That was then, this is now

THEN...

NOW!

Charlie is 6 months old in "adjusted age" (based on his due date, rather than birth date) and I'm feeling truly amazed at where we are now, and how far he's come! Our miracle boy is almost sitting unsupported - in the photos above, he's sitting up while the swing is moving, no less, showing us just how strong he is. He sleeps an average of 10 hours a night now, "talks" all the time, puts everything into his mouth, and drools pretty constantly. Teeth must be on their way! He smiles often and loves looking at himself in the mirror. He is still somewhat open to strangers, but definitely knows the difference between new people and familiar ones. He loves the sound of big smooches - they can almost always elicit a smile, which is lucky since I kiss him about 1000 times a day. He's down to only 2 medications twice a day, Pepcid for reflux and Pulmacort through the nebulizer. I just feel so lucky to be where we are now, and to have made it through the last 9 months. All of those days by his bedside in the NICU seem like a distant memory, and the hours of joy with our little guy far outweigh the hours of sadness and worry. And of course we just love him to pieces!! I can't remember what our lives were like "b.c." and what we ever did with all of our free time.

We had a fun New Years Eve with Pop and Libbie visiting - Charlie was so glad to see them again (as were we)! None of us stayed up to watch the ball drop - midnight is overrated with an early riser. So we celebrated with a nice dinner and lots of playing with Charlie.

Here's a glimpse of our lazy Sat morning in bed... Charlie was up at 6:45 this morning, but coaxed back to sleep until about 8!

Here's one of Charlie helping his dad on the computer.



And for those who don't mind atrocious videography and background noise, here is a video of Charlie working on sitting up. (Bonus points for those who can identify the tv show playing in the background...) We had several 5 second stints of unsupported sitting last night, so we're getting closer all the time!

Happy New Year! We wish you all a healthy and happy 2009.