{5 months & 2 weeks}

Charlotte Mae, you are a world traveler. Okay, maybe not world, but you have been more places in your 5 months of existence than a lot of people do in their entire lives. At the beginning of October, when you were just 2.5 months old, you and I traveled to San Antonio, TX to visit your granny and grandpa and the rest of the Hultgren family. Your Texas grandparents were so excited to see how much you'd grown and your great grammy and papa were tickled by the way you told stories and jib jabbered away. Your great papa's hands swallowed you up, just like they used to me when I was a baby.

Then, the week prior to Thanksgiving, we flew to San Francisco, CA for your daddy to attend the annual Society of Biblical Literature conference. Your nana and papa flew in from Phoenix, AZ to play with us while your dad went to boring lectures. We had a great time walking all over town - Fisherman's Warf, the Golden Gate Bridge, Union Square.

We are thankful that you are such an easy little traveler, because with all your family living so far away, we have a lot of long distances to cover.

Your eyes have settled on a shade of dark brown. They are always wide open and so expressive! People frequently comment on how alert you are. Your eyes get especially big when you reach for one of your toys or you see your daddy walk into the room.

We love your plump cheeks. With the winter wind and constant smooches from your parents, your cheeks have turned a permanen shade of peachy pink.

On Nov. 26, 2011, you rolled from your back to your tummy for the first time! Way to go, Charlie Bug! Your dad and I were excited and you were just kind of like, "Eh, whatevs."

You love your buddy, Kate Epperson. When we are at Kate's house, you two usually get into a pretty serious staring contest. Lacy and I like to put you side by side on the floor and watch you goo and gaa and smack eachother in the face with your flailing arms.



You've always enjoyed sitting in your daddy's lap while he reads to you, but now you've really started taking in picture books. You pat the pages (almost as much as you try and eat them). You really like your "touch & feel" puppy book.

College basketball season has begun and you went to your first division 1 basketball game and boy was it a good one! Illinois VS Gonzaga. We get offered the occassional ticket from friends from church and we were so thankful for the opportunity to take you to a Saturday afternoon game. You slept through the first half on your daddy's lap and cheered loud for Meyers Leonard with your mom for the second half.

EVERYTHING goes in your mouth - blankets, burp clothes, stuffed animals, blocks, books, teething rings and even feet! But your favorite item to chew on is your hand. You know right where to find it and it's always within reach. We'd been wondering if you were cutting teeth, because you were gnawing on everything. And sure enough, your first tooth broke through your gums on Tuesday (Dec. 27th). As you can tell by the photo below, you are not a very big fan of the whole teething process.



You continue to amaze us with your sleeping habits. You're down to one big nap in the morning and then a couple half hour naps in the afternoon. For the past 3 weeks, you've been going to bed between 7 and 8 p.m. and sleeping until 6:30 a.m. Victory! We're so proud of you, Charlotte Mae and we are truly grateful for this gift of sleep.

You are doing a great job identifying the things you want and then reaching for them. However, you get awfully frustrated when you can't grab what you want. You whine and whine until you either topple forward or I help you out by moving the toy or scooting you closer to it. So impatient. Like me. Your most favorite thing to reach for is the cat. Oh dear. Callie is not amused.

Bath time has become one of your favorite times. We do a bath about and hour before bedtime so you are nice and cozy clean and warm. Your dad and I carry on the tradition my folks did for me - we stick a towel in the dryer and then take it out to catch you straight out of the tub. Your little body goes limp in the warmth and fuzz of the big bath towel. You love this!

Your dad and I love you so. What a wonderful year 2011 has been! The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.

{Two Months}

I can't believe it has been two whole months since Charlotte invaded out hearts. Actually, it's been over two months, this mama just hasn't been able to find the time to write between going back to work, house work, etc. We are loving our sweet girl more and more each day. I mean, it's not that we didn't like her before, but let's be real people, having a newborn is hard!

Here is an update on the two month old happs of Miss Charlotte Mae:

• We kind of ditched cry it out (you won, Charlotte), but we still put you down for naps and for bedtime when you're not 100% asleep. We don't let you cry longer than 5-10 minutes (lucky goose) and we usually don't have to, because you find your thumb! You LOVE to suck your thumb. You started sucking your fingers at six weeks, but now you have mastered the skill of finding your thumb (usually your left hand). Sometimes, it still takes you a little while to find it and it's the most hilarious thing to hear you looking for it.You sound like a little piggy as you chew on your hand before finally finding your favorite digit. Your granny used to suck her thumb when she was a sweet babe, too!

