My Little Man.

An entire year. 366 days.  More late nights and early mornings than any sane person would hope for.  About a million precious moments that absolutely fill my heart.  This little boy is absolutely perfect - even when I’m up in the middle of the night for the 3rd time in 5 hours.  He is funny and silly and sweet.  He is a little ham and loves to be the center of attention.  He gets stressed out when momma is more than two steps away.  I love that.  He’s such a momma’s boy... I should probably try and break him of that, but I’m going to hold tight to it because I know that it will pass all too soon.  He bops and dances around, even though he isn’t quite ready to let go and start walking.  That’s okay... this momma isn’t ready for that yet either.  It is so wonderful to see him blossom into a little person with so much personality and spirit.  It’s a little sad, too.  It’s hard seeing your once-tiny baby grow up so fast... especially when you know that it is your last one.  I wish that I could freeze time, just a little bit.

My sweet little Charlie... Happy Birthday, little love.

Even Better.

Carter (to my mom): Grandmas are even better than a best friend.

Aw. What a sweetie.

Abe Lincoln

Sometimes my kid just blows me away.  On the way to school this morning, he was reading out-loud to me from the back seat.  Here is our conversation:

Carter: The books says that Abraham Lincoln died 100 years ago, but that means he died when he was 103.  That isn't true.

Me: (after checking the copyright and showing it to him) This book was written in 1965, so he had died 100 years before they wrote it.

Carter: Oh. Granddad was 13 when they wrote this book.  And Danny Ainge was 6.

What? You don't have Danny Ainge's birthday memorized? I didn't even know that Carter knew who he was... let alone could calculate his age at the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's death.  This kid is awesome.

11 Months Old!

Yesterday was Charlie's 11 month birthday. It has been a crazy month, settling into our temporary home with my parents, adjusting to the ridiculous heat, and getting back into the swing of our new "regular" life. I'm so happy that the packing and moving is over for now... It is much easier to play with Charlie without boxes towering overhead! Charlie has been busy this month!

This month...

• Charlie has had separation anxiety, especially with strangers. Dropping him off at the YMCA's daycare for an hour each day hasn't been possible... he cries until they come and find me 10 minutes later. Let's hope he gets over this before fulltime daycare starts next month!
• He's been learning some new words. His vocabulary is: dada, brother, get it, ball and the sign language for "more" and "all done". In the mornings, he signs more and says brother over and over until I bring him to see Carter. Precious! 
• A favorite game is "Goodnight, Wake-up!".  Charlie lays his head down and pretends to go to sleep until we yell, "wake up, wake up!"... it is super adorable.
• Some new teeth are in! Charlie has 7 now, and hopefully he will have a little break before number 8 and the molars start coming. Teething was super rough this month. 
• Charlie loves to climb the stairs. We have to watch really closely, or he will scale the entire staircase when we aren't looking - eeek! 
• He still loves balls more than any other toy. He loves to put the balls in a small basketball hoop, or sit in the pack&play and throw dozens of balls out onto the floor. It's a fun game! 
• Of course, he is still eating lots. He's a carb-lover, and particularly likes bread and goldfish crackers. Frozen cherries and frozen peas are a close second. 
• Charlie refuses to sleep through the night. He is still waking up 2-3 times every night and often takes some convincing to go back to sleep. We will be working very hard on this, so he can sleep through the whole night before I return to work next month. 
• He seems to think he can pull up and climb on everything. Who is this little monkey child?! He hasn't been interested in walking - just scaling furniture. Sigh.loves to swim! 
• We have been taking advantage of Grandma and Granddad's pool, and he especially enjoys the waterfall. He is trying to figure out how to grab the water. So cute! 
• He has been enjoying having so much family around. Aunt Kiki is here, visiting before her wedding next weekend. He loves her!! He has also had visits with Grammy, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Ryan, and cousin Grayson, and lots of great friends. It is so good to be back with so many of our loved ones! 

