Well we are coming to the end of Char's 7th month! Wow! She is growing so fast. She is the funniest little person and she will put a smile on anyone's face. My dad always jokes that we can't take her anywhere because everyone stops us wanting to look at her and talk to her.
She started eating cereal puffs this month. I was so scared to give them to her but she is doing really well with them. She is getting really good at using her "pincher" grip to pick them up and feed herself. Feed herself. Ugh. She won't need her mom soon enough : ( She has also been eating pieces of apples and carrots. She is eating all kinds of teething crackers and rice cakes. We have started her on pureed meats too and she loves them! MMMM pureed meats..... yuck. Smells like cat food. I made some home made kind and she did alright with it but prefers the Gerber kind.
We are working on our sippy cup too. She likes it! I am trying different kinds and she is doing well. She has water in it with her solid meals and her snack and we have tried breast milk and a little juice in them as well. I don't think we are going to have a problem eliminating the bottle. She doesn't get one very often anyway but she is really taking to the sippy. She also is using her paci less and less. She gets it in the car, for naps and night time sleeping and sometimes in the stroller and that's it. Otherwise she just plays with it or refuses it. Looks like that will be easy to get rid of too. Hopefully it stays that way!
A few weeks ago my parents were able to come down and stay for a few days. We went to the Spring Game, had an Easter egg hunt, and they got to spend a lot of time with Charlotte. I love when they come down. Dad fixes stuff around the house and mom does everything with Char. It is nice to have the help and I know they love being with Char. We facetime every night but seeing the baby in person is so much better : )
Well Charlotte went down for a nap a few days ago and woke up with a big fat blue bruise on her head. I am guessing she hit it on one of the crib slats. It is not recommended to put bumpers in cribs anymore because it is a SIDS risk so instead the baby just slams their head against the side of the crib. Ugh.
We have been enjoying our Stroller Strides class and classes at My Gym. Scotty was able to go with us to My Gym this week and it was a lot of fun! Char loves it so much there. She LOVES other babies and kids. She loves when they interact with her. She gets all excited and tries to jump out of your arms. She also was trying to pull herself up and stand. I included pictures below. Maybe she will just skip crawling? She can be in a seated position and move to her belly but then she just lays there and cries. We try and teach her to push up on to her knees and it isn't going well. She will push up on her knees to roll over and she can push up pretty well with her arms but just not at the same time. Oh well. She will figure it out one day.
Its been a trying week around here. I have been fighting allergies and lost my voice and Charlotte is growing her 6th tooth and has had a major runny nose and was pretty fussy (for her). She is growing one of the top front teeth. Her eye teeth have already poked through on top along with 3 front teeth on the bottom. I can't believe they are growing in so fast! She looks so funny with those eye teeth though and nothing else on top! She looks like a little vampire baby!
Charlotte learns something new everyday. She has started to grind her teeth, rub toys against them, click her tongue, scrunch up her nose, and I think we are pretty close to clapping. I am trying to teach her sign language as well. When I sign to her she smiles so hard. Hopefully she will pick that up soon. It is amazing to see her learn things and figure things out. She is so smart. I love to watch her play with her toys and place them inside of things and take them out again. Its awesome!
Charlotte has always been a very good sleeper. Praise the Lord. She started sleeping through the night at 3 months and pretty much kept that up with a few weeks here and there that she would have trouble. Well in the last month or so she has been waking up everyday between 4 and 6am. She goes down between 6:30 and 7pm so that is still pretty good. Well she would wake at that time and want to nurse and be held for 5 minutes or less then be asleep again. Some nights she would wake at 4, 5, 6, and 7am. Miserable. Mama is tired of that. So I have decided to break her from this. Or die trying. So I asked Scotty to get up with her at that time. We let her cry it out 30-45 minutes (I know, some moms are like "Whatttt?" That's terrible!" but I am a firm follower of the CIO method. It works for us.) So anyway, I figured that by cutting the nursing out that she hopefully would sleep and not make it a habit to wake then for a snack. I tried going in and not nursing and it wasn't working. Charlotte would just get more upset because she associates me with milk so in comes Dad. Scotty will go in and rock her for a little while if she doesn't fall back asleep during her 30-45 minutes and she will then sleep til 6:15-6:30. That is earlier than she has been getting up but I think that is the routine now. We have tried letting her cry after 6:30 and she doesn't usually fall back asleep so we get up then. I don't mind that at all. She is getting better at sleeping all the way through until then and that is awesome. And she is still taking naps every 90 minutes during the day for at least an hour. I don't mind that either but what is the best is that if she goes past her 90 minutes if we are out somewhere, she doesn't have a melt down. As long as she is out and being entertained, she is good. I really appreciate that about her.
Well, like I said before, Char and I love Stroller Strides but I have added another class to my week. I am taking a trampoline exercise class at a place called HiWire here in town. The classes are from 9-10pm! They have a class on Saturdays that is earlier but we go to My Gym for Char during that time. So since Scotty is home that late, he stays with the sleeping Char and I head out to jump around! And don't let the trampoline part fool you - the class is hard! I had sweat pouring off! Makes it worth the time! TMI coming your way so stop reading if you can't handle. Jumping after having a baby = peeing. Even if you feel like you don't have to go. So frustrating, uncomfortable, and embarrassing. I did not think that I would have this problem almost 8 months postpartum. No one tells you about that. I feel like a geriatric. Oh well, I'll make some adjustments and still enjoy my class : )
Well until next time, here are some pictures : )
Pretty yoga feet : )
Hanging in the walker and hour and a half past bed time!
Look at that hair!
She's just so happy!
Remember that contest I entered and won? Here are my prizes! They picked me out of the 8 winners to get the pumping bag!
One of Scotty's players had surgery and Scotty asked me to make him a meal. The player's request: fried chicken, collards, and mashed potatoes. So guess who learned how to fry chicken, make collards, mashed potatoes, and banana pudding from scratch? This girl! The reviews were good from both the player and his mother. Yay!
Daddy and Charlie Mae!
Hanging on the field after the Spring Game
Char and PawPaw
The Easter Bunny came!
Cheesein' You can see those fangs!
Hanging at the Easter Egg hunt after Stroller Strides
Char really enjoyed our laps around the lake : ) Snoozer.
A rare treat at Stroller Strides! Starbucks and a few laps around the lake. I loved it - I had just done the trampoline class for the first time the night before! Mama needed a light day!
Mom's Night out with the Stroller Strides Mamas! Thank you Judy Shriner for the picture! And the next few also : )
Easter Egg Hunt with the Stroller Strides group!
Judy Shriner busting our butts! And the kids enjoying the new workout equipment at the lake. Char loves to hang on those bars too!
Easter sweetness!
An after church selfie
Learning at My Gym!
Char selfie!
Ball pit! I finally got the courage to put her in the germ pit!
She loved it!
Trying hard to get inside that turtle!
Is she gonna stand?!
Playing with her friend, Gracie
Bubbles!
1/2 scrunch face
Squealing!
The bruise
Get it girl!
More Easter pictures - yeah they are out of order
Easter Egg hunt at the stadium for the coach's families
