10 Months

I hope you will forgive the late 10-month birthday post. Charlie and I are in Minnesota for Aunt Kiki's graduation from St. Olaf! I'm actually typing this entry on my phone on the floor in the bathroom of my hotel room, so Charlie can nap. Ahhh, the life of a mother!

This month was great, of course! So many new things going on and Charlie is just trying so hard to master new sounds and skills.

This month...
Charlie finally started crawling on all fours - he still occasionally uses his alligator/army crawl, but not too often.

He finally says momma! He also says, "mmmm!" when he likes his food, and "uh-oh". My favorite is, "gee!" (get it, for those of you that don't speak baby).

We met cousin Talon and celebrated his first birthday. Charlie wasted no time crawling over and stealing/sharing his first cupcake. Kid loves his sweets!

We had a great visit to Phoenix! Charlie visited with Nana, Grandpa E and Grammy, Grandma and Granddad, Aunt Paige, and lots of other special people.

He's been fighting a cold for a couple weeks. Boogers galore! Boy, does he HATE having his nose wiped.

He got three new teeth in one week. This made for a very sad, cranky baby. Lots of sleepless nights for us both, but that toothy grin sure is adorable!

Someone learned how to climb the stairs. Bleh! Time to start using baby gates...

Charlie is pulling himself to standing. He loves to see what is on the coffee table!

He squawks like a pterodactyl - not good for special events, like graduation, but still hilariously cute.

Blowing spit bubbles is super fun - and gross - but kept him rather entertained on our flight to MN.

Charlie continues to get cuter, smarter, and more precious every day - who knew that was even possible?! He charms everyone he meets... which really comes in handy when traveling! Love our sweet baby so much!

3/4 of a Year

Charlie is already 9 months old!  He had a fantastic month, and I think he has grown the most developmentally this month than any other.  It has been really fun to watch and celebrate all of his "firsts".

This month...

• My chubby little monkey has finally started to plateau - he weighed in at 22lbs and 9oz (80th%), and is 28.5" long (60th%)
• Charlie went to San Francisco to visit his baby cousin, Camila (and aunt Melissa, Uncle Lazaro, and Grandpa E).  He was a trooper in the car (4 five-hour stretches!) and didn't even complain when he missed half of his naps.  What a sweet boy.
• He is waving regularly - at everyone, even total strangers... old ladies love it :)
• Charlie is moving from crawling to sitting all by himself.  Sometimes he sits up in his crib and gets frustrated that he can't fall asleep that way!
• He loves to clap and play pat-a-cake.
• Charlie is signing "more" anytime he wants more to eat or if he sees me eating something that he just has to have.  
• His repertoire of foods is getting huge! This month, he's had polenta with spinach and carrots, tilapia with potatoes and tomatoes, salmon with coconut rice and spinach, baked beans, strawberry-mango-kale-avocado smoothies, and even a tuna salad sandwich.  This kid loves to eat (is anyone surprised??).
• Balls are the best thing around.  Charlie will roll and kick balls around the house all day long.  Who needs fancy toys? Not this boy!
• He loves having playdates with little baby friends.  Charlie often tries to rip out their hair and claw their faces, but it is all in good fun, I think...
• Charlie added two more words to his collection: Dada and Bubba.  He usually calls out bubba, bubba, bubba while chasing Carter down the hallway. Too cute! I'm hoping he gets around to saying momma soon.
• Sleeping is ROUGH.  He's waking up about 4x/night still... we'll need to figure this out soon, because this momma is tired!
• Charlie and I took a trip to Orange County for Aunt Kiki's wedding shower and Granddad's 60th birthday party.  As usual, he was a fabulous flier - although as he gets more mobile, he's hard to hold on to!
• Two new teeth popped through! A top and bottom incisor. He's definitely getting teeth in an interesting order, but at least they are coming in!
• He has learned to protest.  He makes sure you know that he's a little ticked off if you take away what he wants to play with (usually the remote, phone, or keys). Luckily, he is easily redirected to another toy and the protests don't last long.

Charlie truly is the absolute sweetest, most mellow, and happiest baby that I could imagine. His whole face just lights up with the most precious toothy grin when anyone gives him attention.  He is just a big ol' ball of love.  How did we get this lucky?!

8 Months. Seriously.

8 months? Already?

Yep, it looks like time is refusing to slow down.  My tiny baby just keeps on growing, and he is just becoming more and more adorable every day.

Highlights from the past month:

