Tidbits

I don't have anything big or exciting to share today, so how about some tidbits?

• Charlie started sleeping on his tummy almost two weeks ago.  It started on a Sunday morning: I went to check on him because he was sleeping later than normal and there he was, zonked out on his tum-tum.  Ever since then we place him on his back to sleep and almost every morning we find he has rolled over.  Even when I check on him an hour after he goes to bed, he's often already on his tummy.  That's my boy!  Finally realized how comfy it is to sleep that way!  And I think it's helping him sleep better too.
• The other day Jack told me he wanted to eat at Old MacDonald Had a Farm's (i.e. McDonalds).
• Jason and I recently participated in two races.  The first was the Climb the Met where we climbed the 40 stories of stairs at the Metropolitan building downtown in support of the American Lung Association. It was TOUGH, but we did it!  It took me 15 minutes and 20 seconds, but I am a little embarrassed to say I came in 847th place out of 1,045 finishers.  Yikes!  Might need to do some training before next year's event!  The highlight was this picture of Jason crossing the finish line.  Our second race was last Saturday when our little clan participated in the St. Patty's Day 5 mile run downtown.  We tried out the double jogging stroller that I bought off of Craigslist a few weeks ago and the boys did great.  Charlie dozed off towards the end of the race, and Jack took a break from the stroller in the middle of the race and RAN A FULL MILE!  We were impressed, as was every person that ran by us at that time.  He was a determined little man!



Pre-Race






Post-race


• Jack is really into things that match these days.  If anything is remotely the same color, he tells us it matches.  It's really cute.
• Jack is also making some progress on the potty-training front.  One of our potty books came with a chart and stars, so we've been using that.  He gets to put a star on the chart every time he goes poo poo on the potty.  He gets a surprise after 10 stars, and I'm happy to report he earned his first surprise this week!!  He was convinced it was going to be ice cream, even after I handed him a wrapped box.  Instead it was a Buzz Lightyear figurine and he told me he loved it and immediately asked to watch Toy Story to "match" his Buzz with the one on TV.

• We are loving this warm weather!!  Grandma & Grandpa just got back from Florida, so while they were gone Jason and I each took at day off work to stay home with the kids.  We were both lucky to have beautiful weather so we got lots of playground time in.  Charlie had his first (that I know of) ride in a swing and loved it.  And we tried out a new playground near our house that we will be sure to frequent now that the weather is warmer.

• Charlie rode in his first shopping cart last weekend and boy did he think he was a big shot!!  Of course, I forgot my shopping cart cover so I had to scrub down his hands afterwards, but still fun!

   

• A few weeks ago we went to Chuck E Cheese with the Ashers on a whim, and boy did we learn a very important lesson: NEVER, EVER go to Chuck E Cheese again!  It was horribly crowded with horribly rude people and just messy and dirty and loud and BLAH!  However, tonight on a recommendation from my friend Hollie we tried out Playtime Party Center in Wentzville, MO.  It's similar to Chuck E Cheese in that there are tokens and games and mediocre pizza, BUT it was much smaller, MUCH cleaner and much less crowded.  Our kind of place!  It also had fun things to climb on and slide down as well as a roller skating rink (for when the boys are bigger).  So glad we discovered this place - we will be going back for sure!!

• Last weekend we had a play date with my friends Rebecca Presson and Melissa Wilburn and their families.  Our babies are very close in age: Reese Wilburn was born August 14, Graham Presson was born September 3 and Charlie of course was born September 9.  Of course we had to get a baby photo shoot in:

Love this one - they're checking each other out: 

 The big kids (Caroline & Jack) got in on the action too:

•  And finally, here's our boy cutting his ice cream with a knife and fork the other night.  Goofball!



Charlie is 1/2!

Half a year has already passed us by; Charlie is six months old!  Phew!  He is still such a happy, easygoing guy.   Case in point: we had no idea he has his first ear infection until today at his six month check-up.  He showed no signs of pain or irritability; that is, until the doctor stuck his tool in his ear - then he was not a happy camper!  His left ear is infected, but the doctor wasn't able to see past the wax in his right to tell if it too is infected.  He said it wasn't worth making him even more mad when it's already been determined he will need antibiotics.  So, Amoxicillin it is.  This was the inevitable result of the seemingly never-ending cold/cough that Charlie has had since the beginning of the year.  Hopefully we can kick this thing soon now that the weather is starting to warm up!

 Charlie is a growing boy!  At today's check-up we learned that he weighs 20 lbs, 6 oz (91st percentile) and is 28" long (93rd percentile).  At six months, Jack was 22 lbs, 10 oz and 27.5" long.  So Charlie is just a slender peanut compared to his big brother - ha!  His head circumference, however, is off the charts at 18.5" - the doctor even remeasured to make sure the nurse had it right.  It's funny because I was just saying this week his head seems large when I try to put pullovers on him.  Now it's confirmed.  The doctor wasn't worried since it is proportional with the rest of his body.

 Charlie was very animated during tonight's photo shoot - he kept leaning forward and making lots of noises and faces...

LOVE this one!  What a goofball!

 Our big guy has mastered sitting up and that's his favorite position these days.  He also loves to experiment with sounds and has discovered the "d" sound, as well as squeals, babbles and raspberries.  Here he gives you a nice demo of some of his favorite noises:

Charlie's eating lots of new foods.  In addition to sweet potatoes, squash and peas, he's now tried green beans, carrots, avocado and bananas.  The only food he hasn't enjoyed was his first taste of banana, but I had just mashed it rather than pureeing and it was a pretty ripe banana.  When we tried again with a newer banana and smoother texture, he seemed to enjoy it more.  He's been eating cereal in the morning and we're going to add fruit to that meal too; then he has a veggie and some cereal for dinner.  He's still drinking milk five times per day and so far we're still going strong with strictly breastfeeding.

Here's a comparison of our big boy's first six months: