Summer Fun in Maine

Elizabeth, Aunt Adrienne, Noah, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Bernie, Angie, Grammy, Meme, Cory

Meme, Noah and Elizabeth

Charlotte and Great Uncle Billy

Fun in the pool with Daddy

Ms. Serious and Grammy

Charlotte and Great Aunt Kathy

Meme feeding Charlotte cheerios

Playing with Cayden

Maine BFF Sophie

This weekend Cory was in a golf tournament in Maine with his good friend Andy from UMaine on Friday and Saturday, so I spent Friday with his wife Anne and their children Cayden and Sophie who are just too cute! We had such a nice day just spending time together and hanging out at Andy's parents pool, which is next door. Charlotte just loved playing with Cayden and hanging with her Maine BFF. Andy, Anne, Cory and I went out for a nice dinner on Friday night after the tournament, while Andy's parents watched the kids (thanks Mr. and Mrs. Smith!!). It was so great to have some adult time with Andy and Anne! We wish that we lived closer to them.

Before heading to Meme's on Saturday Charlotte got to spend a little time with her favorvite babysitter Christa (who is Andy's sister and we are still hoping will quit her job to take care of Charlotte full time!) Chartlotte just adores Christa!

We then headed to Meme's for the rest of our visit in Manie. We had a lovely day Sat hanging out by the pool and relaxing. And Sunday we celebrated Meme's 82nd birthday with her children, grandchildren (one great grandchild) and two of her sisters. It was a very special day for her and everyone had such a nice time. I do loving spending time with Meme, she reminds me so much of my grandmother who passed away when I was 12 and whom I was very close with. Meme holds such a special place in Cory's heart and I love to hear him tell me stories of spending summers in the pool at her house. She is an amazing woman, an inspiration to us all.

I started this blog to keep people updated on Charlotte's world, but as I write new posts about our adventures, it makes me reflect on our life and I can't help but get sentimental when I think about the amazing friends and family we have. Although we don't get to see some of our close friends that often, we are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives. In a perfect world we would all live in the same neighborhood! It's amazing how having a child can make you see things in a new light and appreciate each day. Life is good.

Gymboree with Charlie

Today Charlotte and I tried out a Gymboree class with our friends Charlie and Meg, who we at The MudHouse (our local coffee shop) when Charlotte was 3 months old. Charlie is a month older than Charlotte. We try and get together weekly for a walk or playdate, and they get along great! Charlotte is going to have a tough time deciding between all the men in her life!

Weekend with Jacob

This weekend, Jacob and his father Tom came to visit us and we had a great time. Saturday we went to a beach festival near our house, although it wasn't very exciting, it was a beautiful day to be outside. Sunday we went on a Duck Tour, Jacob was definitly too young for it, but he enjoyed the boat and going in the water. Charlotte was great, she loves looking at new things. Jacob really warmed up to her this weekend, he loved playing with her, now that she can sit up and interact with him. It will be fun to see them together in another year, I think Charlotte will be bossing him around!

Stats

Charlotte had her 6 month appt today (she is just about 6 1/2 months now) and all is good, she weighs 18 lbs 14oz and is 28 inches long. This puts her in the 90th percentile in weight and 98th percentile in height. She did great with the shots. I know I keep saying this, but she really is the best baby, she is just so happy and energetic and curious, its amazing to watch her each day. I keep saying, she is such a good baby, I hope this doesn't mean it will come back to haunt us when she is a teenager!!!

Pool Date

Charlotte with her men, Sam & Will

Andria & Will, Tara & Sam, Sarah & Charlotte


Today we met Andria and Will and Tara and Sam for a pool date at Tara's Club. I met Tara and Sam through my Mass General Mom's group. We work opposite days so we hadn't seen each other in 2 months, it was good to catch up. Sam is another potential suitor for Charlotte!! We had a great day, the babies had a swim lesson, and then we all played in the pool and had lunch. Charlotte went under water, and didn't cry, she was loving it, although she hates wearing her hat! She is a little water bug, think we might have an Olympian!!! We had so much fun, Charlotte loves being around kids.

She was wiped out though, when we got home, she slept for 2hrs 35 minutes!

The story of the "Stump" and a preview of things to come....

Tonight, after celebrating the birth of three of our friends first child, Cory and I were reminiscing and going through the first pictures of Charlotte. We came across these two pictures and thought we should post the story behind them. We call the first picture the "Stump" and it is the first neurotic episode we had in raising Charlotte. To make a long story short, on the first day we were home from the hospital Charlotte screamed non-stop for about seven hours and we were not sure why. During this time, Cory noticed a foul odor emanating from Charlotte and discovered that it was the remnants of her umbilical cord. We spent the night calling friends, family and the doctor trying to figure out if this was normal. Little did we know that Charlotte was not getting enough to eat (not a problem these days) and when the visiting nurse came the next day we found out that she had lost a pound from her birth weight. Thankfully the visiting nurse reassured us that the odor from the stump was normal. In a funny twist at some point when we were changing Charlotte later that day the stump fell off and to this day we don't know where it is. Luckily though, after this the stench was gone and we were so happy.

The second photo is a favorite of ours and is a picture of the three of us just before we left the hospital. As you can see from Charlotte's expression in the photo, this picture foreshadowed what we were getting into for the next few months. My best friend Sarah (or Dr. Cameron as we called her at the beginning since Cory always joked that she acted like she knew everything) later said that she knew from this picture that Charlotte was going to be a high-maintenance baby. Although as I have noted we had a challenging first few months we would do it all over again now that we have this amazing little person who is so curious and has such a fun personality already.

Baby Mania!

Padraig John

Mary Ryan

Leo Jon

Sarah, Charlotte and Leo

Three of our very dear friends welcomed their first babies this week. Monday Aug 4th, Brian & Catherine O'Sullivan welcomed Mary Ryan, arriving almost 4 weeks early, weighing 5lbs 9oz. Friday, Aug 8th, Laurie and Jon Lovering welcomed Leo Jon at 3:25pm 7lbs 14oz. And finally after 36 long hours of labor, Sat Aug 9th, Beth and Anthony Purcell welcomed Padraig John weighing 8lbs 4oz arriving 9 days late. All the babies are doing great and Charlotte is anxiously awaiting to play with her new friends. Congrats!!!!

Boston BFF's

Today we had our weekly playdate with Lily and Jane Gidopoulos. I am so lucky to have Denise to vent to weekly about life! She has been such a good friend to me and I am thrilled we have daughters so close in age and that will grow up together. I promise I won't blog everyday, but just wanted to post pictures from when they were 2 weeks old until now, at 6 months, what a change!!! Jane is long and lean and Charlotte, well she takes after her parents, and has some meat on her!!!

Daddy & Charlotte

Took these pictures last night. As part of our nighttime routine, after her tubby we read to her. She is finally starting to actually sit there while you read the story, instead of eating the books!!
The bottom picture is from the 2nd day she was home. I can't believe how much she has changed. She doesn't even look like the same baby!

6 months old

Charlotte is 6 months old today! I can't believe it. People said it goes by so fast, but those first few months, were sooo slow! She is rolling over all the time, sitting up, and she now sleeps on her belly. She is really such a good girl and so fun. We are still working on naps, she doesn't really have a schedule yet and takes 3 a day ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, so I am hoping that changes by the time she starts daycare next month! She is eating 2 meals, breakfast and dinner and absolutely LOVES food! Although the spitting up hasn't decreased at all like everyone said it would once she started food! Oh well, if that is the worst thing, we can handle it!