7 Months and mini-vavcy

Charlie turned 7 months old on Saturday, and as seems to be the case for his monthly b-days, we were out of town. We took a long weekend and met the Wolfes in Toledo. The kids played from morning until night every day, as did the grown-ups, and we had a great time. We relaxed, played at the lake, rode bikes, played games and ate!! It was a beautiful weekend and we loved seeing all the fall colors and our best friends.

As for Charlie - month 6 was a big one for him. He really started to grow-up and has hit a lot of milestones.
* He can crawl correctly, and is all over the place. Today I found him in the dining room consuming dirt from one of the plants that he crawled over to and flipped over.
* He babbles all the time, and we LOVE waking up to the sound of him chatting it up from his bedroom. Baba and Mama are current faves.
* His first 2 bottom teeth came in on Sat morning (7 months exactly)
* He has started to pull up onto his knees and feet, but he isn't very coordinated at it yet, so he wipes out and bonks his head several times a day. Like his brother, he is un-phased by injury and just gets up and does it again.
* He started sleeping through the night all on his own this month. He was never too into his pacifier, but for some reason he started to really like it this month and now when he wakes up at night he just gets it for himself and goes back to bed. I dream feed him before I go to bed b/w 10 and 11, and then he sleeps until about 7. He will also play, coo and talk in his bed in the morning for a really long time. Matt doesn't actually get him up until about 7:40, and we think sometimes he is awake in his room entertaining himself for up to an hour before that. How lucky are we?!
* He is still very chill, especially compared to how Alec was as a baby, but he has developed an opinion. He gets mad when we take things from him or when he can't reach stuff and he isn't afraid to tell us.
* He is eating solids 3 times a day and does really well with them. Aside from pees, we haven't run into anything he doesn't like to eat.
* He is adorable, and smiley, and so sweet - we all love him SO much! Here are a bunch of pics of both Charlie and the weekend.

He insisted on having my brush in his monthly photos

with Zachary

and Zoe - she LOVES him!


Double trouble at the lake. Logan may be the only other child we know who is as crazy as Alec.




An attempt at a photo of all 5 of them

Before our ride - also check out my new cruiser!

Charlie was fascinated with the baby in the trash can

so much so that he wanted to give it kisses, and yes, he was kissing a trash can



He is also so into putting everything in his mouth- I probably took 500 leaves away from his this weekend.

Entertaining themselves in the creek




in the dog food

Videos

A few cute videos of the boys. Kat and Mike had the DJ play "Urgent" for Alec at their wedding, and here he is in the center of the dance circle. You can tell he was really feeling bad by how mellow he is, but it was still the highlight of the evening for him. The other one is chatty Charlie, who has discovered his voice and loves to talk. He babbles mama all the time, but wouldn't do it for me on the video. He has also mastered crawling correctly, although the video doesn't show that too well either, but it's cute!

Apple Heaven

We have been looking forward to going back to the apple orchard since we went last September, and this year was just as fun. We went a few weeks later, so some of the apple varieties we loved last year weren't available, but there was still a bountiful supply of tasty apples to pick and feast on. Thank God the orchard is a yearly event b/c Matt and I are completely out of control in the gift shop. We left today with over $70 worth of fat and sugar, which included an apple pie, apple doughnuts, apple cider, apple crisp mix, apple fudge, pumpkin fudge, peanut butter, cheese curds, etc. We are such pigs....

Waiting for the tractor to take us out to the orchard











Such a fun tradition

Kat's Wedding

We got back last night from our trip down to FL for Kat's wedding. We had an awesome condo right on the beach that we stayed in with Nate and Renae and their kiddos, and we had a great time seeing family and taking part in all the wedding festivities. It was sunny for the first 2 days we were there and we got in some quality beach time, which is good b/c a storm blew in Fri night and it was pretty rainy and overcast the rest of our stay. Alec was so excited about the wedding and getting to stay with his cousin Reid on the beach, so we were all really bummed when he got sick. He started to feel bad on the morning we left and by Friday he was a sick mess. He had a terrible fever, he couldn't sleep, he got a croupy cough, etc. It stinks to see your kids sick, especially during times like this, but he was a trouper and managed to still have a fun time despite feeling pretty crummy. We took him home after the rehearsal and left him with a sitter, which was great b/c he got a lot of sleep the night before the wedding. He did make it through the whole wedding and still managed to run around like a crazy man at the reception. I think he was just too excited to let the cold get the best of him. He, Reid and Quinn were adorable in the wedding! My camera got locked in a trunk during the ceremony, so I have almost no pictures, which is killing me b/c everyone looked so cute, but hopefully the photographer was able to capture some good shots of the kids. It was a really nice wedding and Kat was a beautiful bride. Sickness and all, we had a really fun time and we're bummed that it all went so fast.

Alec learned to boggy board with Dad

Aunt Kat and Charlie




This little man loved the beach





Cousins - despite some squabbling over toys, they had a wonderful time together. They are really good friends, despite their long distance relationship

Charlie laughing at his cousin

Headed to the rehearsal


After getting soaked in their clothes at the beach

Aunt Paulette and Charlie

Charlie and Jules, Kat's new step-daughter

These are the only 2 pics I have of the boys:( They look SO cute!


Some dancing with mom

One beat down boy

cousins





the last day was too cold for the beach, but bot for the hot tub



What a fun trip!