Peas are pretty gross and Charlie agrees!

Charlie is still doing a fantastic job as a eater. So far his favorite food is Sweet Potatoes and we discovered lastnight that without question his least favorite food is peas. Here's some evidence:

Here's some additional evidence that we are still raising the happiest baby on the block!

This was taken this past weekend when his Aunt Katie finished her first half marathon!

Chelsea and Charlie Bonding Day

Chelsea the pup has had a general attitude of "what's the big deal," since Charlie's arrival to House on Strathmore.  She's never shown any aggression or anger towards the baby but you can tell she's a bit frustrated at the shifting of attention away from her.  However, lately as Charlie's been a bit more active she seems to be more interested in seeing what he's all about.  Our biggest problem with her is that she LOVES to lick his face.  And since he's spending more time in the walker and exersaucer which happen to be right at her eye level, the phrases "enough Chelsea," "no more licks Chelsea" and just "CHELSEA, seriously" are pretty common around here.

I think this video captures their growing appreciation and interest in each other.  We know they'll soon be best buds!

Later this afternoon we went for a long walk at Herring Run and took this great shot of the two of them.  This was also our first time using the more compact stroller, which was definitely much more convenient.

Herring Run Trail

Great day for overalls

These days it feels a whole lot more like mid April than mid February, but we'll gladly take it!  We've been getting out and enjoying the weather as much as possible.  Here's a few shots of Charlie rocking some overalls today!

Oh and thanks to Papa John and Gigi, Charlie is rocking his first mohawk or "spiked hair!"

Charlie's First Spoon Feeding

The decision of when to start "solids" has been debated heavily within the House on Strathmore the past few weeks.  The debate concluded following our 4-month check up when Dr. Bucci said, "the kid is ready." We are going to attempt to make our own baby food, we'll see how that goes, but in sticking with the "plan" we started with Oatmeal first. We weren't sure what to expect but definitely didn't think he'd catch on so quickly.  At this rate we'll be processing and pureeing by weeks end.

Check out the video:

Now here is the step-by-step photo breakdown

The product

Charlie is curious . . .

. . . then says "Ok, lets do this!"

Mom goes in, with dog keeping a close eye
First taste

Ok, that's weird . . .

. . . but yummy

Give me more
Ok, I'm full.

4 Month Photo Shoot

Today our little man turned four months old! Since he seems to be growing and changing so fast, we decided it was a good time to break out the camera once again and snap just a few shots of him. Out of the 326 pictures we took, here were our 7 favorite:

 

Video of Charlie Giggling

Things have been pretty hectic around House on Strathmore lately and the blog has been feeling the pain. Here's a little video of Charlie giggling. I know parents always say this but I swear he's the happiest baby I've ever seen. He is smiling from ear to ear all the time. It takes him a little to get into it on this video but it's worth the wait :)

Charlie discovers his first toy

You know the saying "they change every day," well that is definitely true these days. Charlie received lots of great toys for Christmas and we've been introducing a few of them to him recently and today it he finally got into it. The real key for him was figuring out how to work his hands!!!

CPL's Aunt Amanda & Uncle Ryan got him a Bright Start Activity Station that we're keeping downstairs and his Gigi & Papa John got him another exersaucer for upstairs. We tried putting him in one last week and this was the result:

Bottom line--he wasn't interested!

What a difference a week makes in the world of Charlie Laur. We put him in there again tonight and OMG he has totally gained control of his arms and hands--its seriously incredible! Check out our baby genius!