Alleyn Family Adventures: February 2015

So you know how February just so happens to be Heart Month? And I mean not just for Valentine's Day, but for heart disease awareness, etc. Well, we have reason to celebrate the heart right now because Charlee had her ECG the other day and all is well. Not that we were concerned, but it just feels really good to hear from the cardiologist that we don't have to look into things anymore. I'm hoping that hospital visit was our last for a verrrrrrrry long time.

Onward and upward to better, more exciting things, like Charlee's accomplishments of late:

Trying so hard to roll over.

sucking her hands all the time (she knows they exist now, which is kind of fun, especially when she stares at them thinking, "What the heck...?")
almost rolling over!
talking constantly. Her best sound is "Ahh-oooo!"
giant, full faced smiles. Love those. Especially when she wakes up in the morning and I greet her Guten Morgen.
Sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. Like 8-9 hours through the night and a few hours on either end of that long sleep with meals in between. She wins a giant award in the sleeping department of babyhood. Note: We've been warned not to speak of Charlee's sleeping habits too liberally because other people might hate us. Please know, we have done nothing to encourage such sleeping habits, she just does it on her own. So don't hate us please, because it's allllll her!
Checking out the world. This girl is bright, observant, and seems to understand everything we tell her.
sticking out her tongue. This is probably the funniest thing she's done so far.

Did you know we've book our plane tickets to Prague!? Our really good friends, Ryan and Nicole, moved there in September so we are taking this opportunity to go check out some new countries, see our beloved friends and visit with my family in Germany, too! Charlee's passport arrived in the mail, so we are just waiting to board the plane now. Here's a map of the route we will be taking during this Euro trip.

Okay, this is the most scattered post ever. I've been working on it for at least 10 days now. I'm just going to end it here and include a link to Tale of Two Teachers, where I wrote a post about going back to work after maternity leave...it fits the theme of this blog right now too. Plus, it got 202 views so far today (I have no clue who reads this stuff, but clearly my going back to work decision is intriguing for many! ha). Find that post here: http://taleoftwoteachers.com/2015/02/26/when-i-go-back-to-work/

xxk&j&charlee.rae

ps - one more photo for good measure!

Charlee Rae is three months old! Her new skills include: lots of wiggles, putting her newly discovered hands in her mouth all the time, lots of sounds/pitches/cackles (we won't call them giggles quite yet), and a few roll overs from tummy to back while laying on Joel's chest on the couch. Charlee has been holding her head up for a while now, but she's getting stronger and stronger every day! Charlee's other awesome skill (perhaps her best one) is her long sleeps through the night. So far her record is 8.5 hours (9.30pm-6am)...dreamy, hey? We like it!

Charlee had her first vaccinations last week and although she screamed for a few minutes, she pulled through like a champ. She also had the ultrasound on her head this week. The doctor seems to think the little red bump we were slightly concerned about is a hemangioma (a small, harmless cluster of blood vessels). The bump will likely disappear by the time Charlee is one year old.

Other than that, nothing new to report! We hope you enjoy these photos.