Charlotte Egeria Jewell -- birth, onward

first crawling steps!

charlotte — Sun, 06 May 2007 00:53:09 +0000

Charlotte just rolled over on mom’s bed, after I put on her diaper, got on all fours, and hand-knee-hand-knee, two legitimate crawling steps!

First “sentence”

charlotte — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:48:39 +0000

This morning, Charlotte kept asking for water. She’d drink then stop so I’d put it down. Then she’d whine and point, so I’d sign (and say) “more” “water?” She’d nod and I’d give her some.

Then she signed “more” and I said to her “more what?” and she signed “water”!

This is the first real two-word grouping she’s done! She’d often sign “more” but mostly that meant “food”. I’d say “more what?” and never get an answer. So this is a big step!

Dragging

charlotte — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 04:42:43 +0000

So just now, Charlotte and I were playing with a long plastic chain. I dragged it in circles in front of her and around her. She laughed in delight!

Then I let her hold it and drag it. She kept stopping after a few steps each time, looking back at the noise.

Then, onto the rug, she turned to see why it *stopped* making noise!

It was fun, from tile kitchen., to hardwood, to rug! We walked all around the house, sometimes she would shake it to make it rattle!

Communication

charlotte — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:51:58 +0000

Charlotte gets *so* happy whenever she is understood! It’s like she did something big! She grins and giggles and wiggles like she’s so proud of herself!

POTTY!!!!!!!

charlotte — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:43:40 +0000

Charlotte just signed “potty”. I said, “potty?” and she smiled, so I put her on the potty. She sat for a minute or two, then went!!! I said, “done?” and she signed done, so I put her back into her clean diaper!

HOLY CRAP!!!!! (Pun intended. ) IT’S NOW ALL FINALLY WORTH IT!!!!!

(Of course, that was an hour ago, and I just checked and, indeed, she had wet her diaper…so we’re not out of the woods yet! But we’re getting closer!!!)

Fears

charlotte — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:21:04 +0000

In the last couple weeks, Charlotte has started getting very clingy when she’s afraid. It used to be that she’d just cry. Now she’ll hear a truck go by and she’ll nearly clambor up me! She does this when she sees or rides the train at the zoo too.

Signs!

charlotte — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:12:53 +0000

Charlotte has exploded into sign language! Here’s a list of all the words she knows:

In ASL:
Bird
Dog
Cat
Eat/nurse
Book
Flower
Ball
Shoes
Doll
More
Car
Teething pills
Milk (in bottle)
Biiiig cat (lion/tiger)
Yuck - take out of mouth
Done *
Potty *
Cold *
Hot (doesn’t sign, knows what it means)

Spoken words:
Wow
Socks
Shoe
No
That *
This *
Cold *
Cat *
Yummy yogurt *

(*said once or twice, but not consistently.)

Today, she added the sign for “cheese” - in ASL you rub your flat palms together like you’re squishing the cheese. Charlotte wipes one palm hard across the other.

As I was writing this, she signed “shoes” so I got out her shoes and she said aloud “shoo” and banged them together!

She’s really exploding into language!

Thoughts, 1.5 weeks later

charlotte — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 22:27:32 +0000

Not time now to write up the whole birth. That will have to come later. But it does need to be written. I find myself bursting into tears at odd places when I tell the story — lots of stuff to process there…

But I made this blog, and can now write out things as they happen for folks to read — and spare the lists that I’ve been posting to.

Charlotte is gaining weight quickly — good strong healthy baby. Breastfeeding has been very variable — one day she hardly fed but for 5 minutes each time, 4 hours apart, and then would fall into a deep sleep that she would not be roused from. The next day she fed for 15 minutes each hour for most of the day. She’s gaining fast, so I’m simply letting her set the pace. She does a lot of comfort-nursing, however, but then, if she needs comfort, why not? What is it hurting? It’s the way she wants to be comforted, so why should I try to find a different way to comfort her?

She’s been getting more fussy, though, and a lot of times seems unconsolable. She also gets frustrated easily. I just do the best I can to comfort her. I’m a bit sad, however, that she is more easily comforted by Scott or my mom than by me — I just have the breast, and that’s sometimes all she wants from me… Kind of annoying. I can sing cute songs too!

Anyway, it’s another lazy day here. Scott’s at work, and Charlotte sleeps and mom and I read. Maybe I’ll take a nap and cuddle with her — that’s sure a nice feeling!

Kiki