The Mom Club - Level II

Charley Girl is now three months old:

Can I just say that it will never stop amazing me to see how fast babies change? Just look where the top of her head is now compared to where it was when she was born!

Since she came into our lives, things have definitely gotten more interesting.

When I had Grace, I felt like I had finally joined the "mom" club. Now that I've got two rugrats, I feel like I've been promoted to the more experienced, less "I freak out when my kid sneezes" level. I feel like a totally different mom. Almost like the first time was a dream, and now I'm smack in the middle of life as a mother. I wouldn't change it for the world, though. Seeing these two chickens hug and hold hands melts me into to a huge soppy puddle of love.

I've learned how to take both kids to the store (a huge fear of mine before baby #2), and we've adapted to feeding, bathing, and entertaining two kids. It's definitely a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. I find my temper running short more often and have to stop and remind myself to breathe a lot.

We are constantly on the go and haven't really missed a step since Charley moved in. She's such a good baby and just goes with the flow. You can already tell that she isn't a sassy pants like Grace. She's much more laid back.

Charley loves to chew on her hands and anything else she can get into her mouth:

She also tries to sit up whenever you lay her down. This kid loves to watch the world around her. She can pull her head up and about half of her belly. She just sits there half way up until you help her finish. She'll have abs of steel in no time!

She must not be a huge fan of laying on her back because we prop her up on a pillow to hang out and within seconds she's on her belly. She probably couldn't get all the way over from being flat on her back, but we'll never know because she'd rather just sit up.

She's a lot like Gracie in the tummy time department. She hates it, so we don't make her do it very often. Grace turned out just fine, so I'm not too worried about it.

Her feet are constantly going. She likes to kick blankets and toys and laughs when she actually hits them. It's so cute to hear her laughing in the back of the car to turn around and find her with a huge smile just kicking away at her blanky.

Charley also loves to "talk" to us with her huge grin. She loves to be spoken to and gets a big smile and tries to hold a conversation with you. It mostly consists of guh gih gah goo, but it's precious.

She's recently learned to blow bubbles and does it all the time.

Two weeks ago, she weighed 11.5 pounds and was 22 inches long. She's in the 50th percentile all around. She truly is the perfect child.

I can't believe she's this big already:

 She's still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but I've slipped her into some of Grace's cutest 3-6 month outfits and they seem to be fitting alright.

She's still in size 2 diapers for the time being. Charley is just so tiny compared to Grace. I feel like she's a lot longer, but she doesn't have as much chunk. She's got just enough to nibble on. I can't stop kissing her squishy little cheeks.

When Grace was this age, she started sleeping in our bed with us. I can totally see how that happened, because I let Charley snuggle in bed with me for a while for the first time the other night. She's been doing so good in her sleeper that I usually just let her stay in there all night (every new mom needs one of these). When I was putting her to bed, I just couldn't resist sneaking her into mine to cuddle for a bit. She's just too darn cute and knowing how quickly they grow out of the baby stage now, I'm going to get my snuggles in while I still can!

Happy 3 Month Birthday, Baby Doll!