotte is not far behind. Henry is normally very patient with her although he gets a little testy when she interrupts his video game! ;-)
Charlotte refuses to eat any baby food, rice cereal, or oatmeal. She clamps her jaw down shut and if you do happen to get any inside her mouth she spits it right back out. We have found recently that she likes finger foods a little better. She likes Cheerios and Puffs but she absolutely loves goldfish! :-)
She is now completely weaned from breast-feeding and exclusively formula-fed. I cannot even begin to tell you how hard the weaning process was but I also cannot be happier to now have the ability to let other people feed her. I am finally FREE! :-)
We spend a LOT of time outside in the afternoons and evenings. Charlotte LOVES being in the wagon. She thinks it is fantastic when Henry or one of the neighborhood kids hops in the wagon for a ride with her! :-)
She is babbling although no words yet. She has started growling which is hilarious. Her giggle is the best and you can't help but giggle along with her.
She is crawling although she would rather be standing. She now lets go but usually leans against something with her pot-belly in order to keep her balance. :-) She is starting to take mini-steps to get around toys.
I am sure you couldn't guess by now but she is stubborn, stubborn, stubborn! God definitely wanted to send us a challenge when he blessed us with this one! :-)
It has been a tough, exhausting month for Mommy and Charlotte but we are thrilled to have our happy Charlotte back! We love you Baby Girl!
