Charlie weighs 9 lbs 7 oz now. He's been a "medium" easy/difficult newborn... something between Lucy and Oliver (right in there with Elliot, except he sleeps better). He usually sleeps for 6-hour stretches at night, with a break between them for burping and looking around. Different from our first two, he does NOT hate the car, which is a blessing. I can't remember how Oliver felt about the car at this age (I think he didn't hate it as much as his siblings), but Charlie falls asleep when we get on the highway and only screams if he needs to be changed or fed. It's amazing.
His face has filled out some, and he has noticeably improved head control and neck strength.
His spitting up has decreased steadily over the past 3 weeks, though he still spits up more than the other kids when they were newborns.
Poor guy has had 2 upper respiratory infections, thrush, and a stye in his first month.
Along with the frenotomy and circumcision... I'd say it's been kind of a rough month for him.
But he's doing pretty well, for a fourth born in the middle of cold/flu season.
Check out this impressive head lift! (above)
Being adorable is exhausting.
Our first outing as a family of six was to get a Christmas tree. Lucy and Elliot picked, and we were home pretty quickly to get it set up.
All of the kids love holding Charlie.
Actually, Lucy and Oliver are the biggest Charlie-holding-enthusiasts of the bunch.
Elliot enjoys holding him, but it doesn't seem to be Elliot's thing at the moment (that's why no pictures of him doing it).
But they're all pretty smitten.
Doc McStuffins and her snugglebug (below).
I'm not sure why, but she suddenly loves making these funny faces in pictures (below).
Especially when holding Charlie.
Oliver just seems to kind of zone out when he's holding Charlie. He usually gets very still. Sometimes he'll hold Charlie for several minutes... longer than you'd think his attention span would be.
Lucy has progressed, from holding Charlie only seated with a pillow, to holding him while seated without much support, to now holding him cradled in her arms even while standing!
I don't walk away from her, but I'm impressed at her ability to reliably support his head and body and transfer him without incident.
Lucy's first proper bath was in the kitchen sink. How different Charlie's was! He was surrounded by little friends during his first bath.
He was not a fan of it. At all. Screamed the whole time, which was not long -- maybe 1 or 2 minutes.
He was happy to be out and in his snuggly little towel that was a gift from our neighbor.
I adore this fleece outfit. I remember being sad when Elliot outgrew it. I'm glad Charlie's gotten a chance to give it some use.
We (read: Daniel) finally got the swing down from the attic last night. Everyone was quite excited about it.
It doesn't seem to do anything magic for Charlie, but he doesn't seem to hate it, either.
If he's in a good mood, he'll tolerate being in it for a little while -- maybe 10 or 15 minutes. At this point, the "big kids" are more interested in the mobile than Charlie.
We've kept Charlie's face scratches to a minimum, largely thanks to snug-fitting socks on his fists. This has resulted in some seriously stinky hands, but his face sure is pretty.
Nursing is going well since the frenulum issue and thrush are behind us. Breastfeeding was so challenging with all the kids, especially at the beginning. But it's really quite sweet, snuggling and feeding this little person during quiet (or even chaotic) moments during the day. I quite like it.
Charlie Owen, we sure are happy you are here!! This month we've enjoyed cuddling you and taking care of you and chatting about the little qualities that are different about you than your siblings. We love you and can't wait to know you better!
Such a wonderful post! I love getting to know little Charlie through your stories!
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