FIVE months.

I am little behind in posting. 

Not going to lie this past month has been filled with so much change that it’s hard to wrap my mind around what actually happened. 

Basically there are two streams of time now: Pre-Virus and Current Virus. As a parent, I never thought in my wildest dreams we would have a child living through a pandemic. In a way I am lucky that she will be too young to remember. But on the other hand, I am constantly worried (like so many parents) for her health and safety. 

Life will continue on and I know we will get through this. At least I have this little sunshine to wake up to every morning. Her smile keeps a lot of things in perspective. 

So, let’s take a look back at what life was like in month five! 

Changes with Charlie…

The biggest change or hurdle was transitioning out of the swaddle. Bret and I were legit scared that she would never sleep again. I think I pestered every person I knew about what to do, how did their kids react, did they do it cold turkey? I felt like a crazy person. 

After listening to a few mamas’ advice, we decided to do it cold turkey. We put her in the nested bean and Charlie looked like she was swatting flies the entire night. Mind you our expectation of going into this process is that she wouldn’t sleep a full night for at least two weeks. The second night was worse. I think we got a few ours of sleep. Maybe. 

So, we decided to switch from the nested bean sleep sack to the Merlin sleep suit. I don’t if it was the switch of the suit or what, but she made it through the night. PHEW. We are lucky because she’s been a good sleeper ever since. 

Besides being unswaddled, Charlie is on the move. She is in full on roll-over-mode. Although, she does get from her back to tummy no trouble, she gets super pissed and yells because hasn’t quite mastered the roll back. Do they just figure that out? Fingers crossed it is soon! 

Another big milestone is she’s now able to face forward in the baby carrier! The first time I tried it I was on a walk with Juniper in our neighborhood and Charlie couldn’t stop giggling or smiling! It was like a whole new world. 

OH! I think one of my favorite things in her development is watching her play in the activity gym. I find it so fun to watch her do the most mundane movements like push a button to watch it light up. Plus, how can you not love her smile? 

Traveling with Charlie….

We took our first family trip to Leavenworth, Washington the first of February. I swear that child is born to travel (which will have to wait). She didn’t fuss the entire time. The only time she melted down was on our return flight home which was in the afternoon during her nap time. I can’t blame her. I will say there is nothing more debilitating than holding a screaming child on a plane. 

Also, if you’ve never been to Leavenworth it’s a great family place! They have a reindeer farm, lots of great eateries, and festivals! 

The last trip we took pre-virus was to Deer Valley and Solitude Mountain in Utah. Again Charlie was a champ. We had multiple sitters watch her, so that trip included our first experience with daycare. Everyone complimented us on how easy Charlie was to take care of. HINT: that thank you needs to go to Taking Cara Babies!! That website is a true life savor. Anyway, Charlie went to all of our dinners (mind you Bret carried her in the baby bjorn mini carrier), but it worked! 

Update on feeding……

I’ve seen a bunch of questions regarding if I am still nursing Charlie. The answer is yes….kind of. I only nurse her in the morning for a bit. With this whole situation I wanted to make sure if something happened to supply chains and I couldn’t give her formula that my milk supply would still be in place. Otherwise, she is 100% supplement fed. 

Also, we started baby led weaning right when we got back from Deer Valley. I plan on updating that in her six month recap! OMG. It’s so fun!

Things We are Loving….
– Carpet spot cleaner: Charlie spits up a little more now since she is formula fed. I found this cleaner from a lifestyle blogger I follow because she has a little girl the same age. I feel like an infomercial, but it literally cleans up everything without having to scrub!! 
– Activity center: Charlie is now the perfect age for this activity center. She loves all the different objects she can play and standing is definitely more her speed now! 
– Magic Merlin Sleep Suit: Quite possibly the greatest invention. She loves the suit and has kept her warm too!