• You weren't too sure about your swing at first, but the second you get a little sleepy, we put you in your swing and you drift off for a peaceful nap to dream about milk and puppies. We are so glad you like your swing, because it allows Mom and Dad to have a nice meal together at the table (don't feel neglected, we're actually talking about you 99.9% of the time).

• You still like being swaddled, but only beneath the arms. This way, you can have your hands free to do some thumb sucking or fly them high above your head like you usually do:

• You love Thursdays with your daddy. He reads Lonesome Dove to you and takes you on brisk walks around the park. He even picks out your cute outfit for the day! Mommy misses you while she's gone, but she knows you're having a good time with your number one boy. Here he is reading you Curious George Goes to the Library:

• You are a clock. You eat within half an hour of your scheduled time each day. It's amazing. I think you like the predictability of your day (sounds like me) because you are sure happy before and after eating. The downside is, your dad and I lose some flexibility because your feedings and sleep schedules are so structured. But, overall, we kind of prefer this.

• You sleep like a champ. Don't tell your friend's mothers I said that, but it's true! Sure, you'll have the occassional night where you're restless and don't go to sleep until 11:00 p.m., but that's pretty uncharacteristic of you. You usually go to bed between 8:30-9:30 p.m. and sleep until 5:00 a.m. (sometimes later). We really think this can be attributed to your consistent eating, awake time and sleeping schedule (taught by Dr. Ezzo). You are such a happy smiley baby and we know a lot of this is because you are well rested.

• You love your daddy and your daddy loves you. He scoops you up in his big arms and you nestle right into his strong chest. As he's holding you, you often grab tightly to the collar of his shirt. And when he feeds you your bottle at nighttime, you wrap your entire hand around one of his fingers. Sometimes, when you're crying and upset, your dad comes over and tells mom, "let me try," and the moment you are clutched tightly by your dad, you calm down. This might make some moms sad, but I am so incredibly thankful for your dad. I'm glad that he has powers over you that I don't. It's what makes him "Dad."

• This month, you battled a nasty diaper rash. You had four ugly raw patches of skin and your parents were very worried. We had to use paper towels to wipe your bottom for two weeks (now that's love) until you got better. Thankfully, our lovely nurse practitioner friend, Megan, gave us some Resinol to help heal your cracked skin. The Resinol worked wonders! Now that you're all healed up, we use Triple Paste diaper rash cream. It goes on nice and thick and sticks to your booty through wet and poopy diapers way better than any other cream we tried (you can buy a huge tub of Triple Paste for $19.99 at Walgreens).

• You decided you like your bouncy chair that your "Aunt Casie" got for you. You hated it the first few times we tried it, but now you like to sit in it in the kitchen while Mommy cooks.

• The biggest win that happened this month was you are finally big enough to cruise around in your front baby backpack. This makes Sunday mornings WAY easier on Mom, because she can carry you all around while she works. It makes the grocery store a lot easier too, because you're car seat takes up a lot of room in the cart (like all of it).

• The BEST part about two months old is that you are smiling. I can't describe how wonderful this is, so I'm just going to show you:

Catch Up

Greetings, ten people that read this blog! As you may have guessed, my life has been super busy with the arrival of Charlotte. Every time I've wanted to write a blog, I've had fifty bagillion other things to do instead. Just thinking about sitting down to type out a post was completely overwhelming. BUT! I've been scribbling all sorts things down on a notepad and I will write about them all at some point. I managed to type out some of my notes this week and form a couple posts about my new super power, Baby Wise bootcamp, and Charlotte's one month birthday. Click on my post descriptions above or scroll 'on down! 

Mom Speed

Do you ever hear people talk about "mom strength?" You know, like when a mom gets this incredible, supernatural ability to lift an SUV off of their small child?

