Shaw: Eleven Months and Counting

I can not believe that Charlie is only ONE month away from his first birthday! I saw a picture of him tonight at my in-laws' house, and I hardly recognized the squishy little face that was in the frame. He has changed so much over the past eleven months that it is hard for me to keep track of it all. I love how independent he has become, but at the same time I miss being able to sit and hold him in my arms for as long as I want. Nick said something about him being a toddler the other day, and it brought me to tears. I couldn't stop crying once I was suddenly hit with the realization that MY baby isn't going to be a baby much longer.

Charlie has been quite the handful this month. He has become so strong and is cruising all around the house while holding on to furniture. He can stand on his own for about 10 seconds at at time, but as soon as he notices that he isn't holding onto something, he quickly plops down on the ground. He has really enjoyed learning to climb the stairs in our home. He can go up the entire flight of stairs without taking a break...no wonder he is so skinny. Charlie is tough as nails too. All of this new found mobility has led to many falls, bumps, and scrapes. For the most part, it doesn't seem to bother him. He keeps right on going!

The little guy got his first taste of being really sick this month. He had a small cold a few months ago, but it paled in comparison to this one. He had a fever, cough, runny nose, soar throat, and an ear infection this time. The poor thing was pretty miserable. The nights were the worst. The fluids in his ears caused him a lot of pain when he would lay down, and he woke up screaming a few nights in a row. It was awful not being able to console him on those nights, so I ended up sleeping on his floor so that he would at least know that I was near by if he needed me. After a trip to the doctor, Charlie was prescribed his first antibiotic. It may as well have been candy the way he sucked it down.

Charlie is talking up a storm. There's a lot of da-da and ma-ma being said, but neither of us think he associates it with us just yet. We shall see soon enough. Charlie has really become quite the little parrot these days. He loves to mock the sounds that we make, and his new favorite thing is to fake laugh.

Mealtime is still an exciting event in our home. Charlie continues to amaze us with the large amounts of food that he consumes. Nick and I just commented today that we think he just went through a big growth spurt. He seems thicker and taller, and I have noticed that his clothes are getting tight. I started to wean Charlie to formula this month. He now gets his noon feeding from a sippy cup and really seems to enjoy it. In another week, he will be getting his late afternoon feeding dropped as well. My goal is to have him fully weaned to a sippy cup shortly after his birthday.

We have been getting some comments about Charlie's mohawk, so Nick and I decided it was time for a haircut. We decided to do it at home with Nick's electric clippers. It turned out so well, that we actually got a request to cut a playgroup pal's hair. I brought my clippers to playgroup, and Tate got his first haircut complements of Miss Lindsay's Traveling Salon.