...And We're Walking

Just in time for Christmas, Charlie started walking last week.  He was pretty unsteady at first, taking between 6-10 steps before dropping to the floor but he is officially walking from room to room at our house and prefers to walk rather than crawl. 

Christmas seemed to come and go in a flash this year.  We stayed in Norwalk on Christmas Eve to celebrate BJ's birthday and so that Santa could be sure to find Charlie.  BJ and I were ready to capture the magic of Christmas morning with our camera and video camera and although we were able to catch some smiles when Charlie when checked out his new activity table, blocks, radio and puzzle.

I was particularly excited about the activity table because it includes both English and Spanish and I'm looking to brush up on my Spanish.  Seriously, I am.  I took four years in high school, but our "spanish 4" (or quatro for you bilingual readers) trip involved a drive into Dubuque to eat at Chi-Chi's and go to the movie "Selena" starring Jennifer Lopez.  I'm not saying that the quality of the course was sub-par, but let's just say that I remember ordering a grilled chicken sandwich at Chi-Chi's, but can't remember how to order the same in Spanish. 

On Christmas Day, we went back to Cascade to celebrate with our families.  There were lots of presents and great food, but the one thing that was lacking was any great group pictures by me.  I was bound and determined to get a family pictures of the 3 of us, but Charlie pulled his "wet noodle" trick every time that he noticed the camera...as evidenced in the forgettable string of pictures below.

I'm not sure what to do with the wet noodle phase - I ignore him when he starts to to turn into a wet noodle but ignoring him isn't really a good option when I'm trying to have a picture taken.  I suggested that his New Year's resolution be to stop doing the wet noodle, but he didn't seem that interested in my suggestion.

Here's to hoping that Santa found all of you!

Move Over Akeelah

So guess who is going to the state spelling bee competition?  No, it's not Charlie...he's not that advanced.  Emma advanced to the state competition and we couldn't be more excited for her.  Congratulations!

I was telling Charlie about how Emma dominated the North Scott spelling world last night while he was in the tub and he was in awe.

My cousin Emma did what?  Wait, what is a spelling bee?

Yea Emma!

This picture has no particular relevance to our conversation about the spelling bee, but I cannot resist the urge to give Charlie a mohawk every night in the bathtub.  I am about two steps away from breaking out the hair gel and sending him to daycare like this - it's time to make Charlie look tough before he moves up to the one year old room...a little intimidation might keep those biters away.

Birthday, Part 2

Grandma Jan and Grandpa Steve came down on Thursday night to see Charlie for a few hours and wish him a belated b-day.  The generosity continued with this awesome wagon:

 There is a bench on both sides of the wagon, so there is plenty of room for Copper to be paraded around the neighborhood as well. 

I noticed that there was a cup holder, which I find absolutely hilarious. 

 Grandma even stopped pulling the wagon to make sure that Charlie stayed hydrated.  It's hard work being pulled around the living room like a prince.

Unfortunately, by the time we realized that we wanted an official picture with Grandma and Grandpa, Charlie was done and ready for his bath and bed.  Please see the arching of the back, which is a fun little trick that Charlie started within the last few weeks.  I thought those weren't supposed to start until 2...

Thanks Grandma Jan and Grandpa Steve for coming down this week and for the presents - he is a lucky little boy.   

One (sigh)

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to find a way for Charlie to stay a baby forever.  Charlie Boy turned one on Friday and while I am so excited for him to learn new things and become more independent, the thought makes me a little teary.  It sounds so cliche, but the last year has flown by so fast and yet, I can't remember life without him. 

I decided to try to write Charlie a letter each year on his birthday in an attempt to summarize my thoughts regarding the past year.  This could be very sentimental or it could be used as evidence against me when he tries to have me committed in the future.  "Your Honor, my mother clearly lost all competency around my first birthday, as evidenced by this rambling letter." 

While thinking about the last 12 months, I've realized that the "hard work" is just beginning.  I don't know how to teach confidence but instill humility; to establish expectations but not assert too much pressure; to motivate but not be overbearing; to teach him to forgive without being taken advantage of; to teach him to have faith but not be gullible, etc , etc.  I guess we'll figure it out day by day. 

At this point during the picture-taking process, Copper ran around like a rabid dog...running into all rooms of our house while making the occasional pit-stop in Charlie's room.  It was as if he were on fire AND being chased by an invisible ghost.  The whole event was way too entertaining to Charlie to focus on our camera.  I think that we need to donate Copper's body to science when he leaves this world because there is more wrong with that dog than there is right. 

 Any guesses as to Charlie's present from us?  I'll give you a hint, if parental influence can begin at this age, one of us hopes to have a basketball player...

