Charlie = 8 months!

Happy 8 months Charlie!!

I feel like I say it every month, but this month has really flown by! Probably because Mark and I were in Mexico for 8 days of the month while Gigi was here watching the kids! :)

While we didn't have a well-baby checkup this month, we did have a sick visit. Charlie somehow got the strep, poor guy! Anyway- at the docs visit Charlie's weight was hovering so close to 22lbs that we decided to move him from the infant carseat to the big guy carseat (picture to come!).

With the exception of while he was sick, Charlie is still a great eater. He downs 4 bottles a day plus 3 "meals" a day of pureed baby food. So far the only real foods he has had are avocado and banana. Just the stuff that is easy for me to mash up for him.

But our biggest news is that CHARLIE STARTED CRAWLING! Tonight, just before we were going to head upstairs for bed, Charlie really wanted a toy that Ella was playing with. As soon as she put it down, he made a beeline for it! Ella and I were laughing so hard because it was so dang cute! He's done it a few more times since but none as fast or as determined as that 1st time this evening. I was able to catch the 3rd time on video.

SO CLOSE... Charlie is almost crawling

Just had to quickly post this video. Charlie is 8 month old (as of this past Saturday) and he is so so close to crawling. I thought for sure he'd have it down by now... but not yet!

Here is a quick video of his attempt today. Ella and I were giving him a little extra motivation.

Charlie = 7 months!

Another month has flown by again! Charlie is growing up before our eyes. This past month we've had some growing pains... it seems like Charlie and Ella (and Mark and me too!) have been passing crud back and forth so that as soon as someone feels better, someone else is sick! I feel like we have had someone sick in the house since Thanksgiving! We also switched Charlie to a new sleeping schedule and now he sleeps from about 8:30pm-7:30am (instead of 11pm-7am) so that took a while for him to get used to... meaning Mom was up with him almost every hour for a few nights- argh!

Charlie is getting WAY more mobile. We place him on the floor, leave the room for less than a minute and he has somehow rolled and scooted his way to the opposite side of the room! No crawling YET but Charlie spends a lot of time on his hands and knees rocking back and forth.

Charlie is continuing to try lots and lots of new foods and loves to eat. You can see by his size that he is not going hungry! Our big guy plows through an 8oz bottle and at least 2 jars of baby food at each meal. Whoa! But the biggest milestone for Mom is that he is starting to hold the bottle... he still needs some help, but hopefully he will continue to be more and more independent!

Charlie is also interacting with all of us a ton! He wants more and more engagement from us, which is fun, but it also means that he is no longer content to just sit and play with a few toys. He wants constant attention, gets upset when we leave the room, and is easily distracted when eating. It makes for a lot more work for mom and dad! He is really interested in the dogs these days and is always happy to watch them play around in the family room. Every once in a while our dog Henry will even let Charlie "pet" him and give him a few kisses.

Charlie's favorite playmate is still his big sister Ella. We have so much fun watching the two of them interact. In fact, today I watched Charlie attend a tea party that Ella was hosting.

Ella loves to tickle Charlie and make him laugh. She refers to him as "little buddy" or "handsome boy" and she just loves him to death. You can tell that Charlie already looks up to his big sister. It won't be long until he is trying to do everything that she is doing.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!

Happy 3rd birthday Ella Anne!! You are growing into such a beautiful, smart, funny and sweet little girl! I cannot believe it has been 3 years since we welcomed you into the world!

On the morning of your birthday, we treated you to some birthday donuts and opened gifts at the breakfast table. Your party was actually the day after your birthday so we needed to commemorate it on the actual day.

For the day of the party, Ella and I went to get mani/pedis together. It was a special treat for both Ella and Mom!

We celebrated your birthday this year with your 1st "kid" party. Since you love Curious George we thought it would be fun to have a monkey themed party! We sent out monkey invitations designed by our friend Ashley with A+Joy=Design and we celebrated at "Little Monkey Bizness" with about 15 families. It was a blast. The kids were able to play and run and jump out lots of energy before pizza and a special monkey cake made by our neighbor Cyndi with Custom Cakes by Cyndi. We are so lucky to have such talented friends and neighbors to help us make your birthday so special.

