Los Porchs

All at once, it would seem we no longer have a baby... at times, I feel even toddlerhood is fleeting.  Nothing is sacred.  Once this peanut strings together a few words, I think we can all agree that once she starts talking, she's not likely to stop.  She is fiercely independent and it's one of the things I admire the most about her.  She is strong-willed and determined.  I love to watch her problem solve. Stats: As of her 18 month well visit on the 10th, Charlotte is 34.5" tall (off the charts), 26 pounds & 12 oz (91%ile), and had a head circumference of 19.29" (98%ile).  Essentially, my child is the size of an average-sized 2.5 year old.  Seems about right, I've recently been blown away by her ability to reach everything on the counters. Sleep... Depends on the day!  Every now and then, we get a rare full night of sleep but for the most part, she's still up once or twice a night. Anyone who claims toddlers need to be forward-fa...

O N E Being a one-year old looks a lot like you walking from one room to the next, shouting at us, waving to puppies, and giggling at your toys. Eats You are still nursing a few times a day but have the rest of your milk in a sippy cup or bottle and water from your sippy cup.  You tend to have about 12 oz while you're at school and then nurse a time or three at home.  You're growing perfectly though, so I have no concerns about your intake.  You enjoy food.  It's mostly a sensory experience but some of it occasionally makes it into your mouth.  You enjoy ham, chicken, cheese, and scrambled eggs.  Fruits: strawberry is still your favorite, but you like banana-flavored puffs and cookies  Vegetables: we tend to sneak veggies to you via veggie burger or pouches with the veggies mixed in.  You eat around the veggies, you sneaky girl!  I keep offering the veggies and maybe someday you'll be more into the idea.   Hey, you licked a brussel...

Listen.  I am TOTALLY aware that time doesn't move fast or slow, it just moves.  But somehow, the past 11 months have passed in the blink of an eye (a non-sleeping, bags underneath eye).  I cannot believe that in just a few short days, I will have a 1-year-old.  SERIOUSLY?!  I couldn't love this kid more and I am so enjoying watching her develop her sense of self and an awareness of how the world works around her. Teeth:  2 bottom teeth and 2 top front teeth... we're waiting patiently as she's been a little fussier than usual lately and I suspect teeth are the culprit. Charlotte likes... ... dancing (girl can move) ... standing by herself ... babbling ... clapping ... playing peek-a-boo ... eating what Mama and Daddy are eating ... people-watching ... going for walks in the neighborhood ... puppies (girlfriend lets a SQUEAL like you wouldn't believe whenever we encounter a puppy on our walks) ... carrying her lunchbox into the classroom every morning ...

I cannot even begin to describe how quickly the past 10 months have flown past. I say this every month. It took me 10 extra days to get my poop in a group to squeeze those cheeks into a white onesie and slap that sticker on her! If it wasn't for my strong desire to collect all 12 shots, I probably would have let this month pass by unceremoniously. Life is busy. Super busy. Walking around hunched over, holding little hands busy. This was a month in which Charlotte took off. Literally. She is always on the go. She mastered crawling & now wants nothing to do with sitting. This revelation makes bathing a new Mama Olympics event... an event in which I am not even close to being medalist. She loves to eat, but you probably knew that by glancing at those cheeks, right? We really didn't do Baby Lead Weaning like I had such high ambitions of doing. We have been doing purees and adding new textures as we progree. We skipped rice cereal. We are currently doing the Lil Bit...

Let's just put this out there, we picked Charlotte before Charlotte was a princess.  ;)  And I'm not sure that the royal baby will ever be called Charlie or Charlie Bug and I'm even more certain that I don't care what they named their kid.  It's just about to be an amazingly popular baby name and we were TOTES ahead of that trend. Charlotte is 9 months old already! Stats Weight:  20 lbs, 12 oz (86.13 %ile) Length:  29.75 inches (98.75 %ile) Head circumference:  18.23 inches (96.69 %ile) This girl is perfect.  She is proportional and amazingly squishy. Teeth:  still just the 2 lower, but I'm confident she'll have a few top teeth soon.  She's been a drool machine lately and everything is back to being in her mouth. Charlotte likes... ... walking around the house (holding mama and daddy's fingers) ... Army crawling, especially when she can pull on the high pile carpet in her room ... those Gerber wheel treat things ... bath time ...

