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!