Charles in church

So many people at church love Charles.  Today, I had a lovely lady sitting behind me telling how special his baptism was last week and just praised our family over and over again.  When I had to make an announcement, an older 86 year old man asked to hold Charles while I stepped behind the podium.  I let him until Charles squirmed too much for my comfort.  Another choir member told me again how beautiful Charles is.  During the peace, I had requests to bring Charles over so ladies could hold his little fingers.  And then he does his own cute thing, like sitting up straight and staring as the choir sang its offertory anthem.  He watched them perform and had the biggest smile on his face.  He even let out a little giggle.

pet store

We visited the pet store this morning, one of William's favorite activities. This time Charles was out of his seat and able to look around. He was amazed! He took everything in--the snakes, the birds, the guinea pigs, the mice, and the fish. He loved it!

Christmas pictures

Finally posting more pictures of Charles' first Christmas.

Playtime

Charles loves scooting across the floor to reach William and his toys!

baptism and story time

We had a very busy weekend!  Charles was baptized on Sunday, so we had lots of house guests.  Mary and Austin flew up Thursday evening, and Bee Bee and Yates drove up on Friday.  They all stayed until Monday, and I think Charles really enjoyed seeing everyone.  He napped in everyone's arms at some point, and when he wasn't napping, he was showing off his rolling skills as well as his ability to get up on his knees in his first attempts at crawling,  He is not moving too far, but he does manage to inch himself forward a bit.

His attention is also strengthening.  At his baptism, we were in the first row, and Charles watched our priest intently as if listening to everything that was being said.  He was also very good during the actual baptism--no crying at all!

Today, he displayed his attention at story time.  He took his nap before the library, so he was awake when we got there.  I took him out of his carrier, and Charles sat on my lap watching the librarian very carefully as she read the stories.  When she got to Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear, the children were asked to participate and make the noises listed in the book: a lion's roar, an elephant's trumpet, etc.  Then the book told of the zoo keeper's whistle.  As the librarian whistled and the children tried to whistle, Charles jumped right in and started blowing raspberries!  He wanted to be a part of the storytime fun, too!

Wow!

Charles is growing so fast!  He is now rolling back and forth and pushing himself up high.  He has scooted himself across the florr to reach William on his trampoline, and he has managed to roll himself under the sofa.  He is not happy being stuck, so he has bounced in his stationary play center, and he has hung from the door in the johnny jump up contraption.  But even those tools have not made him happy.  He is giddy and smiley when Mommy holds his hands and lets him "walk" across the floor.  At first, Mommy helped him along by turning his body as she guided his hands, but Charles quickly got the idea and began lifting his legs and stomping his feet to tell me to keep going.

His laughter has also strengthened.  Last week while William was in the bath and Charles looked on, he suddenly errupted in laughter, thinking William was the funniest thing.  He is also ticklish.  He laughs with the deepest little grumble of a laugh when his arm pits are attacked.

Charles is also a flirt, spreading the widest smile to those who talk to him.  He is just too cute!