Charlie was more excited when the basketball hoop started to light up and sing than when he made a basket.  Don't worry BJ - you can start two-a-day practices sometime soon.

Mike, Molly, Emma, Claire and Hannah arrived Friday night and let Charlie open his present before he went to bed.  He was pretty excited to start his party early with these crazy girls.  And yes, I'm wearing $7 slippers from Target that are blue and white striped and say "Let It Snow" on the soles.  BJ thinks that they are the ugliest things that he has ever seen (a small victory for the pink fuzzy robe), but I told him that I'm sure that they are all the rage at nursing homes across the country.

Charlie took a great nap before his party, but was a little stunned to wake up to a houseful of people.  The icky weather and the flu kept some people away, but we had a great time with those that were able to make it.   

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bill!

Uncle Marty!

Aunt Molly!  Although in all fairness to Molly, I did a terrible job of zooming in on this picture.  Lunch was almost ready and the smell of food temporarily blocked my ability to function.

Some crazy cousins...trying to focus on the 3 cameras that were trying to get their attention at the same time.

Charlie, you're 1.  We had a great day with you on your actual birthday and you had a great time at your party and received many fun toys.  I don't know where the last year went, but I know that for the last year, you have been the best part of everyday.

This Wasn't In The Book...

So the parenting books that I've been reading stress the importance of giving babies plenty of opportunities to learn how to feed themselves, no matter how messy it gets. So yesterday morning when I gave Charlie a little yogurt in a bowl with a spoon, I expected a mess, but I did not anticipate

how bold Charlie would be while creating the mess.

When I first turned around from the sink, he was holding the bowl over his head, as if to declare, "I have all of the power in this situation  Mommy.  Just go back to slicing the banana and don't worry about what I'm doing over here."

Next, he was threatening to throw the bowl on the floor...nevermind that all of the yogurt was already on his face and jammies.

I give him an "A" for trying to create a Santa beard.  Very festive.

He had the audacity to smile and laugh when I asked him to hand me the bowl.

And to top it all off, he handed the bowl to Copper to lick.  Needless to say, Charlie went straight to the tub, the jammies went straight to the wash machine and the bowl went straight to the dishwasher.  I'm not sure what to do in these situations, but something tells me that I shouldn't be laughing and taking pictures.

I Think He Likes It....

So the ziti recipe that I tried yesterday was a huge hit with Charlie.  We had to keep telling him to slow down and for the first time in a long time, he didn't share any with Copper.

After 9 ear infections in 8 months, Charlie got tubes on Thursday, something that I've been lobbying for a couple of months now.  It was extremely quick and the most "difficult" part was keeping him entertained for the three hours between him waking up and the procedure, without giving him anything to eat or drink.  While we were hanging out in the pre-op area, a little girl was getting ready to be taken to the cancer center for her surgery so we felt extremely lucky to be there for such a minimal procedure.  Charlie was a little out of sorts on Thursday morning, but seemed much more like himself after a long nap and big lunch.

We've been assured by numerous nurses/doctors that he'll become a much better eater after getting tubes...I thought the fact that he already weighs 25 pounds would be obvious to them that eating hasn't been an issue.

Here's to an ear-infection free (?) winter!

Duck Hunting

Yesterday was a true test of our patience as pet owners.  Actually, Copper has tested our patience since he was about six months old, but this weekend was especially trying. 

We have a pond in our backyard and Copper decided that it was his mission to hunt ducks by jumping into the pond everytime that he was outside.  Each adventure led to a mud-soaked dog, which led to a dog bath, which led to me bleaching the bathtub.  One might ask why we would let Copper into the backyard without a leash after said first pond-duck-mud-bath encounter and I plead insanity.  I think the time change has temporarily disabled my rational thinking.  Speaking of the time change, someone needed to tell this twazy baby that even though it may have felt like 6:15, it was really only 5:15 and it wasn't time to play.

 But back to the story at hand.  I was giving Copper his first bath at 6:30 a.m. when I heard BJ giggling behind me.  I turned around to see our camera in his hand and hear, "It's not, but your butt looks huge in this picture.  You're gonna hate it."  For the record, the fuzzy pink robe has never been flattering.  Exhibit A:

But then, when BJ was giving Copper his second bath later that morning, I decided to snap a picture to see how big his butt looked.  I will let the public decide.  Exhibit B:

I think we can all agree that the cutest butt in both pictures belongs to Charlie. 

Finally, Marty pointed out that my 11 month update post originally included a sign "11-11-10" and asked what was up with the date.  I totally screwed up and meant to put "11-3-10".  Charlie is getting tubes this Thursday, the 11th, and I was thinking about that the night that I did his 11 month post.  Anyway, I replaced the first picture, but despite my best efforts, was unable to recreate the entire photo shoot, which is not good for my OCDness.

