Tummy Time Champ

Charlie has gotten really great at "tummy time". His little neck muscles are getting so strong!!

Check it out:

It's so funny when he has his head and feet up in the air. He flops around like a fish out of water while making all these grunting noises. So stinkin' cute.

He hit another milestone last week by starting to roll from belly to back!! He can't do it all the time, and gets frustrated when it doesn't work, but he's getting better at it! He hasn't even attempted to roll from back to belly, but I'm sure that's not far behind.

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So, Moms... if you have a kicker, you should totally buy this:

It's the Fisher-Price Discover 'N Grown Kick and Play Piano Gym.

Charlie LOVES this thing. Any time I need to get something done, he'll happily lay on this thing and kick like crazy. There's a mirror that hangs right above his face too, which he's completely entranced by.

Seriously WORTH.EVERY.PENNY. And at $50, that's not that many pennies!

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This picture has nothing to do with anything in this post, but I like it, so I'm going to share it anyway :)

Book Review: "Faithful Place"

"Faithful Place" by Tana French

SUMMARY from GoodReads

Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen, growing up poor in Dublin's inner city, and living crammed into a small flat with his family on Faithful Place. But he had his sights set on a lot more. He and Rosie Daly were all ready to run away to London together, get married, get good jobs, break away from factory work and poverty and their old lives.

But on the winter night when they were supposed to leave, Rosie didn't show. Frank took it for granted that she'd dumped him-probably because of his alcoholic father, nutcase mother, and generally dysfunctional family. He never went home again.

Neither did Rosie. Everyone thought she had gone to England on her own and was over there living a shiny new life. Then, twenty-two years later, Rosie's suitcase shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place, and Frank is going home whether he likes it or not.

Getting sucked in is a lot easier than getting out again. Frank finds himself straight back in the dark tangle of relationships he left behind. The cops working the case want him out of the way, in case loyalty to his family and community makes him a liability. Faithful Place wants him out because he's a detective now, and the Place has never liked cops. Frank just wants to find out what happened to Rosie Daly-and he's willing to do whatever it takes, to himself or anyone else, to get the job done.

MY RATING

MY THOUGHTS

Much like French's other two novels, I loved this one as well. She really is a master at what she does and I hope she continue to write!

With a baby in the house it took me a lot longer to get through this one that usual, but I still enjoyed it. It's a very well written mystery. Just when you think you have everything figured out, French tosses in a little curve ball and leaves you second guessing yourself.

I will say though, that my original suspect ended up being the culprit. I just changed my mid several times before the end of the book!

French uses a unique writing style in her novels that I really enjoy. She takes a secondary character from a previous book, and gives them their very own story. I'm really curious to see if she writes a fourth book and who the carry-over character may be! If I had to guess, I'd say that she'll use Scorcher Kennedy, but I'd love to see her use a female character next time.

Along with "The Likeness" and "In The Woods", I would highly recommend this book!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Two Months

I can't believe it's been 2 whole months already. I have a feeling every one of these monthly posts will start this way ;)

Charlie is developing quite the little personality already. He smiles and coos more and more everyday. He does this weird little 'Sesame Street Count' laugh, but no real giggles or laughs yet, I can't wait for those!

Two Month Stats:

Weight: 9 pounds 12 ounces (15th %)

Height: 23 1/4" (71st %)

Clothing: He's in all 0-3 and 3 month. The 3 month Carter's clothing seem to fit his long and narrow frame the best, especially the onsies.

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers Size 1

Charlie decided to put himself on a schedule when he was about a month old. Surprisingly, he's stuck with it (knock on wood!)! He's a little creature of habit, just like Mommy! I hope he keeps this up when I go back to work... which is March 1st. Knowing a time when he's going to be ready to nurse or nap makes my days go a lot easier. I have a feeling that changing his environment is going to throw a monkey wrench in our little bubble though. Only time will tell.

Here's to hoping that we win the Powerball so I don't have to go back to work in a few weeks!! :)

In looking at his one month photos, I can't believe how much he's changed already!

When he was just about a month old, we decided it was time to transition him into his crib and his own room. I was a little unsure about it, and admittedly a nervous wreck the first night, but it went really well!! For his first two weeks home he was in the Rock 'N Play by our bed, then in the Pack 'N Play for two weeks. He's been in the crib for a month now.

He just looks so tiny in that big space!

He sleeps well at night, for which I'm SUPER grateful. We started somewhat of a bedtime "routine" a few weeks ago and it seems to be working well. He gets a 3.5oz bottle at about 7/7:30, then gets a fresh diaper and PJ's and is out for the night between 8:30 and 9. Most nights we're able to lay him down when he's drowsy but still awake, and he puts himself to sleep. After he's out, he's asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning, wakes up to nurse, then back to sleep until about 6 and up for the day by about 7.

He doesn't seem to be a fan of napping during the day. Some days he'll sleep a ton, but other days I have to fight to get him to take a 20 minute nap. I'm hoping that daycare will be able to help get him on a more consistent nap schedule over time.

Charlie started to smile this past month. His first official smile was on January 18th. It seems like as soon as I get the camera out, he stops smiling! The little stinker :) I'm still working on getting him to smile for the camera. He started cooing like crazy too, it's so stinking cute!

We're keeping up with tummy time and his neck and back muscles are getting stronger everyday. He does really well supporting his own head when we're holding him against our chests.

Oscar seems to be getting used to having Charlie around all the time. He's still pretty anxious, especially at night lately, but it seems as though he likes to be close to Charlie almost all the time. He stopped sleeping in our bed with us at night, we think the noise from the baby monitor must bother him. We try our best to pay him a lot of attention, but it's really hard sometimes. I feel bad for my puppy :( I hope things get better with him soon.

Charlie had his two month shots this past week, he did pretty great with them. Of course, he cried like mad when he got the shots, but afterwards he was all smiles! He had one oral and three shots this time around.

I'm adjusting to Motherhood. I think. I learn something new almost everyday! It's definitely an adventure, that's for sure.

As I previously mentioned, I will be going back to work on March 1st. While I'm excited to have some adult interaction on a regular basis, I'm mega sad that I won't get to spend every day with my little peanut :( He'll be with Grandma on Mondays and Fridays, and at daycare on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I hope that works out to be a good balance to help him get used to being around other kids and caregivers that aren't family.

In the meantime, I'm trying my best to enjoy all the time I get to spend with him. Once I go back to work I'll really cherish the weekends, I'm sure.

We did a little Valentine's Day photo shoot the other day with Charlie and Oscar... here's a little preview of that (more to come soon!):

And here are a few random photos from the past month:

Look Alikes

"Who does he look like?"

Everybody and their Mother asks this question when you have a baby. At first, the baby just looks like... well, a baby! As days go by, it becomes a little more obvious as to which features he inherited from which parent.

Well, it's now pretty apparent that our son is definitely his fathers son! At one month old, Charlie is Jamie's baby double. The child looks nothing like me!

Photographic Evidience:

Charlie (left) is about 3 weeks old in this picture and Jamie (right) is 1 month old.

The nose, the cheeks, the eyes, the mouth.. it's all Daddy!

I guess it makes sense, because Jamie looks just like his Dad (although he claims he doesn't see it). The only thing I've noticed that Charlie has from me is my crooked pinkies. Yay for strong crooked pinky genes! 

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Side note: I've been a bad blogger lately. Who knew parenting was so time consuming? I have lots to post about, but haven't had time to get on the computer and post them! This is actually the first time in over a week that I've even turned my computer on. So anywho.. there's more to come!