doctor doctor

Well, we were supposed to leave for St. Louis today for Thanksgiving, right after Charli's 1 year doctor's appointment. I was hoping Charli would sleep on the plane, since I knew she was going to have to get a few shots and I was going to give her some Tylenol. Unfortunately, our flight was cancelled and we're not leaving until tomorrow, so here we still are. Perhaps you are wondering what this picture has to do with the doctor's office? Well, if you look carefully, you can see a bandaid where she got some shots.

Charli is 29 1/4 inches long (50th percentile) and 18 lbs. 9 oz. (15th percentile). That's 5 percentile points higher than last time! She's catching up! Yay! Although, as I have been telling anyone, I have actually come to terms with Charli's weight. I no longer think she's starving at all. I have finally internalized what everyone has been telling me, and I think Charli is perfectly healthy and happy eating however much she feels like eating. It's very liberating.

We are supposed to stop with the formula and start with the whole milk now, so we'll be mixing our formula with milk until it's gone. This could be very liberating, too. We are also supposed to be weaning Charli off the bottle, so we're going to stop with the morning bottle and no bottles during the day - only the sippy cups and straws and whatever else we can get her to drink from. I think we'll wait a bit to get rid of the bedtime bottle. It's just so convenient for helping her get to bed... We are also supposed to stop feeding her if she wakes up in the middle of the night. Charli can have honey now, having passed a year. Dr. Rostek said she can pretty much have anything now, except maybe we could hold off on peanut products - but we've already given her peanut butter, so I'm not too worried about that.

Charli had to get 4 shots today, and we brought the pacifier, which she has just started really liking. I forgot to give her the tylenol before the shots, so she had it right after which was a nice distraction. The pacifier worked really well - she had two shots before she quite figured out that she had to stop sucking on it in order to cry. It's so sad when she gets all those shots. They really just stick the needles in her, which I guess is how they do it to adults too, but it just looks so much more brutal when the needle looks half as big as your limb. She got her first half of a flu vaccination and has to go back for the other half in a month, because the first flu shot they give in 2 doses. She also has to have a blood test, which they apparently take out of a vein, so I imagine that will be very traumatic. We tried to go get it over and done with, but they couldn't do it before the holiday because the processing wouldn't get done in time, so we're going to have to go back for that, too.

Dr. Rostek said Charli was very social, which to Brian meant she got an A. I was able to say she did everything else he asked about, so I also think she got an A. Plus, her weight percentile went up. So, in spite of the fact that she could only get 1/2 a flu shot, we couldn't get her blood test at all, and our flight to St. Louis was cancelled, it was still a pretty successful day. :)

3/4

Holy moly, Charli is 9 MONTHS OLD today. That's 3/4 of a year!

We just got back from her 9 month checkup, and Charli is 16 lbs. 3 oz, and 27 3/4 inches long. She laid very still and stretched out for her length measurement this time, so this is probably the most accurate measurement we've ever gotten. For length, she is 50th percentile, head size 40th, and *gasp* for weight, now she has dropped to 10th percentile! She is starving! No wonder her pants won't stay on! And here I thought she had finally started eating enough! *SOB*

OK, now that that is out of my system (for the moment), I can tell you that Charli has really been eating a lot better, once I made the discovery that she doesn't like things that taste bad. Sour is not really a problem, but bland or grainy are both non-starters. I have started making her pasta (these little things called melon seeds, which look like - you guessed it! - melon seeds), and she LOVES it. I mix up all kinds of vegetables, like carrots, spinach, corn, peas, bell peppers, green beans, whatever we've got, throw in some of the tomato sauce and season to taste, add it to the pasta and Charli eats it like a champ.

Back at the doctor's office, Charli had no shots today. However, that didn't seem to matter. She still screamed like, well, a baby, even though nothing traumatic happened at all. It's clear she retains some memory of having shots at the doctor's office, because she was fine with all the people coming in and measuring and talking, until Dr. Rostek started listening with the stethoscope. Then she got worried and started crying, and was not able to be calmed. It got worse until he actually had to lay her down (which is the position in which one gets shots), and then she really let loose. She screamed until well after the doctor was done, and when I laid her on her back to put her pants on she about blew the walls out. Once we left the room, everything was fine again.

