Week 38...

38-week highlights:

• Charlie is now officially crawling! He's even got the rhythm down so that his hands and knees move in unison. It is just so darn cute!
• He's starting to have some success with pulling himself up, so I'm sure it won't be long before we have a stander.
• Charlie is clapping up a storm. When we say "Clap Charlie!" he will often humor us and clap with great enthusiasm. We all get a big kick out of this.
• He is getting very strong. If he doesn't want to do something and I'm holding him, he will arch his back and generally just make himself very difficult to hold.
  
• Charlie loves sippy cups! He especially loves it when Henry leaves a sippy cup lying on the floor that has smoothie or orange juice in it. That's some serious good fortune in Charlie's mind :)
• I'm just sort of giving Charlie whatever we are eating (although no dairy, sweets, or hard foods). I gave him some ground beef out of our taco soup yesterday, and I give him whatever bread we are eating. I also give him small pieces of roasted veggies and any fruit that's on our plates.
• When John walks in the door Charlie will often reach out for him. Very sweet!
• I'm thinking that Charlie may need to drop his morning nap soon. His naps have just been pretty short lately and I just feel like he may be ready to move to one (hopefully longer) nap. I'll experiment for awhile and see how he does.
• He's still sleeping fairly well at night. When he wakes up (usually around 4:30, although a few nights it was 1:30 :( then I just put him in bed with me and nurse him until he's back to sleep. This just works out best for us right now. He's still going to bed by 7:00, although with the time change we'll see if we can keep his bedtime this early.
  
• We have made great strides with Charlie's skin in the last week! I've started using this lotion on his entire body and I am completely impressed! His skin has gone from dry, flaky, and bumpy to smooth and soft in just one week. He still has some redness and bumps in a few areas (his diaper area is still the worst although it is MUCH improved!) but overall I am thrilled with this lotion. I don't think that it will completely cure his eczema, but boy is it helping to keep his skin healthy. The best part about this lotion is that I can rub it all over him and he doesn't get greasy. Good stuff! It is also helping the red spot on his neck, which has been with us since Charlie was hospitalized for his skin at 2 months old! It is also proving to be the best form of diaper rash ointment that I have tried so far (and believe me, I've tried them all, prescription and over-the-counter alike). So, long story short, unless things drastically change, I am a HUGE fan of this lotion.
• Charlie is one happy boy (although a few of the above pictures may lead you to believe otherwise :) We just feel so lucky to have him in our family.