In his genes?

So he didn't share our love for the Heels (see a post several months ago) but apparently Charlie has trumpet-playing in his blood.  He got a little trumpet for Christmas and without our prompting seems to just instinctively know which way to hold it up to his face.  Check it out below...

Showing off his embrasure

One Minute of Fun in the Snow

I was so excited for another snow storm after we didn't get a chance to enjoy the one in December because we were headed out for the Christmas holiday.  James was a little less excited because shoveling the walkway and digging out our cars is his job.  We got about a foot of beautiful fluffy snow throughout the day on Saturday and so today I was determined to take Charlie outside to experience it.  Despite being nice and sunny it was still really cold and unfortunately, he doesn't really have appropriate snow attire.  So I dressed him in jammies, a onsie, a jacket, socks and pants and we spent a total of one minute outside.  I probably would've stayed out longer but James convinced me that would be cruel.  So we let him enjoy the view from the upstairs porch (where the snow was still nice and crisp vs. the back yard where Marley had run in circles throughout the day yesterday) and he spent probably 30 seconds sitting in the snow on the table.  He seemed to think it was cool if even for just one minute :)

Getting ready to go!

Outside with Mom

Sitting on the table in the snow

Mitten full of snow

Other mitten too

This is fun!

Dad to the rescue

Marl loving the snow...

...so much so that she forgot we were on the porch (going to the bathroom on the porch is a no-no)

Back inside for a sweet potato lunch

and some Exersaucer fun

Loving the froggy

Pooped while folding laundry on the bed from a fun afternoon

Mmm... Sweet Potatoes

It is a snowy Saturday here in Richmond and our first day of an actual food (besides rice cereal)!  We decided to add a new food each Saturday morning and so James went to the grocery store last night with the rest of the crazies to pick up some sweet potatoes!  We are trying making Charlie's food from scratch and found it to be quite easy... just microwaved two sweet potatoes, scooped out the insides, pureed in the food processor and... baby food!  The whole thing took probably 15 minutes, most of which was just waiting for them to cook, and now we have sweet potatoes for the week.  Charlie ate them very readily just like he did the rice cereal but seemed to maybe enjoy them a bit more gauging by his eagerness in opening his mouth wide for them.  We haven't decided what food to do next week... perhaps carrots or squash... we'll see.

Opening wide

All done and hardly a mess.  Why did we buy all these bibs?

Sweet potatoes for the week!

New rump-in-the-air sleeping position courtesy of the full sweet potato belly

The snow on the upstairs deck as of 2pm Saturday

Hanging with Dad

Crawling?

...not quite but Charlie showed some strong interest this week.  I think this is pretty early for crawling and we are in no hurry to do the level of "baby-proofing" that would be required but it was sweet none-the-less.  He started on Monday when James' parents were up (they were off for MLK Day) and has done something similar each night.  We haven't yet gotten a good video of it but it goes like something like this:

Hanging out on the tummy...

Rump up in the air, propped on knees...

Push forward...

"Hey Dad!"

So pleased with himself

Eating Adventures

We had Charlie's 4-month check-up last week and he is now a whooping 14lb and 10oz (25th percentile) and 26.5 inches long (75th percentile) with a 16.75 inch head (50th percentile)... so still tall and skinny with an average noggin. He was actually a little over 5 months when we went but I think the percentiles are adjusted for that.  He got a clean bill of health, 5 shots (which he continued to handle like a champ) and permission to eat solid foods!  We've been so excited to start food so it has been a fun week using the high chair, little bowls, spoons and bibs for the first time.  While at first he seemed a little confused by the whole thing, he picked it up quickly and now opens wide for the spoon and really makes little mess.  We are doing rice cereal for now and I've ordered some books to explore different options for what to move onto next... make things ourselves vs. get the grocery store stuff.  Below are some cute pictures of our eating adventures:

Getting it ready to go... have since learned that precise measurements are totally unnecessary.

Getting strapped in

Open wide!

"Mmm, this isn't so bad."

"Actually it is quite fun!"

"Enough rice cereal... back to my hands and toes."

Making a bit more of a mess round 2

Smiling at Dad

Eating toes!

As predicted, "touching toes" quickly became "eating toes" just a few weeks after their discovery.  It has been too cute watching him try to get the buggers in his mouth...rolling around side to side... but he finally did it last week.  I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of him doing this new trick after his bath last night :)

"Oh, I found my toes!"

"Mmmmm..."

"I love my toes!"

Inside Fun

It has been coooooooold here for the last couple weeks so we've been spending the weekends indoors just to stay warm.  Good thing Charlie has become quite interested in all the fun things to do in the house.  Below are some cute shots of playtime over the past few weeks.

Playing drums

Chilling in the bumbo on the kitchen counter

Again on the counter

One more time... those eyes will break hearts one day :)

Finally digging the jumpy thing.  Check out that slobber!

"Are you looking at me?"

"I love you Monkey."

Tummy time is fun again!

Cutie

"Me and Monkey are best buds now!"

"Come here puppy."

Charlie-zilla

Cuddling with Dad