We've had a great weekend! On Friday night, George had to work late, so Charlie and I ran some errands at the mall, and then stopped for food before heading home. Charlie not only ate his container of banana baby food and half of the chicken one I brought for him, but also gobbled up some of my pork carnitas, guacamole, black beans, tortilla chips, and half of a soft corn tortilla. His voracious appetite attracted plenty of attention; an older couple who sat next to us came by after their dinner to comment on what a good boy he was and what a great appetite he had. He somehow charmed the lady into handing over her cell phone - luckily he didn't hurt it. Mine no longer has any front display since he tossed it in the bathtub, so I got a little nervous when she passed hers over!

On Saturday, Charlie tried out his new orthodics. He is supposed to wear them for two hours a day, and we're supposed to encourage him to stand and pull up. We haven't been able to get him to pull himself up on his own, but if we give him a little assistance, he pulls to his feet and will take a few steps from one of us to the other as long as we're holding his hands. Progress! I think he's going to be walking holding onto the furniture in no time. Meanwhile he races around on his hands and knees, as you can see in the video below. Make sure to turn down your volume - I'm a little obnoxious in the background, and couldn't get the audio removed/reduced:




Here Charlie is on Sat afternoon - he was supposed to be napping, but showed no interest, so instead we let him crawl around in just his diaper for a little while. He likes to be free of his clothes!

Today, Charlie and I met our friends Christine and Claire at a really cool park in Maryland while George hit the golf course. The park was perfect - very shady, and with lots to do, including a couple of baby swings that Charlie liked. He was a little young for most of the other stuff on the playground, but I know we'll be back when he gets a little bigger! He was also very fond of the train - there's a track through the woods around the park, so Christine bought us all tickets and we went on a ride. Charlie was wiggly and all over the place while we waited for the train to start, but once we were riding, he was happy as can be!

Charlie's in great spirits these days - he loves to smile and laugh, and yell. And he's getting more affectionate; I especially love when he crawls over and sets his head down on my lap. He knows how to get to me! He's not napping so well though; he just figured out that he can sit up in his crib, but he's smart enough to be really quiet when he does so. Several times over the weekend, we have thought he's been asleep and peeked in to see him sitting up petting his "loveys". Oh well - he is still sleeping 11 hours at night and rarely wakes up in the night, so we can't complain. But it is a little disconcerting to open his bedroom door and see him staring right at me!