Growing out of things already

Tomorrow, Charlie will be 8 weeks and he's already growing out of some of the things we used most in those first few weeks.  I have said before that babies come with a lot of stuff, but what's even more surprising (and a bit overwhelming) is the short time period they actually use all that "stuff."  Here are a few of the items we're already transitioning to the basement!

Fisher Price Newborn Rock and Play Sleeper--this served as our bassinet and was perfect for us because it didn't take up much space, folds up really easily, and Charlie slept great in it from the beginning.  We moved it into his nursery at about 4 weeks but kept him sleeping in it.  This was to both help us get used to not having him in our room and so we could get some sound sleep--CPL is quite a loud sleeper!  We transitioned Charlie to his crib this past weekend with some, to be expected, trepidation.  I was worried he wasn't going to sleep well since he's used to being in cozy environments with an incline and the crib of course didn't offer either of these.  But, he's doing just fine and slept for NINE hours Wednesday night--yes I was one of 'those moms' and woke up no less than 5 times to make sure he was still breathing.

Avent 4 oz. Bottles--we officially boxed up all the 4 oz. bottles this week and are now onto 9 oz. only.  He eats about 5-6 oz. each feeding.  We have been happy with the Avent bottles so far and I'm looking forward to when he's using sippy cups because the bottles themselves can be transitioned to sippy cups.





Ergo Infant Insert--I really like our Ergo but was not really happy with the infant insert.  I thought it was really bulky and seem to smother Charlie.  We used the Ergo a lot on our recent trip to Missouri, since we didn't bring a stroller along on the trip.  While the packaging says you can use the infant insert until they are 5 or 6 months old, we've already had Charlie in the carrier without it and he's just fine.

Thanksgiving On The Farm

The House on Strathmore Family took their first big Family Trip with Charlie to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with the Krebs family in Cameron, Missouri.

Here is a look at the trip with a series of photos and videos broken up in a few chapters:

Chapter 1: Charlie's First Flight

Charlie proved to be a pretty good little traveler. We saved his feeding for take off, which meant he was a bit upset during boarding because he was hungry.

But once we got his belly full, Charlie spent the rest of the flight asleep, giving us a very peaceful plane ride.

Chapter 2: Everyone Gets Pictures With Charlie

The trip to Missouri was the first time for some to meet the newest member of our family. Obviously, everyone wanted there time with the little man.

Me-Maw a.k.a. Mi-Mi:

Pops:

Uncle Erich:

Grams:

Ryan (Soon to be Uncle Ryan):

Charlie:

Chapter 3: Scenes From The Farm

Here are just some scenes of us hanging outside on the Farm

Chapter 4: Thanksgiving Day Football

Thanksgiving Day was a beautiful day which started with some football:

Maggie wanted to play too:

But found the parking cone to be more entertaining then the pig skin:

We also had some great spectators:

Chapter 5: The Meal

After working up a hunger, time for the Thanksgiving meal. Here is Pops giving us the run down:

Yum

We even tried to get Charlie in on the meal

Looks like he was already too full

Chapter 6: One Final Group Shot

We had an excellent visit and we are very Thankful for the times that we get to spend with our expanding family.

6 week check-up

Charlie's 6 week stats:

Height: 22 1/2 inches
Weight: 9 lbs. 8 oz. 

He seems so big to us but I know plenty of babies, including his Aunt Katie, that entered the world over 9 lbs.

Here's a picture of the big man all dressed up for his doctor's appointment.

11/17/11

Trying to Get Charlie's Attention

On Sunday, I spent sometime with Charlie on the floor trying to have a little "play" time. What I was hoping was to test his alertness by using toys and noises.

Most infant toys share a number of similar qualities that help grab the attention of infants - like contrasting colors (especially black and white), they will make sounds, and will have different textures. These bugs that I have certainly did the trick.

Check it out . . .

However, these only seemed to work as long as Meet The Press wasn't on. Check out this video (You hear Meet The Press in the background and the TV set is on Charlie's left, where he is certainly focused on more).

It seems that the bugs were no match for David Gregory's silver hair and some good political fodder.

Great Saturday in Lauraville

The sun hasn't gone down yet today but we've had a great day already.  We started out with a trip to our favorite Lauraville/Hamilton Diner, Lost in the 50's, where I enjoyed scrapple, egg, and toast and John had a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich!  Charlie managed to sleep through the whole experience so we thought we'd take advantage of his nap and go on a long walk.  We stopped by the house to pick up Chelsea and headed to Herring Run Trail. I haven't been back to the trail in a year or longer because Chelsea started getting really agressive with other dogs so it got to be too much.  We had a good chat today about how her good behavior could lead to a big return to the trail and she seemed to take it seriously because she was fantastic.  Here's a great pic from the walk:

We got back home around noon and had some great Laur visitors and Charlie got a fantastic monkey outfit and blanket with his name embroidered.  And now the boys are clearly exhausted, I just captured this sweet moment. 

Fall rocks!

Charlie @ 1 Month

Today marks the big ONE month birthday for our little man.  Here are some fun Charlie facts from our first month as a family. 

Charlie's favorite activity: The Swing for sure, he loves to check himself out in the mirror mobile and its his favorite napping spot. 

Charlie's least favorite activity: Having Dad dress him in anything that isn't a sleeper onezie with a zipper.  It's equally as painful to watch. 

Charlie's food: He is going through a bit of a growth spurt we think and in just the past few days he's transitioned from 3 oz bottles to 4 oz bottles and he's been powering through them every 3 hours or so.  As for what's in the bottles, enfamil newborn.

Charlie's favorite song: We would like to guess "The Weight" by The Band.  Dad plays this during his late night feedings replacing the lyrics to say "take a load off Charlie." Take a listen:

Charlie's stats: I'd like to give you Charlie's one-month stats but we don't go back to the doctor until next Thursday when I'll be sure to publish them.  At his two-week appointment he was:

• 7 lbs. 5 oz. (5th percentile)
• 22 inches (75th percentile)
• 50th perecentile for head circumference

Charlie's best tricks:  Bearing in mind he can't do too much yet his best tricks are sneezing, hiccups, and snoring (in that order).

It's hard to believe its only been a month because it feels like he's been in our lives forever but at the same time it feels like just yesterday we were meeting him for the first time. 

Big First for Charlie: First piece of mail, his social security card!

Random Photo: Charlie and Chelsea