Baby's First Christmas

Well... we're two thirds of the way through the 2006 holidays (for the Davis' anyway). Charlotte has seen her first Thanksgiving, her first Christmas, and this weekend she'll experience her first New Years... and get to do it with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Davis side of the family.

This past weekend was a whirlwind for my baby girl. She went to two Christmas parties, two dinners, and had Christmas morning at G and Pop Rose's house. Tons of activity for a 5-week old, and boy did it show by Saturday night and Sunday.

Charlotte was as overloaded as I've ever seen her. Too much, too much! She loves to see her cousins, aunts and uncles, and G and Pop, but her little disposition can only take so much. Mommy and Daddy really should have limited her activity a little more, but it's so hard to disappoint people on the holidays.

I had my first daddy "run-in" on Christmas though, as I had to keep some friends and family from going into the room she was napping in to say hello. They were initially put off, but they understood when I explained how fussy Charlotte had been because of her straying from her normal routine. She just needed some "peaceful" sleep without everyone poking and prodding her... and thankfully, they understood that explanation.

Mommy has been so good with keeping Charlotte on a tight schedule, and we think our little sweetie is benefiting greatly from the structure. She is becoming such a great little personality... and the best part, we think, is that we are as predictable to her as she is to us.

They say you can't learn everything in a book, but I will tell you that there are some VERY good books out there to help get you through pregnancy and having a newborn. I'm sure everyone has their own stories, but we are so glad that we took the time to read up a little and take some classes before we had our daughter. There are plenty of parents who are experts at "winging it" and have been super successful at it, but in my opinion, if you can get some help, take it! It's just so helpful to be able to recognize things when they happen rather than guess.

Thanks for reading everyone... and I'll try not to take six more days to write again this time!

Anticipation

Beck and I were talking last night about our plans for next week when my entire family comes into Maryland for a visit for a few days. We are so excited that everyone is making the time and effort to travel so far.

My brothers and their families live in Cincinnati and Oregon, and my parents live in North Carolina. We're doing a "Davis Extravaganza" on December 29th and then having an updated family portrait taken on the 31st.

I can't tell you how exciting it is for me to have "my family" in the portrait. What I mean is that before this one, every family portrait before was everyone else's family... and me. The only exception was in 2003 when Rebecca was in the portrait, even though we weren't married yet. I guess everyone must have thought it was an even money bet at the time.

There was a time in my life that I wasn't sure if I would ever have a family of my own. So the family portrait is sort of a coming of age for me... as most of the last 11 months have been.

You know, fatherhood really isn't as scary as I always thought it would be!

Perspective

Funny how having some new perspective completely changes the way you view or react to things.

Today my beautiful baby girl pooped all over me... and then pee'd all over me... I was in the middle of changing her and she just started to shoot from both barrels (so to speak). I used 4 diapers to get her 1 clean one.

If this were just a few months ago (and someone else's kid), I would have been absolutely disgusted and my day would have been ruined. Not today. Today I just laughed and weathered the storm, diaper after diaper.

What a change for a guy who never changed a diaper before a month ago. What an AWESOME change!

My Little Dinosaur

Charlotte must have been a velociraptor in another life or something. Among her repertoire of noises now is a sort of grunting shriek that sounds like something directly out of Jurassic Park. It's hilarious. Combined with the way she moves her head around when she does it, it's really a little bizarre. She is so cute (if I do say so myself).

Monday she went shopping with Mommy (and "G" and Pop Rose) while Daddy worked. Mommy took Charlie to Target and this new place called Boscov's and they all had a great time. Charlie slept most of the day away in her stroller and was just barely waking up when she came home. Just in time to let Daddy spend some quality time with her before bedtime.

Little Charlotte is exactly 4 weeks old today (at 1:17pm). I told her Mom last night that she is looking more like a little person now more than a little baby. She makes the funniest faces and noises, and she is really starting to get more and more coordinated.

I can't believe she is growing up so fast! It amazes me more and more everyday.

I'm In Big Trouble

Beck and I went to her salon's holiday open house last night. It was the first time since we brought Charlotte home from the hospital that we ventured out without her. I thought I would be completely on edge the whole night, but I wasn't. After all, I knew Charlotte was in good hands with her Grandma "G" at home. It was very relaxing for us to see all our friends from Mason's.

Here's the thing though... I spent the whole night talking to people about my daughter. Completely exciting for me, but I'm afraid I put several people to sleep. If you're one of those people and you're reading this, I apologize. I know I can get out of control a little when I talk about her. I'll try to do a better job understanding that everyone else's world doesn't revolve around my baby girl the way mine does.

I'm really not sure what has happened to me... but it sure feels pretty good.

The New Blog Format (What do you think?)

Our friend Cheryl told me how to do this on a "real" BLOG site. I liked the "old" BLOG just fine, but this format gives me easier access and takes less management from me! Not to mention I get to use space on someone else's server this way.

If you like to read my BLOG, please leave me some comments or share your stories with me. I am humbled by how many people have told me they read this thing... and I thought it was just something for me to use to clear my head!

Thanks to everyone for all the great comments about Charlotte's site, and for visiting often. She is such a wonderful baby girl... I can't imagine what I was doing with my life BEFORE she arrived. It seems so insignificant.

I'm Becoming A Whisperer (Kind Of)

My Mom gave us a book back in June called the "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer". Beck and I have read it and she now uses it as a reference when Charlotte does new things... just to see how she is developing. I've just discovered a new read: "The Happiest Baby On the Block". It's pretty straight forward and filled with logical stuff, but I've discovered some tricks that really work. I can now make my sweet baby girl relax within 3-5 minutes, fairly easily. Of course, she IS an easy baby, but it is just amazing that I can literally put her to sleep without much effort. It's worked probably 8 of 10 times so far, and I believe the 2 times it didn't work, she was just very hungry (because she fell asleep while she fed). There is no better feeling in the world than holding my baby girl while she sleeps on my chest. To try and choose just one emotion to describe it would be grossly inadequate. I'm sure that all the parents out there understand what I'm trying to say though...

She's Getting So Big!

It's amazing how little time it takes before your "little" girl starts to grow faster than you're ready for. Charlotte has already gained back her birth weight, and a few ounces to spare. Each day, she becomes more awake and aware of the things around her, and I absolutely love it when she stares into my eyes when I talk to her. If it's possible, my baby girl is starting to grow up already! What an amazing thing to watch and experience... even though she just 2 1/2 weeks old. We had our first "Father / Daughter Day" on Friday. Mommy had some errands to run and Daddy and Charlotte did just fine. All by ourselves for about 4 hours. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for a guy like me who NEVER changed a diaper until November 15th 2006, it's a major accomplishment. Not that I doubted I'd love her, but I just never knew HOW MUCH I'd love my baby girl so quickly. She makes me so proud to be her Daddy.