Well, I think I've developed "mom speed." It's my super hero mom power. I'm like a puma! Just look how fast I am:

   

I used to spend about eight minutes in the shower. Plenty of time to let the water pour over me a couple minutes so I can wake up, lather in my Aussie shampoo, rinse, coat my hair with cleansing condition, rinse, scrub my face with an anti-aging product I payed too much for, squirt some body wash into my loofa and suds up, shave....No more. Now, it's turn shower on, hop in, shampoo, rinse, bar soap and hope enough soap dripped to my feet to consider them washed. Four minutes tops. I look forward to my next water bill.

I can inhale food. It's very unlady like. I find myself doing all sorts of chores in between Charlotte's napping, and I forget to eat while she's sleeping. So Tyler and I are consistently trying to eat while she's awake. I don't want to miss any of her fun awake time or be preoccuppied if she's upset, so I eat super fast (and a lot less, which is a bonus when you're trying to shed baby weight).

You would be amazed what all I can with a two hour window. Yesterday, I took all of the books off of a bookshelf in our room, dusted it, moved it to a new location, put the books back on the shelf, sanitized pacifiers, folded and put away two loads of laundry, made a turkey sandwich, ate it, answered three work emails, painted my toes, and wrote this post. Holla!

I hope this "mom speed" is here to stay. I'm going to need this super power when I go back to work.

I think I hear Charlotte stirring. Time to get my "mom speed" on.



Parent Bootcamp

I knew I would experience new emotions as a first time mom, but I had no idea how many feelings would come along with the elated highs and engulfing feelings of love. We’ve been practicing the principles of Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep by Gary Ezzo, M.A. and Robert Bucknam, M. D., and on Charlotte’s one month birthday, Tyler and I decided to go by the book and allow her to cry before naps and bedtime. Our desire is for Charlotte to learn how to self-soothe so that she can sleep on her own and not be dependent on me lulling her to sleep by one of my many methods: walking her up and down the hallway, rocking her in her glider, swaying her outside to the cicada’s tune, leaning my body against the dryer while it’s running.

I hate to sound overdramatic by saying “this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done” but “THIS IS THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE.” Forget labor. Labor was a breeze compared to hearing Charlotte cry (hyperbole y’all).

We waited to let Charlie cry it out (CIO) until a day when Tyler was home. I’m so thankful we did this, because I would not have survived on my own. Ty is so good at calming me down when I’m frustrated or upset. As she cried, he calmly kept reminding me that it was for the best and that Charlotte is perfectly fine and she knows we love her. As she wailed, we paced from one end of our 900 sq. foot house to the other, looking at the clock. Each minute felt like an eternity. As she cried, we read and reread the chapter titled “When Your Baby Cries,” highlighting the reason and benefits of what we’re doing, hoping that our studies will make it easier. It doesn’t. Callie the Cat is even sitting by the door, looking at us, then back at the door thinking, “Why aren’t these people doing anything about this?” Tyler and I hug in the hallway. I cried. Here is our perfect, month old, nine pound, dark-haired, precious babe, screaming her little guts out and we have the ability to go try and console her, but chose not to. Who does this Ezzo chump think he is!?

Seventy minutes later (I count in minutes rather than hours in effort to make myself feel better), after several failed attempts to calm her – patting her belly, telling her I love her, trying to give her a pacifier, checking her diaper, she wins. Momma goes in. I scoop her over-heated body up and place her vertically against my chest. I can feel her tiny wet tears as I cradle her tiny head in the palm of my hand. Her body shivers. Her lip quivers. A few seconds pass before she’s willing to trust my whisper, “Momma’s here, Sweet Charlotte.” Finally convinced that I won’t put her back down, her petite frame goes limp.

The battle is over.

Charlotte =  1

Parents =  -100,000

We’re on Day Five of CIO. She is the perfect little angel and she loves nap time and goes right to sleep. It is still so very, very difficult. But I do think it’s getting better. I feel like I do a good job of interpreting when she’s getting sleepy and ready for a nap, so that I can put her down at just the right time. She doesn’t cry for an hour and the pitch of her cry has gotten softer. Some naps, she looks all around at the walls of her cute bedroom before fading into sleep. And three out of the past four nights, she’s slept six hours straight.

Perseverance.
Patience.
Prayer.
Progress!

{One Month}

Today, Charlotte Mae turned one month old. Holy mackerel! Sweet Charlotte, here are some highlights of your first month of existence:

• You were born on a Tuesday night and we left the hospital right after your Thursday morning check-up. Then, we had your first pediatrician visit on Friday, July 22nd, where you lost 4 ounces in weight and grew ½ and inch (every girls dream), weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches tall. Just perfect!

