new developments...

Charlie has learned some new things the past couple of days. It's really amazing how all of a sudden he's doing new things. Charlie's really started being more vocal. More dadada's and bababa's. And those sounds are getting loud! And to my excitement, I started hearing mamama's on Saturday. That was fun!

Kathy Moore bought Charlie an activity toy that has a spiral ramp that you put a ball on and it rolls down and comes out the bottom. Charlie got to play with this for the first time the other night when they kept him for our date night. He was having fun with it but hadn't quite figured it out. She sent it home with us and we've been playing with it ever since. The fun part is that Charlie has learned to pick up the ball, put it in the top, let go of it, and then pick it up at the bottom again. That just astonishes me! It stands up about 2 feet tall so Charlie's been trying to pull up on it too.

It's just fun to watch Charlie figure things out. It's just you keep trying something with him for a while and then all of a sudden, he's got it. Like, we've been trying to get Charlie to do pattycake. He'll reach and clap our hands together but won't clap his own hands together. Sunday night, at church, he was turned around facing the pew behind us - flirting, of course. He was leaning against my shoulder. I glanced back to see what he was doing and I saw him clap his hands together. I haven't seen him do that until then so I know it's just a matter of time...

Another feat that's exciting is that Charlie is now feeding himself. We've been working with him to eat Cheerios on his own but was thrown in on Sunday when we were invited to lunch after church. I always plan ahead, in case we get this invitation, by packing Charlie a lunch. But for some reason I decided not to this time. And, of course, we got the invitation. I was sure to order something off the menu that I could feed to Charlie. I ordered a fried chicken salad. He loves to eat chicken and I knew he could eat the tomatoes and cheese as well. We were waiting on our lunch to come by feeding Charlie Cheerios and various other things off the appetizer plates. He was picking up the Cheerios and eating them so when our food came, I put him in his high chair and put bits of food in front of him. He reached for them, picked them up and ate them! We were amazed and excited! Most of it landed in his lap, but, hey, atleast he was making the effort. He ate dinner this way as well! So, each meal, I try and have something for him to pick up and eat. Tonight, we had cheesy chicken with noodles and green beans so I gave him bits of that as well as diced pieces of a peach. He gobbled them up! I took a video to remember to occasion. I was just excited that I got to eat my dinner before it got cold! :)