Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

Yes, it's that super busy time of year again. Charlie has been overwhelmed with awesome gifts from all over. We'll have pictures soon.

In the mean time, hope you all are happy and warm!

Giving Thanks

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, Charlie started saying "Thank you." Of course, it sounds more like "tan too," but it is clear what he is saying and he says it in proper context. So sweet!

Auntie's kitty, Lucy, was at Mama and Big Daddy's for the celebration and Charlie was very excited to see her. Being a small and skittish kitty, the same could not be said for Miss Lu. Charlie found her in a bedroom and was happily jabbering to her when she hissed a warning. Without missing a beat he started hissing back with a big smile. He was so proud to have learned kitty language!

A few other words and phrases he's been working on lately: yuck, tooty, water, buckle, and cracker. He's getting good at identifying body parts and loves to try on eyeglasses.

This year we are especially grateful for humor.

Not Slackin'

In celebration of Veterans' Day, we joined some local military families at an indoor inflatables playground.



And we went to a messy art party earlier this week.
And this was at another playdate. Yes, he's doing shots of ketchup. Yuck.
This one's a little older, but it went along with the shots...

Drumroll please...

Working out with Daddy
He's still working on that "lift with your legs" thing.

Hey, Ms. Nancy!
This haircut thing will go better if you let me steal a snack.
...probably.
Eh, it's not so bad.

(the missing pics here are Ted handing him over to me and then me handing him to Mom)

Oh, wait, this is not fun anymore.But I do look handsome. Can we go now? I'll drive.

Seriously, let's go. The door's right here.
Don't worry, car; I'll come play with you in a minute.

As promised

The grandson of some friends was being baptised last night. So, we went to a different church than usual. Ted got Charlie dressed and when he came out wearing this shirt I just had to add the tie. He didn't even fight it.Although he did inspect it thoroughly.


Mid laugh...

At his (early) 18 month appointment, his stats were: 27 lbs. 4 oz. and 33 inches. His body is average so that he can have an exceptional personality. I think he started a growth spurt about 5 minutes after we left the pediatrician's office.

Enjoy the curls; he gets a haircut tomorrow!

The Green Eyed Monster

Charlie's never had much competition for our attention or affection, but lately he's had to share the spotlight. He does not like it very much. At the same time, he is fascinated by babies. So, as long as we don't hold another child, Charlie is quite happy. But pick one up, like baby Carter here, and the head-butting begins.
Of course, when you are sporting pants! like these, how could you not be the center of the universe?Did I mention that we had some rooms painted? The flash doesn't do it justice. The wall is quite a bit darker and looks fab.u.lous with all his art.


Next time, I promise to post pictures of Champ.

Milestones

Charlie started jumping this week. He was in the garage working out with Ted and studied him for a while. Then he squatted and jumped- both feet off the ground. He has been jumping all over the place since then. Now he's practicing standing on one foot.

Vocab check: dada, nigh'-nigh', yukky

Not exactly Charlie related...

but my review of the Alamo was voted Review of the Day on trekaroo!
If you don't know about trekaroo, let me give it a little free press: It's a site where parents write travel reviews for attractions and accommodations. The important part is, of course, to include how kid-friendly the place is. The best part is, you can raise money for a charity by writing reviews, or you can earn free gift cards if you write 10 or 25 reviews in your first 2 weeks. Muy bien!

No Sir, That Does Not Go There!

This morning Charlie opened the dishwasher, sat down on the open door, wiggled around... and peed. In the dishwasher.

Peed.

In the dishwasher.

The joys of little boys.

To redeem himself, at naptime I asked if he wanted to go night-night and he said "nigh-nigh."

Caitlin Comes to Visit

I mentioned earlier that Charlie adores Caitlin. That might be an understatement. Since she left last week he has repeatedly gone in her room looking for her. Don't worry, she'll be back.

And now, what you came to see...

Reality check: sometimes he is Mr. GrumpusPlaying in the new living room

Hey, Sissy, whatcha doin'?

