Santa, i KNOW him!!

Yes, Charlie officially met Santa this week and had his picture taken. He did a great job and was so good for all of the pics we made him take before he smiled. And Santa was an even bigger trooper. I went with 4 other moms from my Next Steps group, so Santa had to sit through many poses with 5 3 month children (and their moms). But all of the kids pics came out fantastic!



We are taking Bailey to see Santa at the pet store this weekend. Proof that we really don't pay as much attention to her anymore -- All of the malls have had "pet nights" when you can bring you pets in to take their pictures with Santa. Of course in any other year, I would have known about this for months and would have been to at least one mall. But sadly, this year I missed all of the dates, or can't go to the ones that are coming up. We were supposed to go the 30th, but I got a last min ticket to the Pats-Steelers game, and went there instead. As that was the worst game ever, I regret not taking Bailey to the mall. Then I find out that Natick has Pet night on Monday, with the 15th being the last day. Of course that is my holiday party. I wish I knew about that mall earlier bc we could have gone on Monday. And sadly, I have been to that mall like 5 times in the past month. So bummed :(

Last night, Isis washaving a 30% off sale (and they never have anything on sale there). So I got a new infant carrier and a bunch more stuff for Charlie for Xmas. This kids has enough for 2 Xmases just from us alone! But it's all stuff he needs (like 3-6 month clothes) and a bunch of toys he can use throughout his 1st year. It should get him through to his 1st bday :)

Charlie's holding his bottle!!

I am such a slacker when it comes to posting on this blog. Every time I add an entry, I always tell myself that I will be more consistent about posting, and then I never do. So my goal is to post every day about Charlie... let's see how long that lasts!!

Last week we survived Charlie's 1st major holiday... thanksgiving. He did really well. I wasn't sure if he'd be overwhelmed with the traveling and visiting with so many people, but he has really turned into a social butterfly! He prefers to be entertained, so I enjoyed passing him around to everyone. But he was in relatively good spirits both at Ronnie's and then again at my mom's. There were so many people there that he was constantly getting attention and having a ball. We only had 1 incident on the drive from N. Reading to NH. We got half way to my mom's and he woe up (stupid lights on 101) and screamed the rest of the way (45 minutes). He screamed so much he was choking. Normally he will settle himself after a few minutes, but not that night. Once we got to my mom's he let out a burp and was better. I am sure his screaming caused the need to burp. At least we know why he was miserable, and it wasn't the car seat or the car.

Charlie and Daddy wore matching sweaters that day. How cute:


He also got to try out his jumperoo and high chair. He wants to be upright at all times and prefers to sit and stand rather than lying on his stomach or back. But he is not ready to sit unassisted quite yet, so we need to find equipment that gives him support so he can sit without being held. We weren't sure if he was strong enough to use these things yet, but he did really well (for 5 minute stretches).


He has become much more aware of his hands, and that he controls them. So he has been exploring all of his small toys... batting them, hitting things, and holding toys with both hands. He really likes his firefly, which has crinkles in the wings. Here he is playing with toys dangling from his piano:

He has also used this skill for productive purposes.. last night he held his bottle to feed himself! Such a big boy!

His sleeping has been getting better, some days. He still has those nights where he is up 4 or 5 times. But then he does give us nights where he sleeps for 5 hours, and then another 2-3 hours. Last night both Steve and I were so tired, and we were so happy that Charlie decided to give us a good night. He didn't nap well in the afternoon, so he got a bath a 6:30 and was down at 7:30 (30 min in the crib!!). he stayed down until 10, when he woke up and ate (after yelling for a bit - Not sure why he wakes up so angry at times). Then he went down until 3:15, and then he slept until 6 and then 7. Yay!