Dear Charlie

Dear Charlie,

You are SEVEN months old today.  AND, it is un-freakin-believable how cute you are (see photo, above)!

Things you can do now:

I know I said you were an expert sitter before, but now you can sit EVEN better.  I don't even worry if you don't have pillows behind you or anything.

You are also getting mobile...
You scoot yourself around in circles.
You get up on your knees...occassionally...but haven't yet propelled yourself forward when you're up on all fours. 

You play.

You eat. A LOT.

We've begun using some sign language with you.  We are starting with "more", "eat", and "milk".  Because what else are you going to want to talk about besides your next meal?  From what I've read it can take a couple months for you to begin signing back to us. 

I took your bumper pads out this week.  : (  They were so cute, but I needed to change your sheet and it's such a pain with the pads on, and a few times I've caught you peering over the top of it, so I figured I'd better be safe and get them out of there before you climb up on them and propel yourself over the top of your crib rail.  I'd feel bad if you did that and I had left them in just because they were cute.  (which, by the way, they ARE).

And as long as we're talking about your bed...omg I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you that you sleep.  through.  the.  night!  (oh, except for the nights that you, um, don't).  This makes mama soooo happy.  We started (again) on the evening of your six month check up when Dr Sanders again reminded us that you did not need to eat throughout the night anymore.  She said the fastest way (not necessarily the easiest) was to just. stop. feeding you.  So, I did.  That first night was the worst.  You cried from 11:00 pm all the way until 12:45 am.  (That is an hour and 45 minutes in case you're having trouble with the math).  It sucked, but the next night you didn't cry AT ALL. 

We took your first trip to Whidbey Island last weekend, which included your first ferry boat ride, and your mother almost going to jail. You got to play in the sand, stick your feet in the water, and sleep in a closet. Your cousin cousin Tula and her family came with us, and everybody had a great time.  The grownups got to eat crab cakes made from freshly caught dungeness crab.  They were delicious.  You got to eat sweet potatoes and pears which were, I'm sure, just as delicious.

love love love you!
love,
mom