No Pictures, No fun

This weekend was rough for Charlotte. Saturday Grammy left to go home to South Carolina. Then it all went down hill. Mom and Dad and Charlotte had dinner plans for Saturday night. By 2pm Mom wasn't feeling well. She was achey and tired and hot. Soon after Charlotte started getting crankey and started crying. By 4pm Mom was really not feeling well. Charlotte was also getting worse. By 6pm Mom had a 102 fever and Charlotte was refusing to eat and just crying. Dad of course was pulling what little hair he had left out of his head.

After a few calls to nurse on call for Charlotte it was determined she was probably ok. We took her temperature a few times and while it was a little high, not enough to be concerned. Mom on the other hand was told she might have mastitis. Dad did his best to take care of Charlotte saturday night. Rocking her to sleep on his chest. She slept with him most of the night.

Sunday mom called her doctor and she confirmed she had mastitis. She is now on antibiotics and hopefully will be fine by the end of the week. Charlotte on the other hand is still being extremely fussy. Her doctor said to keep an eye on her. Of course we have solicited our mom friends to see what they think. A few ideas below:

Growing Pains
Gas
Acid Reflux (however she is already on Zantac)
Over stimulation
Over tired
Lack of Viatmin D
Allergies to milk
Allergies to Spaghetti Sauce
Allergies to salad
Stress
Conkus

We can't figure it out and hope it passes soon. I keep telling her "no one likes a crying baby" and to "stop acting like a baby" but I don't think she get's it.

Babysitting

Grammy has been busy singing songs to Charlotte and doing her best to help keep her occupied to give Mom a little break. Charlotte seems extremely alert, looking around at everything, taking all of her surroundings in. Grammy has been showing her all the things around the house. Teaching her about the animals on her blanket, and teaching her top hit songs like "Trot Trot to London" and "Hush Little Baby". Mom is also learning some of the songs.

Today is wednesday. Dad took today off of work to spend some quality time at home. This morning mom and dad took the other kids, Abigial and Oliver to the groomers. They cleaned up pretty good! Dad took a nap with Charlotte on the couch for a couple of hours. So nice having his daughter sleep on his chest. Grammy showed Shelby how to use the sewing machine. We can't WAIT to take pictures of Shelby's creations!

Tonight we are all going to attempt to go out to dinner!! We wonder how this will be. Hopefully we will time this right.

Grammy's Here

Me and my sister Abigail were left alone most of the day on Saturday when mom, dad, and Charlotte took off to go to Boston. When they returned they smelled like Burritos from Anna's and they even brought some extra home (although they have not decided to share yet). Even better they brought home Grammy with them!!! We haven't seen her since the wedding!



Abigail had an upset stomach Saturday night and as usual she started eating anything and everything she could find on the ground. Sticks. leaves, lint, you name it she will eat it when she isn't feeling well. Saturday night she got locked in her crate so she wouldn't get sick in the bedroom. My other sister Charlotte had a great nights sleep. Dad was woken up at 12am to feed her and she CHUGGED her bottle in under 1 minute. Then she was out like a light.

Sunday Dad did work down in the basement, replacing the carpet that was ruined when it flooded the other night. Grammy and mom moved furniture around the house and cleaned, then went fabric shopping. When dad was downstairs and everyone else was gone, Abigial decided to eat a door mat. Dad and mom ended up calling the vet and they suggested giving her Hydrogen Peroxide to make her throw it up or else they would need to take her in for emergency surgery.

Below are the pictures.


NEVER a dull moment in the Ronan household!

Baby Gym

Charlotte seems to be pretty happy playing with her baby gym. Oliver also wanted in on the action.....he especially liked the toy that squeaks. We have a feeling eventually the dog toys and baby toys will be one in the same. Dad has been telling Charlotte about her brother Oliver and Sister Abigail. He has been telling her how Oliver and Abigail found her outside one cold night and brought her into the house to mom and dad. One day her hair will grow like theirs and she will also chase kids on skateboards.

First Bottle

Mom and Dad decided to try a bottle out on Charlotte Sunday night. She did great. She chugged it down all the time staring into dads eyes. She had this...."hmm this tastes good but you aren't mom...hey what the heck is going on" look. Dad was just happy to be able to spend some quality time with her. Granted he did have to wear his mask since he still has a terrible cold.

Saturday night Charlotte watched her first football game at Paul and Jena's house. Of course she didn't make it through the whole game, but that's ok, the Patriots lost. We would rather not teach her about dissapointment this early on. Charlotte did amazingly well all weekend long. She slept in her bed both Saturday and Sunday night and actually napped in her bassinett most of the day on Monday. Mom even ventured out of the house Monday to visit Kelly....leaving Charlie home alone with Dad. It was only 30 minutes but it's a first huge step.

Harley Chick

Charlotte showing off her Harley outfit

Clean as a whistle

Charlie got a bath on Friday night. Amazing how big she is getting. She didn't cry at all....she might have even enjoyed it!

Dad is still sick. He is doing his best to avoid all contact with Mom and Charlotte. He has slept in the guest bedroom the last few nights and has been a Lysol spraying freak. He is doing his best this Saturday to do laundry, vacuum, and clean the house so mom can have a little break.

Freedom

Today Charlotte's hands were free! Yes Mom decided not to cover her hands today. She poked her eyes a few times but mom figures she will learn pretty quickly not to stick her fingers in her eyes.

Dad's Sick

Low and behold dad is sick. He is doing his best to NOT pass his cold onto Charlotte.

Rollercoaster

It seems every time I post that Charotte is sleeping well, that same night she ends up being cranky. Then if I post she is cranky she ends up sleeping well.

