2 MONTHS OLD

Another month has passed in the life of Charlotte Grace! She is definitely not a “newborn” anymore (not just in clothes…she wears 3 months now) but in her behavior and development.  This month has  been so fun because we saw the emergence of her SMILE!

Her favorite place to flash her gorgeous grin is on her changing table.  Something about that changing table is pretty magical to her, and no matter her mood, once you lay her on it she will just start smiling.  It’s the funniest thing!  In the past few days she has started really reacting to Dave and I and smiling when she sees us.  That is just heart melting.  It makes the long sleepless nights and the long fussy days all worth it.  To know that she really knows us now, and smiles in response to us, is just the best.

This past month she has grown A LOT—2 1/2 pounds and over an inch in length!  Each time we give her a bath I discover a new little roll under her neck or on her thighs, haha.  From the beginning I have been a little scared about being able to provide enough calories for her from just breastfeeding, and I think this last month really confirmed that we’re doing just fine.  She just feels more “substantial” now and not so much like a frail newborn.

Charlotte got to spend lots of time with her grandparents from America while they were here, and also continued to get lots of love from her grandparents who live here in Taiwan (my parents live about 5 minutes away.)

We celebrated our first Easter with Charlotte, and it was extra special because she also got dedicated at our church.  It was awesome getting to have both sets of grandparents there.  The short service was definitely emotional since it was something we had always dreamed of doing with Sophia.

Development wise, Charlotte continues to be right on track!  Her neck control has gotten even better (despite HATING tummy time) and she can push her chest off the ground and hold it up using her arms as support.  When she lies on her back we’re already starting to see the beginnings of her rolling over because she turns her head to the side really far and tries to kick her legs.  In the last few weeks she has started reaching for and batting at toys, although her aim is not very good yet.  Her eye sight has also developed more so she can follow me with her eyes and head as I move around the room.  She now gets comforted (or at least stops crying for a few seconds) when she hears our voices, and really loves to be sung to.  Another big discovery for Charlotte this month is her hands!  She loves to suck on them (usually both at the same time) and she is trying hard to find her thumb more and more.  I love this new milestone because she can soothe herself for a few minutes by sucking on them, which buys me a few more minutes of getting chores done.

This month has been a bit challenging with her day sleeping.  She continues to sleep fairly well at night (she still gets up every 2-3.5 hours to eat), but during the day it is almost impossible to get her to sleep by herself.  I have to hold her, or lay next to her, or put her in the baby carrier in order for her to take a nap.  This just means that unless Dave Is home, I really can’t do anything else during the day.  We try to do the same techniques during the day as at night, but once the sun comes up she is over sleeping in her crib!  I really hope that in this upcoming month she will start to nap by herself, and in her crib, during the day so I don’t feel so exhausted and COMPLETELY tied to her all the time.  If any of you have any advice/tips on this please feel free to share!

We do have a few prayer requests for her health.  First, we discovered that she has thrush in her mouth.  Thrush is not really harmful, just an overgrowth of yeast, but it can be really hard to get rid of and causes some soreness in her mouth.  Please pray we’ll be able to get rid of it quickly so she gets some relief and is not on medication for a prolonged period.  Secondly, and a little more serious, is we need prayer for her intestinal tract.  For the past 5 weeks she has had irregular stools (sorry for the TMI) and a test showed she also has blood in her stool.  Usually this is a sign that she has an allergy to something in the breast milk.  The most common allergy is to cow’s milk, so I have cut out all dairy in my diet, but so far her stools are the same.  Yesterday she had another check for blood and we’ll know the results in a day or two.  Thankfully, Charlotte doesn’t seem to be in any discomfort because of this condition.  Still, prolonged mucous and blood in her stool, and diarrhea isn’t good for her.  Please pray that we will have wisdom to know what is causing these irregularities (whether it be another food I need to eliminate from my diet), and that this will not cause any damage to her little body.

Overall, though, Charlotte continues to be a very healthy and happy little girl!

As a stay-at-home mom I try to take each day at a time, and remember that one bad day doesn’t mean the next will be as hard.  I continue to pray for patience, wisdom, and the physical strength to be a good mom (I don’t understand how you moms with more than one child do it!).  I already see how God is teaching me so much through being Charlotte’s mom, and I thank Him for our little miracle every day!