• Your granny and grandpa drove all the way from San Antonio, TX to meet you. You timed your arrival perfectly, because they got to Champaign six hours before you were born. Way to go, girl!

• Your daddy had to leave on a week long trip when you were just five days old. He really missed you while he was gone, but we sent him lots of pictures. Granny and Grandpa stayed over a week and did an excellent job taking care of us while dad was gone.

• You had lots of visitors your first and second week of life. Friends from First Christian Church brought you loads and loads of gifts – diapers, blankets, onesies, dresses and stuffed animals galore! Some of them even brought Mommy and Daddy supper. It’s like Thanksgiving three nights a week at the Stewart house. Seriously, someone come over and help us eat all of this delicious food. Mmm Mmm!

• Your best friends, Bo and Abe, made you a really beautiful “Welcome Home” sign. They like getting to touch your toes and are always asking if they can hold you, even though your mommy and their mommy say, “no.”

• Charlotte, if there were an Olympic hiccupping event, you would take gold. You always those nasty hiccups at the most inopportune times – right before drifting to sleep or right before you’re getting ready to eat. They make no sense to me. I can’t figure out why you get them so frequently? You look so miserable when you get them and there’s nothing Momma can do about it. So sorry, Charlotte.

• When you were 2 ½ weeks old, you had four really bad afternoon/evenings in a row where you would cry from your late afternoon feeding until Mom and Dad could finally console you enough to sleep. It was horrible! We were so worried and scared, because one Saturday night you cried from 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. – seven hours! You didn’t have a temperature, but something was definitely wrong. The next morning, Mom called the pediatrician, crying, and found out that your diet needed to change - no more breast milk bottles and formula bottles. We changed your diet to a special lactose-free formula and your tummy loves it! You guzzle that bottle down in no time! Speaking of “guzzle,” filling you up with super special lactose-free formula is kind of like filling up our car with gas – gas is $3.68/gallon and your food is $3.68/bottle. Okay, it's not that bad. But seriously, does anyone have any Enfamil coupons? Gee whiz.

• We’re not quite sure who you look like, yet. I think you have your dad’s round face and eyebrow structure, but you have big eyes like your momma did when she was a baby. And I think you may have your Great Grandma Margaret’s mouth with those cute pouty lips. But for now, you just look like our little Charlie Bug.

• You hate putting on clothes and you put up quite the fight. I think there’s something about pulling the onesie down over your head that reminds you of your entrance into this world. If that’s why you hate getting dressed, then I hate it too.

• We are so glad that you’re such a good little eater. You’ve gotten in a routine of eating every 3 hours during the day. After you eat, you have about 30-45 minutes of “awake time” where Mom talks to you on the couch or you swing in your swing or we go for a walk around Centennial Park. You really enjoy awake time and Mommy does too! She can’t wait until you smile and giggle at her, because she thinks she’s pretty darn funny.

• Mommy and Daddy love taking you on walks. It’s our favorite time of the day, because we get to talk to each other while we admire how stinkin’ cute you are as we push you in your buggy. Sometimes you get a little fussy, because it’s warm in your seat, but you settle down after the first mile.

• We joke about how you are going to be great at hailing taxi cabs, like your Uncle Brian, and that you will be excellent at left-handed layups, because you are constantly throwing your arms up over your head. You are hilarious and you make everyone laugh. Your hands are on your face or above your face almost the whole time you are awake. You also like to sleep with one or both hands behind your head. We call this your “livin’ the dream” pose.

• You like it when your Dad swaddles you. He gets his Charlie Bug nice and snug. Mom, on the other hand, is a terrible swaddler. When she swaddles you, it’s like having your burrito falls apart mid-meal at Chipotle. Horrible experience.

• You like bath time, but only if Mommy places a warm washcloth on your belly during the bath and if Daddy is there to wrap you up in a towel with his big strong arms. And after your bath if finished, Mommy and Daddy spend the rest of the night sniffing your head. Sorry if that weirds you out, but golly you smell good! We’re so thankful that you are ours.

Charlotte Mae Stewart

Our precious girl arrived July 19th at 11:20 p.m.

Weight: 7 lbs 6 oz

Length: 18.5 inches

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4