Welcome to my blog!

When Charlie was a newborn I was told the days would seem like an eternity as I was going through each one but the weeks would fly by.  This statement is so true!  In tribute to this statement, I named my blog 'and the days go by' in reference to the Talking Heads song.  I like what that song has to say, it's all so true for me right now.

Charles Harris was born on my mom's birthday, July 12, 2011 weighing 8 pounds 14 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches.  He is our first baby.  I call him Charlie, sweet pea or fussy pants.  His daddy calls him Bud, Puffy, or Little Guy. Charlie is loud, expressive, opinionated, and stubborn.  


One week old:

He's so tiny there but his little feet look so long!  I want to go back to that time with the body and brain I have now so that I can really appreciate my little tiny baby.  

Charlie was colicky from weeks 2 through 8.  I won't go into detail because those who have been there know and those who have not should not know.  Now that he's through it I wish I could ask him, "Charlie, what the f*&k was that all about?  Poor little baby.  He so wanted to be happy but we didn't know how to help.  He still met all his milestones right when he was supposed to though.  Here he is at his first major milestone at 6 weeks when he started smiling:

He didn't wear clothes for a few months.  It was too hard to keep him clean and fed, let alone dressed.  It was also so hot.  We just moved down to the peninsula from San Francisco and I was not acclimatized to the summer heat.  I also don't like heat and I've decided that Charlie does not like it either.  

We had our first family photo session a few days before Thanksgiving.  Charlie was cutting his first tooth so we were all very tired.  Here is our sullen baby at the photo session:

Yesterday we went to see Santa Claus.  Charlie was happy and social in line.  He was doing his typical 'social' screaming meaning he wasn't crying, just screaming to see how loud he can be.  He hadn't had stranger danger yet so when it was our turn I handed him to Santa with his face in towards Santa's face.  I wanted Santa to see how cute he was.  Here's what happened:

It was so sweet to see this photo.  Santa tried to comfort him but Charlie wanted his mommy.  As soon as I grabbed him he stopped crying and burrowed into my neck.  I decided to buy the photo even though the photographer said I didn't have to.  I'm so glad I did.

Each day is different and there are a lot of really tough moments but the tough times always end and are replaced with the sweet moments that make this all so worth it.  This morning Charlie woke up happy and when he saw me he gave me a huge smile and flapped his arms and legs in excitement.  It made me so happy I could have cried.  I love my perfect little baby.