Charlie: 7 Months!

 
Well, things have been busy lately, so this post is a bit late. Charlie is actually now closer to 7.5 months old! I can't believe he is getting this big, but it's so much fun! I love how he interacts with us more and more, his changing smile with added teeth, his mobility (even if not very convenient for us all the time), and watching him learn. Charlie weighs 17lbs 14 oz and is about 28 inches long. He hasn't gained much weight lately due to his high energy level and need to constantly be crawling (aka getting into everything!).

Here are some "milestones" at 7 months:
* Pulling himself into a standing position using (if you can believe it) a gliding chair! We didn't even encourage this or help him. I glanced over at him across the room and he was standing there holding on to the chair! Later we watched him pull himself up from the ground to his feet using only his arms and the chair...looked like he was doing a pull up! So strong!
* Reaching for Mommy most of the time...becoming very opinionated about when he is held (always) and when he is sat down (never).
* Still working on his 4th tooth (and perhaps others?)...you can see it bulging through his gums!!!
* Mad egg shaker skills with his left hand! Very rhythmic. Future drummer?? :)
* Smiling for pictures...stopping to pose for the camera :)
* Side-lying... he enjoys pausing in the middle of crawling to lay on his side, hold his leg for balance and just look at people. Again, looks like he's posing.
* Climbing on everything! He likes to climb over guitar cases, his changing pad, our laps up to our shoulders, etc.
* Adding more solid foods to his diet (though he's not entirely impressed lately): Steamed carrots, oatmeal, hard boiled egg yolks, avocados, & bananas.

Last weekend we traveled up to Cass Lake to spend time with Dan's family and stayed in cabins. Charlie got to meet many more relatives, and he loved all the attention :) He also got to go swimming in his new cloth swim diaper! We think he is starting to warm up to spending time in the water. Here are some pictures from the weekend up north!

Dawn & Regan (my sis-in-law & niece)