11 Students + 1 Baby + 1 School bus = ???

Charlie has been staying busy over the last couple of weeks. Last Monday the school board approved my leave extension! I am so excited to be home with Charlie until school starts again in September. I have to go in 1 day before the end of the year for insurance reasons but I think I can handle that. If it hadn't went through my first day back would have been Monday and there is no way I can even think about having to do that, not only leaving him but having to teach and run all day long when I'm so exhausted!

Even though Charlie won't be starting daycare until the fall, I took him there for a few hours Monday morning. He did a great job and was sleeping when I got back to get him.

Thursday we embarked on a daring mission. Our FFA chapter had the last of our regional contests in Brookings SD on Friday. I had 11 students competing in dairy judging, general livestock judging, meats judging and dairy showmanship. We shared a bus with another school and headed off to Brookings, baby in tow after school on Thursday. Charlie had his first bus ride, first night in a hotel and had lots of great babysitters on the trip. The bus ride made me nervous but it was so bumpy he snoozed the whole way. I also mastered changing diapers on a bus along with a wardrobe change. Charlie and I helped at the dairy contest with scoring. He helped by sleeping the whole time and letting me actually score (why can't he sleep at home without wanting to be held the whole time?). Once again he saved his major meltdown for the ride from school back home. I mentally prepared myself because I knew as soon as we got off the bus he would realize he was hungry and freak out. Needless to say we had a busy 24 hours so we were both exhausted last night. It was good practice though because next Sunday and Monday we'll take off again for the State FFA Convention in the cities. It is nice to be able to take him along, how many jobs would allow you to take your baby on a "work trip"?

I haven't really noticed any changes in Charlie's sleeping patterns. Since he was born he has wanted to eat every 3-4 hours. I am convinced he could sleep a good 6-8 hours at night but he always wakes up, eats for 5 minutes and falls back to sleep. He has also gotten into wanting to get up at 4:00 & 6:00 so I think he's actually getting up more than he did before. I'm trying to get him back to sleep him without feeding him to break the habit, but I'm so impatient its easier just to feed him and put him back down. I guess he's still pretty little...

He defenitely has the smiling thing figured out now. He responds to your smiles and is making a lot more noises, he is a good story teller. The doctor mentioned that to try and break the middle of the night habit when I get up with him I should try not stimulate him and not make it "fun" for him to be up. BUT, when he looks up and starts smiling I just can't help it :) The smiles are so hard to catch on camera. This is him at 7 weeks and I finally caught one.



Here are some other pictures from Charlie's 6th & 7th weeks.




We are going to try and go to the Grand March for prom later this afternoon, we'll see if we make it or not! Erik has meetings in the cities all week so we'll be flying solo again. I'm debating making the transition to his bedroom but am not sure if I want to tackle the stairs during our late night adventures. Maybe he'll sleep better if he has more room to flail around...he's getting pretty big for the little bassinet.