Teeth, walking and swimming lessons

Charlotte has started walking with the help of a box and us of course. She is often seen crawling and pulling herself up on furniture of whatever she can get her hands on. She is loving her new freedom. Charlotte's top 2 teeth are also coming through. On another note, she has started her swimming lessons last week. Today, she had her second class. Whilst the pool is heated and indoors, I think she still finds it cold, the best I can do, is to keep her in the warm water as much as I can. I will try and pu some pics up when I get the time to. Nowadays I use my iPad instead of my laptop, so, I can't put pictures in quite as easily.

Oh.. What a night it has been! Last week, Isabella came down with some mysterious rash. We took her to the doctor, and at that time, they were not sure what it was.. Perhaps an allergic reaction to some unknown source? Now a week later, and Charlotte has contracted the same rash. Last night was horrendous! This rash has been keeping her up. I have been using a gym ball for a long time to rock Charlotte to sleep, and she has gotten used to that. Problem is now and especially with this illness, she has depended on it so much, as she loves the intimacy, that, as soon as we put her in her cot, she starts screaming! I got to a point last night that, I just couldn't bounce her any more. My whole body was aching and I felt like I had no more strength to do so. I tried to let her control cry with the 'pick-up put-down' technique, but her screaming just got worse. She was probably thinking.."hmm, I'll show her for trying to dump me in my cot". Eventually, Scott came to help. By that stage, I was emotionally hanging on, trying not to burst into tears. I also felt nauseated. Wasn't sure if it was my emotions, but with my body feeling like crap, I also thought I may be coming down with something. He crying really tore at my heart string. Made me feel like a bad mum. No rash for me yet, this morning, but my body and my eyeballs are sore. And I actually threw up this morning too. And... No, I'm not pregnant!

The good thing though, is that eventually, she fell asleep. Scott and I both just could not cope physically anymore. I think she might actually be learning though. This morning, she cried. I fed her and put her back in the cot. She cried when I put her in her cot, but this time it didn't last too long. Through this all, she has also learnt to pull herself into standing position. She has been standing for a while, but not usually by pulling herself up. She has also been pulling herself into kneeling position, but was pleasantly surprised that she managed to stand up by herself.

8 months and crawling

Charlotte was 8 months yesterday. For the last week, she's been practicing her crawling. Now, after a week, she is confident in her crawling and loves her new found freedom. Though she can't walk yet, she has been able to stand for a few months now with assistance. If we stand her in her cot, she can stay standing for 5 minutes or so.

She has a lovely, happy personality. Always smiling, laughing. She is a ray of sunshine. Together, she and Isabella loves playing with each other. Often, there is that special bond between the two of them that makes them both crack up at each other, like no one else can.

Charlotte has also been enjoying a vast range of foods with her 2 well-sprouted bottom teeth. Apart from the mush vegetables, her favorite are icecream and chocolat, cakes, and chips. But most of the time, she eats really well. Sweet potatoes, pumpkin, potatoes, zucchini, avocados. She also loves weetbix! Soon, I'll try oats and see if she likes it.

I finally got my iPad!

Yet! Got my iPad 2 last friday. Been hanging to get it for the last few months, and finally managed to get one on launch day. And if you were one of those ipadaholic people, you would know that scoring one on launch day is pretty difficult. Luckily I rang my local reseller and they were taking down people's names on a list for when it came in. I was only there about 30 minutes before launch, and was second in line! In Sydney, some we lining up outside the apple stores 2 days in advance! Lucky i didn't have to do that. With 2 young kids, it would have been impossible.

Now that I have my iPad, it will make it easier and more convenient to blog.

Other than the iPad, what's been happening you say? Well, Charlotte has finally cut her 2 bottom teeth. Yey! But when you think about the teething, the waking through the night, and the biting during breastfeeding... Hmm, not so yey. I miss my gummy smiles. On a good note, she is starting to eat more solid foods, such as brownies (I know .. Not very responsible baby food, but she likes them.. And it's only a crumb), bread, rice, and icecream. She is also now sitting up all by her self. She stands really well for ages if your stabilizing her. All this, and she's only 7 months! Ok, I might be biased, but I think she's doing really well for her age.

Isabella on the other hand, is talking really well. Her vocabulary is fantastic. She no longer cries when I drop her off at the early learning centre. She actually enjoys being there. In fact, she has taken quite well to one of the little boys there called River. It's River this, River that. It really is quite cute. At her age anyways. We arevsatrting to reduce isabella's dummy use to just during sleeping hours, as she has gotten really dependent on it the last few months. So, for the last week, it has been a little tough with her playing up due to her not having her dummy. I hope it doesn't last too much longer.

Isabella turns 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my darling Isabella!

Wow... Tuesday already! How time flies. Saturday, was taken up with a trip to the local shopping mall. Sunday, we enjoy a bbq with friends from 2 families. One of them was a very long time friend of mine whom I've known since I was about 6 or 7. It was great catching up with her and her family. I always jump at the opportunity to meet up, as we live almost an hour away from them, and we both have 2 little ones to look after as well. Except she has two boys, and I have 2 girls. It is nice to have such a long spanning friendship, that has taken us from when we were a little older than our kids to us having our own kids. Next, we'll be having grandchildren together. Hahaha... Hopefully that will take a while yet...At least for my girls. No dating till 21! Just kidding. Maybe no sex till then! Eww.. just the thought of that.

Anyway, like I mentioned in my previous post, Isabella is not going to school on Mondays as well. When I dropped her off yesterday morning, I didn't stay quite as long. I am hoping to make the drop offs shorter and shorter, until, one day when she doesn't cry anymore, and I can just drop and go. She did of course cry again, but apparently she started feeling better at morning tea as opposed to lunch time the week before. She didn't sleep this time, but just rested with the dummy. By the time she slept at night, she was a little naughty as you would imagine with an almost 2 year old who hasn't had any sleep.

This morning, I will take Isabella to her swimming lesson. She has moved up to her new class. Looking forward to seeing what new things she will learn in this level.

Ok.. 2 posts on Wednesday, does that allow me to have Thursday off then? Oh well.. too late. We went to Movieworld yesterday. It was really hot and humid. Not very pleasant, but all in all, we had a pretty good day. Managed to get there and back without much screaming from the kids! Thank God! The trip was really for Isabella and just having a day out with the family. We have VIP card that entitles us unlimited entry to 3 of the theme parks till June 2011, so just making the most of it. Next time we'll go to Seaworld... again. Lol.

Also, today, we were told that there was an extra day at school, if we wanted it for Isabella. The extra spot is currently a Monday, but for now, I have accepted it, and will try and see if I can swap it for a tuesday or thursday if one comes up. I feel a little bad that now there will be 2 days of feeling guilty, but at least Charlotte will have more time with me, and I can get a few more things done.