Better late than never... Charlotte was a miserable bug on the 8th so we opted to focus on taking care of her rather than trying to capture photos.  We've had a busy, busy month and as hard as I thought those weekly bump updates were, it's even harder to keep on top of these updates; I think this is partly because I refuse to admit that another month has passed and partially because I am exhausted at a l l times.  All of them. Stats We had multiple opportunities to measure Charlotte this month; we had THREE doctor visits in 2 weeks for our sick little nugget.  She's currently weighing in around 19 pounds, 15 ounces.  She goes for her next well-baby visit in early May and I suspect she'll 20 pounds and somewhere in the vicinity of 29 inches. Teeth:  2 lower chompers have emerged! Charlie is kind of a big deal.  She wakes up around 5:30-6 and snuggles with Mama until it's time to get up for the day.  We get ready for school and make the 30 minute d...

I say this every month and I mean it every month:  I don't know where the past month has gone.  I don't understand how time passes so quickly and in the blink of an eye, I am rocking a nearly-mobile chunk in the glider and gone are the days of rocking a (relatively speaking) itty bitty.  Every day, Charlotte's personality emerges just a little more and we learn who we're workin' with and I am so incredibly thankful for the baby we know and love.  The other night, I was rocking Charlie and looking down at her, sleep-drunkenly thinking about the logistics of how we came to meet this sweet girl.  Of course we had wished for a baby 4 years before we met her, but if that had happened, we wouldn't have had Charlotte.  Because when you think about it, right down to a cellular level, it physically would not have been Charlotte.  It wouldn't have been the exact combination of egg & sperm that brought these cheeks into the world.  Sometimes I thank God ...

Charlotte celebrated the big .5 this weekend by meeting a new friend and then visiting with Nana and Grandpa this afternoon!  We went out for sushi and she was an excellent dinner date!  She was a little fussy when we got there (cried the entire drive from Ashippun to Pewaukee) but did okay when we arrived and she got to sit at the table with us.  The spoon from Grandpa's miso soup was a big hit! It's hard to believe that 6 months have already passed and that in the same amount of time (duh) we'll be celebrating Charlie's 1st Birthday!  I've started giving some thought to how we might celebrate and am so excited that we'll be close enough that family can join us to celebrate!  In the mean time, I am all about this cheeky babe and all of the smiles and raspberries she throws our way!   Charlie loves ... bath time ... Mommy snuggles ... Daddy Blast Off ... Nuby ring ... Gabby the Ghost owl ... sitting up by herself ... having a picnic...

5 months?  What?  How is this possible ?!  We've been so incredibly busy this past month, I can't even fully comprehend it to be honest.  I feel like I struggle to get things accomplished in a timely manner sometimes because I'm busy learning my new job and busy being a kick ass mom.  Laundry just takes a backseat.  ;)  I did make a legit dinner tonight so I feel pretty good about that, but then we had to inhale it to get Charlie into the bathtub before she slipped past the "I'm so tired" zone and into "Fuck this, I'm done" territory.  We nailed it. We had our Mommy Snuggles  and she was out like a light. She's finally getting over this cold/flu bug thing and I'm pretty happy to see her back to her normal self, though I'm fearful that she's now teething.  Perhaps her 6 month update will include a new tooth!  I didn't get teeth until much later but I'm not sure if that's a hereditary thing or just luck of the draw.     ...

I always knew that time would fly once a baby joined us, I've heard people say for years that they blinked and their babies were grown.... those first weeks of zero sleep and trying to figure out what made our little one happy were exhausting and felt like slow motion while all the while flying by!  Suddenly we were celebrating 1 month, 2 months... and here we are today.  4 months.  This kid has changed my life in so many ways, all of them positive. The stats... 16 pounds, 25.5 inches of cheeks and giggles are all ours! Charlotte loves... - the moving butterflies on her play mat - this Taggie blanket I accidentally ordered for her on Amazon during a late night pumping session - bath time - her Packer lovey from inspired3crochet on Etsy - Mortimer the Moose (one does not simply leave home without it) - Daddy Blast Off (Porch thrusting her into the air above his head) - story time (currently loving Boss Baby and Little Blue Truck) Charlotte does not love......

We have officially made it through the fourth trimester.  I firmly believe that it's a thing and having the mindset of helping C through a 4th trimester of development made it easier (I think) to handle the sleepless nights and some of the fussiness we encountered (though there honestly wasn't much *knock on wood*). || What Charlotte is wearing || ... 6 month onesies ... 6 month pants ... 0-6 month socks from Old Navy || Charlotte likes || ... sharing good morning smiles & chatter with momma & daddy when we get her out of her crib ... the silly songs momma & daddy make up to entertain her ... a good, snug swaddle (best sleep ever) ... a good blow out just to keep us on our toes ... bath time  ... walks ... kicking her feet ... shouting talking || Charlotte dislikes || *We're pretty aware of Charlotte's dislikes -- she's pretty vocal about it. ... the long car ride to the cabin ... being in the backseat of Momma's car by herself ... b...