And he's off!

Well, it's official...I think. Charlie can crawl. Kinda. If "crawling" is defined as forward movement on one's hands and knees, then he's not crawling; but if "crawling" is defined as forward movement achieved by sheer will and tenacity, then he's a crawling fool!

More pearly whites

One of Charlie's top teeth finally broke through! He's been working on it for ages, so I was so relieved to feel it's jagged little edge poke through his swollen gums. Hopefully the other one will break through soon and give the poor little guy some relief.

Ellie's end-of-year program

Ellie's end-of-year program at school was last Thursday and it was so cute! She was originally chosen to say a short bible verse, and apparently did well during rehearsals...until the microphone was introduced, at which point she refused to ever say it again. So another girl in her class said the verse and did a great job! The theme of the program was celebrating God's love and it was just so sweet to see all of the kiddos singing and dancing in such joy.

The pictures are out of order, but it was too much work to rearrange them...

This is the final "number" with all of the kids on stage -- sweet Jackson is in orange, kind of crouching behind the speaker thing; Ellie is in a yellow t-shirt with white pants in the front row:

And here is Ellie's class (the Toddlers) and The Little Ones. Seeing her here made me realize just how tall she is -- she's nearly a head taller than everyone else in her class:

This is the very beginning of Ellie's song -- everyone is laughing because the second the music started, all of the kids started jumping like crazy -- so cute!

Sisterly "help"

Charlie is trying to learn how to use a sippy cup...and Ellie is SO helpful!

That’s my girl!

Happy birthday, Auntie Jamie!

Another not-so-well visit

We had Charlie’s 9-month check-up this morning and it was perfect timing because the poor guy has been running a fever for the last two days.  So it was no surprise that he has two ear infections…again!  Unlike most of his earlier ear infections, this one is really bothering him – he’s not eating, he’s fussy, fussy, and even though we’re giving him Tylenol AND Motrin, he still has a fever.  Poor little dude.  His sissy is sick too – she’s also been running a fever for two days and doesn’t have much of an appetite.  I guess if she doesn’t get better soon, we’ll be heading back to the doctor.

So anyway, Charlie’s check-up…other than the ears, Charlie is just perfect…perfectly big, that is!  He weighs 22.5 lbs (80th percentile – given the impressive size of his thighs, I’m surprised that it’s only the 80th), he’s 30.25 inches long (95th percentile), and his enormous melon is in the 98th percentile!  The doctor actually re-measured his head himself because he didn’t trust that the nurse’s measurement was right – he did the same thing at Charlie’s 6-month visit, so I assume that at some point he’ll just trust that Charlie has a big, big head.

The scariest part of the visit was when Damian temporarily lost his hearing.  It happened right when the doctor said that Charlie doesn’t need to eat at night anymore and that Damian needs to go in anytime Charlie cries.  He said it would only take a week of Damian handling the night-wakings for Charlie to drop the feeding.  Luckily, Damian’s hearing seemed to come back as soon as we changed the subject.

Unisex accessories

The other day I made a couple little headbands for Miss Ellie.  She humored me and wore them long enough for a few pictures, but I’m not sure it will happen again.

   Love this picture – it shows her sweet…and mischievous side.

Unfortunately (for Charlie), Ellie insisted that Charlie try on the headband too.

I mean really, could he be any sweeter?!

Black tie

Look at my handsome little man on Mother’s Day!  Nana bought him his first tie (and the super cute shirt).

These pictures of Charlie remind me so much of the pictures that I took of Ellie in the same chair…with the same bald head and the same big smile!

Ellie at about the same age:

Already?

This picture cracks me up!  Doesn’t it look like I’ve interrupted Charlie hanging out with his girlfriend (Frankie) and he’s saying through clenched teeth, “Seriously, Mom!  You’re embarrassing me – get lost!”

Fiber

As I’ve mentioned (and as anyone who has spent any time with Ellie knows), Ellie has a habit of helping herself to anything that she can reach.  The other day, she moved one of her chairs into the kitchen, took a (HUGE) apple off of the counter, and ran off into the playroom to enjoy it in peace and quiet…until I showed up with the camera.

I have no doubt that she would have finished it, but we hosted a playdate for my MOMS group, so she had to finally give it up.  Not before she ate half of the core though!

Fun family picnic

I’m so behind on blogging!  And I can’t believe that I didn’t blog about the super fun family picnic that we had several weeks ago!  We met a bunch of other families (including Jax’s and Cain’s families, but somehow I managed to not take any pictures of them – shame on me!) at Watters Creek, threw down some blankets and enjoyed some live music while the kiddos ran around.  We hired a babysitter for the first time, so Charlie stayed at home and slept while Ellie enjoyed some only-child time.

Ellie only sat still long enough to eat!

It was so fun to watch Ellie dancing…and dancing…and dancing

Two little girls – Laura and Ella --  from Ellie’s class joined us and Ellie was so excited about seeing her school friends on a Saturday!

   

Ellie and Ella are hilarious together – I think Ella might be the only other little girl with as much energy as Ellie, so it’s fun to watch them being wild together.  They’re going to take a dance/tumbling class together in June – should be interesting!

Mama’s boy

Charlie is saying “mama!”  Of course, there’s absolutely no meaning behind it yet, and he says it most often when he’s crying/whining, but it’s still pretty exciting!

Let the countdown begin!

Master Charlie has figured out how to get up on all fours, so it’s just a matter of time (days? weeks?) before he’s off and into all sorts of trouble.  I will savor these last few days of merely mild chaos!

Who’s a big girl now?!

No more baby beds for Ellie!  She slept in a big girl bed last night and did great!  We tried her in it two nights ago, after getting rid of Charlie’s crib (which had been recalled) and moving him to Ellie’s crib; the first night did not go well – she was out of the bed before we could even close the door, but with the help of a “one strike” rule (she had to sleep in the pack ‘n play if she got out of bed), she stayed in bed all night last night.  She even slept in this morning and then waited for us to get her out of bed this morning.  Amazing!  I have to say that it was a little bittersweet though – I was so proud of her for staying in bed, but it was sad to see my little tiny (31+ lbs) baby in a big girl bed.  It just seems like she’s turned into a big girl before my eyes.  Crazy.  And fun.  And exciting.  And still a little sad.