Hi Friend,

I'm writing this at my desk with Annie in a wrap on my chest, and it is perfect. Thank you for bearing with me while I figure out this whole postpartum thing. I took last week off because of some complications after Annie's birth, more on that below, since I think it's worth talking about the parts of postpartum recovery nobody warns you for.

The good news: everything is going really well now. Annie is such a sweet, easy baby, and Jamie is obsessed with her. Maybe a little too obsessed. He wants to hold her, kiss her, and inspect her approximately every four minutes, and we are actively working on the concept of personal space for infants.

Mostly I'm just happy to be home and out of the hospital, where every single nurse who touched me said I have "good veins." I've decided that's going on my tombstone. Anyway, here's what's happening around Charlotte this week.

🌱 What We’re Doing

Your week in Charlotte, planned.

Lots of fun activities on the docket this week. A licensed researcher is trapping and tagging actual hummingbirds at Reedy Creek, Wildwoods is bringing in sheep, goats, and guard dogs a full month before they officially move in, and Daniel Stowe is throwing a Bigfoot-themed evening complete with cryptid cornhole and a campfire.

If your kid is animal-obsessed, this is the week to lean into it. And if your week just fell apart and you need a plan with zero prep, the pollinator count at Freedom Park is a true walk-in, no registration required.

✨ A few standouts:

• NC BeachBlast Festival brings live beach music, a watermelon eating contest, and a beach ball drop to Kings Mountain.

• Castle Faire turns Daniel Stowe into a full medieval day with crafts, storytime, and roaming performers.

• Silhouette artist Clay Rice is back at Boujee Babies cutting silhouettes, a family tradition three generations deep.

👉 Check out all 49 events here

🚨 On Our Radar

Quick hits you'll want to know about.

• I updated the navigation on The Charlotte Sprout website. Hopefully it's easier now to actually find the articles, guides, and blog posts you're looking for instead of scrolling forever. Go poke around and let me know what you think.
  
  
• Save the date for the WeeSale, Rock Hill's big kids' resale event. Free admission days run August 27-29 at the Rock Hill Galleria Mall, with most items 50% off by Saturday. If you want first pick before the crowds, VIP tickets for Wednesday, August 26 are already filling up.
   

• Grow Cafe is now open Sundays, 10am-3pm. If Sundays have been your dead zone for indoor play with coffee that doesn't taste like a gas station, you've now got a new option!
  
  

• The Grove is opening its doors for a casual back-to-school open house. Saturday, August 29, 9am-12pm, no schedule, just pop in anytime to meet members, tour the space, and let the kids play while you check out what a season there actually feels like. I went for a preview yesterday and the first words out of my mouth were "this place is freaking SWEET!"

   

• Little Blue Truck Lost and Found. We preordered this one and it landed on our doorstep yesterday, which gave me a full flashback to being a kid waiting for Harry Potter books to show up at 8am on release day. We've already read it approximately 52 times.
  
  

• Someone finally said the quiet part about "enjoy every moment." Natalie sent me this HuffPost piece, "Don't Carpe Diem," for anyone tired of being told to soak up every second of a hard phase. There's a perspective shift near the end that actually reframes it instead of guilt-tripping you. 
  

   
   

👶 Annie's Birth Story

As most of you know I took more time off last week than I anticipated. Here's why: a birth complication that came out of nowhere, followed by a second one three weeks later that landed a lot harder. I wrote it all out, unfiltered, because I wish someone had told me what to watch for.

Sharing it here in case it helps someone else someday →

🔖 Worth a Bookmark

Three weeks into life with two under two, here's what's actually been getting me through it, gear, snacks, and all.

• DoorDash gift cards. My friends hooked us up with a stack of these and we're almost through them. They were a lifesaver at the hospital when I couldn't stomach another hospital tray, and they've been just as clutch at home on nights I'm too exhausted to even think about cooking. If you're trying to figure out what to bring a friend with a newborn, skip the outfit and get her this instead.

• Whatever's on sale at Amazon or Target in the toy aisle. I've been buying Jamie a new toy or book multiple times a week, so we have something to hand him on weekends when we're juggling both kids and it's too hot to be outside. A new Play-Doh kit, a new Tonie, a new book, a new Magna-Tiles set, whatever's cheap that week. I'm still trying to limit his screen time, and a new toy buys real, focused independent play in a way a rerun of his usual toys never does.

• Baby containers, and yes, I mean all three of them. I know "containers" gets side-eyed in some parenting circles, but with two kids under two, I need a safe place to set Annie down for the two minutes I'm helping Jamie with something or just stepping away. The Snuggle Me Organic Lounger, the BabyBjörn Bouncer (affectionately known in our house as the poop chair), and the Stokke Newborn Set for the Tripp Trapp have all earned a permanent spot in our rotation. She's never in any of them unsupervised or for sleep, they're just a useful landing spot in the chaos of a normal day.

• The SNOO, round two. We used this for Jamie and he needed it to sleep. Annie seems to like it fine, but she doesn't "require" it the way he did, which has been a funny reminder that even gear you swore by isn't a guarantee the next kid will need it the same way.

• Little Remedies gas drops plus BioGaia probiotics. If you know, you know. Annie is an incredibly gassy baby, and it seems to build up over the course of the day, which was wrecking her nighttime sleep. This combo has made a real difference in how she settles at night. Both were recommended by our pediatrician and are worth trying if your newborn seems fine all day and then falls apart at bedtime.

• Perfect Bars. One handed, short ingredient list, actually filling. When you're eating standing up with a baby on one arm, this is the snack that doesn't fall apart in your hand or leave you hungry an hour later.

• The Angelcare bathtub. We've had at least two blowouts on the changing table that required an emergency trip to the bath. Now we just pop this into the kitchen sink, line it with a swaddle or baby blanket, and she's clean in minutes instead of us scrambling for a full bath setup.

• Wraps and carriers, because chasing a toddler doesn't stop. I've been rotating between my Boba Wrap and a new carrier from Wildbird. I own a Solly Wrap too, but I've never quite trusted it to feel secure enough, so the Boba stays my go-to when I need both hands free for Jamie. 

• Magnetic Me pajamas. We were gifted a set (thank you, Amanda!) and I'm so glad, because these run small and were the only pajamas that actually fit her those first couple of weeks.

   

Help The Sprout grow. If one idea made your week easier, please forward this email or tag @thecharlottesprout so more Charlotte parents can find us. 🌱