Look Who's Talking...and Walking!

Charlie started talking just before he turned 1 year old.  His first word (that seemed to have some meaning behind it) was "Dada".  He loves it when Matthew gets home from work - he gets a huge smile, and wants Dada to hold him immediately.  He soon picked up "Ba" (ball) and "Buh" (book), which are two of his favorite things after Dada.

But I think "Bye" is my favorite thing he says.

He's been walking while holding on to people's hands for over a month now.  He's pretty funny about it, too - he likes to steer, and he gets pretty angry when you try to steer him in a direction he doesn't want to go! He can also turn on a dime!

But this past Thursday, June 5th, Charlie took his first (unassisted) steps!  The little stinker did it at Grandma and Grandpa's while I was out house hunting and Dada was at work.  He's been getting more confident over the past couple of days and I'm sure he'll be running in no time.  Watch out, James!

6 Month Old Charlie

Well, that was the fastest 6 months of my life!

And this big guy is all smiles.

Smiles & Chub.  That's our Charlie!  

He's as expressive as ever, and still loves to smile, laugh, and make funny noises.

(I know it's actually closer to the 7 month mark than the 6 month, but I actually did take these when he turned 6 months old.  I just haven't had a chance to do any photo editing/blog writing until now.  I would say that I'll try to do better next month, but realistically, that's not going to happen!  You don't mind, do you?)

As I learned while patiently waiting during the two weeks he was "overdue" for Charles Norman to arrive, he likes to do things in his own time (or other words, at the very last minute).  It seems like every month, he waits to hit new milestones until the week of his "monthly birthday."  Right up until the day before he turned 6 months old, Charlie would sit for maybe 5 seconds before toppling over.  But on 10/24/13, he sat for over 2 minutes like it was nothing.  He also starting doing a lot of this:

 I love that sometimes he looks surprised that he's on his hands and knees, and other times he looks proud.

A couple of days before the big 6 month b-day, Charlie cut his first tooth!  It was a little difficult to get a picture of (it doesn't help that his bottom lip is always covered in a thin sheen of drool, making it close to impossible to pull it down with your finger)

But I finally managed when he started to fuss at me for taking too many pictures

And while he still likes to put everything in his mouth,

He was not a fan of his first "solid food": sweet potatoes.

He wasn't big on applesauce, either, but he does like spoons and sucking on actual apples (like his big bro).  Since he gained 3 pounds over the course of 2 months on breast milk, I'm not too worried about his lack of interest in food!

He had another doctor's appointment this month, and everything was great.  In addition to gaining 3 pounds (up to 17lb, 3 oz!), he grew another inch, and he took his shots like a champ.

This guy, who is currently going through (what I sincerely hope is) a phase where he doesn't want to have his picture taken, didn't want to miss out on any attention and wanted to join in on the fun.

I love brother cuddles.

This picture is terribly out of focus, but their facial expressions cracked me up, so I had to include it.

OK, Mama, that's enough!

3 Months!!?!

Oh where has the time gone??  Can't believe this little man is already 3 months old.

Charlie's Aresenio Hall impersonation.  Roo, roo, roo!

His best friend, Taco the octopus,

 You can't really tell from these pictures, but Charlie is a very happy and good-natured baby who loves to smile.  Whenever I get the camera out, though, he goes all Blue Steel on me (for those of you who haven't seen it, that's a reference from the movie Zoolander).

I did get a couple of happy shots of the little guy:

"That boy's going to be an orchestra conductor!" -Pa

Charlie has had a busy 3rd month.  In addition to getting baptized, he's hit several milestones.  At 9 1/2 weeks he rolled from his belly to his back, and from his back to his belly at 11 1/2 weeks.  Of course he usually does this in his crib at night so we've only witnessed it in person a couple of times, and we've never caught it on camera or video.  Although I did take a 7 minute long video of him almost rolling over:

Right around 12 weeks he also started laughing (he always stops as soon as the video camera comes out, so I unfortunately have no evidence to share), blowing raspberries, and sucking his thumb, just like his big brother:

PS - Click here to see all of Charlie's Monthly pics in one place!

I've been dreading this day...

...ever since those precious curls started to appear around 7 months:

I have had several people tell me that their child had curls just like James and that after the first haircut, the curls were no more.

So I did what most Mamas of babies with sweet baby curls would do, and put off his haircut as long as possible.

It didn't bother me that he was constantly getting called a girl by strangers,

"Is her hair naturally curly?"

even though he would be dressed all in blue and have dinosaurs on his shirt and playing with a toy truck
(although it did irk me a little to find out that Dada doesn't correct people when they tell him his daughter is cute - he just says Thanks).

The two things that finally convinced us (me) it was time were 1) the fact that James, Dada, and I were constantly brushing his hair out of his eyes and it was starting to irritate him, and 2) his hair is actually past his shoulders:

Nice rat tail!

In the days leading up to his haircut, I decided to take a few pictures (353 pictures, to be exact).  If the haircut was catastrophic, I wanted to document his last few days with long, flowing, beautiful locks.

I kind of think he looks like a little model here

Here, not so much.  I think he may be mad at me some day for posting this one on the internet...

Right after I took this one, he colored on our white bedspread

And then he wondered why I took the crayons away

Starting to get angry at me for taking pictures of him in the tub

 And finally, today, the big day arrived

We're ready to go!

 He was really good throughout the entire haircut.  His Charlie Brown book, Dada's iPhone, and the football game on tv all helped.

 

All done!

 Doesn't he look handsome?

And he still has his curls!!  I don't think the haircut could have gone any better - there were no tears shed by James or Mama, which in and of itself constitutes a huge success.

And of course I had to take some more pics of his new 'do once we got home

 As you can see, we ended up not taking a whole lot off - just enough to keep it out of his eyes for a while and make him look more like a little boy.  I think Dada wanted to cut it shorter, but knew better than to disagree with a pregnant, hormonal Mama. 

 I told him James could maybe get a shorter hair cut in a year.  Or two.

Walkin' Tall: James's First Steps

Recorded March 1, 2012

8 Months

8 Months already.  It seems like each month goes by faster than the last.  An email I received from a friend today mentioned that James is starting to look more like a toddler than a baby, and I couldn't agree more.  Look how long those legs are!

 Continuing with the "We've been seeing a lot of this lately" trend , here's what the little guy is currently doing every chance he gets:

 If there is something within his reach, you better believe he's going to use it to pull himself up to a standing position (including the cats - he hasn't had much success with that yet as they typically get up and walk away, but he keeps trying).

He hasn't shown must interest in trying to walk yet, which is just fine by me.

James is also starting to spend more time with one toy.  As soon as he started crawling, he'd bounce around from one toy to another, but now he'll play with something for an entire minute.  Maybe even two.

 

And now, the little man in action: