Charlotte's first EC trip

Last Thursday was a day spent mostly packing by me. It was hard to determine what all I needed to pack for Charlie's first visit to EC. I think I did a pretty good job of not overpacking, but I can still scale down for next time. When Jason got home from work, I quickly fed Charlie and we got on the road. She pretty much slept the whole time, but I think 2 hours is about her max because she got pretty fussy as soon as we hit El Campo.

We spent the evening at Jason's parents house. Friday, Charlie got to meet her cousin, Corri, before Jason headed out to Louisana for JK's bachelor party. Then her Aunt Jen Jen and I took her to my mom's office to meet Shara. After that, we headed to Jackson and Laura's to meet Maggie Mae. Charlie and Maggie are only 4 days apart but oh my goodness - Charlie is such a chunk compared to Maggie. Holding Mags felt like holding air! :) She was a doll though, and even though both the girls slept through their first play date, I think they had a great time. It was great seeing Lola too. Uncle Dean came by to meet Charlie after he got off work. I think Charlie was pretty tuckered out after meeting so many new people because she slept for 7 1/2 hours that night. I'm not kidding. I didn't sleep good though because I kept waking up and waiting for her to wake up.

Saturday, my Aunt Susie and Aunt Lynn came by to meet their great niece. It was nice to see them. My mom and Aunt Susie watched Charlie, while Jen and I ran some errands. Saturday night was a little tough - I've been noticing the past 2 weeks that Charlie seems to get tummy aches during the evening so I was thinking she was a little colic. It took me and my mom passing her back and forth to calm her down. She slept ok Saturday night, but then she had another tummy ache mid morning on Sunday. I decided I was going to call her pediatrician soon so I can figure out what I can do for her. I hate to know she is uncomfortable. Sunday afternoon, we went over to Jason's parents to wait for him to get back from his trip. We missed him so much. Charlie was really glad to see him. We didn't get on the road til 7, but I must say Charlie did great. However, she started screaming when we were about 1 minute from the house. I thought she was just hungry, but we soon discovered that poor baby had a blowout diaper. So while Jason was cleaning out the car seat, I got Charlie all cleaned up and ready for bed. She wasn't having it though - she stayed up til about 11, but she wasn't really colicky except for about 30 minutes. I did get to call her pediatrician this morning and they said Mylacon is fine to give her, so I started that this morning and hopefully we will see a difference.

Charlotte is 5 1/2 weeks now and I must say over the past few days I have noticed some changes. 1) She is more awake/alert for longer periods during the day. Don't get me wrong, she still sleeps quite a bit, but she will be awake and alert for about 2 hours at a time in the morning and afternoon. And well she's been pretty awake from about 6-10pm for the past couple of weeks anyway. 2) She is smiling a lot more. A few days ago it seemed like she was just smiling to do it, but now it seems like we can actually make her smile by doing certain things. This morning I was reading to her and she was just smiling so much - it looked like she was about to laugh. It was so much fun. Jason loves trying to get her to smile and I think she really likes her daddy time.

It was nice seeing our families and friends in EC, but I'm really glad to be back in Austin and I think Charlie is too. I don't forsee me getting a lot done today as I'm pretty tired and I will try to nap when she does.

Here are some pics from our weekend!

Future BFFs!

 Papa and Bebe with Charlotte

Grandpa and Charlie