Babycenter said our little tyke was as big as a kumquat at 10 weeks... and it just stuck. So here we are, a Korean-American and an American-American, starting a family in Macau.
Hello - posting will be brief. Freezing my tail off in ATL visiting family here. Charlotte is windburned and is not so into going outside here. It is 15 degrees or so F.
We are in day 3 of baby jet lag hell. We slept till 1PM yesterday - whoops. This could be funner.
Matt said that Charlotte crawled forward in O'Hare - and I missed it as I was cleaning bottles in the bathroom.
Pictures please!
Charlotte in a cute Donald Duck hat:
In a cute onesie from Jeong-A:
Eight month Gwen impresses:
Charlotte's take:
Charlotte's shirt says "Made in Singapore" from Uncle Rob:
At the Hyatt pool with Joe F:
Charlotte acts out her shirt that says "Tantrums are so last year":
My world is all about sleep. The weekend was horrendous sleep - Charlotte was up 3 times each night (and I was sick over the weekend - so Matt was taking care of all of the women in the family). Wow - that sucketh much. My friend Ling suggested we feed her more - so we have a couple of days mostly for dinner- and it seems to have worked! We were serving about a third of a cup and now we are feeding about a full cup in one sitting. Charlotte is also down a bottle (or so) of Alimentum per day which is also tres bien as that stuff is expensive. We are crossing our fingers that two days make a trend.
Charlotte is also on the verge of crawling. I mean, at any given moment, I am sure when we are not looking. It will happen. In the meantime she goes from the sitting to crawling position and vice versa. Then she scoots backwards some. There is a lot of belly flopping on the floor. Like I said - on the precipice.
I am finally better - thanks for asking. I hate being sick. Too much time inside of my own head is greater detriment than any physical ailment. It is great to be back among the living.
Here is Charlotte dancing to Nobody - her favorite song besides the ABC's:
Here is Charlotte in the borrowed Jumperoo - she jumps like a Russian ballerina!
Ok - all that last week about being able to sleep. It was a false alarm. Charlotte got a viral infection shortly after that post. One that resulted in a grumpy Charlotte and roseola, which was basically a fever for a couple of days (and restlessness for a couple of nights) and then a rash. All during Thanksgiving! Charlotte was grumpy, and there is this fear in the back of my mind that she will not recover to her previous smiley ways, and I will be heartbroken. Luckily she is back to her old unabashedly smiley self - though I wish I could say the same for me. I caught what she has - some superawful viral infection, complete with throat growths and cold sores. I have not been this miserable in recent memory. Eating is such a hassle that I am eating the bare minimum for sustenance - nothing cold and nothing acidic. Yeah, it blows.
Regarding the sleep - she is back to getting up once or twice a night. I would like to tell you that this is the part I love - but I would be lying. This is the part I endure. One painful arthritic step at a time.
Aside from this - Julia, Thomas, and Em were here for Thanksgiving. We all had a hand in making the sides but we outsourced the turkey which was great! Definitely recommended for future gatherings (particularly in the tropics). We even ate outside! It was idyllic. I need to get the pix from Julia (I was a bit wiped out on Thanksgiving (er, Saturday) night...
Here are the pix I do have:
Extreme close up:
Ok ok another Bucky shot. But so cool (focused tongue):
"Say what?"
Uncle Em Returns. Much to poor Bucky's delight:
Charlotte tries to muster a smile with Uncle Em (while sick):
Cranberry sauce in the making:
Charlotte's first (slightly melancholy) Thanksgiving. At least she liked the turkey puree!
Cheeky little bugger:
Contemplative little bugger:
A rare happy tummy time (I think crawling is on the horizon!):
Sit up success (she arrived at this position while starting out at tummy time today. Not during this photo but sometime today!):
Obligatory Toby hair-touch shot:
Way cool Korean mats to sit on. With her flower power pals Lilith and Gwen:
Charlotte has slept through the night (e.g. 7:30 to 5:30 at least) for 6 of the seven nights last week! Hallelujah! A second tooth has emerged as of Sunday. Perhaps it was a month long of teething? Babycenter thinks teething lasts no more than a few days. Bleh on them.
Last week we decided to buy a toy for Charlotte. I opted for fun (infant basketball!) while Matt veered towards the more critical thinking one (shapes going into a turtle's back). We ended up getting the turtle and also a plastic ball (of Disney princesses - slim pickin's at Toys 'r' Us). Guess what? She does not like the turtle and she loves the ball. I appreciate that she has some propensity towards sportiness and perhaps hand-eye coordination (and the piece de resistance - depth perception). Screw learning!
In other news - my arthritis is better when I jog 5 miles a day. Will I have to do this forever?
Here is a video of Charlotte tormenting Bucky while she is feeding. She is eating chicken hence his presence here:
Happy at the park. Looks like she is on a merry-go-round:
Mock surprise at the camera:
"Thanks Dad for catching me!"
"Look! I've got a turtle on my head!"
"What? Turtles are a delicacy? They are delicious!"
Speaking of turtles, here is the aforementioned educational turtle toy - being put to good use:
Happy to eat anything we put in front of her (even tofu!). And a teeth shot:
Charlotte is in a state of flux these days. What was once a routine of bottle feeds, naps, and overhead play gyms has evolved into more exquisite meals (er, purees), more vertical play, and erratic overnight sleeping. This sleeping bit has me in a bit of a tizzy and a grumpy mood, as it is a reminder that my arthritis is not yet over. Blah. Luckily Matt is pinch hitting and doing quite a bit of night waking, taking one (or several) for Team Mom and Dad. Thanks Matt.
Charlotte has her first official shiner. A bruise courtesy of me - she fell off a bed eighteen inches and boy did it suck. It wasn't such a bad fall (she fell so softly I did not immediately realize it) but I felt like crap afterwards. All I was thinking is please don't tell my parents. So if you read this blog please don't tell Kwang and Ock. Thanks.
I really wanted to try baby led weaning but I really enjoy making purees. I love my pressure cooker and my 1000 watt blender! The other day I put white rice in with some chicken thighs in the pressure cooker, blended it up and I have lunch and dinner for a while. I thaw these with carrots, squash, spinach, and (as of today) broccoli. Charlotte has yet to balk at any food (or show any allergic reaction to date) and is very good at the spoon fed puree process. Sometimes she gets bored (ok, often she does) so I sometimes throw Elmo on youtube to finish a meal. Her open mouth smiling throughout provides a nice venue for a plastic spoon to enter. :)
Charlotte is having a growth spurt of sorts. Three meals a day and 5 bottles of milk? Christ that is a lot of food. We weighed her this week and she is 21 pounds. Yikes.
Charlotte is sitting up without falling backwards (so we noticed as of today) and has one tooth! The right bottom one peeked through! Hopefully she can start sleeping better...
Working on perfecting my aperture mode photography this week as well...
I love this Blabla top. Thanks Larry and Paul for this!
Baby Gym in the park (Thanks to Thomas and Em for the gym! It is quite squishy and good):
That darn sky! Again!
Relief after spinning with Daddy:
Happy with Daddy on the slide:
Baby led weaning - with her toys!
Kvatching:
Cheerful with Ling, Lilith, and Gwen:
Ok - this is a Bucky shot. But he looks angelic in this light, no?
"You are a handsome bloke, daddy!"
"Whoa. Marina Bay Sands IS impressive. Good job Mom and Dad!"
Spinach face:
A cute video of Charlotte loving her turtle, again:
