Perfect 10.

Here we are. 10 months. Charlie is the best. Like literally the best. We love this kid so much. He has added more to our lives than we could ever have imagined. The past couple of months have been tough in the sleeping department for us (6 teeth all at once) but even getting up 2 or 3 times a night doesn't change the fact that we are so lucky to have this little guy in our life. Here's a random jumbled compilation of thoughts on what Charlie is doing these days.

Smiling. He's done this since pretty early on and he does it all the time. Even if he's not so happy. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you know of what I speak. We often have people tell us "you have the happiest baby I've ever seen in my entire life." And these are people with adorably happy babies. So we know we are so very lucky to have a little dude that is so pleasant and brings smiles to everyone that he comes in contact with.
Talking. He says dadada, mamama. He growls like a lion. When Steve & Charlie pick me up from BART at the end of the day I sit in the back with Charlie and we have a scream contest. I scream. He screams. We both laugh. I scream. He screams. We both laugh. We are such good friends.
Games. Charlie likes to cover himself up with a blanket and then pull it back really fast to see our expression. We'll say "Where's Charlie??" when he's covered and when he hears it, he moves the blanket really fast. The Bjorn. Charlie loves being in the Bjorn w/dad. They hike, do dishes, vacuum, take out the garbage. Mommy loves it.
Food. He's getting better!!!! Slowly but surely Charlie is taking to eating solid foods a bit. Some of his favorites are yogurt, cream cheese, pinto beans, tofu, cheddar cheese, cheerios, carrots, & french fries. He doesn't eat much of anything but when he does we get really excited. And we don't really worry about nutrition at this point...it's all about getting him comfortable w/solids. He loves to drink water from a "big person" glass. Mostly he still drinks breast milk that mommy pumps.
Mover. Charlie crawls so fast! He also stands up and supports himself on anything. He's started "cruising." I think that's what it's called...while standing, he'll move from one piece of furniture to another without sitting down. He also started waving and dancing this week.

Teeth. Like I mentioned above. Charlie has been a teething machine these past two months. He's gone from zero teeth to 5 teeth with one more ready to break through any moment up top. I'm thrilled the teething pain will take a break for a bit and I love his toothy grin but it's a little bittersweet. I submit for review there is almost nothing cuter than a gummy smile.
Sleep. Charlie was a pretty great sleeper until the 6 month mark. And it's been hit or miss ever since. Two nights ago he slept from 6:30pm until 5:30am. The longest stretch of his entire life. Typical night at the Santos house is up 2x at least. The great thing about Charlie is even when he's up and in pain, he's not a fussy guy. He's just up. He just wants to snug. I know the clock is ticking on how much longer my little baby boy will want to endlessly snuggle his mommy so if I can get it in the middle of the night, I'll get up happily (ok, that's a lie. i'm never happy when i get up in the middle of the night).
Photogenic. Charlie is SO photogenic. He's an expert at smiling for the camera (just like daddy).
Dogs & babies are his favorite things (besides mommy & daddy) in that order.
The bath. Our friend Chris will be proud of us that we've graduated Charlie out of his baby tub and into the big boy bath. When I told Chris at work a couple weeks ago that Charlie still used his little green tub Chris was visibly shaken. He told me Charlie is totally big enough to sit in the big bath. So guess what. We bought a non-stick bath mat covered in octopus decals and turns out Charlie IS big enough for the big bath. Who would have known? My theory is this...when you've already had a baby, then it's easy to recognize when your baby is ready to do things. But when you're a first-timer, sometimes you don't realize your baby is actually getting bigger. The same thing happened last Christmas when Patrick helped us realize that Charlie could sit up. We had no idea. Patrick totally schooled us.

Nicknames: Char, Char Char, Little Char, Little Baby Char Char, Baby Char Char, Sha-Shar, Char-Chee, Peanut, Tink Tink, Tinker, Sweet Pea, Sweet Potato.

Charlie, we don't deserve you. But we'll gladly keep you. We love you so much.