Charli has been doing all kinds of developing! She has stopped wandering blindly over the edges of things, and now recognizes the visual cliff and hesitates. She still misjudges some of the time (especially when she decides "OK, I'll stop here, but I'm going to turn around and sit down"), but it's such a tremendous improvement! Brian and I are grateful. She likes to look at pictures of other babies, and occasionally tries to put her finger in their mouths. She's a lot better at picking things up with her fingers, she looks for things when she drops them or when we hide them behind our backs, she looks where you point (sometimes). She is pulling herself up better than ever, and has become quite comfortable with only 3 points of support - usually both legs and an arm, but today she had both her hands down and she started waving one of her legs around. Several days ago she actually took both hands off my knee, so she was just on her feet and leaning her butt against my hand. She's more interactive than ever, and really interested in teeth, fingernails, and shoes.

That's all for now! Check out the new pictures on the site, and we're looking forward to the reunion next week!

duh - 6 months

It's crazy what important things one might forget to blog about. Thursday was Charli's 6 month birthday! It's been a whole 6 months! Where does the time go? And to further illustrate that question, a friend at the bbq yesterday pointed out that it was almost Brian's and my first anniversary! How can it be? But it is true. Brian already realized that our anniversary was coming up, apparently, but I did not. I'm the worst.

So anyway, with the 6 month birthday comes the 6 month doctor's visit, which in turn comes with the 6 month measurements! How exciting! Charli is 25 inches long, and she weighs 14lbs 1oz, which, of course, I think is not enough. She is now in approximately the 20th percentile for weight (at 4 months she was in the 25th percentile, but the doctor says they usually drop a little bit when they start eating solids), but she's also in the 25th percentile for length and head size, so she's proportional. It makes me feel better when I can remember that, but for the most part, I continue to think that I'm starving her. To counter that perception, we are just starting to supplement with formula. I don't think she likes it too much, but she drinks it. She also made horrible faces today when I tried to feed her homemade squash, broccoli, and carrots, but of course, I wasn't videoing.

I know I'm not really starving her. The doctor (and everyone else) says she's perfectly healthy, and she's obviously happy. It's just some mental problem I have; I can't help it. I know in my head she's doing fine, but in my heart of hearts (or is that my stomach?), I think she could eat more if it were available, and that would be better for her. I don't recall growing up hungry. I don't know what would make me this way. Brian has learned to ignore it. Sam has not, but she was on her way.

12 lbs. 4 oz.

Nothing to report today really, except that we had to go pick up some baby stuff at Natural Resources, where I've been at least 3 times before, and for the first time I noticed that they have a baby scale. So, Charli weighs 12 lbs. 4 oz., with her clothes on! Yay!

Also, here's another picture of her in wine country.

2 month checkup

Thursday, January 24, Charli had her 2 month checkup, which involved getting 4 shots. It was actually not as traumatic as last month, when she only got one shot... well, until we got home. The shots knocked her out for a few hours, we interviewed a nanny, and then I (foolishly) woke her up and it was all over. She made her special super high pitched super loud noise. A lot. She also got all pale and freaked me out and we called the paranoid parents hotline - they told us she was fine, just in pain, and get some baby tylenol. That stuff works wonders. She was knocked out again (a common side effect of all the vaccinations), but when she would half wake up, she didn't scream and wake herself fully up. Phew!

To remind me of how great she is normally, I had to keep looking at the picture from BEFORE the shots...

p.s. She's 10 lbs 5 oz, and 22 inches long! That's 50th percentile for both height and weight, so I guess she's completely average. Of course, they don't have a "cuteness" chart. If they did, she'd be 99th percentile for sure!

1 month checkup...

Well, today was Charli's 1 month checkup. Korin went it alone this time, as I went to work and tried to get something done before the holidays. The two notable items from today were:

• Korin found out first hand that Charli really hates shots. She got her Hepatitis B shot today and was none to pleased...

• We have a weight update! Last night we had a little "guess the weight" game. The low guess was 7lbs2oz, the high was 7,7. We were all blown away to find out she is at 7lbs. 12oz!!!

So it looks like everything is going pretty well! We also have our webcam set up for Xmas tree visitation, so hopefully the Schweisses will come through with their side of the bargain!

-B