First foods: Oatmeal

Last night we decided to try and feed Charlie something other than breast milk. Our friend Liz recommended baby oatmeal so we gave it a go. As I found out, one mixes the oatmeal with breast milk and the consistency is basically breast milk with lumps. As Betsy pointed out to me, his first meal is not really solid. I was under the impression that he was going to have a bowl of Cheerios with milk. I was totally wrong.

Things were looking promising for the first couple of spoonfuls,
but they turned bad pretty quickly.
Betsy is always the cheerleader and was very encouraging and positive.
But it was a lost cause. She would put the spoon up to his mouth, pour the oatmeal in, and the oatmeal would just run down his chin. He was super ticked.
Even though most of the delicious oatmeal landed on his shirt, he was still a happy camper in the end. We realize now last night would have been a perfect opportunity to deploy a bib.
I guess we try again tomorrow. I hope it works out.

5 Months

Today is Charlie's 5 month birthday. I can't believe we have been responsible for a child for 5 months and we haven't seriously injured him. I have been worried that I would drop him or something but I haven't. These past 5 months have flown by. Char (his nickname) is so fun to have around. This photo depicts Charlie's usual disposition. Crabby. Mean. Upset.
Ok, So if you've ever met Charlie you know that's not true. He can't help but smile. He's also found his laugh and breaks it out all the time. He loves to grab his feet and he's learning to sit up (see picture #1).
Charlie loves to go places and be the center of attention. He really knows how to work a room.


One of his favorite activities is bath time. Originally we'd set up his tub in the kitchen sink but he learned how to splash his bath water and make a mess so we started putting his baby tub into the big bathtub. He loves to splash and we like to sing that Splish, Splash I was taking a bath song. The bath has become part of our nightly ritual.
Another favorite activity is walks in his stroller. Even though we take him for walks in pretty places, he's often asleep for the entire thing. We love our BOB stroller and Charlie loves the shocks and smooth ride it provides.
However when we travel we bring our snap and go stroller so his ride has been rough this week.
We love Charlie so much. We feel so lucky to have him with us and are trying to enjoy every minute.

Oh man...

As if Charlie Green weren't enough cute to last a lifetime, our family welcomed another cute avalanche this past week in the form of Cole Merrill Taggart! Look at this little nugget and I dare you not to smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Congratulations to Suzy, Ryan and big sister Allie! The Santoses can't wait to meet you on Christmas day!

p.s. I'm pretty certain Charlie and Cole were besties up in heaven before they came to earth.

stand up

Charlie: Hey Angelo, How much does a pirate pay for corn?
Angelo: No idea.
Charlie: A buccaneer!
Angelo: huh...
Charlie: Hey Angelo, What washes up on tiny beaches?
Angelo: ?
Charlie: Microwaves!!!
Angelo: Wow... really Charlie?
Charlie: I'm so funny!
Charlie: Hey, Angelo. What do you call a cow with no legs?
Angelo: No idea
Charlie: Ground Beef!!!
Angelo:...
Charlie: Seriously man! I'm killing.
Angelo: Something's dying...
Charlie: Hey, What's brown and sticky? Oh man... A STICK!
Angelo:..
Charlie: You know, because a stick is brown and can also be described as sticky.
Charlie: Wow, tough room.
Angelo: Tell me about it.
Charlie: So you're saying that I shouldn't go to the open mic night tonight?
Angelo: Oh, you can go but don't get on stage.
Charlie: Well at least I have one fan!

Blind Date

Charlie: Hi there. I'm Charlie Santos.
Berkeley: Hi. I'm Berkeley.
Charlie: I'm so glad that our parents set up this date. I'm a little nervous.
Berkeley: Yeah whatever. Those guys are always meddling in our lives. But I'm glad I came.
Berkeley: I thought you would be taller. You're shorter than you look in your profile pic.
Charlie: Huh. I'll have to change that.
Charlie: So tell me a little about yourself. What are your favorite hobbies?
Berkeley: Well, I really like to...
Finn: Yo! What up Girl!
Finn: Shorty, It's totally my birthday! I saw you from across the room and wanted to come over and say hi and invite you to play with my new toys. You're not with this guy are you?
Berkeley: Yes we are on a date. Our parents set us up.
Charlie: Yeah. We are on a date. Thanks for the invite though but we want to spend some time together.
Finn: Really? This guy?
Finn: Come on girl? What's your deal? Let's go out.
Charlie: Hey man. Chill
Finn: I just need a kiss.
Berkeley: Um.. Not until I'm 16!!
Charlie: SECURITY!.
Charlie: Whew. Thank goodness that bouncer was there. I've never seen a blond female bouncer before. She seemed really nice.
Berkeley: Yeah. That guy seemed milk drunk. Some people can't hold their milk and just go crazy on their birthday.
Charlie: Seriously.
Berkeley: Well, Maybe we can do this again some other time but let's pick a quieter place.
Charlie: Cool. Yeah, I would like to see you again. This was fun.
Berkeley: Can you walk me to my car seat?
Charlie: Of course, but we need to hold hands...
Berkeley: You're smooth Charlie, but don't get any funny ideas.