Open up... hey, look at me!

Noodgery accomplished. Booyah!

Almost Moved

The big news is that we close on Monday. We are officially up to our eyeballs in boxes!

Caitlin is here and Charlie is thrilled. He loves her so much! He follows her around everywhere, fights sleep to be near her, and cries when she goes outside to play without him. She adores him right back. It's so sweet to hear her kiss his head and say "I love you."

Still loves the bath
"Helping" us pack- these boxes are really fun!
Riding a little horsey...
When babies find stickers
Coloring while watching Wheel of Fortune
How you doin'?

A Whole Lotta Firsts

In the past 10 days or so, Charlie has had a lot of firsts. I hope I remember them all.

• He waved and said "bye" to his friend Tucker, who incidentally said his first sentence to Charlie a few months ago.
• He started drinking from a Big Boy Cup and mostly gets it in his mouth.
• He kicks a ball now.
• He's figured out how to climb on his rocking horse and how to get down.
• He figured out how to put his face in the bath water and blow bubbles.
• He stacked blocks without prompting at Alex's house today.
• He mastered climbing and descending the steps at Mama and Big Daddy's deck.
• He rode a Power Wheels Dora the Explorer Jeep with Clara.

Whenever there is furniture to climb that is a little too tall, he will pull up anything to use as a step. He loves to race me to the recliner and steal my seat!

He mastered "bye bye" a while ago. Any time I say it, he waves and heads for the door. This week, when I tell him "night night" he heads to the bedroom and waits by the bed. When we move to the new house in a few weeks, I think we will transition to a Big Boy Bed.

Pants Off Dance Off

Our awesomely generous neighbors have let Charlie borrow the beloved Hokey Pokey Elmo while they are on vacation. He loves it! He's a dancing machine. Check it out...


And how 'bout that little Axl wiggle in there?

Tricks Up His Sleeves

At 14 months old, Charlie is definitely interested in being a Big Boy. He's figured out all sorts of things for himself and is determined to be more independent each day. Last night he figured out how to push a footstool over to the couch to climb up on his own. He's been practicing going up and down stairs every time we see them (since we have none in our home). Here are some other things he's been discovering:

How to drink and dance at the same time...
How to talk to Mama and Auntie on the phone...
And how to play Peek-A-Boo in the fireplace. Step 1- Hide...Step 2- Surprise!

He's also becoming an escape artist. They have joked about putting an alarm on him in the nursery at church because he likes to go out the door when parents arrive to get their kids. I'm sure he is confident in finding his way around that big building by himself, but we're not ready for that just yet.

And now that I've taken pics off of Mama's camera, I can add these:
Kleenex box o' fun

Or a laundry hamper
Mama and Big Daddy's house is just so fun!

I Belong In the Zoo!

Charlie and I went to the local zoo for the first time this week. It was so much fun! There were so many animals and displays. We look forward to feeding the giraffes next time and hopefully seeing the honeybee exhibit. He and Alexandrea were both exhausted after going through Africa...
And this big smile is reserved for his favorite cd by Leeny and Steve. Kids' music that is fun for adults, too? Awesome!

This week he has also started waving bye-bye consistently and blowing kisses. Also, when I say bye-bye he usually runs to the door to make sure he doesn't get left behind.

Where did we go?

To a hotel!

We've been super busy again lately. We've done things like: get sick, try strawberries at the Farmers' Market (no go for Charlie, but he liked the ice cream), plan a trip to the zoo, get a new tooth (that makes 7 for those keeping track), learn to unroll toilet paper, ride an elevator, and a short trip to northern VA.

What's in store for the summer? Glad you asked. The aforementioned zoo trip is the cause for much excitement right now. There are also several playdates scheduled, a trip to Florida and some time with Caitlin, a trip to Tennessee, a family camping trip in the mountains, possibly touring a dairy farm, and playing outside when the weather dries up again.

