Charlotte Frances, you are TEN months old!
Weight/Height: No official weight or height update, but your 9 month clothes are starting to get a little snug. You consistently grow out of the length of your clothes first before the tummy is too snug.
Nicknames: Lovey, Lovebug, Tootie/Tootie Fruity
Clothes: Starting to grow out of your 9 month sizes in Carters, but are pretty comfortable in Gap/Old Navy 6-12 sizing. A lot of your Christmas dresses and pajamas were ordered months ago at size 12 months and I was nervous they'd swallow you, but you seem to have had a little growth spurt because they're starting to fit perfectly and we've got a good month to go before the holidays!
Sleep: Always a struggle. You're a great sleeper during the day, still taking two solid naps, but you're up at least twice a night - usually once around 11 p.m., and once around 2-3 a.m. I'm lucky because you go back down quickly after snuggles and rocking for a bit, but you refuse anyone but me, so Mama is tired, my girl!
Schedule:
Up at 6:30 a.m. Diaper change, nurse, and get dressed for the day
6:30-8:30 a.m. Play
8:30 a.m. Breakfast (oatmeal + fruit puree during the week with the nanny; scrambled egg yolk, Greek yogurt + jam, applesauce, pancakes, french toast, waffle on the weekends with Mama and Daddy)
9 -10:30 a.m. - Nap
10:30 a.m. 4 oz bottle
11:00 a.m. - 12 p.m. Play
12-12:30 p.m. Lunch (HappyBaby or Plum Organics vegetable pouch + fruit puree for now)
12:30-2:00 p.m. Nap
2:00 p.m. 4 oz bottle
3:00 p.m. Mama's home! Diaper change, play (go for a walk, play outside, play on your mat/in your room)
3:30-5 p.m. Busy time! We play or run errands. Depending on your day, you sometimes nap but I make sure you're awake by 5 p.m. or we're in trouble with bedtime.
5:00-6:00 p.m. Play in your highchair/on a blanket in the kitchen while I start dinner. We talk, listen to music, play with spoons/pots and pans/Tupperware, FaceTime Gigi and Papa - I love this time with you!
6:00 p.m. Daddy's home!
6:30 p.m. Dinner (A mix of purees and solids - trying to hit all of our food groups every night)
7 p.m. Tubby time
7:30 p.m. Nurse, books, sing songs, say prayers and bed time
Health: You've been in perfect health this month.
Crying: Your teeth have been giving you a run for your money, so any crying that you do pretty much relates to teething (can't blame you there). You've also started to cry if you've been in your car seat for too long, and definitely when you get over tired.
Feeding: You're still loving pretty much anything that we offer to you to try, which makes your picky mama very proud. You've dropped one of your midday nursing sessions so we're pretty much down to nursing when you wake up, having your two bottles during the day, and nursing before bed. If you don't drink much of your afternoon bottle, you'll nurse a little bit when I get home from work, but you've become pretty uninterested - you're very busy!
Your favorites include brown rice and avocado, ravioli, peaches, any kind of cheese, turkey chili and chicken soup that I made. You still do not love peas and beets.
Your favorites include brown rice and avocado, ravioli, peaches, any kind of cheese, turkey chili and chicken soup that I made. You still do not love peas and beets.
Likes: Playing with your baby dolls (your Cabbage Patch Doll and Bernita are two favorites), you carry Noah from your Little Tikes Noah's Ark EVERYWHERE, and you have taken quite the liking to Daniel Tiger - you have a little stuffed Daniel that you snuggle while you watch the show! You love to be on the move, and squeal and wave at everyone when we're out and about. Remote controls and iPhones are still high on your list of "must touch and put in mouth" items. And you love your Molly!
Dislikes: You do not like the words "No" or "Please don't touch that." We've had a couple of meltdowns when I've had to redirect you or stop you from doing something, and you've got a mean side-eye down already!
Milestones: You're crawling EVERYWHERE, pulling up on everything and starting to furniture walk-you have no fear! You started officially sitting in the front of the grocery cart and you love it! We celebrated your Daddy's birthday, did our first round of crafts with cousin Shirley, and went apple picking for the first time! We celebrated your first Halloween - you and Shirley wore cousin costumes for one fall day event and were matching old ladies, and then on actual Halloween you were the cutest owl that I've ever seen! You started clapping this month, which is the stinking cutest thing that I've ever seen, and you contemplate giving kisses.
Faces and Places: We were out and about for lots of fall fun! Weir River Farm for a fall festival, Scituate for trick-or-treating, and an apple orchard for apple picking. We went to the New England Aquarium for the first time on Shirley's birthday to celebrate!
Molly: You've definitely shown more of an interest in Molly - you constantly grab for her and want to touch her fur. You get so excited when she comes into your room to see you in the mornings, and you wave at the painting of her that's on the wall in your nursery - cutest thing ever!
Things I Want to Remember: You are growing so fast and are so busy, but when I go in to get you up in the mornings, you just want to snuggle before we do anything else, and I soak it up, baby girl. You have the brightest personality and are always smiling, even when it's your "I'm a little nervous but I'm still going to smile" face - I hope that you always keep that positive light as a part of the person that you grow to be. You only want Mama right now, and I'm so okay with that.
Charlotte Frances, you are just my best girl. I can't get over how fast you're growing and changing - I know that that's how it's supposed to go, and I'm beyond grateful for how healthy you are, but time is flying and it catches me by surprise at the most random moments. I'll look over and you've mastered a new skill or are babbling a new word and I'm caught between my heart exploding with feeling so proud of you... and breaking because you've moved on to a new milestone. You have changed our lives for the better and your Daddy and I truly can't remember what life was like before we had you. I am so excited to celebrate your first Thanksgiving next month and see the month of December through your eyes and just soak it all up. Your first birthday is around the corner and that may put Mama in the bed with all of the emotions, but we can't wait to celebrate you, sweet girl. We love you more than you ever will know, my girl.
To the moon and back,
Love, Mama