• You are such a big boy - just a smidge over 22lbs.
• You nurse in the strangest position.  You try to loop your foot up by my armpit or try and hold your feet while you eat. 
• The army crawl is still your preferred mode of transportation.  You move from room to room SO quickly... I'm amazed at how efficient you are at it!
• You sit completely unassisted, but still can't get yourself into that position without help
• Your sleep is still pretty random.  You're waking up between 2-4 times a night. TOO OFTEN! 
• Naps are still nice and predictable: 2 naps a day, 1.5 hours each.
• You love your "people" food.  You've had nibbles of cupcake and donut (don't tell your dad) and like snacking on puffs, apple slices, and little bits of whatever momma is eating.
• You've been trying the occasional sippy cup with water, but you prefer to take sips out of mom's glass.
• Your favorite toys are wooden blocks, minuscule pieces of dirt and used kleenex from the trashcan.  We're working on baby-proofing a little better...
• You are wonderful at occupying yourself while momma and Carter have school-time in the mornings.  You try and play with all of your brother's school supplies, but never complain when we take them away.
• You have your official first word, "kee" - which totally means kiss.  You say it over and over and over again until you get your smooches from us.  You even stop nursing just to say it and get a kiss before you'll keep eating.  LOVE IT.
• You make the loudest clacking sounds.  Sometimes we think it means you're hungry or want our attention, and sometimes it just seems like you are trying to entertain yourself.
• We're trying really hard to get you to say momma and dada.  You are stubbornly refusing. 
• You aren't really interested in the jumperoo or exersaucer anymore.  You just like crawling around the floors (have I mentioned that I have to sweep 2x/day and vacuum almost every day?)
• When you wake up in the morning, you play and talk to yourself for at least 30 minutes.  Your momma thanks you for the extra sleep.
• You are so much like your brother - you even self-soothe by playing with your hair, just like him!
• You had visits from Nana and Papi, our friend Summer, and your lovely Aunt Kiki.  So nice to spend time with those special people!

We are looking forward to our Spring Break trip to see Aunt Melissa, Uncle Lazaro, and brand new cousin Camila the first week in April.  Charlie has been an awesome air traveler, so let's hope that he is just as fantastic on the car ride to San Francisco! 

Project Homeschool

If you know me at all, you will know that I never, ever, not even a tiny little bit, wanted to homeschool my children.  I am more than happy to send them off to public schools, expose them to multitudes of children, and have a "regular" school experience.  The added bonus is that I get a nice long break from answering nonstop questions and dealing with a teenager-like attitude for 6+ hours a day. Pure bliss.

Well, things have changed.

My busy, silly, and super sweet boy is just not doing well in school.  He needs more one-on-one instruction and attention than a teacher can give with class sizes so large. He needs to be challenged way past traditional kindergarten curriculum, and needs someone who will be patient with his need for a million "brain breaks" throughout the day.  He's one tough little cookie... and needs a lot of extra support, which is much easier to give when you only have one student.

Lucky for him, his momma is a pretty good teacher :) I spent yesterday setting up our "classroom" and organizing our curriculum materials. He is signed up for PE and art classes through the district's homeschool connections school and will also get a class all about learning math games.  The rest of the curriculum will be up to me.  I'm thankful that I'm well-trained in this area, and have so many resources that I've accumulated over the years.  The content should be easy.  The mom-as-my-teacher part will probably be much harder for him to adjust to.  Right now, he is super excited about it.  I'm pretty excited about it, too.  Even though I know it'll challenge me - I know it is truly what is best for him right now.

If you could, please say a little prayer for my sanity and a smooth adjustment for us both...

Simple Sunday: Birthday Lunch

Meet Elise and Brynn.  I am so lucky to call Elise one of my very best friends.  We met serendipitously 8 years ago, and have been through 5 pregnancies, lots of craft sessions, and endless hours on the phone together.  I've missed her dearly since our move.  I especially loved our morning coffee dates and birthday lunches - and we got to have one while I was in town last weekend!  Now, instead of just the two of us celebrating our January birthdays together, she is able to bring sweet Brynn with us.  Brynn was born on my birthday 2 years ago and I am so blessed to be her Godmother.  She is such a lively and bright little girl and I absolutely adore her.  How precious is this picture of Brynn and her beautiful momma?

I hope you were able to find some wonderful simple things to appreciate this week! 

7-Month Update

I was missing in action this week - sorry!  The little boys and I were on a mini-vacation in Phoenix.  Since it was a short trip, we were only able to see a couple of friends, but had a great time just hanging out with Grandma and Granddad.  It was a wonderful time together!

Little Charlie boy just keeps getting bigger and stronger.  Here is a list of this month's happenings:

• I took you to the doctor to make sure you didn't have an ear infection (you didn't!), and you weighed 20lbs, 6oz.
• You wriggle across the room like an inchworm, using a army-type crawl (but that belly isn't moving off the floor!).
• You stay sitting up all by yourself. (if we sit you up) You still topple over pretty quickly, but it is getting longer everyday.
• We are starting to give you more solid foods.  You like to chew on apple slices, dried mango, and pumpkin pie.
• The sippy cup is fun! It is definitely more of a toy right now, but you like trying to get the water out.
• You waved for the first time - to Granddad!
• You started clapping your hands.
• Sleep is getting better again.  You usually only wake up twice, and occasionally only wake up once (usually on the nights we feed you avocado for dinner!)
• You are taking two solid naps each day; about 1.5hours each.
• You love playing with balls, especially if they make noise.
• Monkey and Bumblebee are your current favorite stuffed toys.
• Tooth number two popped through! Both teeth are almost all the way in now - super cute grin!
• You are not quite as easy on the plane now.  You wanted to move around and play, not sit still! Of course, you were still a really good boy and didn't fuss very much.
• You took your first ride in the swing at the park.  You absolutely loved it! 
• You love the feel of the wind or when we blow on your face.  You also like to blow on us, too!
• I have to vacuum multiple times each week, since you are like a magnet to any speck of dirt/rock/leaf on the ground.
• You are obsessed with the remotes and phones.

Sweet baby, you are definitely changing so quickly... this month was full of fun new things, and we can't wait to see what next month brings!

Simple Sunday: The 'Stache

There is no end to the fun that a package of fake mustaches provides. Perfect for a rainy, play-inside kind of day!