Papaw came to visit this last weekend and I learned so much! I'm officially the plumber in the house as I helped him fix the bathroom sink. Mommy is so glad I discovered all of the really dirty pipes behind the pedastal sink. I also learned how to install gates (hopefully I don't figure out how to uninstall or open them now). And I can now ram my head into the back of the fireplace in the playroom as much as I want because it is covered in foam. It was a wonderful visit very focused on improving the safety in the house! Although we did make a very important trip to Walmart where Papaw bought me my first toy cars. He noticed I didn't have any and felt that was remiss. The old man can be very clutch...

Since Charlie is standing up against everything and is starting to get brave enough to let go from time to time, safety became a major concern. Walking does not appear too far off. He's also made great progress in eating table food and now can eat almost exclusively table food for many meals. He is starting to reject his baby food - who can blame him? He recently had a doctor's appointment and not surprisingly, he continues to be a good grower. He weighs 23 lbs, 7 oz and is 30 inches tall which put him in the 86th and 92nd percentiles for weight and height respectively. He is still a lot of fun as he'll now play little games like peek-a-boo and race for things (on all fours of course). Hard to imagine he is 9 months already. How time does fly. In any event, he loved seeing his Papaw and is anxiously awaiting Sammy's arrival in a few weeks!

He's turning into a little boy.

It's been a while since I have provided a real update. That is largely because when I'm not chasing Charlie all over the house, I have little energy left for blogging. He is certainly on the go. He has to be one of the fastest crawlers in the East and to top it off, he has started to pull himself up to standing on things. This has lead to the first of many bumps and tumbles, try as I might to catch him. He should be a very tough guy - with a very tough head - when all is said and done. He also surprised us when we went to get him from his crib the other morning to find him sitting up. He hasn't been able to sit up from the laying down position before so this is new. While exciting, it brought about some struggles with going to sleep that we haven't had before. Charlie is addicted to sitting and standing up so no matter how tired he is, he feels uncontrollably compelled to pop up to a sitting or standing position. As you can imagine, that makes it hard for him to sleep. Yesterday, he fell asleep sitting up and then fell forward with his head between his straddled legs and napped like that. Good thing he is flexible. If he doesn't grow out of this soon, we'll have to look into a program for him. Something like AA for sitters/standers.

I also had a moment the other day. I went to pick him up from day care to find him sitting in one of those little red and yellow play cars. Of course Randi was right there with him to ensure he didn't fall, but he had ahold of the steering wheel and just looked like such a little boy. I thought about trying to swaddle him (which would be hilarious). This all goes so fast. You can see how those crazy people in Arkansas ended up with 18 kids. (Fret not, you will not be seeing me on the Today show. I'm just saying...)

So now we are taking bets on when Charlie will be walking. So far by 11 months is the consensus. Since he turns 9 months next week (what???) I guess I've got almost 2 months before I start to really have to run.

Open Wide!

Charlie shows off his eating skills. No need for airplanes or choo choos here!