Tuesday, November 8, 2011

9-month old Charlotte

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!

Match Day, 11/2/11

Trey spent the good part of September and October applying and interviewing for a minimally invasive fellowship. This is more specialized training he will receive after his general surgery residency ends in June. Like residency it is a match process so he submits a rank list and the fellowship program submits a rank list and a computer matches the two lists. It is a tough process because you never know where you will match or if you will even match.

Match Day was Wednesday, November 2nd and we were extremely happy to learn that Trey matched at his first choice....

Charlotte, North Carolina!



We are thrilled to be moving back to North Carolina closer to our friends and although not a whole lot closer to family we ARE moving in the right direction!



We are looking forward to having a new city to explore, amazing shopping (Ikea, outlet mall, Super Target), being close to a major airport, and of course...

Carolina Panthers games! :-)



We cannot thank everyone enough for the thoughts, prayers, and congratulations! We are really looking forward to this new, exciting journey! Only 7 more months! :-)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Is that Henry or Batman?!



Henry's favorite pajamas even come with a cape, for all of his flying needs of course! ;-)

All Tuckered Out ;-)

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Go Gamecocks!

One of the themes last week at Henry's preschool was sports. On Thursday they were asked to wear the colors of their favorite sports team. Since we have moved a couple of times we don't have one favorite sports team but lots of favorites - The University of Memphis Tigers, Tennessee Titans, Chicago Cubs, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and now University of South Carolina Gamecocks!

"Go Gamecocks!"

Zoo Visit #1

Unfortunately we were not able to visit the zoo too much this summer. The extreme heat was too much for all of us but especially Charlotte. It made me nervous taking both kids out by myself in crowds. Plus Charlotte was still eating fairly often so it was hard to get organized and together in time to spend any more than an hour there before she had to eat again. And when we did make it I was not able to take any pictures because I was trying to keep up with both kids. So the next two posts are from visits that Trey was able to come with us! YAY!

We were really happy to make one of the member nights this summer. We had a fantastic time!

One perk of the member nights is cheap or even free food so we had a fun dinner together that cost less than $5! Henry loved his soft pretzel so much that it has now become a favorite food!



No pretzels for Charlotte but she did surprise us with a huge diaper blow-out right after this picture was taken! Fun stuff!



Henry loves feeding the goats because they are ALWAYS eager to eat! :-)



Henry hula-hooping with a little help from his Daddy...



ALWAYS a good time at the zoo! :-)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Zoo Visit #2

"Lions...



...and gorillas...



...and goats! Oh my!" :-)



Charlotte was completely content sitting in her stroller looking at all of the people and completely oblivious to the animals! :-)



A zoo tradition - taking an Icee break in front of the large aquarium exhibit! :-)



Always a GREAT time at the zoo! :-)