Right now Charlie loves to clap. He gets very excited when a studio audience on tv claps, so his favorite show is Wheel of Fortune. At Mama's on Monday, Oprah was on and he enjoyed all the clapping he got to join. He even pulled away from nursing long enough to clap with everyone, then returned to the task at hand. Very funny.

He has also learned to point. Sometimes randomly. But usually if you ask him where the airplane or the goose is he points to the sky. Same thing if you say "bee-hengee" which is my Southern gal version of the Korean word for airplane.

Climbing is another favorite passtime. He especially likes to climb on boxes. Even more fun is climbing down, unless it is too difficult.

Happy Mothers' Day!

A poem from Charlie:
Dear Mommy,
When you count my ribs, thanks for teaching math
When you wash my parts, thanks for the bath
When you give me chow, thanks for the sauce
These are a few reasons why I think you're totally awes-


(ome)

A Trip to the ER, with happy ending

Yesterday I pulled out the bag of play sand and filled Charlie's new Sand and Water Transportation Station. While he was unimpressed, more interested in playing with a broom, it did attract the attention of the girls next door and their playmates. Soon, Charlie was surrounded by adorable girls and digging in the sand right along with them.

Then, out of nowhere, he started crying and trying to go inside. I figured he was hungry or tired and let him in to see Daddy. I cleaned up the sand mess, now strewn about the patio, and went inside to find a crying little boy. Now, Charlie fusses daily, and sometimes he cries for about 30 seconds, but this was unprecedented.

I tried to soothe him in all my usual mommy ways. Ted even broke out the arsenal of gripe water since Charlie's rigid body suggested gas or heartburn. No dice.

After much investigating we realized that he was favoring his left foot. He wouldn't stand on it or let us touch his toes without howling in pain. Into the car we went.

As long as we were holding him upright and letting him hold his foot away from our bodies, Charlie did fine. A dose of Tylenol seemed to take the edge off his pain but he clearly was not ok yet.

The next 4 or so hours went like this:
wait, get called to the desk by mistake, wait, get called again by mistake, wait, answer intake questions and get his pulse ox taken (he did enjoy ripping the disposable monitor off his finger), wait some more, get a stuffed bunny, wait, go to registration, wait, get a stuffed monkey, wait, get into a room, wait...

Then the nurse came in to check on him. She started examining his foot and noted that if it was broken he probably would not let her push on it like she was. But she ordered x-rays to be sure and commented on how sweet he was. Ted set him down on the bed/gurney and that's when it happened.

Did he fall off? Start screaming bloody murder? Pass a large amount of gas? Nope. He started jumping on the bed. No kidding, all the drama over and now he's performing Swan Lake.

The subsequent x-ray was, of course, unnecessary. But hey, we were there, we were going to have to pay through the nose, and you never can be sure with kids.

The good news is Charlie and his foot are fine. I'm guessing that maybe he had a dislocated toe that went back into place when the nurse checked him out. We'll never know. I'm just relieved that he's back to being the funny, happy, walking baby he was before.

(And by funny, I do mean funny. Today at church he started laughing, very loudly, during the consecration. He was really cracking up. I'm glad God has a sense of humor, too.)

12 Month Checkup Results

Yes, we are late on this checkup. I didn't want Little Man to be feeling yucky from shots for his party and our pediatrician was on vacation last week. So, without further ado...

Height- 19 inches, between 10th and 25th percentiles
Weight- 22.625 pounds, between 25th and 50th
Head Circumference- 19.5 inches, off the charts huge; no wonder he wobbles when he walks

As usual, the doctor confirmed what we already know- he's perfect! He did very well with his shots and was charming everyone in the waiting room and measuring station.

P.S. Here's my favorite shot from Auntie's pics of the party

The Zoo!

The following are some pics of Charlie at the Natural Science Center on Friday. He really loved the petting zoo part- chasing goats and sheep is fun!- and the aquarium was cool, too.