Charlotte is One!

Can you believe it?  Actually, I can.  People always say it goes so fast, and it does, but I feel like I got to spend a lot of time with Charlotte and I really savored every moment.  Last night, I made a video with highlights of her first year.  The keen eye will notice a few things about this video:  Charlotte was F-ing tiny when she was born;  the proportion of videos from her first month of life compared to the other 11 months shows how completely enchanted we were with her, or it shows how we had more time to make vidoes when other people were caring for our baby;  that we could not find the Flip camera when we got home from the hospital and did not find it until early 2011;  Charlotte has always been very "vocal"; she is really funny; and Charlotte is no longer tiny.  In fact, yesterday at the park we were on the swings with another mom and baby.  She asked me how old Charlotte was and I said, "she'll be one tomorrow!"  and when I asked her how old her baby is, she said 14 months.  Charlotte was a giant compared to this other girl.   Poor Charlotte, she is going to be the tallest girl in class, just like mommy.  We'll see how tall she is when we take her to her 12 month appointment this afternoon.

By the way, I just learned that today is the most common birthday.  Having something to do with New Year's Eve....

Baby So Real

When Charlotte's 6 month birthday arrived, it felt like a big milestone.  Where has the time gone!?  I can't believe how big she is now.  I mean, seriously, I can't believe it.  In this picture she is next to one of her preemie sleepers.  Look how tiny it is - it looks like doll clothes!  

2 Months

Today was Charlotte's 2 month appointment with the pediatrician.  She is 22 inches and 9 pounds 9 ounces.  You could probably watch her grow right now.  Preemies can grow even faster than term babies, called "catch-up growth", and land on their regular growth chart by 1 or 2 years old.  Charlotte's doctor thinks she will catch-up to her peers by 9 months or so.  When she was born, she was below the 5th percentile for weight and below the 20th percentile for height.  Now, she has jumped to the 25th percentile for weight and 40th percentile for height.  As my mom would say, she is really thriving!

This is How We Do

This is a super cute thing that Charlotte does - she often rests her sleepy head on her hands.   

Kangaroo care is when a baby and parent spend a chunk of time "skin-to-skin."  It is used around the world and has been shown to help preemies with respiration, body temperature, weight gain and nursing.      It is also beneficial for bonding, which is important for baby and parents especially when baby is still in the hospital and the parents can't be there all the time.  Mike or I try to do it everyday.   She'll be all wiggly and then when you hold her like this, she becomes totally peaceful.  So peaceful that I used to fall asleep all the time too, until some nurses urged me to start taking naps.  

Charlotte One Week Old

Well, actually she is "34 weeks corrected" since premature baby's ages are their gestational age, but more about that later.

On Tuesday, Ben came to the hospital to take some pictures of his favorite niece.

Ben said, "Emily will you kiss the top of her head.  I know you do it all the time when I am not here."