Four Months: The Land of Charley
Little Charley Bug is now four months old:
She's so adorably cute!
I remember the thoughts that ran through my mind when I discovered that we'd be bringing another little babe into this world. "Will I be able to love him/her like I love Grace?" "Will he/she fit into our family?" I am willing to admit that I was a little petrified at the thought of Grace becoming a big sister and myself becoming a mother of TWO.
It turns out that Charley is just what our family needed without us knowing that we needed anything at all. Grace loves to be a "big girl" and help Charley as well as do things for herself. My heart has quadrupled in size as I watch my two little ones snuggle. I can't get enough of either of my babies and wish I had all the time in the world to snuggle them constantly. (Since I cannot, I take what I can get.)
I love watching these little girls grow and learn new things. Whether it's just how to reach for a toy or learning how to sing the days of the week.
To my surprise, I have just as much love for Charley as I do for Grace. They are both the center of my universe.
This week, Charley had her four month wellness check, and she was such a pro with her shots. She whimpered a little, but was perfectly content once Daddy picked her up to comfort her.
Charles (as Daddy calls her) weighed in at 13.5 pounds and was 25 inches long. She is still in the fiftieth percentile for weight and head circumference, but jumped up to just above seventy-fifth percentile for height.
I remember the thoughts that ran through my mind when I discovered that we'd be bringing another little babe into this world. "Will I be able to love him/her like I love Grace?" "Will he/she fit into our family?" I am willing to admit that I was a little petrified at the thought of Grace becoming a big sister and myself becoming a mother of TWO.
It turns out that Charley is just what our family needed without us knowing that we needed anything at all. Grace loves to be a "big girl" and help Charley as well as do things for herself. My heart has quadrupled in size as I watch my two little ones snuggle. I can't get enough of either of my babies and wish I had all the time in the world to snuggle them constantly. (Since I cannot, I take what I can get.)
I love watching these little girls grow and learn new things. Whether it's just how to reach for a toy or learning how to sing the days of the week.
To my surprise, I have just as much love for Charley as I do for Grace. They are both the center of my universe.
This week, Charley had her four month wellness check, and she was such a pro with her shots. She whimpered a little, but was perfectly content once Daddy picked her up to comfort her.
Charles (as Daddy calls her) weighed in at 13.5 pounds and was 25 inches long. She is still in the fiftieth percentile for weight and head circumference, but jumped up to just above seventy-fifth percentile for height.
(Hard to believe that Grace was the exact same lenth with three extra pounds of squishiness! I didn't realize what a chunkster she was until hearing Charley's stats.)
This little bug loves to watch her sister. Grace was totally into movies, but Charley would rather watch her big sis run around and be crazy over any movie. She does enjoy her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and a little Tangled every now and then, though. She also likes to watch re-runs of Lost at the office with my mom.
Charley doesn't need the swing like Gracie did. She uses it all the time at my mom's, but at home she likes to hang out in her Boppy on the chair in the living room, in her crib, on our bed, and especially in her pack n play. (It's a lot easier to carry around than a swing, too!)
During my pregnancy, I found out the Born Free pacifiers were being discontinued, so I bought Toys R Us out of stock. Grace would ONLY take this brand. The nipple on it is shaped differently than any other kind, and she would gag on all others. This week, I bought some Nuk binkies since the shape resembled the Born Free ones and Charley loved them. I'm so happy because we lose binkies almost as much as we lose our minds around here...and that's an awful lot.
This month in the land of Charley:
She can roll from back to tummy and is working on the other way.
She still smiles and coos at us constantly.
During my pregnancy, I found out the Born Free pacifiers were being discontinued, so I bought Toys R Us out of stock. Grace would ONLY take this brand. The nipple on it is shaped differently than any other kind, and she would gag on all others. This week, I bought some Nuk binkies since the shape resembled the Born Free ones and Charley loved them. I'm so happy because we lose binkies almost as much as we lose our minds around here...and that's an awful lot.
This month in the land of Charley:
She can roll from back to tummy and is working on the other way.
She still smiles and coos at us constantly.
She can squeal loudly when she's excited.
She can take her binky out and hold it.
She loves to hold her toes.
She can sit up on her own if she uses her hands for support and can almost sit up from laying down on her back (she's practically doing crunches already). Doc says she's got the strength of a six-month-old.
She learned to blow rasberries and does so non-stop.
She drools like crazy and is always a wet mess.
She can grab and hold toys. She's totally in love with her zebra that hangs from her car seat since she can grab his fun legs and chew on them as we drive.
She's eating four ounces per feeding every 3-4 hours or so with longer stretches at night.
Swaddle blankets are her favorite thing ever. She'd sleep for days if we'd let her. It's like time stops and all is right in her world when the room is dark and she's bundled up all tight.
She loves to hang out under her new play mat.
She can laugh out loud.
She can now have rice cereal, so we're starting that this next week. We are going to try it just once per day right before bed to start out. If she can figure out how to eat from a spoon we'll try bananas or sweet potatoes, too!
She wants to stand ALLLL the time. Whenever you hold her she presses down with her feet and stands with ease. She only requests that you hold her hands so she doesn't fall over. Even when Charley lays down, she presses her feet against your arm. This is a semi-issue when she's trying to eat. She'll kick away and then get mad like I'm the one that took her dinner away. Silly girl.
Charley girl is so beautiful, and I'm so proud to call her mine:
Happy Four Month Birthday, Charley Bug!!
