10 months old, and already too smart for me.

Charlie and I frequently lie on the floor or the bed to play.  If my cell phone rings, and I am foolish enough to answer it, an immediate game of “keep away” starts.  Charlie will reach across my face, crawl around my head, or anything else he can think of to get his hands on that phone.  He is surprisingly persistent, and usually successful.

Recently, my cell phone’s performance started to decline, most likely largely due to the afore-mentioned phenomenon (upon successfully getting the phone, of course he uses it as a pacifier).  A week ago, my phone finally died.  Fortunately, Jean still had her former phone, so I switched my phone number to that phone; it’s the same model as mine, but pink (mine is a manly steel gray).  It works perfectly, and as an added bonus, my old phone was promoted from “crappy cell phone” to “excellent toy”, or so I thought…

Charlie has no interest in my old phone.  I give it to him…  Nothing.  I pretend to try to keep it from him…  Nothing.  I lie down next to him and hold it to my ear…  Nothing.  I open it…  Nothing.  Yesterday I actually sat and had a lengthy conversations with myself; I’m lying there on my phone saying “No, he’s not going for it.  Charlie seems to know that this conversation is BS”…  Nothing.  Charlie has absolutely no interest in that phone! 

However, if I try to use my NEW phone near Charlie, he mauls me.  I know nothing about how easy it is to take candy from a baby, but taking a cell phone is a real pain in the ass!

Like his father and grandfather before him…

Based on some very scientific testing I’ve performed, I think Charlie is left-handed.  One of his favorite activities is reducing walls and towers made of blocks to one level (or at most two, if he’s distracted).  I have built such structures in front of him, far away from him, on his immediate left, and on his immediate right, and without exception he demolishes them all with his left hand: 17 times in a row!  In the case of something off his right shoulder, he can’t even reach it with his left hand.  He will rotate himself on his belly about 45 degrees, then reach across his body with his left hand to do the deed.

In other news, Charlie has picked up a new play-habit that definitely goes in the “Wow is that cute” category.  Those who have read the older posts will know about “Pillow Time”; in short, it is a game we play in a big bed, where Charlie can move around and bonk his head a lot without hurting himself.  Anyway, often I end up lying next to him face-to-face…  Recently, he has taken to wanting to put his pacifier in my mouth.  If I keep my mouth closed, he will just keep trying to jam it between my lips.  If I do open my mouth, he immediately yanks the pacifier out, and then puts it in his own mouth.  Some of you (especially if anybody who doesn’t know me very well is reading this) may be thinking “Oh my god…  That’s so unhealthy” (or just plain “How gross!”) and to you I say, in all sincerity, “Phoooey on you.”

10 Months!

Yesterday Charlie turned 10 months old.  It has been an exciting month; went to his first birthday party (his good friend Peyton’s on August 9th — 2 years old), and he attended his first wedding (he went to Jake & Chrissy’s “wedding weekend”, but during the actual events he was sequestered in a hotel room).  On the less exciting front, at his 9-month check-up he was pretty near the 50th percentile for height and weight.  His head circumference was in the 85th percentile, but it was pointed out to me that, unlike height and weight, the range of head circumferences is very narrow, so there is little difference (in the actual dimension) between 50th and 90th percentile (but I still call him “Fat Head”).

It has also been a very eventful month for his non-physical development; he seems more animated just about every day.  His interaction with his surroundings is much more extensive, and though he still cannot express them, it seems clear to me that his thought processes are much more formulated (what he wants to do at a given moment, for example, or what he is experiencing beyond just hot/cold, hungry/thirst, etc.)

He spends a lot of time on all fours rocking to the beat of music only he can hear, but he still does not usually lift his butt off the ground to go anywhere.  He is crawling a little more dexterously than previously, but I think there is still a good bit of improvement ahead.  On his feet, he is very sturdy (with somebody holding him for balance), but has yet to lift himself up to a standing position.  In fact, he still rarely even gets to a sitting position on his own (refer to the previous post).

Charlie, as well as Jean and I, are getting very excited for our upcoming trip to Chicago and Boston.  It is always great to see either of our families, let alone both, and this trip will be extra-special because Charlie’s cousin Lauren will be having her Bat Mitzvah.  As an added bonus for us (for everybody, but especially us), Charlie’s half-sister Maddie will be coming in from Virginia for the celebration.  They’ve only met once, and we’re all anxious for Maddie to start developing relationships with ALL her Sandberg relatives, but especially Charlie.  Hopefully we’ll have lots of great pictures for future posts.

Up up and away

Charlie is crawling!  He has been for about a week now, but it is a process he is still markedly improving day-to-day.  It still occasionally surprises me when something that is a few feet away cathes his eye and he just motors over to it.  Much like a Looney Toons character, he doesn’t understand the concept of surfaces, so he will crawl off the edge of things if not closely monitored.  Of course this is totally normal for an early crawler, but still a bit disturbing to see (the adult in my head is asking “Charlie, don’t you see that there is no more bed (or whatever) to crawl on?”).

Sitting up seems just on the horizon.  By “sitting up” I mean getting into a sitting position by himself; he is very stable when once somebody has put him in a sitting position.  It is amazing how flexible babies are; sitting on his butt, Charlie can reach forward and pick up something that is well beyond his toes.  Anyway, he has gotten himself up to a seated position a few times, both by doing a sit-up from a lying position, and by rolling onto his side and then pushing up with the down-side arm.  But both of those are still quite rare.

This weekend, Charlie will attend his first birthday party, for Peyton Huff, who will turn 2 this Sunday, August 9th.  For those who don’t know, I’ve started working at my shop on Wednesdays (for reasons not worth getting into), and our good friend (and Peyton’s Mom) Jen Huff has been baby-sitting Charlie.  24 month-olds and 10 month-olds are about four lifetimes apart, behaviorally, but they’ve certainly gotten used to hanging out with each other.  Peyton knows who Charlie is (“Baby Cawlie”) and often brings toys over for him to play with (usually with a little coaxing from Mom…)  It’s very sweet.