Happy 1/2 Birthday!!!

Charlie turned 6 months old today.  We celebrated his half birthday by baking him half of a cake.  

Keep reaching for that cake, buddy.  You don't stand a chance at getting a taste. :)

And a month ago, he turned 5 months.  Oops, I guess I've been slacking on blog updates.

I'll recap the rest of the month as quickly as possible.  I turned 29 again.  So did Matt.  We made Matt this poster for his birthday.  And by "we," I mean the kids were very cooperative in accompanying me to the grocery store to get supplies. 

Charlie has gotten happier and happier (and cuter and cuter, if I may brag a bit).  He's finally getting a little bit of hair!  I don't mean to rub it in, but I think he has more than Uncle Jeff now. It was debatable at Thanksgiving, but it looks like Charlie is pulling ahead to be a clear winner in that contest. ;)

I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I would venture to guess that despite how sweet it looks, I probably had to throw down the camera & save Charlie from bodily harm immediately after taking this picture.  That's just usually the way it goes.  Immense sweetness is usually followed by physical aggression.  It's a give and take.  

Reese has wanted to hold Charlie a lot lately, which is pretty comical since he is about 20 pounds.  She gets him in a good headlock to hold him nice and safely though. 

He's so curious about everything she does.  

This melts my heart.

We put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving.  Reese had a blast helping us decorate it, and she gets very excited for us to plug all of the lights in each day. 

And, of course, I had a little fun with the camera & the tripod once the lights were up. :)

On December 1st, our doorbell rang and Reese found this little guy sitting on our front porch.  

We were pretty perplexed at first, but Reese opened the box he was sitting on, and everything was explained.  It turns out his name is Buddy, and Santa sent him to live at our house until Christmas.  Each night, he travels to the North Pole to check in with Santa to let him know if Reese is being a good girl.  When he returns in the morning, he hides in a new spot for Reese to find him when she wakes up.  

Reese doesn't really care about any of that.  She's just glad he brought her some donuts (covered in snow from the North Pole).

She was not pleased when she woke up a few mornings ago to find that he had been playing with her blocks.  We had to have a quick talk about sharing toys with our guest. 

She did think it was pretty funny when he wrapping papered the toilet.

This past weekend, we started Charlie on solid food.  So far, he has enjoyed a little bit of oatmeal and some carrots.  Reese loves to help feed him.  

Charlie has a new move that is making me very nervous.  It's making me very nervous because it's making him mobile.  I am not ready for two mobile little people in this house.  He starts out in this plank/push up position & then propels himself forward.  It's pretty cute and hilarious.

I've also been catching him on his hands and knees a lot. 

On Sunday, we went to Brookfield Zoo to see the light display.  The weather was gorgeous, so everyone else was there too.  My mom came along, and we all had a great time. 

And lastly, here are some pictures I took of the kids in a little mini photo shoot. You'll notice there are many more pictures of Charlie than there are of Reese.  Believe me, this was her choice. 

I love these chubby toes.

And my absolute favorite: