Laughter is the best medicine...

We all know that laughing is such a contagious thing but there is nothing quite like the laughter that comes from a child.  I think it is mainly because of the innocence and that it cannot be faked.  Zachary seems to know just how to get Charlie going and this evening was no exception...

Wonderful big brothers...

Here is a perfect example of how the Zachary and Nicolas love to entertain Charlie.  He had just got up from his nap and the boys were all too excited to play with him.  They just love to make him smile and laugh... and of course the feeling is mutual and he is more than happy to oblige!

Loving our bedtime routine

We are in such a great groove at the moment.  All three boys are going to bed with such ease it is simply wonderful.  I am so happy that we put the work in early on to make this process as easy as possible.  I can even handle, quite easily, getting the three boys to bed on my own.

At around 7:15 the big boys have a bedtime snack while we watch a little tv.  After that they get in their jammies, brush their teeth and hop into bed.  Steve and I tuck them in and they get their hugs and kisses.  Charlie always joins in since Zachary and Nicolas need to give him a hug and kiss before they go to sleep.  We tell Charlie to say "night, night" and he waves to both of them.  We remind them how much we love them and close the door.  Generally that's it for the big boys until 8:00 or so the next morning.

We then hang out with Charlie for 15 minutes or so before starting his bedtime routine.  Then we get his bottle ready.  While waiting for it to heat up, we get him into his jammies.  Soon I will be adding some teeth brushing to his routine as well... probably next week.  After he has his bottle he sometimes plays with Steve (since he's normally the one that feeds him the bottle) for a bit before being put in his bed.  Once we lay him down and put on his blanket, he snuggles in and usually falls asleep within minutes.  Sometimes he plays quietly but we rarely need to go back into his room.  Some nights he is just so tired he passes out after his bottle.  This is what he looked like two nights ago...

By 8:30-8:45 at night, Steve and I are able to enjoy some time together.  It is great because it allows us to really have some couple or individual time almost every day (that is unless we have other plans).  I think it's really helped our relationship to have this time just for us.

Pure Happiness...

It takes so little to make babies happy.  These days all it takes to make Charlie smile is the illusion that he is a big boy and can stand all by himself.  He loves to be standing up and almost refuses to sit down now.  He is getting more and more steady on his feet.  It might not be long before he's walking... only time will tell...

Another small pleasure he has is playing with his big brother's cars.  Here are some pictures of him enjoying some play time with Mack...

Charlie's first hair cut

Charlie was in desperate need of a hair cut.  He still had a whole bunch of long baby hair.  So, Mom-I was kind enough to give him his very first hair cut.  The only bad thing about this milestone is that it has aged him even more than he already is...

No pull-ups for Nico...

Nicolas has been working very hard at keeping his nighttime underwear (ie. Pull-Ups) dry.  Now that the sickness has mostly left our house, I feel more ready to deal with the potential of wet sheets in the night.  So, I bit the bullet and put Nico to bed in regular underwear tonight.  Hopefully, we will be accident free and that I can finally stop buying pull-ups.

On a side note, Zachary has been dry day and night for months now.  He was dry at night almost at the same time as he went dry during the day.  He has amazing bladder control!

Charlie talking up a storm at dinner

Charlie is really starting to babble a lot.  He seems to be practicing all sorts of different sounds.  Boy, we are in so much trouble when he actually starts to talk.  He'll be just like his brothers and we won't be able to get him to stop!

Here's a video of him chatting with us while we were having dinner tonight...