Charlie's personality is really developing, and it is fun to see how his little mind works. He is so interested in figuring out how things work, and putting things together. He is starting to get much more vocal to try and express what he wants/doesn't want. I'm excited to start planning a celebration for his birthday, but a little wistful that my little one is already getting so big. I wish I could have just a little more time with my baby, but toddler-hood seems to be sneaking up quickly.We sure do love our little almost-one-year old!
 

Oh Yeah... I Have Two Kids.

It appears that in the hustle and bustle of preparing for our cross-country (north-south, obv.) move, I forgot to blog about something major.  Charlie’s monthly birthday blogs have become an easy little habit... but I seem to have forgotten that I have TWO kids. Yeah, oops.

Carter just had his 6th birthday (on May 10th), and it is really hard to believe how fast time is passing by.  He is an AMAZING kid.  He drives my up a wall, but I love him fiercely.  He knows how to push my buttons, he manages to make me laugh constantly, and he is a crazy smart kid.  Have you ever wondered how much older/taller/heavier you are than Minute Bull or President Obama?  Those are the kind of things that are constantly on Carter’s mind.  So, like any resourceful 6-year old, he googles it.  He knows the most insanely random facts (the year John Wilkes Booth was born? The shortest player ever in the NBA? Easy!).  I’m obviously one of those super braggy moms, but rightfully so.  He is a math whiz - calculating ages, comparing weights, and solving problems faster than most adults can... and he’s already reading beginning chapter books on his own.  His little big brain is so busy that it can be hard to concentrate on things and listen to his parents/teachers/everyone, but he is so absolutely amazing and is improving every day.

On his birthday, I interviewed him.  I’m hoping to make this a yearly tradition for him and Charlie.  It’ll be so cute to look back over the years to see how their answers change.  Thanks to my trusty iphone, I recorded our interview... and I’ll write his answers exactly as he said them.  They are so him.

Me: What’s your favorite thing about school?
Carter: About school? Books.

Me: What’s one new thing that you want to try this year?
Carter: I would like to try shooting longer baskets.

Me: What is the best thing about being 5?
Carter: I had a really good memory.

Me: What makes you most excited about being 6?
Carter: Because it’s on my birthday and I’m so excited! I might be able to make longer baskets, really long baskets.

Me: What are you scared of?
Carter: I’m scared maybe of fire or lava because it might come in our house.

Me: What is your favorite sport?
Carter: Basketball

Me: What is your favorite thing to do?
Carter: Play the Playstation.

Me: What do you like most about our family?
Carter: I just love you so much. Yeah, that’s my favorite part about my family.

Me: What is your favorite book?
Carter: My favorite book is Amelia Bedelia.  It is so funny!

Me: What is your favorite color?
Carter: Red.

Me: Who is your favorite friend?
Carter: Layla.  You know Layla. (she lives around the corner in Vancouver)

Me: What would you like to be when you grow up?
Carter: A basketball player.

Me: On what team?
Carter: Well, I don’t know who I’m going to be drafted for.  I can’t decide.

Me: What’s your favorite food?
Carter: Potatoes and gravy or sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes and gravy and turkey and Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite food.

Me: What do you hope to never eat again?
Carter: What do brussel sprouts taste like? What is cabbage? I hope to never eat brussel sprouts again.

Me: What makes you the happiest?
Carter: It makes me the happiest when I make my brother laugh and when you do the love egg. Crack, crack, crack!

Me: What is your favorite game to play?
Carter: Quirkle.

My kid is awesome. In case you were wondering.
A very belated Happy Birthday to my first baby.
 

10 Months

I hope you will forgive the late 10-month birthday post. Charlie and I are in Minnesota for Aunt Kiki's graduation from St. Olaf! I'm actually typing this entry on my phone on the floor in the bathroom of my hotel room, so Charlie can nap. Ahhh, the life of a mother!

This month was great, of course! So many new things going on and Charlie is just trying so hard to master new sounds and skills.

