The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

In the car, listening to the radio the other day I started singing along with Def Leppard:

"And I want
And I need
And I..."

from the backseat I hear a little voice sing "Animal."

No, he doesn't sing along with Elmo or the ABCs. He picks The Lep for his singing debut. Way to go, Buddy!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

We have a potty-er!

After much discussion, prompting, pleading, etc. Charlie has decided that going peepee in the potty is awesome! Today he picked out a brand new Elmo potty and some matching underpants.

This must have been the magic ingredient. Within a few minutes of stripping from the waist down, he stopped playing and walked over to use the potty... standing up!

He's very proud of himself and the stickers he earned. I'm pretty proud, too.

The Indomitable Snowman

Or perhaps that's Adorable Snowman... regardless, The Boy had fun in the recent snowfall. This is the most accumulation he has been able to get into, about 8 inches. He really enjoyed pushing it off the planters and such.

Yes, I realize he's wearing sneakers in the snow. He's got a pair of boots, but his big ol' feet won't fit in them, even after I cut the tongues, and they don't sell them here after October apparently.
waving hello to the camera (sorry, Auntie, he even said "cheese")

and then he lost his mitten. As soon as he touched the snow, the tears began and we had to go inside for some heat and "mucklit muck."
Toasty again in his gorilla jammies.

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.