Lottie Lately

It's been a while since I've posted anything and it's mostly because I just don't have much to write about!
Then of course, I remember that the original point of the blog was to document even the mundane for me to look back on one day.
So the mundane is actually sort of exciting for me. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we started potty training Charlotte. I'm somewhat proud to say that we haven't quit. The first few weeks were hit or miss, almost literally, but then this week it just totally clicked for her.
We went from excitement about the potty, to sheer horror at the thought in the matter of days. I completely stepped back and left it up to her, and she continued her interest. After asking some friends about what I should do about the tantrums, a few people suggest that I just stop altogether, and it just didn't feel right.
I would ask each day if Charlotte wanted a diaper or undies, and we'd go ahead with what she chose. Most days she'd tell me if she had to go, and I would have to undo her diaper and everything, but she would always sit and go.
Last week she wore only diapers, but kept them completely dry except during naps and nighttime. This week she chose undies and has not only had zero accidents, but she's used the bathroom while we were out to lunch twice this week! She's no longer scared of the big toilet, which apparently happened overnight, and she does better at bath time too. We had a few weeks of struggles because I think the warm water made her have to go and she sorta freaked out about it.
We've made great strides in a few short weeks and I'm really excited about it. This will save both money and time doing laundry. I imagine there may be setbacks in the future, but I'm hoping that I won't have to worry about that.

In other news, the weather has been very unpredictable here lately. We've had a few nice days, but some record setting flooding too. We've been fortunate to be dry, but we can't say the same for some of our family. It's starting to warm up, and I hope that it stays warm now!
Our neighborhood has a couple of small parks and whenever it's sunny, Charlotte demands that we visit the park. One day, the "baby park" was flooded so instead of the small slides and climbing structures Charlotte can manage easily, we headed back to the big structure right on our street.
By the time I had Lena on the bench, Charlotte was off to explore. And I had to talk myself out of a panic attack.

Deuces, mom. I'm outta here.

NBD. 

You have to pump your legs, Lena. 

The weather warmed up on Monday, so I took some laundry outside to fold, and Charlotte just lounged and enjoyed the warmth.

I'm probably not doing her any favors giving her outdated toys like the etch-a-sketch. But she played with it for almost a half hour outside.

 She's now referring to herself solely as Lottie and my husband usually calls her that now too. It might be sticking.
I do feel like I should pinch myself because boy, this little kid can be sweet. Her little sister is pretty nice too. I'll write more on her next time.

365 Days

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since I delivered my beautiful, healthy, 8 lb 3 oz baby girl. And I'm pleased to announce that we all made it through that year.
We survived an entire year without having a clue what we were doing. We endured the challenges that come with nursing and bottles, baby wearing and crying it out. We survived nap time routines and teething, swaddling and breaking the swaddle. We took photo after photo of mundane life, and waited with tingly anticipation for the first time that she rolled over, crawled, or pulled herself up. (And she's so close to those first steps!)
We had the video rolling for her first tastes of food, her attempts at sharing, and crawling backwards down the stairs.
I shed tears of exhaustion, guilt, fear, love, and joy. I laughed out of all of those same emotions.

We went from this:

To this:


Photo by Anne Jansen Photography



in the blink of a couple teary eyes.

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Charlotte Jane. You've brought more joy (and fear) into my life than I ever thought possible.

Six Months!

Sometimes I simply cannot believe that I have a child. A little human who relies on me for just about everything. Okay, everything. And to say that she's been here for 6 months already is nuts!
To say it was the "best" 6 months of my life would be an understatement. I simply cannot use a word that describes 7th grade camp or turtle cheesecake when summarizing the last half year.
To say it was exhausting and joyful at the same time or simultaneously terrifying, draining, fulfilling and delightful...might be more like it.
So, in lieu of a sappy post (we'll save that for when she's a year), we'll take a look back to see how much she's grown!

Darby used to love Charlotte. She prefers to have her own space now. My goal was to have a photo each month to show how big Charlotte was getting in relation to her dog, but Darbs won't have it.

This pretty much sums up the first month. She was not colicky, just fussy. I had to implement the 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block at least 5 times a day. But at least I had discovered what worked within the first month.

We started cloth diapers at 2 months. They were huge and hilarious.

Look how huge those leggings are on her chicken legs!

She started to get a little more fun at 3 months. But right when we thought we had the sleeping thing down, she threw us a curveball. And we didn't sleep for months.

Starting to look a lot more like Papa Elf Bear

Pudging out a little more! And being hilarious in general.

I won't lie about it. I like the pouty lip shots because it's the one time she sort of resembles me.

No teeth yet, but love to chew on just about everything.

Around 5 months she really started to get easier. She smiles all of the time, is a delight to be around (when she's not grunting her fool head off) and loves to play with toys.

Such a sweet, sweet girl.

Sitting up!

Laughing at Dad and looking exactly like him.

Life is good at 6 months.

If I hadn't carried her around in my giant belly for 9 months, you'd barely know the kid was mine.

I've really noticed lately how independent she is. I know that seems like an oxymoron...independent baby. I picture a diaper clad baby with a wide brimmed hat and satchel taking on the town...Think "Madeline" but squishier and smaller. Uh, anyway.

She's independent in the way that she sometimes prefers to play alone and holds her bottle by herself. I guess these are just little things, but it just makes me see that she can do a few things without the assistance of her hovering mother. Soon, she'll be choosing her own outfits and riding a bike...but today, she is still little. And there's nothing I can do to keep her this way. And dammit, I've made myself cry.