breakfast of champions! (well, dinner...)

We put Charlie in his high chair for the first time on Friday to feed him his rice cereal. He's really coming along with learning how to eat from a spoon. I'm having trouble keeping his attention though so he's not eating as much before he gets bored with it and wants to get out. I guess since I'm feeding him in the dining room, it's just too much new stuff, i.e. lights, computer screen, etc.

Charlie is also starting to find his feet. He's begun to grab at them a little bit. He's also started squealing alot. It's really funny. Daniel and I get tickled listening to all his different pitches as he talks. Charlie's a real talker in the car.

paci vs. the thumb

I think I have lost the battle. Actually, I just gave up trying...

rice cereal vs. fingers

such a hard decision...rice cereal or fingers...

take a bite...
fingers...
take a bite...

fingers...

take a bite...

fingers...

stay-at-home mom

I have many people ask me, "Are you bored yet staying at home? What do you do all day?" This should answer their questions...

rollin', rollin', rollin'

I posted about Charlie rolling over from his tummy to his back. Well, today was the first time I've seen Charlie roll this far from his back to his stomach. He's been rolling to his side alot but not completely over. I put him on his back in his crib today for a nap. When I went back to check on him, this is how he was laying. He slept his whole nap in this position...

And, of course, Khaki guarding the crib. This is one of her favorite spots to lay...

just life in general...

Things are going good in the Ward household. Charlie is growing so fast. I'm enjoying staying at home with him. I have alot of people ask me if I miss work. My answer is a quick one...nope. I do miss the adult interaction and my friends at CDH but I'm adjusting. I still talk to a few of them occasionally. Charlie and I went by CDH a week or so ago. It was nice to see everyone.

I, unfortunately, have caught someone's cold and am having to stay away from Charlie as much as I can so that he doesn't catch it. It's been a really hard thing to do but so far so good. I miss being able to kiss and cuddle him though and my hands hurt from washing them so much. Maybe just another day or so and things will be back to normal.

Daniel continues to work and seems to enjoy his job. He's a good stay at home dad too when I need him to be one. He's been great these past few days since he's had to take care of Charlie except for feedings due to my sickness. He took Charlie to Daddy Boot Camp last Saturday. Daniel went as a dad-to-be back in April. It's pretty much just a discussion session but we got alot of good information out of it. Daniel was talking to me for days. When the babies are four months old, they invite the dads back to be veterans and share their experiences. He said they had a good time. I was glad to see that he was confident enough to take Charlie out somewhere by himself. I just packed the diaper bag with the necessities and a bottle and off they went.

Daniel and I have been working to refinance our house. We signed all the papers today. We switched from an adjustable rate to a fixed rate. It's nice to know our payment won't change.

Well, that's about it. Charlie is slowly taking to eating his rice cereal. He takes a bite but normally spits most of it out. Today was the first time I could actually tell he swallowed it.

I'll leave you with one of the cutest pictures I've taken of Charlie so far...

more pictures

Here are a couple more pictures I took today. My sister-in-law gave us the brown bear you see in the pictures before Charlie was born. She mentioned to me to take Charlie's picture with the bear along the way to see how much he is growing. It gives you a sense of scale. It's amazing to look back and see how much he has already grown in just 4 months. It will be neat to see the difference over the next few years. I've tried to get pictures with the bear every month.

Khaki just had to be a part of our photo session...

Charlie and Mommy getting in some tummy time on the couch...

4 months old

As of yesterday, Charlie is four months old. Time is going by so fast. Everyone keeps saying to enjoy it while I can because it will go by in the blink of an eye. I'm starting to believe them. He's at a real fun stage. He responds to you talking to him with laughs, smiles, and coos. It will just melt your heart. Charlie's alot more active as well, kicking and squirming. Sometimes I have trouble keeping him in my lap. He's doing pretty good holding his head up. He went for his 4 month check-up with the pediatrician today. He weighs 15 pounds and 15 ounces, is 26 inches long, and has a head circumference of 17 1/4". According to all the charts they use, he's in the top percentile. We've still got him on a bedtime routine that seems to be working well. He's sleeping between 8-10 hours before waking to feed and then going back down for 2-3 hours. So, I'm lucky in that I'm getting a full night's rest each night, even if I stay up a little later.

Here are a couple of pictures I took yesterday for his 4 month pictures:


Charlie had his first bite of rice cereal today. I talked with the pediatrician to see if he was ready. He has gotten back down to eating every 2 1/2 - 3 hours so he apparently is needing a little more to sustain him. As you can see from the fat little thighs in his pictures, he's not starving! :) He didn't do all that well with it but I'm sure he'll figure it out soon. He swallowed a few bites but spit most of it out.