What I will say is that the last few nights have been a rollercoaster. Sunday night was so bad dad even had to retreat to the guest bedroom to catch 40 winks. Of course this makes for a slightly resentful and certianly tired Mom. Monday night Charlotte did well. Slept for almost 4 hours straight by herself. Last night she slept virtually all night by herself. So who knows what tonight will have in store.

Yesterday Shelby had a tea party with her girlfriends and their babies. Lisa & Colin and Kelly & Brodie came over. Dad isn't sure what they did during the day but when he came home there was plenty of left over cake and chips and fingerfoods.

The plumber also came yesterday to install our gas fireplace logs.

So the update for Wednesday is that Charlotte is well. Mom and Dad have caught up on sleep midweek....although dad is coming down with what feels like a nasty chest cold. Plenty of Zicam and Airborne for him. Lets hope it goes away quick.

One Month Old

Quite a bit of updates coming up.

Thursday 1/5 - Charlotte went to the pediatrician with Mom and Nanny. She had been really fussy during feedings, after feedings, and when she would lay on her back. The doc believes the culprit is Acid Reflux. Nothing a little prescription to Zantac won't fix. We have included some pictures of Charlotte eating her Zantac. She does not like it. Dad tried it. It's peppermint flavored.

She also now weighs in a whopping 7 1/2 pounds!

Friday 1/6 - Paul and Jena came over with dinner again. Charlotte did great and we all hung out, had a little wine (even mom had a glass) and relaxed. Charlotte slept really well Friday night. I wonder why?

Saturday 1/7 - Dad brought Abigail to the vet for a follow appointment. She had an ear infection of some kind. She still has an ear infection. More ear drops. Not fun for her. Dad went to the dump. Mom stayed in bed with Charlotte all morning. Dad made them both Belgian Waffles and Bacon for breakfast.

Saturday afternoon Kelly and Dave had Brodie's Christening in Manchester, NH. It was very nice since we got to sit in the font two rows of the church. The ceremony was great and it was a full Catholic Mass. Dad and Charlotte do not know any of the prayers or words to the hymns so they did their best to keep up. When we were giving Peace (you know the Peace be with you part of church) some stranger shook moms hand then kissed the top of Charlottes head. Luckily we were in church so dad let it go. Charlotte did great, didn't cry the whole ceremony. However mom had a VERY hard time trying to breastfeed in church.

Saturday night we all went back to Dave and Kellys to eat, drink, and be merry. There were 12 kids all running around. Dad did not find it very merry since he had never been around that many kids at once. Ohh and there was plenty of cake for them too. Just what they needed...sugar.

Sunday 1/8 - Mom, Dad, & Charlotte went to the mall to exchange a pair of jeans for a different size (dad is getting fat). Charlotte slept the whole time in her stroller! Then they went grocery shopping with Charlotte. As they got out of the car with her, dad grabbed a shopping cart. He tried to put Charlotte and her car seat in the cart backwards. Mom got frustrated with dad and put the carseat on the cart correctly and proceeded to push the cart into the grocery store. She couldn't see over the top of the cart very well and ran it right into a giant cement post used to stop cars from running into the grocery store. Mom and Dad must have looked like Dumb and Dumber.

Charlotte slept the WHOLE time...almost 2 1/2 hours. It's only a little win but mom was very happy that she feels she can now get out of the house with Charlie.

more food

Kristen and Mindy came by today from the Mom's Group. Mindy brought Chicken and noodles and Green Beans. Kristen brought Pasta and Salad and hot chocolate. Her family also brought a gift for Charlotte! We can't thank them enough for the food! They both belong to the the gym mom just got a membership to so now she also has gym buddies (for when she decides to start going) the bad news is she will hae to get up EARLY before dad goes to work because that is what they do and the gym does not provide childcare.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Mom yelled at dad tonight. When he got home from work she told him she gave Charlotte a bath. She said she took plenty of pictures of her bath. Those pictures are above.
When dad asked where the bath pictures were and that there wasn't any water in the pictures mom got mad and started yelling at dad. Mom said "we learned in parenting class how to wash a baby, you don't put them in the water, you give them a sponge bath!" Dad won't be getting a sponge bath from mom anytime soon.

Just waking up

Mom's Group

Today dad was busy while Charlotte slept. He installed and put together gifts from Christmas. He installed a new light in the dining room, built a bathroom armoire, and installed new reading lights in the bedroom. Charlotte was attached to moms lap all day. Eating, sleeping, and fussing. Nanny did laundry and put Charlotte's clothes away in her closet.

Our towns Mom's group starting bringing meals by today. I guess for the next three weeks they will be dropping by with dinner for us. Tonight Megan McDonald came over with stuffed chicken breasts, green beans and mushrooms, rice pilaf, and fresh berries! Unbelievable and so nice to live in such a wonderful town. Thank you Megan. Mom will be going to the Mom's Group play activities once Charlotte gets her first shots. Whats great is that she will get to meet everyone before she starts!

New Years

New Years was celebrated by sleeping. Mom, dad, & Charlotte took a little cruise to Kurt and Pam's house in the early afternoon to see everyone. Charlotte did pretty well....she ate and pooped as usual. We stayed for a few hours then headed back home...stopped and picked up some take-out, then came home and ate. We stayed awake until about 10pm. Woke up at 2am to change Charlotte, wished each other a Happy New Year, and went back to bed!

Nanny and Grampy came on New Years for a visit. Nanny is staying a few days to help out....which is nice since our house really needs a good cleaning. When Grammy comes she is going to have her work cut out for her!

Charlotte is starting to get a little fussier. She has been spitting up a lot and has been cranky. We think she might have acid reflux. We will give it a few more days then call the doctors to see what we should do.