Charlie boy - 11 months

Nov 2011. Charlie and Adelaide at bath time.

I absolutely love this stage of babyhood with Charlie but I also feel very sad that he is almost a year old! Here is an update on the little man:

Charlie still takes 2 pretty wonderful naps every day. They are about 4 hours collective sleep, then he sleeps 12+ hours at night. For a while his bedtime was between 6-6:30, which pretty much made it difficult to do anything at night and then we had a time change, which possibly could have made that an hour earlier! Somehow though over the past week and a half he has adjusted beautifully and most nights is able to stay up until 7, then wakes in the morning about 7:30 (I get him up at 7:45, when he starts 'talking). Speaking of talking - Charlie started saying "mama" a couple of weeks ago! It totally made me cry the first time he said it while I was changing him and he was super giggly with my reaction. He makes lots of different sounds now; dada and "Ada" have been around for a while but "gogo" is a new one (either when we say good boy or go), baba, and other 'baby speak.' He is very vocal (surprise, surprise) just like his sister. He now has 6 teeth which with he eats a LOT of food. He still nurses but we will be weaning soon.

Nov 2011. Charlie sleeping. 

We haven't had a first step from Charlie yet but he stands on his own for several seconds now. He is very sturdy and very mobile, as he has been since he was born :) He gets into everything (still working on learning 'no') and climbs on everything and crawls everywhere and has no fear. The past week or so I have noticed him starting to sort things or put things in order. If he throws one block over the toy, he has to throw them all. His favorite toy at church has been a drum and my mom got him one for his birthday so I can't wait to see him play with it soon. Charlie still loves to be outside and is also very happy in the car. He is really just a happy guy and he brings a lot of joy to our home.

When I was pregnant with Charlie (but of course we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl) I really didn't have a feeling either way about the sex of the baby. Adelaide has always been so much fun that I figured another girl would be nice since I knew what girls were like, but having a boy wasn't a strong desire or need that I felt like our family was lacking. Now, of course, having Charlie, I can never imagine our family without him. My favorite times at home our when our whole family is awake (which is rarely) and playing together. The dynamics of the father/mother and sister/brother all together is so amazing to see.

Nov 2011. Charlie and Adelaide 'driving' the car at Giant. 

I know that not everyone has both a son and a daughter, and for those who don't I hope they find contentment in the family they have. But those who do have the privilege of having both a son and a daughter are truly blessed.

Babies Update

How long am I aloud to call them "babies?" I have decided that "forever" is a good answer.

9/13/11 Charlie - 9 months old

Charlie is 10.5 months old. He is active as ever: crawling faster, cruising along everything, walking with our hands, climbing on everything. We are really working on boundaries with him right now. For a couple of weeks his fascination was with the stairs and we thought we were going to have to get a gate at the bottom (we already have one at the top). Thankfully, with great persistence, he seems to have learned that the stairs are a "no." Then he was testing the bookshelves for a while, and now it is opening cabinets in the kitchen. Ben and I have never really been into "baby-proofing" things, but rather teaching our kids what their boundaries and limits are. So far, so good. We don't keep anything dangerous in reach, of course, but locks on cabinets and drawers and such are not our style.

10/22/11 Charlie - 10 months old. Yes, he is quite happy when he's being naughty. 

Charlie boy has two extremes: when he is happy, which is most of the time, he is the happiest baby I have ever seen. He loves to be tickled and just squeals with delight. He is also very loud when he is happy. He has a very monotone yell that he lets off, trying to make sure no one forgets about him. His other extreme is mad. He gets mad when he isn't in his bed at nap/bed time. He gets mad when food does not reach his mouth quick enough. Other than that though, he is basically just happy. 

10/23/11 Adelaide dressing up Charlie

Adelaide is 33 months old, getting very close to her 3rd birthday (as she will let you know). She seems beyond her years when she has conversations with anyone willing. She worries when she hears a baby crying. She loves to have play dates - especially with her little brother. She loves to 'read' to her little people. She said last night that maybe she will be a teacher when she grows up. I'm quite sure that whatever she is when she grows up, she will be brilliant and beautiful, as she is now. Each time I look into her big beautiful blue eyes, my heart melts again and I thank the Lord for blessing me with these two little rugrats.

10/14/11 My cousin Wendy with Adelaide at the Loudoun Farm Museum

Adelaide loves museums but sadly we do not make it very often to visit them. Charlie's two naps fall on either side of Adelaide's mid-day nap, so getting out of the house for very long is difficult to do. Most days I try to strictly work around the kids schedules, but I know that Charlie missing an hour of a nap every once in a while will not harm him long term :). A few weeks ago my cousin, Wendy, was visiting our area for a wedding so I loaded up the kids in the morning and headed out to Reston, VA, to pick her up. We headed to the Loudoun Farm Museum which is perfect for little kids. Adelaide really loved it, even though we didn't stay for very long. We are going to try and make it to a pumpkin patch tomorrow.

