Fun Weekend

We started our weekend with a quiet night at home on Friday, but we went to our friend Birdie and Zinn's house for some great homemade pizza on Saturday night.  Charlie was obsessed with playing with the big boys (Zach is 5 and Drew is 3) and both boys did a great job of including Charlie in all of the fun.

You can tell that Zach is a big brother because he was a big help in handing Charlie crackers.

Drew is a funny little kid - I think he was the last one to finish his dinner and showed us his "messy man" face before joining Zach and Charlie in their wrestling match.

Last, but certainly not least, cutie pie Jake.  Jake is a little over three months old and gives the best smiles!  Thanks for inviting us over Birdie and Zinn!  It is always fun to watch the boys interact.

I had to be in Cedar Rapids for work on Monday so Charlie and I headed back to Cascade on Sunday to stay overnight and to let Charlie have some Grandpa Bill and Grandma Kathy time on Monday.  Our visit overlapped with the Horsfield girls for a couple of hours and Charlie was excited to see some of his cousins. 

Here is a not-so-great picture of Charlie trying to rock with Claire and Hannah.  The Horsfield girls were really good sports - Charlie basically had over 2 hours of playing tackle/hair pull and all 3 girls were happy to oblige. 

Charlie and I also went to meet my cousin Josey's little boy, Jax, and while I did not take any pictures (Charlie did not nap and was in delirious/potentially destructive mood), trust me when I say that he is adorable.  Then we stopped by Gavin's house for a quick visit and THEN we were able to see Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jan for a little bit.  Let's just say that by bath time, Charlie was very disgruntled that his audience had disappeared.  There was about 30 minutes of ugliness and then he crashed until 6:30 the next morning.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of my parents with Charlie.  I know that he had fun with them and enjoyed the one-on-one time on Monday.  My parents were nice enough to meet me in Cedar Rapids after my meetings and Uncle Marty even met us for an early dinner at McDonald's.  There was a statue of Ronald McDonald sitting on a bench and I thought that Charlie might be a little bit afraid, but he was obsessed with sitting next to him.  Maybe all of those McDonald's french fries that I ate during my pregnancy instilled a true love for the golden arches.  Marty snapped the below picture with his cell phone.

Thanks to mom and dad for watching Charlie on Monday and to Marty for meeting us for a little while after work.  We'll see you soon!

Lost and Found

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I was convinced that I lost our camera.  Somewhere between our trip back to Cascade and coming back to Norwalk, it was gone.  I was sad for a few minutes because I knew that there were a couple of pictures from our weekend in Cascade that I wanted, but I quickly convinced myself that those photo casualties would be worth it if I "had to" buy a different camera.  One that even I couldn't screw up.  I went as far as putting an Amber Alert out about the camera.  The very next day, I casually glanced on the floor of our car and found the camera...clearly I didn't strain myself when I was originally looking for it.  So the good news is that the pictures were not lost but the bad news is that I may have to read the camera's informational packet for the 12th time to try to improve my picture-taking abilities.

We went back to celebrate Lauren and Julia's 5th birthday.  BJ and I were at Randy and Carrie's house with Anna when they brought Lauren and Julia home from the hospital so it is hard to believe that is has been five years.

Grandma and Grandpa Gehl with the birthday girls.

The birthday girls!  We hope that you had a fun time at your party and a great birthday on the 15th!!

The Gehl cousins in attendance at the party...once again we lined up about 6 adults and tried to get the kids' attention all at once.  Shout out to Emma for looking at our camera!

And finally, a belated Happy St. Patrick's Day.  It's hard to believe that a year ago, Charlie looked like this:

...and this year we chased him around the house trying to get a picture of him in his "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirt.

Charlie's latest obsession (in addition to pulling my hair, body slamming anyone who is sitting on the ground, snacking while sitting on the kitchen rug, and chasing Copper) is to rest his chin on our window sill and stare outside.  I give it a couple more days before he realizes that he could be outside playing instead of being content to hang out inside.

Bad Habits

I'm not sure if it is because we are anxiously awaiting Spring, 15 months old is the new "terrible two's" or Charlie is picking up bad habits with his new "toddler" classmates, but we have been having some battles lately.  Like any responsible parent, I've been grabbing my camera to snap pictures of all said wrong doing.

Charlie is starting to get upset when it is time to get out of the tub and put on his jammies.  I would find it very hard to be grumpy while being cuddled in an elephant towel from Aunt Molly, but Charlie somehow found a way.

Lately, Charlie has done the sign for "all done", only to try to relocate his breakfast or snack to a rug in our kitchen.  I'm sick of stepping on raisins and Copper certainly doesn't need the extra fiber so we've got to break this little habit.

The other trick up his sleeve is to sign for "all done" and then beg for BJ or I to hold him so he can eat whatever we are having.  The results are in, our Cheerios taste much better than his Cheerios. 

Climbing into/on top of his toys.  I may have given Charlie the idea to sit among his stuffed animals (I planned to take a photo of his face surrounded by stuffed animals to honor E.T., but Charlie wouldn't sit still long enough), but he now thinks that every basket is meant for his bottom.

In this particular picture, Charlie managed to relocate his water and bowl of crackers to the rug in the kitchen.  He would eat a cracker, take a drink and then go play for a few minutes before returning to the buffett.  Meanwhile, we had to keep Copper behind the baby gate because his allergies (food, grass, pollen, dust, trees, cats, smoking, wheat, most items found in normal/inexpensive dog food...all items that he is allergic to) have risen to absurd levels so we are trying to minimize his exposure to any snacks that Charlie decides to "share."  Reason 872 why Copper's life worsened the day that Charlie came home.

We no longer get dressed in the morning.  Instead, we drestle (dress+wrestle) and Charlie's a fierce contender at every match.  He usually manages to escape, partially-dresseed, at least once a day.  It seems that the bigger time crunch we are on, the faster he runs away.

Anyway, we are figuring out the discipline thing with a little boy who clearly understands "no" (he finds it absolutely hilarious that we would tell him "no") but who isn't quite ready for time out.  Well, maybe he is ready for time out...so long as it is on the kitchen rug with a snack, sippy cup and if he can be partially-dressed.