Are you there?

I suppose you're asking me the same thing. I know it's been a while since Mom and Dad updated this thing. But they've been busy. I can attest to that. The fastest way to see pictures and videos of me is to join Facebook and "friend" my mom or dad. They try their hardest to keep this blog up to date, but it is often easier to post little snippets to Facebook and call it a day.

Well, I have a lot to catch you up on. First, I learned to blog. How do you like that? I'm a little over 7 months now. I recently had my first professional photo shoot and you should check it out.

What else? Oh, I was on some planes in May. I went to NYC to see Aunt Sarah and then to Chicago to see lots of family. I had a good time, but if you don't believe me you should check these out:

I started day care last month and so far, so good. I like Kelli so much that I take SUPER naps for her! But when I'm at home I don't like to nap much. I'd rather hang out with Mom and Dad. Aunt Marty lived with us for a couple months and took great care of me while Mom went back to work. She took me for walks every day, sang me songs...all in all it was a good time. Here is an ode to my summer with Aunt Marty:

She took a funny video of me after I ate some sweet potatoes:

Whew! I think you're up to date now. That tuckered me out so much that I might actually take a nap. Oh, I was supposed to remind you to check out the new pictures in the big blog slideshow. Click on the show on the righthand side of the main page, click "View All," then scroll to the bottom to see the new pictures. That was a lot of big words for me. 

Later,
Charlotte

4-ish months

So, it's been a while since our last post. After a relatively easy couple of months, Charlotte's sleeping got somewhat more complicated. Improving that took up a lot (all?) of our time, leaving less time for blogging. We're happy to report that she is now sleeping very well at night, going down between 6:30 and 7:00 and sleeping for about 12 hours (with 1 or 2 wakings for feedings). Her daytime napping is still a challenge. She so loves this world that she doesn't want to miss a thing, and therefore prefers 30-minute naps to the usual 1-2 hour siestas. We're hoping Aunt Marty can help her with this when she comes to nanny for us in just over a week! I (Summer) will be going back to work around the same time. I would much rather stick around the house to enjoy Charlotte's increasingly social personality, but the return to work is inevitable. I'll only be in the office Monday-Wednesday, so I'll still have plenty of time to enjoy long walks outside with Charlotte as the weather in Minnesota gets nicer.

So what has Charlotte been doing since our last post? Well, she is now able to put herself out of tummy time misery by rolling over to her back. She is less content with laying down and playing with things overhead and much prefers to play while sitting or standing with our help. We've managed to elicit a few giggles out of her. Her stomach has matured, producing fewer "waterfall" spit-ups that we used to dread. When we took her in for her 4-month check-up a couple of weeks ago she was nearing 15 lbs. and her head was slightly less giant (only 95th percentile).

We have a couple of exciting trips coming up -- New York City in a couple weeks and Chicago at the end of May. Hopefully Charlotte will enjoy these trips, encouraging us to make more of them.

Charlotte in Sioux Falls

We took our first road trip with Charlotte to Sioux Falls last weekend. It only took us 3 1/2 hours from waking up to hitting the road, and most of that was figuring out how much crap to take. Seriously, babies need a lot of stuff. She took two naps along the way and we only had to stop once to feed her, so we made great time. In addition to seeing Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Ed, she got to meet great-grandpa Marlin and great-grandma Charlotte, after whom she is named. We gave her a mini-tour of some Sioux Falls highlights, including Michelle's coffeehouse and Dad's alma mater (Augustana College). The trip back to Minneapolis was not so smooth, so the verdict's still out on how Charlotte tolerates road trips. Maybe she just wanted to chew on some of Dad's sunflower seeds.

I'm 3 months old!

Time keeps flying by and Charlotte is now 3 months old. Some of her favorite things are:

- Smiling at the baby in the mirror

- Grasping and shaking the toys hanging on her activity mat

- Pooping immediately after her diaper is changed

- Standing and "walking" while supported

- Putting ANYTHING in her mouth

Her least favorite things: 

- Napping

- Getting boogers sucked out of her nose

She is sleeping well at night for the most part, but great nights (13 hours with 2 interruptions to eat!) are quickly followed by not-so-great ones. She went on her first road trip (see next post) and we've scheduled our first plane trip for early May. Hopefully she will be the delightful baby on the plane that everyone compliments as they leave. Cross your fingers for us!

11 weeks (almost)

We have officially entered the "where does all the time go?" phase, which we'll likely never get out of. It's hard to believe Charlotte is double-digits old -- in weeks, that is. Certain things are starting to get more routine, like bedtime. But she still keeps us guessing most of the time. She loves to have cooing conversations and flashes a big smile when smiled at. Mom and Charlotte have been thankful for the warmer temps (balmy 30s!), which have allowed them to venture outside for long walks and trips to the neighborhood coffeehouse.

Check out the big slideshow (right sidebar) for more "effing" cute pics!

2-month stats and a visit from grandparents

Last week we took Charlotte to the doctor for her 2-month checkup.  She was very happy in the lobby, not knowing what awaited her in the exam room -- shots! We got her new stats: she now weights 12.5 lbs. (75-90th percentile), is 23 inches long (75%) and her head circumference is in the "97+" percentile. It takes a large head to hold that smart brain of hers. The doctor was pleased with her other developmental progress - holding up her head, grasping for objects that enter her field of vision. He encouraged us to make progress toward "independent sleeping." Up until now, she has spent most of her sleeping hours on our chests. She strongly protests sleeping on her back and is generally uncomfortable with sleeping alone. Who can blame her -- it wasn't that long ago that she lived in a warm, cozy, dark womb. But she will eventually have to sleep on her own, even if it's in the co-sleeper right next to our bed.

And here are some great pics from Grandma and Grandpa Washington's recent visit!

Charlotte at 6 weeks

Little Charlotte is growing fast and we're delighted by all of her developments. She loves holding her head up, which she can do reliably for a few seconds before becoming a bobblehead. She's starting to smile back at us, which you can see in these pictures. She is also impressing us with her strong legs and likes to use our laps as a springboard for exercising them. Her next doctor's visit isn't for a couple weeks, so we can only guess how big and tall she has gotten since her last visit.