Merry Chistmas, Baby!

Hair cut, Scare cut

We took Charlie to a ridiculous kid's hair place for his first haircut. I thought he'd love the cool animal chairs and all the decorations. Apparently hobby horses only soothe the soul so much. It started off well, when he was just sitting on his horse chair. But, when the scissors came out, it was no longer fun and games....

Happy First Birthday to You!!

Can't believe it's been a year! Time flies when you're having fun!
Charlie had a great time opening gifts, and really loved the boxes they came in. But I definitely think the highlight was the CAKE!! Luckily for him, the healthy cake I made turned out like crap, so it was full throttle sugar! Happy Birthday, little man!


To see all the sugary madness, click on the green Shutterfly link on the right side of this page. It is the first album called "Charlie's First Birthday." Enjoy!

Fun Times in Florida!

I went to Florida to go to my friend Tara's wedding and decided to make a long trip out of it. Charlie and I both enjoyed the sunny Florida weather. We went swimming, to the zoo (and pet Goats!, much to my horror ;-), and to the park almost every day! He loved hanging with his Honey and Aunt Laura and his cousins Michael, Katie and Shelby. They all taught him lots of fun things, like "no" and "uh-oh."
Look for more pics, including fun zoo pics, by clicking on the Shutterfly link at the right. The album is titled Charlie - November 2009.

Pumpkin Patch (a little different from last year... ;-)

We took Charlie to get his first pumpkin and recreated some of the shots we took last year, with our little pumpkin on the outside! ;-)











I also went to the P-Patch with my mom's group. To view all the pics, click on the green Shutterfly link on the right side of this page. The albums are called Charlie-October 2009 Pumpkin Patch & PEPS Pumpkin Patch.

Happy Halloween!

Our little sock monkey had lots of fun on his first Halloween. We went to a costume birthday party at his friend Gavin's house and then we had a party at our house too!

Dancin' Machine!

Look out! There's a baby on the loose!

It started with an innocent little step and now he's off! Look out cats! And, mom and dad better get serious about this baby-proofing stuff!

Sluuuurrrp! Spinach is Good!

I'm Hilarious!

Maybe you don't know this, but I am hilarious! Check me out as I blow my nose!!! Ha! What a knee slapper! Where do I get this stuff? Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.....

Happy Labor Day! (And how appropriate; it's also the 9 month anniversary since Michelle's 'labor day')

Lil' C is getting so big and independent! It's a lot of fun to watch (well, unless he's trying to scale the bookshelf, climb the stairs, or crawl out the door).
New things he's doing are:
*"Talking" - His favorite things to say are: dada, mama, naynay, gaga and k-k-k-k and t-t-t-t (he usually whispers these last two, which is pretty funny).
*Imitating sounds - He does a high-pitched sound for the cats meows and a raspy growl for his zebra pull toy (it vibrates when you pull it and kinda sounds like a growl...sort of).
*Climbing - On everything.
*Petting Lola - (Harley's not even an option. If Charlie crawls toward him, Harley looks like a monster is chasing him). He's actually very gentle when he pets Lola, but lately he's been under the impression that he can use her to lie on or to balance on to stand up.
*Waving hello/goodbye - To everything.
*Testing limits a little bit - We've started trying to tell him 'no' a little bit. Whenever we do, he looks at us at smiles or laughs like 'I know you think I'm cute. You'll let me do this, won't you?'

We've taken a lot of video between now and the last time we posted something (of course). So, I'm going to add a few of our faves and get you up to date.
Hope you enjoy them!

This first one is from June 30, enjoying squash...

Dad tickles the snot out of Charlie...literally. Dated July 18

Here's a little video from a BBQ with our baby friends on August 17

I call this one "I'm not sure we should be parents." ;-) Just kidding, of course. July 16

Grandma Sharon makes plastic bags hilarious! August 24


Charlie gets his groove on...


Just a little more grooving...

"Where's Charlie?"

This is a game that Brian's been playing with Charlie for a few months. He used to put a towel or blanket over Charlie's face and Charlie would pull it down, very happy with himself. Charlie recently started playing the game all by himself and of course, now he's positively thrilled with his new skill! ;-)

More, please!

Charlie loves to eat. Who'da thunk? ;-) He's liked pretty much everything we've given him so far, except turkey, which we found out in Florida. Wouldn't even swallow it. It was pretty funny. We're starting to get a little adventurous now, mixing zucchini with bananas; and green beans with pears, and he just keeps on eatin'! His favorite food is probably apricots, with prunes and pears being close seconds. Mmmmm!

And we're off!

We were NOT prepared for Charlie to start crawling already! I mean, he practiced balancing on his hands and knees a little. But, it's not like he spent months rocking on his hands and knees like we'd been told would happen. It seems like one day he just started moving and he hasn't stopped since! It's super fun, but exhausting!

And the blog goes on....

Wow! It's been a while since we've posted an update here. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard to get back into the swing of blogging. It feels a little daunting trying to get "caught up," with everything we've done in the past couple months. Charlie's growing so fast and having so many new experiences almost daily! But, I will do my best to catch you up from Easter to mid-June. (don't forget to check out all the new photos - on the righthand side of the blog there is a link to all them on Shutterfly.) I'm sure I'll omit some big moments in little C's life ;-), but at least he's not driving yet, so I'm not doing too bad! ;-) So, without further ado.....

What a trip! Charlie got his "wings" on April 16 for his first plane trip to Florida. I was happily surprised to see the airlines still observe the honored tradition of giving little plastic wings to first-time flyers (since they charge you for every stale bag of nuts you eat.) Anyway, he did awesome on the plane! He loved smiling at all the people who were fawning all over him. ;-) We couldn't have asked for a better trip. He even waited until we pulled up to the gate in Tampa to poop. Good boy!!

