Charlie 1 year update

 This is Charlie and Ben when Charlie was a little over a week old. This was the 1st time Ben reached in the incubator to touch one of his babies. It was so scary to even place your hands on them at this point in their lives.

and now...

There are days that I think if I turn my back, Charlie will scale the wall and hang from the ceiling fan.....he's a wild man!!!!!!

That's right, this lil man is on the move. Moving babies has been a huge "game changer" in our household. The gates are up, the outlets are covered and I'm just doing my best to keep these babies from hurting themselves, especially my fearless little Charlie.

Everyday he has new tricks. Yesterday, his "trick of the day" was to hide under the ottoman at Junebug's house. My mom and I had worked ourselves into a complete panic looking for Charlie, when I noticed the top of his head starting to poke out of the covered ottoman. I guess he thought it was a "fort" of some kind.

He is so curious, and he has to get his hands on everything. I love his adventurous nature, but I do believe it will get him into trouble in the future. I'm trying to figure out how to foster his curious and adventurous ways while keeping his safe at the same time....too bad i don't have time to read parenting books!

Charlie is also my most affectionate baby. He loves everybody, especially his sisters. There is only a slight problem with this........Charlie is very strong and very rough. He gets so excited when I get him out of the crib he usually smacks me in the face. His kisses are those that only a mama could love. They consist of him grabbing you by the ears (or hair) and rubbing his open mouth on every square inch of your face. They are messy and painful, but well worth it. We are working on "gentle touch" instead of gouging eyes and pulling hair to show affection.

Charlie is also a great eater. Matter of fact, he will eat most anything you put in his mouth. I don't think he has a favorite food....he just likes to eat.

Charlie still receives 3 days a week of therapies to help prevent any long term effects of his severe prematurity. He is doing GREAT in both occupational and physical therapy. According to the therapists, he should be "graduating" both therapies pretty soon. This is awesome because it is much sooner than we expected.

Its crazy to think that Charlie was our smallest baby. The first time I held him, he was 6 days old and he weighed 1lb and 7oz. Even though he has had a healthy 1st year, he was the baby that gave us our biggest scare. When Charlie was about 48hrs hold his heart stopped beating for around 14 mins. He was kept alive by CPR until a shot of adrenaline directly into his heart motivated it to begin beating again. After many ultrasounds on his tiny heart we were told that "everything looked normal". I will never forget when Dr. Wood (NICU) told Ben and I "I can't explain why your son went into cardiac arrest, and to be honest, I'm shocked that his heart began beating again". Those words and that night haunt me. I remember praying for God to just give me a chance to prove myself as a mother......and he did! We're thankful for this perfect little boy that almost didn't come home with us. I can't wait to see what comes next.......building forts in the woods, tee ball, fishing with grandpa (OK, maybe we should just get the kid walking 1st)....but whatever he wants to do, I can't wait to do it with him. I'm so glad we have this wild little boy to keep our lives colorful. Even though I have a feeling Charlie will be keeping us on our toes....there is no doubt in my mind that as long as Charlie's along for the ride...it'll be a good one!

Charlie, you are so much fun! I love you from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes. I'm so glad to be your mama!!!!!

Handsome Boy!!!

Charlie tends to find himself in "sticky situations", like getting stuck under excersaucer.

Charlie tries to climb out of his crib. He hasn't done it yet, but I have a feeling we will be "tenting" the crib soon

Sweet Pea!