Charlie, 8 Months Old

I really think this month has been the biggest so far, at least development wise. In this 8th month everything has changed! We've gone from kind of crawling to totally crawling (and crawling fast!), just trying real food to eating it 3x a day, starting to talk, and so many other fun changes. It's also been so interesting comparing the two boys as far as personality. I have a couple of events on the calendar that are kid-free things, and by this age I was leaving Henry overnight with my Mom or Hank...but with Charlie that seems crazy! He is not at the stage where I'm even able to leave him for more than a few hours, and it's just such a testament to how different two kids can be (see Henry's 8 month update here)! And really, I'll soak up these baby days as long as possible- I know they're over in the blink of an eye. I say, let this little guy stay attached to my hip for as long as he wants to be, you know?

This month:

officially a crawler
lots of babbling- my Dad and I could swear he said "ball" the other day, and he's definitely saying "mama" and "dada"
pulling up on everything- not to standing yet, but pulls up to his knees
loves to eat- fruits are his favorite
started drinking a tiny bit of water out of a sippy cup a few times
loves to clap his hands (starting doing this just last week)
napping 2x a day, waking up 1-2x per night usually
will put his arms up to be picked up, or when I say "up, up, up!"
is starting to hug on his favorite stuffed animals and toys
gets upset when his favorite people leave the room 
has 6 teeth- four on top and two on the bottom (at this point Henry didn't have any yet!)

This little guy is such a love. He smiles and laughs easily, and I often wonder if he'll be this way forever! Right now I'd say our biggest challenge is sleeping through the night but I regularly remind myself that he's doing the best he can, and eventually he will, when he's ready. And on the flip side, the biggest joy with this sweetie would have to be his joy. His smiley, babbling, cooing, giggling self is a daymaker for all of us.

Happy 8 months, Charlie. You are so loved.