Hanging out ... literally We had a great time hanging out with family in Florida. Charlie thoroughly enjoyed being held by so many loving hands. I'm pretty sure he also enjoyed the balmy weather, as he could finally be back in his favorite outfit - his birthday suit! And the breezy weather was great for naptime. While we were in Florida we stopped swaddling him. This was a huge step, because he really seemed to transition from newborn to baby. He also rolled over for the first time, which was a trick he was very proud of and continued to work on all day long.

Beach Boy Charlie loved the beach, marveling at the sound of the waves, and the feel of the frothy water on his feet. He would just stand there frozen, amazed as he watched the surf lap at his little toes.

Swimming!
He went "swimming" for the first time at the vacation house in FL. The water in the pool was a little too cold, so we heated up the hot tub and then turned it off to let it cool a bit. The temperature was like warm bath water when we got in. Charlie loved it and kicked instinctively. He wasn't too sure about putting his face under, but he rolled with it. ;-) Here's a fun little video of his first swim.




Just one of the girls Another "first" for Charlie was being part of my 'Girls Trip' with my friends from high school. He was a great addition to the group - doing lots of shopping, grubbing, and cracking jokes. The girls really liked having him there. He was passed around from girl to girl like he was the "traveling pants," but he didn't seem to mind. ;-)

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny has arrived (in a little basket) to point his giraffe rattle at you and bid you Happy Easter! Hope everyone has a beautiful day!

Dude, where's my bottle? Getting ready for FL...

We had to get Charlie some cool duds so he could hang in the F.L.A. and pick up some chicks on the beach. So we went to our favorite place - the consignment shop! - and found some fun things, among them were these board shorts, which I think are our favorite! He feels really cool in them, you can tell. Too bad he'll be wearing Huggies 'Lil Swimmers underneath - kinda kills the cool factor. ;-)

It's Screech!

Charlie's found his voice and pretty much won't shut up now. ;-) (Well, it's more of a screech).
I wish I knew what he was trying to say, but I'm pretty sure it would be something like, "What's that? What's that? Gimme that! Gimme that!" Hope you enjoy this video, and if you can figure out what he's trying to convey, please let me know.
Oh, and you'll have to pardon my repetitious speech. I think I say "Good Boy" and "Hi Charlie" and "What are you talking about?" about a million times. I never think about the fact that what I'm saying will also be heard on the video. But hey, maybe it would make a nice drinking game.... ;-)

What is this stuff?

Charlie's been enjoying checking out new toys now that he can hold his head up pretty well. He mostly looks at us like "what am i supposed to do in this thing?" But even though he doesn't actually "play" with the toys yet, he does seem to like talking to them quite a bit.

More Stuff

On a whim, we decided to put Charlie in his exersaucer to see how he fit. We were fully expecting that it would be way too big for him. Well, we were surprised to see that his feet (tip toes) touched the ground! We did put a blanket around his waist so he'd feel more snug and it would help him to stay upright. Again, he didn't really reach out for the toys because I think it was all he could do just to keep his balance. But he was loving looking at all the fun objects. I don't think it will be long before he's tearing it up in this thing!

March Madness!

Charlie showed his support for the Fighting Irish, but it wasn't enough to get them into the Final Four. Well, if a smilin' Irish lad (oops ... half-Irish ... tee hee) can't help ya, who can?

Man, these bananas are good!

Blah, blah, blah

This one's cute if you're into babbling babes. I haven't broken out the video editing software yet, so we've got 2 full minutes of Charlie going goo goo ga ga. Riveting, I know! But, it's fun.

Another victim of crib rage....

Charlie and Chloe sitting in a tree .... k-i-s-s-i-n-g...

Charlie already has a girlfriend! Her name is Chloe McKee and she's an older woman - she's 14 weeks old (he's 12 weeks old today. But look at him - he's already mackin' ;-). Anyway, we think she's a doll!


Here they are cuttin' a rug...


And, doing the "fist bump" just like the Obamas!

Charlie's Best Friend

This is Charlie's best friend, Rowan. He was 3 weeks old and Charlie was 10 weeks old when this picture was taken. He's a total cutie and he's promised to give Charlie some hairstyling tips once he grows some hair! What a friend!

Wheel O' Babies

This was taken last week at my mom's group. Somehow all babies were happy and compliant at the same time! See if you can find Charlie. Here's a hint: he's the cutest! Just kidding! ;-)

Moms and Babies

Here are all the moms and babies from my mom's group. Again, somehow all the babies were quiet for the photo - it was kind of eerie.

Happy Birthday! (Again! This kid has more birthdays... ;-)

Lunch at Il Fornaio. Charlie had the lobster.
In Pioneer Square

Well, Charlie is 2 months old today! So, we took him for his first trip to Seattle to celebrate. We walked from the center of the city down to Pike Place Market and to Pioneer Square (where the underground tours are held, for those of you who've been). After a little bit of window shopping, we had lunch at Il Fornaio.
Charlie did great - only one meltdown, which happened when Michelle was changing him in the bathroom at the restaurant. But it only lasted a few minutes and we were back in business!
During lunch we got a call from his aunts - Deb, Patti, and DeeDee. They were celebrating his birthday back in Chicago. Thanks, guys! We know you don't normally drink very much, so thanks for making an exception. We really appreciate the gesture. ;-)

Playtime with Charlie

We think Charlie might have an imaginary friend who makes him laugh and "talk".