10K Par-tay

Four months ago, James set a the lofty goal of running this year's Monument Avenue 10K which is a huge event along my favorite street in Richmond.  Having never been much of a runner, James really dedicated himself 110% and changed his lifestyle dramatically to do this.  The race was on Saturday and he ran the entire thing and ended with a time better than what he even expected!  I have never been so proud of him as I am today (and he had given me a lot to be proud of with all of his work, school and music accomplishments) as this took an unbelievable about of dedication and willpower... more than I have for sure!  Charlie and I are so luck to have him as our daddy and husband!

It was a little on the chilly side but otherwise was a beautiful day!  Our friends Mitch, Rebekah (and little Leo), Andrew and Gaby came up from North Carolina for the race.  While the guys ran, we walked up and down Monument Avenue checking out the festivities and cheering on the runners and walkers, then met the guys at the finish line in Monroe Park.

After the race, we hosted about 20 people from James' staff at the house who had come all the way from Middlesex County for the race.  Then friends dropped in all afternoon/evening to celebrate with us.  It was special that James' good friends Eric, Kevin, Mike and Aaron (along with their lady-friends and a friend for Marley) even all made the trek from NC and DC.  It was a late night and we are all feeling the effects of it today but it was an event worth celebrating for sure!

James and Keenan with 2 miles to go!

Feeling great after the race

Mitch, James and Andrew after the race

Charlie is so proud of Dad!

Back at the house waiting for party #1 to start

A closer look at Charlie's special shirt... it says "My Daddy Wears a Bid2" courtesy of Training Tag-Alongs, a company owned by a fried at work

More Eating Adventures

Also while my parents were in town, we cooked some new dishes to add to Charlie's repertoire.  We put Grandma to work peeling and cutting 10 apples for applesauce and I made green beans, carrots, acorn squash and winter squash.  This should hold us for a good few weeks!

Grandma slicing and dicing

Doesn't it look delicious!

At Charlie's 6-month check up last week (which was actually at like 7.5 months), we also got the go-ahead to start some O's since he is doing the pincer grasp pretty well.  He was a little confused at first but now LOVES them!

Working hard to get one

Got it!

Officially Crawling!

 He is off and running... or "off and crawling" I suppose :)  Over the weekend while my parents were here, Charlie took his first actual crawls.  After rocking back and forth and doing the lunge-sit-lunge-site method of getting around for a few weeks, he finally got one knee out in front of the other and is now cruising around like a champ.  He seems to really enjoy his new skill... he seems to never tire of playing "fetch" for his toys and doesn't seem bothered by his little rug-burned knees either.  It is very sweet to watch but I feel like there is a whole other level of cleanliness now that we need to strive for or just take solace that eating dog hair might be good for building a strong immune system :)

Video to come!

Still Growing!

We went for Charlie's 6-month check-up this week and he continues to be his tall and skinny self.  He is now 16 lbs and 8 oz (25th percentile) and 26 inches (75th percentile).  He did a great job showing off all of his tricks and to our surprise he only needed one shot!  Since we've been going at wacky times due to his early arrival, he was actually all caught up on everything except Hep B.  He didn't even cry for that one... what a big boy!  Below are just some recent pics of my big guy...

Chilling with Dad

In all of his glory

His Chariot Has Arrived!

Now that the Spring is on its way, we decided it was time to get Charlie a "big boy" stroller for walks around the neighborhood.  I did some research and decided on the Baby Jogger City Mini.  It arrived in the mail this week and it is really cool!  We've only tried it out around the house but Charlie loves it and I can tell it will be great for our bumpy Fan sidewalks.  As you can see in the pictures, he has plenty of room to grow into it but the straps do hold in his little frame.

Front Shot

Side Shot

Another week of firsts!

Toofers!  Without warning, two little teeth popped out this week! On Thursday night, I felt the first one and then the second one appeared on Saturday.  In typical fashion, Charlie didn't seem bothered at all about them so we wouldn't have even known they were here if I didn't check every day.  Today, I was able to snap a few pictures of them while he was in a chatty mood on the changing table.

Can you see them?

How about now?

I guess it was inevitable after sitting up steadily, but sooner than we thought it would happen, Charlie now sits up on his own.  This is how I found him on Saturday morning upon hearing him babble on the monitor... time to lower the crib!

"Hey Mom!" 

"Look what I did!"

Yup, we have to take that down too.

We started using the sippy this week too! Charlie was very excited to play with it but thinks it is a chew toy more than something to drink out of.  I'm sure he'll get the hang of it soon though.

Charlie is scooting around more this week and has figured out how to go backwards pretty well.  Usually he intends to go forward (like for a toy out of reach), gets up on his hands and knees and then hurls himself backwards.  I thought this was by accident but he always ends up right next to Marley, who he loves, so perhaps it is on purpose. 

Scooted over to the floor

"Whoa, I didn't see you there"

"Hey pup"

That is it for the "firsts" but below are some other cute pictures I took in the last week or two...

"Well, hey there."

Hanging with Dad

"Hey puppy"

Helping with laundry

What a difference 5 months make...

So Charlie's first foray into cheering on the Heels didn't go so well (see a post from back in September).  This week, he finally grew into some new Tarheel outfits and his hat so I got out the camera for a little photo op.  I got some cute smiles but he insisted on keeping his tongue out too (which happens often these days).  Looking back at the pictures I took in September, I was shocked to see how much he has grown in just 5 months!

7-Month Fun

It is so hard to believe that Charlie turned 7 months this week!  It is going by way too fast but it is such fun seeing him do so many "big boy" things.  Below are some cute shots of what he has been up to this month:

Concentrating (indicated by the tongue stuck out) on the stackable rings

Having fun petting Marl-dog

Whoops, ears aren't for eating

Tags are just the coolest!

Being sweet in the bumbo

Still loving the monkey

6-Month Pictures

Today we finally were able to get Charlie's 6-month pictures done.  We had been planning to do them for the past several weeks but couldn't due to our weekly Saturday snow storms in January/early February.  We went to the same place as last time and again he did a great job and was all smiles despite having to wait quite awhile for our turn.  He looks like such a big boy in these compared to his 3-month shots... he is growing up too fast!  Below are some of my favorite shots (I have a lot of favorites so bear with me):

In a silly hat (likely full of germs)

My actual favorite

The obligatory naked baby in a diaper shot

Peek a boo!

In a little man chair

"C" is for Charlie!