Little Boy

What a whirlwind 3 months!  Charlie's language has been absolutely exploding, and he follows his brother around trying to copy his every move.  It is so great to see their relationship and the love that they have for each other.

This quarter has been full of changes: a big move to our new house, adjusting to our little family of three and transitions between our house and dad's house, and less time with Grandma and Granddad.  After being used to seeing them every day, it is strange to go a week or more between visits!

During the past 3 months, Charlie...

• has started using two-word phrases: momma's shoes, more please, Carter night-night, etc.
• asks, "What's that?" about EVERYTHING.  He's trying to name everything and his vocabulary grows hourly. 
• loves school and blows kisses goodbye when we drop him off.
• has learned lots of sign language at school - he signed "more banana, please"! So cute!
• is still around 26-27lbs.  Just a bit bigger than average - he's so active that it seems hard to keep all that chub on!
• loves balls, blocks, and coloring.  He colors on blank paper and in coloring books every single day.
• really enjoys bath time.  He splashes and plays with bath toys and bubbles forever!
• really likes to tell you when to change his diaper, "Poop!", but he runs away and won't actually let you change him unless he's held down.  Silly boy!
• watches "Bubble Guppies" - his favorite show!
• like to eat strawberries, blueberries, oranges (juice balls!), and hotdogs. Mmmm!

It is hard to believe that Charlie is already a year and a half old!  My little baby is SO much more of a toddler... and rapidly progressing to become a big boy way too soon.  I'm so blessed by his sweet smile and adorable giggles.  He truly is the sweetest little guy!

Charlie - 15 months

The once-a-month posts seemed a little hard to keep up with now that my little man has passed the one-year mark.  Quarterly updates are my new goal - and I'm only 2 days late!

Sweet little Charlie has had a great few months.  Here are some highlights...

• He started daycare and LOVES it - especially learning sign language and bubble time
• Charlie got to visit Aunt Kiki and Uncle Scott in Kansas City.  He has so much fun playing in their big grassy yard!
• We took a trip to the trampoline park - Charlie loves to jump!
• He has more words than I can count! Here's a list of my favorites:
• shut door
• shoot hoop
• good catch
• bubble guppies (he's not shy about telling you when it is time to watch tv!)
• please (super cute that he says and signs it at the same time)
• The backyard is his favorite place.  He chases the kitty, plays basketball, and barks at the dog next door.  Endless fun!
• He has 12 teeth! By the way, molars are NO FUN!
• Charlie stopped nursing a month ago - so proud that we were able to keep it up for 14 months!
• He was a trouper at his 15m checkup, even though he got 2 shots.  Ouch!

Charlie is such a happy toddler.  He loves to eat, play, and snuggle (which I never get tired of!). Even when he is up for an hour or two in the middle of the night, cranky because of teeth or tummy troubles... there is no greater joy than cuddling up with him. 

Birthday Collage

Here are some recent pictures of my gorgeous little guy - not that I'm biased, or anything...

click to enlarge

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!