Charlie is 7 months!

This past month, Charlie officially became a "paci baby".  Before if he lost his paci, he would easily start sucking on his fingers.  However, over the past month, he has begun to prefer his paci over everything and has also started to be able to put it in all by himself.  Charlie is still army crawling all over the place, and right before he turned 7 months started to sit up by himself.  He still will not stay for long, but he rarely falls over accidentally anymore.  He continues to be a super happy baby who loves to smile and laugh.  He naps 2-3 times a day, but is not really on a schedule.  If he gets fussy, I put him down for a nap.  He rarely fusses!  He is loving solid food, and avocados, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes are the staples.  He loves pears and applesauce too, and has not yet rejected anything we have given him!  He has even started being able to eat cheerios.  This month he gained a little bit more weight and is now 15lbs 15oz.  I think all of those avocados I've been feeding him are doing the trick!!!  He still nurses 5 times a day most days.  I did not take an "official" picture this month, but here are some showing off his sitting up skills!

November 2015

November was fun and busy!!!  Early in th month was Daddy's birthday and we had fun celebrating with a Kilwin's Ice Cream Cake.  The kids loved helping Daddy blow out the candles.  Mid month, the kids and I took a day trip up to Asheville to spend with Aunt Catherine and my four nieces.  We went to a fun nature center and got to see lots of animals!! The Otters were super playful and loved Aunt Catherine!!!  The bears were also super cool and Ethan loved feeding leaves to the goats and donkey!  For Thanksgiving this year, we hosted most of Matt's family.  Aunt Julie and Sophie came out first, and we had a fun evening out with them and Julie was a big help in getting ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Then Uncle Michael and Jessica and Grandpa came to town, and then all 7 of the Pratt family came in!  We had a wonderful time and were blessed with gorgeous weather! We had the hammock out, played corn hole, and I spent most of the day in the kitchen!!!  Dinner was delicious, and fun was had by all!!!  We took Friday to go to the Biltmore in Asheville, finished by a yummy lunch at Barleys.  We finished the weekend out after everyone had left with picking out our Christmas tree!!

Charlie is 6 months

This past month Charlie continued to excel at the army crawl.  He will occasionally get up on his hands and knees and rock but so far no real crawling.  He is not quite able to sit up yet.  I actually think he would be able to if he wanted to, but since he can get to point A to point B so easily he chooses not to sit!  He tried the baby swing at the park for the first time this month and thought it was so fun!  He also went on his first hayride.  Charlie continues to be such a sweet baby.  He loves to cuddle, blow raspberries, laugh, and smile.  He has started to eat solids, and is doing a pretty good job getting the hang of it!  He loves his brother and sister, and laughs at them often!  He continues to sleep all night and nurse about 5 times a day.  He takes 3 naps most days with an occasional 4th cat nap.  He is so social that it has become harder for him to nap on the go, so some days he might only take 2 naps if we are out and about.  He is still healthy but a small peanut.  At 6 months he weighs 15lbs 2oz.  He still fits perfectly in his 6-9 month clothes.

October

In October we took two trips to Athens, GA for both the Alabama game and the Mizzou game. For the Alabama game, we stayed the weekend in a rental house with Mama and Grandaddy.  The kids stayed at the house while Matt and I went to my college ministry's reunion dinner.  It was so fun to be with two of my best friends from college and see several friends whom I had not seen in awhile.  Then Matt, Grandaddy, and our friend Chris went to the game in the POURING rain while the girls all hung out in the warm and dry house watching the game on TV.  Unfortunately it was not the outcome we hoped for, but it was a wonderful weekend!!  The house had a set of guitars that Hannah and Ethan had a blast playing.  They sang "Hey Bartender" all weekend, and it was hilarious!  For the Mizzou game, Matt and I just went for a day trip and left the kids with a babysitter at home.  It was a long day but so worth it!  Since Mizzou joined the SEC, Matt and I have not missed a "family rivalry" weekend!  We also had lots of fall fun in October.  We went to a pumpkin patch that had a hayride, face painting, and a petting zoo.  The kids got to go on a firetruck when the firefighters came to visit Hannah's school.  One weekend Timmy, my cousin, came to town for a Panthers game, and made the time to come out to dinner with us!  It was so fun to see him and we are so thankful he wanted to see us!  We also had lots of fun enjoying the cooler weather, by playing at the park.  We finished the month with a trip to St. Louis for Halloween and to meet our sweet new nephew Ben!  We had a great time with family and the kids LOVED trick or treating, even in the rain!!