Highlights from the party include having all your friends with you, playing and running around and eating yummy cake. Also- while Mom and Dad were busy serving cake to all your friends, apparently you passed gas and then stood up on your chair to announce it, saying "I farted! Excuse me!". You are certainly your fathers daughter! Haha!

At her 3 year checkup, Ella recorded the following stats:

Weight: 35lbs

Height: 38.25inches (3ft, 2.25in)

Ella falls in the 80% in both measurements.

A little about you right now....

FAVORITE foods: raisins, mac & cheese, pizza, grapes, fruit snacks, applesauce

FAVORITE TV shows: Caliou, Mickey Mouse Club

FAVORITE movies: Care Bears, Sound of Music, all the Disney Princess movies (but not the scary parts)

FAVORITE stuffed animals: Rosey the Raccoon (given to you while in the ER over Xmas), Curious George, Boo Boo (blue dog given to you by Mackenzy Pedrie)

FAVORITE lovie: Pink blanket with your name embroidered on it, you call it your "night night"

FAVORITE special treats: you love anything sweet- cookies, cupcakes, candy etc and have developed a new love for hot chocolate

Some funny things you've said recently:

"Mom, what I'm gonna do with you!"

"That's thirsty work." (instead of hard work)

"You're driving me crazy Mom."

"Sorry bout that Mom." (said whenever you do something you're not supposed to be doing)

You have also been imagining friends lately, its been cute except when you want me to cook them "real" meals, not just pretend ones. And you are one of the most polite toddlers I've ever met. Always saying please and thankyou. But my favorite is when you say sweet things out of the blue (you do it often), like "I love you Mom." and "Mom, I'm so glad you're here."

Charlie's 6 month pictures

Here is a little sneak peak from our photographer of Charlie's 6 month photos.

Charlie's 6 month photo shoot

I'm never going to be able to decide which ones to buy!!!

Videos of the kids

Just a reminder that I try to post cute videos of the kids from time to time on my YouTube page (link to the page is on the upper lefthand side of this blog). I posted a new one today and just had to share... so fun to see Charlie interacting with us!!!

Go Pack Go!

Mark and I are rooting on our GB Packers from Denver... here's a few pics from the recent watch parties. This weekend we are doing it up right with Beers and Brats! Our Wisconsin cousins would be proud of us!

Ella's 1st ski trip

The day started like this:

And ended like this:

It was a success! We started off on a bad foot but Ella totally exceeded our expectations. She actually pleaded with us to take her on a lift! Who knew we had such a skier on our hands! We were so impressed! And she isn't even 3 years old yet! Wow.

Thanks Uncle Tom for joining us for such a momentous occasion!

Here's a few photos from our day...

(Head on over to my you tube page- link on the upper left of my blog- to see a couple of Ella's ski videos.)

Charlie = 6 months!

Charlie is 6 months old and sitting up all by himself. (Still a little bit wobbly so Mom has to stay close by!) He is growing so fast we can hardly believe it. Charlie is now eating pears, sweet potatoes and squash along with the rice cereal he started eating last month. He has also be starting to get up on his hands and knees so we know that crawling is coming next!

Our 6 month doctor visit went great and here are Charlie's new stats:

Weight- 18lbs 6oz (60%)

Height- 27.5in (85%)

Head- 17.875in (90%)

Charlie gained almost 3 pounds in the last 2 months and he is still measuring almost exactly the same as Ella at 6 months. Pretty crazy. We have TWO big kiddos on our hands! Ha!

Happy 40th Birthday Mark!

This past Friday, January 7th Mark celebrated his 40th birthday! Happy birthday to the best Dad and husband around! Congrats on 40 great years! Here's to 40 more... and a wonderful celebration trip in Mexico next month!