The Craig Zone

My First Charlie Post

I'm going to try to do two posts today. I'm so so so sorry it has taken me SO long to post any pictures of Charlie. My life has been full and wonderful for the last couple of months, and I can only really blog on my desktop which I conveniently tucked in an out of the way room so I wouldn't be on it all the time. Well, it's working but it has put me a little out of touch with my family. All the while my laptop is available to me most of the time, but I haven't mastered the whole photo thing on there. They always come out very small for some reason. Okay, on to the main topic of this post.

CHARLIE!

Charles is such a cute skinny baby. Even though he weighed more than Grant did when he was born, (by only 6 ounces) he seems like a smaller baby to me. Especially when I put him in a disposable diaper and he loses that gigantic cloth diaper bootie. He is so alert and follows Grant around with his eyes a lot. He is getting the hang on holding his head up and moving it from side to side while he watches people. Last night he was in his swing while Grant, David and I were all off in the corner playing something. He started to whine a little and I said, "Oh, that's his 'I'm bored and want attention' cry." Sure enough, David went over and started talking to Charlie and his whine turned into a smile and laugh. Then David came back over to us and Charles started whining again so we sent Grant over. :) From then on it was a big game that he and Grant were playing, (Well mostly Grant) where Grant would step away out of sight and Charlie would cry and then he would jump back into sight and Charlie would coo. hehehe I think that was the first time they had really "played" together.

On the other side... I finally have a child who will go to sleep without a major ordeal. I'm throwing on my party hat and dancing every day! It is so funny though, Grant would never sleep in his crib but only on my bed. Charlie will sleep in his crib, but it takes him forever to fall asleep on my bed and even then I have to stay there the whole time. To go down in his crib there is like this whole series of about 5 steps that you have to go through or else it won't work.

#1 Make sure he is fed and dry.

#2 Swaddle him up in his special swaddle blanket and lay him on his side.

#3 Put the heavy blanket that mom crocheted for Grant over him so that there is bulk propping him up on either side. (so he doesn't roll)

#4 Put his pacifier in his mouth (the one Ken got him) and then place the teddy bear that Dad got him in between his mouth and the rail of the crib so it keeps his pacifier in. (don't worry we super checked and the teddy bear is definitely breathe-throughable... plus we check on him a lot)

#5 wind up his mobile all the way... he doesn't even last through 2 rounds of "Twinkle Twinkle" It's like magic... I don't know what I'm going to do once he out grows his swaddle blanket though. He's almost too big for it already.

So I took my tiny baby to the hospital while I was visiting another tiny baby newborn. In that instant, Charlie went from "Tiny new baby" to Giant Amazon baby. This new little girl we were visiting was 7 lbs 14 ozs and 19 inches. A full 5 pounds lighter than Charles. And the little curled up Charlotte seemed so so so much tinier than my sprawled out 27 incher.