Charlie is 8 months!

At 8 months, we are aren't sure how much Charlie weighs, but his 6-9 month clothes are getting a little short in the arms.  He is moving into 12 month clothes for pajamas and shirts, but the pants are still way too big in the waist.  He continues to be a delight and so so happy!  Not much has changed developmentally with Charlie.  He is babbling a little more, mostly saying "dada". And getting into more stuff as he is becoming more and more proficient at the army crawl....which is adapting a little bit more into a real crawl.  He follows his brother and sister everywhere and loved chasing balls!  He has also begun to wave.  

December 2015

What a whirlwind was December!!  The kids had a lot of fun decorating the house this year and were much more talkative about Christmas than they have been in years past.  Ethan was not a big fan of Santa, but Hannah loved him and talked about him all the time.  We also were able to get deeper this December into the true meaning of Christmas.  We loved going through Ann Voskamp's advent book for Children each night and talking through all of the wonderful aspects of God's promise to us, and look towards the birth of Jesus.  We had a great time at my parents for the "Branen" Family Christmas.  We are so thankful that the cousins love to play with each other, and as always it was great to be around my siblings and parents.  Then we had my parents for Christmas Eve/Christmas morning and again that was so fun!  While it was so fun to watch the kids excitement over their gifts, it was also amazing watching Hannah's excitement to give!!  Before reaching for a present with her name, she reached for the one that she had helped Daddy wrap for me!  We had a wonderful Christmas, and loved the hectic excitement of Christmas with three littles!  After Christmas, we drove down to the Florida and boarded our first ever cruise!!!  It was so fun and the kids just loved their time on the big boat!  We stopped at two ports in the bahamas, and had fun days exploring and playing at the beach.  The kids loved the water slides on the boat and had a great time in the kids club.  Matt and I enjoyed the warm weather and hanging out on our balcony at night.  It was overall a fun, relaxing vacation!!

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.