A Milestone: 6 Months

Father's Day 2011

Six months always seems like such a milestone to me in the life of a baby. There are so many changes that take place during this time and you are half way through the first year! Charlie is no exception. Here are a few of the exciting things that have been happening in his little world lately:

Mobility
Charlie first started rolling everywhere. Within about four weeks he mastered rolling, scooting, army crawling, and sitting up. He started rocking on his hand and knees a few weeks ago and took a couple of "crawls" but as of last night I feel like he has just taken off with crawling. His knees just sort of scoot with him at this point, but I have a feeling it will only take him a few days to get the motion right. Last week he pulled himself up to standing and has done it two other times (that I have seen) in his crib since then. During his current nap I was watching him on the monitor standing up and then sat himself back down. Eek... not even seven months old! I have a feeling he will be running soon :)

Adelaide and Charlie, June 2011

Eating and Growth

These two seem to go hand in hand, right? I had wanted to delay solid foods with Charlie until 6 months old, but he was very interested in food shortly after he turned 4 months old. I started out with rice cereal and making him purees, but for the past few weeks he has shown a great dislike for all things that come on a spoon! I did a little research on Baby Led Weaning (BLW) as I had heard about it when Adelaide was this age, (she loved purees so I had no need for it,) and soon started giving Charlie whole pieces of food to munch on. He still has a fairly basic menu: banana, baked sweet potato spears, avocado and apple slices and bits of cheese. I try to still give him some cereal in the morning, sometimes with yogurt. He is so messy at each meal! We usually start with no clothes, just a nappy and bib, and end with a bath :) Ben jokes that we could squeeze out his bib and make some guacamole! Charlie often tries to grab at anything we are eating. I have a feeling he will eat us out of house and home as soon as he's allowed. At his 6-month checkup he weighed about 16.5 pounds! Quite a big boy when compared to his big sister, who was only 17lbs at 1 year old, and is only 24lbs now at 2.5. He still does nurse as quickly as he always has, but he enjoys the milk and I enjoy our (quick) nursing sessions!

Charlie's first bites, April 2011

Teeth and Sleep
Yes, the little man who stared teething around 3 months now has his two front bottom teeth. The teething did affect his nighttime sleep some (mostly with early morning wakings) but I am happy to report that he is still a dream sleeper, often taking two naps lasting two hours (or longer), a third catnap, and 12 hours of sleep at night.

Adelaide and Charlie, June 2011

Play
Charlie has always been a very happy baby. He and Adelaide have their own playtime most days and they both just love to interact with each other. I'm truly blessed to have two happy little loves that are already the best of friends :)

Cousins: Adelaide (29 months), Emaline (2 months), Charlie (6 months)

Another six-month update... on the older child :)
It has been six months (almost exactly) since we started toilet training with Adelaide. There were quite a few ups and downs, especially the first 3 months, but Ben and I say quite often how amazed we are of Adelaide. We can't recall the last time she had an accident and we don't really ever have to ask her to go to the bathroom. She goes in on her own, does her business, puts it in the toilet, flushes, and then calls to be wiped :) She still wears a nappy at night but only when we can keep one on her! The past few nights we have checked on her before going to bed and she has absolutely nothing on... Hard not to laugh about it!

First swim at the pool for summer 2011

update: our baby, our home, our life

so if you have a child, you probably understand what i mean when i say that children totally change your life, turn it upside down, in fact.

before children, one is allowed to be totally selfish - and not just in a bad way. you can (to a certain extent) wake up when you want, eat when you want, go and do what you please. welcome to the world of selflessness when you have a baby. it is no longer about you my friend, but instead you are learning new things every day and just when you think you have figured out this tiny little creature, they change everything up on you again.

so adelaide and i have a pretty good thing going here in new jersey. our day-to-day schedule is of much consistency but still has room for variety. i have learned not to live according to a schedule, but instead to let the schedule work to my advantage.

adelaide is blooming. most of her time is spent on her stomach, not her back. it's very difficult to keep her on her back once she figured out how to get to her stomach by herself. she loves to sleep in the corner of her crib on her stomach. she has pictures of family on the wall that she looks at when she wakes up from her nap or when she awakens in the morning, and this keeps her satisfied for quite some time. i have FINALLY cleaned her room (mostly) and am very proud of her neat space. (our room, on the other hand, is still chaos. still waiting on someone to come and clean after me?) she loves to smile, talk and more recently, give good, hearty, belly-laughs. she is a whopping 14 pounds. adelaide was born with a lot of hair but now that has mostly fallen out. she has new hair coming in that is quite a bit lighter than her baby hair. her cheeks are to-die-for and i probably kiss them a hundred times a day. no one could convince me that there is a thing wrong with this child, our blessing from the Lord.

a big weekend coming up for us here. my brother andy and sister-in-law kerry are coming here to visit saturday morning from their home in DC, about 4 hours away. they will stay overnight and on sunday my mom is flying in from Oklahoma to spend a week with us. tomorrow is her 50th birthday, what a milestone! i am so proud of the amazing woman she is. this will also be the first saturday both ben and i have been here since april 25.

in other news, it appears as though our home in franklin is no longer going to be vacant, as some tenants will be moving in july 1! thank you Jesus! what a blessing. we will have a property manager handle the details which is another load off of us. in the midst of the madness ben and i have drawn closer to each other and to God. we still have not found "the church" but our spiritual community here is developing as well. thank you Jesus for new life!