This month...
Charlie finally started crawling on all fours - he still occasionally uses his alligator/army crawl, but not too often.

He finally says momma! He also says, "mmmm!" when he likes his food, and "uh-oh". My favorite is, "gee!" (get it, for those of you that don't speak baby).

We met cousin Talon and celebrated his first birthday. Charlie wasted no time crawling over and stealing/sharing his first cupcake. Kid loves his sweets!

We had a great visit to Phoenix! Charlie visited with Nana, Grandpa E and Grammy, Grandma and Granddad, Aunt Paige, and lots of other special people.

He's been fighting a cold for a couple weeks. Boogers galore! Boy, does he HATE having his nose wiped.

He got three new teeth in one week. This made for a very sad, cranky baby. Lots of sleepless nights for us both, but that toothy grin sure is adorable!

Someone learned how to climb the stairs. Bleh! Time to start using baby gates...

Charlie is pulling himself to standing. He loves to see what is on the coffee table!

He squawks like a pterodactyl - not good for special events, like graduation, but still hilariously cute.

Blowing spit bubbles is super fun - and gross - but kept him rather entertained on our flight to MN.

Charlie continues to get cuter, smarter, and more precious every day - who knew that was even possible?! He charms everyone he meets... which really comes in handy when traveling! Love our sweet baby so much!

3/4 of a Year

Charlie is already 9 months old!  He had a fantastic month, and I think he has grown the most developmentally this month than any other.  It has been really fun to watch and celebrate all of his "firsts".

This month...

• My chubby little monkey has finally started to plateau - he weighed in at 22lbs and 9oz (80th%), and is 28.5" long (60th%)
• Charlie went to San Francisco to visit his baby cousin, Camila (and aunt Melissa, Uncle Lazaro, and Grandpa E).  He was a trooper in the car (4 five-hour stretches!) and didn't even complain when he missed half of his naps.  What a sweet boy.
• He is waving regularly - at everyone, even total strangers... old ladies love it :)
• Charlie is moving from crawling to sitting all by himself.  Sometimes he sits up in his crib and gets frustrated that he can't fall asleep that way!
• He loves to clap and play pat-a-cake.
• Charlie is signing "more" anytime he wants more to eat or if he sees me eating something that he just has to have.  
• His repertoire of foods is getting huge! This month, he's had polenta with spinach and carrots, tilapia with potatoes and tomatoes, salmon with coconut rice and spinach, baked beans, strawberry-mango-kale-avocado smoothies, and even a tuna salad sandwich.  This kid loves to eat (is anyone surprised??).
• Balls are the best thing around.  Charlie will roll and kick balls around the house all day long.  Who needs fancy toys? Not this boy!
• He loves having playdates with little baby friends.  Charlie often tries to rip out their hair and claw their faces, but it is all in good fun, I think...
• Charlie added two more words to his collection: Dada and Bubba.  He usually calls out bubba, bubba, bubba while chasing Carter down the hallway. Too cute! I'm hoping he gets around to saying momma soon.
• Sleeping is ROUGH.  He's waking up about 4x/night still... we'll need to figure this out soon, because this momma is tired!
• Charlie and I took a trip to Orange County for Aunt Kiki's wedding shower and Granddad's 60th birthday party.  As usual, he was a fabulous flier - although as he gets more mobile, he's hard to hold on to!
• Two new teeth popped through! A top and bottom incisor. He's definitely getting teeth in an interesting order, but at least they are coming in!
• He has learned to protest.  He makes sure you know that he's a little ticked off if you take away what he wants to play with (usually the remote, phone, or keys). Luckily, he is easily redirected to another toy and the protests don't last long.

Charlie truly is the absolute sweetest, most mellow, and happiest baby that I could imagine. His whole face just lights up with the most precious toothy grin when anyone gives him attention.  He is just a big ol' ball of love.  How did we get this lucky?!