Ok, so once again the news has been neglected. That doesn’t mean that nothing notable has happened. In the past few months, Charlie has gone from being a little, fragile mush that couldn’t see farther than a few feet to being slightly larger and more human-shaped. He as developed neck-strength and the ability to look around light up the room with a smile.

The Charlie Roll

This morning, Charlie had his 4-month checkup at Ballard Pediatrics. He weighed in at 12 lbs. 3 oz. and is now 24 3/4 in. long. He’s still a small-fry (tenth percentile for weight), but is growing at a healthy rate.

Last night (dec. 4), Charlie rolled from his front to his back for the first time. Of course, it was when we were trying to get him to lay still and pose for some christmas photos by the tree. So we’ll count that as his first roll AND his first successful attempt at defying his parents.

Charlie likes ‘The Office’…a lot.

As Charlie has started to become enamored with lights and brightly colored objects, he has also taken to enjoying the flickering glow of television. We try not to let him watch much as to avoid brain-rot, however, he definitely has his favorite programs. We bought him a collection of Baby Einstein videos, but they seem to bore him. He doesn’t mind Sesame Street; he thinks the character development is good, although feels that the dialog is often juvenile. His favorite show seems to be the American version of The Office. In fact, I recently caught Charlie imitating Jim Halpert…ok so maybe he watches a little too much TV.

Charlie’s first membership

Charlie has also taken to enjoy music a great deal. In fact, we’ve enrolled him in a music class (no kidding) and every Thursday, he and his mom spend an hour learning the basic structures of classical and jazz music; and dancing and singing, etc. And while Charlie enjoys the classical and jazz music, he also enjoys a wide variety of other music genres and his favorite radio station is Seattle’s KEXP. One day, we tried to explain the concept of public radio to Charlie and even though he didn’t quite seem to understand why there are no commercials on KEXP—or what a commercial is for that matter—he did get a look on his face that, to us, said “sign me up.” So we did. [we think he really just wanted the plege-gift t-shirt].

Since mid August, Charlie has also had his first real smile; rode his first ferry to his very first island (Orcas), where he summited his first mountain (Mt. Constitution: 2,409 ft); has picked his first pumpkin; had his first Halloween; his first Thanksgiving; has met Santa Clause for the first time; picked out his first christmas tree; and has learned to roll from his front to his back.

Everyday with Charlie more enjoyable than the previous. Watching him grow and develop new skills has been the most incredible experience of our lives.