Have a great week.

11 Month Update

Charlie Boy turned eleven months old today and I'm still frantically looking for a way to make time stop or at least slow down.  I tried to capture the obligatory picture in his chair next to the stuffed cow, but he was not feeling it.  He could sense that the hamburger/noodle casserole was near completion and the thought of waiting a second longer to enjoy his dinner was almost too much to bear.

Charlie is a crawling fool and is starting to walk around the coffee table and the couch.  He also loves to pull himself up to a standing position by pulling on my pants, which is normally fine, but if I happen to have a pair of flannel pants or sweatpants from the Cedar Falls Wal-Mart (fall of 1998, the sweatpants were $12), the pants often end up around my ankles.  Reason 871 why I shouldn't be
wearing those pants in public anymore. 

He loves being "chased" around our living room.  He scream with excitement and then crawl about 3 feet away before stopping to turn around to make sure that we are chasing him.  If we corner him he just comes towards us, ready for a mouth-open, slobbery bobbery kiss.  Charlie also loves when our ice machine is in use.  It used to scare him a little bit, but now he frantically crawls towards the fridge so as not to miss out on any of the action.

Charlie has also started to shake his little booty when he hears music and I always yell "shake what I gave you" which causes him to laugh and BJ to shake his head.  I look forward to many dance parties in our living room.

I think Charlie's really close to getting his first tooth, but his lack of teeth do not present much of an obstacle when eating.  He loves hamburger, roast beef and chicken breast.  His favorite meal seems to be any kind of pasta/meat casserole and he regularly eats faster than I can cool it down for him. 

Charlie also seems to have acquired the gift of gab and he will regularly join any conversation, talking louder and louder until he is acknowledged.  He still loves to say "da da" and rarely says "ma ma".  Whenever I tell him to say  "ma ma", he giggles and says "da da" which is further proof that he and BJ have a major conspiracy against me.  In Charlie's defense, there is no need to say "ma ma" when he knows that I will pretty much respond to any noise that he makes.

This past weekend marked the first night that I was away from Charlie overnight and it ended up being two nights.  BJ and I met our good friends Nick and Catherine for Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington DC.  The rally was an experience, but we quickly agreed that none of us would have been able to protest during the 60s because after an hour and a half standing in the same spot in the sun, we started talking about how hot we were, how thirsty we were and what time we were going to leave the rally and find a bar.  That being said, it was great to be a part of it and really nice to catch up with Nick and Catherine.  As with most once in a lifetime experiences, my camera spent most of the time in my purse, but I did capture the following random photos.

BJ held my camera above my head to try to capture the crowd...let's just say that it was large.

This was basically my view - bums in front of me.  

Nick and Catherine - there is no other couple that we would have wanted to eat and drink our way through the DC area!
We were really excited to see Charlie on Sunday so thanks to mom and dad and Steve and Jan for taking such good care of him over the weekend.  He came back a very happy little boy and probably a little spoiled.

Happy Halloween

We eased into the Halloween festivities by carving pumpkins a few nights ago.  I'm not sure who was more disinterested - Charlie started trying to eat bits of newspaper and BJ kept sighing as though he was being tortured.  Ahhh, family memories.

I was busy explaining that pumpkin seeds may look like they would be good to eat, they were gross and presented a choking hazard.  I think he started to shred the newspaper while I was giving my lesson.  We have got to work on increasing his attention span.

I was trying to get a pick of Charlie with his pumpkin but he was more interested in patroling the neighborhood from our deck door.  Good luck trying to tp our house or let your dog relieve him/hersellf while Charlie's on the watch - he's vigilant my friends.

BJ and I won't win any contests, but the last pumpkin I carved was in 2nd grade at Emily Kearney's house so it had been awhile.

After much debate over what his costume should be (more like me tossing out ideas to BJ and him shooting every idea down), I bought a puppy costume for Charlie.  I knew that we wouldn't take him trick-or-treating, but the daycare planned a halloween parade through the hospital and I plan to dress him in as ridiculous/cute costumes as I can before he starts voicing his opinion. 

Here he is thinking - this feels OK, but I think there is something on my head.

Here he is thinking - this is not OK.  Both of you are laughing and I hate my costume.  See, I'm already voicing my opinion.

I decided to stop by the daycare earlier today to help him get ready and loaded up for the Halloween parade.  I thought seeing his little friends in their costumes would be a good distraction.  It worked for a few minutes.  Please see the progression below.  Happy, then sad, then fine without the "ears" on, then sad the minute I try to put his ears back on.

Here's to hoping that everyone has a successful trick-or-treat and that no one makes you wear a puppy costume.