Transitions.

2 weeks ago we realized that charlie has outgrown his Moses basket. It was time to move him off our hamper and into his actual crib.
He went from this small basket to this spacious, luxury crib and went from completely filling the basket to having tons of room to roam around and roll over. Rolling over is one of Charlie's new tricks.
It was a tough time for Betsy. She was having separation anxiety and was worried that Charlie would be lonely all by himself and in his own room. Luckily, he made some quick friends.



Unfortunately, this move to the crib has come at a cost. Charlie was sleeping 8 solid hours almost every night and now we are lucky if we get 6. But we did move him to his crib while we were packing for our move to Berkeley so that transition could have upset him as well. There are too many variables to be sure. I need to explain the Scientific Method to Charlie so he can limit the variables and we will know for sure what is going on with him. The problem is he doesn't speak English yet so it's going to be a challenge.

3 Months

Charlie is 3 months old today. I may have been guilty in the past of rolling my eyes at all the cliche sounding posts from moms on blogs and on facebook talking about how "time flies so fast" or how they "can't believe how fast their little one is growing" but at the risk of sounding totally cliche myself, I cannot believe how fast this 3 months has flown by or how big Charlie is getting. I'm not exactly sure of his stats right now but I think he weighs about 13lbs. We'll see how he's doing at his 16 week checkup in a couple of weeks.

Here's some stuff about our 3 month old:
1) Charlie has many nicknames including but not limited to: Char, Char Char, Featherweight, Sweet Pea, Jello for Brains (I call him this if I've left him in the swing for longer than 1 hour), Little One, The Virgin Charlie, Nugget, Drama King, Buddy, Peanut.
2) He smiles all the time and is insanely cute. Ask anyone. Here's proof:
3) He hasn't officially laughed yet but I predict he's getting very close.
4) He likes to talk tons these days and when he does, his mouth looks like a bird beak. He makes a lot of eew, ooh, aah type sounds mixed in with grunts & gurgles.
5) Over the past few days he's started to constantly roll onto his left side. He doesn't roll completely over just yet but he will soon I'm sure. He's also grabbing at things (like the toys that hang down from his play mat thingy).
6) He's such a happy little guy. He rarely cries and when he does, it's for totally logical reasons (tired, hungry, pushing out a poop etc.). Otherwise, he's so very agreeable it's almost scary. Scary because we're nervous it'll change at some point.
7) Charlie likes to Skype with Grandma & Grandpa Heywood and he likes to FaceTime with Aunt Suzy, Uncle Ryan and Allie. Everyone else, this is your wake up call to get an iPhone 4 or a web cam pronto so you too can enjoy Charlie whenever you'd like in real time.
8) Charlie likes to blow bubbles and is drooling a lot these days. I say blow bubbles but it's more like foams at the mouth (we imagine it may be what having rabies looks like).
9) A couple of weeks ago he started grabbing his blanket that I put on his lap in his car seat and he pulls it up to his mouth and sucks on it. He's a genius!!!
10) Steve created a game called "The Blanket Game" that Charlie loves that involves laying Charlie on our made bed, then gently laying a blanket on top of him, then he kicks it off. He won't just get it off his face, he'll kick it off his whole body.
11) Charlie has already taken two airplane flights to SLC. One at 7 weeks old and one two weeks ago. He was a total champ both times and didn't cry at all. He seemed to enjoy it actually.
12) Charlie loves to eat out with mommy & daddy and we're teaching him how to be really smug about the kinds of food he eats and the places he frequents.
13) Charlie typically goes to bed around 9pm, will sleep for 7-8 hours then wake up for a snack. Then back down to sleep for about 2 hours.
14) So far we've been able to go on a few dates since Charlie was born. Two in Utah when my sisters babysat for us and once last night when one of our best friend's Michelle babysat for us. Michelle sent us text messages all through the evening of Charlie laughing and smiling. Guess he's a great baby for everyone, not just for us. Michelle even put Charlie to bed!
15) After protesting the bottle for a couple of weeks Charlie has decided he's okay with it after all and is taking it like a champ these days (good thing since mommy will need to head back to work mid-November).
16) Charlie has two totally fab dimples on his cheeks. He's going to woo the ladies with them someday I'm sure.

Charlie has been such a fun addition to our life and we love him times a million. Parenthood is tiring and sometimes overwhelming but it's amazing and we're trying to enjoy every moment. Here are some pics we're loving from the past week or two: