9 months old

Charlie turned 9 months yesterday and he spent his special day snuggled in with Dada, Mama and Auntie Meg. He's saying "khee khee" for kitty, "Dadadada" for Dad and "Mamamama" for Mama. He's also really into screaming when he get's excited, regardless of where we are. Charlie seems to get away with it though, since he's so adorable. He's a wonderful napper and allows me to get a few hours each day to myself. He's getting a little bored with purees so we've been feeding him little bits of whatever we're eating...chicken, pasta, whole wheat bread, shredded cheddar cheese, yogurt. He's still not a huge eater. He had his first taste of Ivar's clam chowder yesterday..yum! We love you Charlie!

Starting him out early

Charlie and I took KC to Willamette Valley, Oregon to go wine tasting for his Birthday. We had a surprisingly wonderful time. I say this because I went into this trip quite blindly. Yes, I did research...a little. I tried booking us into a B&B but no one would take babies/children, I tried to do the right thing by becoming familiar with the wineries prior to the trip by trolling Wine Spectator, but I had a really, really busy week and didn't get around to it until the night before we left. So, yet again, I was flying by the seat of my pants, which is typically fun and spontaneous but a little stressful. We awoke at 6:30am on Saturday morning and headed to Oregon around 7:30. The drive was wet and windy and slightly depressing, but by this time I had told KC where we were going and we were both excited. We rolled into Newburg, OR around lunchtime and stopped off at The French Bear. Wonderful food and the owner, Doris Nelson is a love. She brought out the winery brochure and circled all of her favorites, adding that we need to tell so-and-so "hello" or tell what's-her-name that "Doris says hi!" She was great and stopped circling suggestions around the letter "D" in an alphabetized list of about 60 wineries, so really, we guessed we were on our own. I must say that after two days of tasting and buying, some of Doris' favorites proved to be our favorites too. To make a very long, relaxing, picturesque and delicious story short - we had a ball, met wonderful people, bought too much wine and become members of two wine clubs - yikes! We were a hit wherever we stopped because of Charlie and the answer to the question "can you take a baby wine tasting?" is YES! We even saw a few others along the way and all the drunk men and women loved flirting with Charlie. We're starting him out early and are proud of it. Oh, and the Pinots in Oregon? - Yum!

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Morgan

I love Fall! For the last three years, KC and I have driven out to Fall City Farms to choose our pumpkins. The first year we went, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Where I come from, you "pick" your pumpkin out of a huge box outside of Ralph's or Albertson's. If you're lucky, you get to go to the corner pumpkin "patch" which is a black-top parking lot covered with hay and littered with pumpkins (substitute "pumpkin" with "christmas tree" and you also have my childhood memory of picking out x-mas trees).

So, I was not prepared to spend hours in a huge muddy field carefully choosing finalists for the ultimate pumpkin pageant that KC orchestrates at the end of our excursion. He picks his pumpkins off the vine and lines them up side by side, carefully considering the attributes of each one but ultimately choosing them based on how they look as a group. This amuses me and I totally get into it, making KC wear his "pumpkin sweater" each year.

Our trip this year got off to a rocky start, but we made it to the farm no worse for wear. We had a blast. Our pumpkins are beautiful and the gourds we got this year are so funky and fun. Oh, Charlie had a good time too. He wore his "pumpkin sweater" just like Dad. Thank Mae Mae!

More Pumpkin Photos HERE.

second best

If you're transitioning out of breastfeeding or pumping and using a bottle, I've found what I think is the best alternative to the breast. The adiri natural nurser. I was looking for glass bottles, since I've been reading reports of polycarbonate and bisphenol-A chemicals found in baby bottles. We ordered two last week and it showed up at our door within 4 days. I have to say the bottle is a little shocking, if not graphic. It looks very similar to an A cup breast, and feels like one too. It's definitely "natural". The first attempt with Charlie was a miss. KC discovered that the nipple didn't have large enough holes or there just wasn't enough of them, even though we purchased the stage 3 (6+ months). So, I took a needle and made my own. Even after the alteration, Charlie wasn't having it, so I brought in the big guns. Dad. KC was finally able to get Charlie to drink from it and now he loves these bottles. In addition to being a healthier alternative to Avent or Dr. Brown's, the bottle only has two parts that need washing. The bottle and the base, which houses the venting system. They are ridiculously easy to clean. I couldn't be happier with them.