Spring is in the Air

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last! It's been a rough month for me (more about that later), but we're back and enjoying the spring sunshine. Spring has also brought out the family from across the street racing their remote control cars up and down the street for hours on end, resulting in the neighborhood dogs barking for hours on end. We also get to enjoy the lovely strains of a bagpipe every evening as our neighbor plays in the backyard.

Charlie Boy reached the great 8 month mark. He's growing like a weed and his little personality is becoming more apparent everyday. He is quite an explorer and in the past month has had lots of accomplishments. Here are a few:

• He has discovered the joy of the tile, and now follows me around the house-sliding around on his tummy. I used to have some peace in the fact that he wouldn't leave the carpet, but alas. He slides across the tile so fast and it makes wonderful noises. There is a whole new world in the kitchen cabinets, the garbage can and crumbs on the kitchen floor
• He is up on hands and knees for at least part of the time when crawling, though he still prefers the army crawl
• He's cutting a third tooth, and as always is such a champ and so happy
• He's had to transfer to a bottle and formula and did it incredibly well, even though it's been a little harder for his body to adjust
• We are trying to be persistant with the solid foods, although he would really just prefer a bottle all the time. He loves bananas and will eat a few other things if he's in the right mood. Avacado is the newest on the list of "I guess I will humor you by gagging that down, just don't try to stick another bite of peas in my mouth" foods
• He loves standing and wants to stand up all the time. He's getting very tricky and can balance with one hand (or just his mouth) and is starting to try to move around the furniture. A couple weeks ago he was standing in his bed and Cam handed him a toy. He wasn't sure if he could balance and so he held onto the crib with his mouth in order to have hands free for the toy.
• Charlie plays by himself so well and for so long. He loves to explore, tear and destroy things-especially magazines and paper. He loves pulling all the books of the shelf or everything out of a drawer.
• He gets so proud of himself when he does something new. He gets a huge grin on his face and bounces.
• He still yells at us to let us know how mad he is. And I mean, he really yells at us, clenched fists and everything
• He loves to give kisses. It is the best ever

The other morning, I was laying on the ground in his room and dozing while he played He crawled up to me, grabbed my face and kissed me. Then he went back to play with his toys, then came back to give me kisses over and over. Best moment of being a mom so far-probably. It's pretty wonderful all the time

Charlie loves playing underneath everything now. Tables, chairs, and the jumparoo!

Due to Cam's crazy bad insomnia, I decided to sleep in Charlie's room for a few nights (so that Cam wouldn't wake up every time the baby did and he could get back on a good sleep schedule). The other morning really early, Charlie woke up and just wouldn't settle down and go back to sleep. I tried to rock him and lay down by him and pat his back. Nothing worked. I then put him on my chest and laid down on my little bed. He backed off me and scooted off the mats. He knelt there for a minute, then laid down his head and went to sleep. I was going to move him, but he had been so restless and he seemed so peaceful that I just let him sleep like this for a couple more hours. It was so cute. 

Charlie loves to feed himself his bottle, and while I try to feed him a lot, cause I still think we need the cuddle time, it's also pretty covenient for me. Especially when it's followed with a nap!

Playing on the jumparoo jungle gym

Cam has loved playing outside with Charlie. He was kicking around a tennis ball the other day, and for some reason, Charlie thought it was hilarious and laughed hysterically the whole time. Such handsome boys!

Waiting for mom