Easter and more

Yes, we celebrated Easter last weekend. In fact, we also celebrated Charlie's and my mom's birthdays too. I'm just a little late getting the pictures ready...


^ Opening gifts from G&G Klicka... check out Charlie's new ride!


^ I don't have many pictures of Charlie crying, so I had to take this one.


^Still not so sure about the hat, but he's sure he likes cake.


^ Cake. Yum.


^ Decorating cookies & eggs


^ Don't ask me. Maybe an Easter egg pirate?


^ The Easter bunny hid baskets for the boys, but I was too busy watching the hunt to remember to take pictures. Charlie's basket was not in that cabinet, I know that much. And that Zach loved his chocolate bunny.


^ Easter afternoon some friends came over for an egg hunt - Zach is off to the races.

^Teamwork with Kasey; Charlie found an egg!

^Sylvia & her hunt helper (sherpa?)

^ I think the conversation went like this: 1st picture - this prickly stuff does not feel good. I know, but if you lift up your leg it helps. How long do you think they're going to let us sit here? 2nd picture - can you please stop laughing and come and rescue us???

^Much happier on a blanket. :)

^ We were fortunate to finally have a nice day, so it was time for everyone's favorite Easter tradition: t-ball! Can you tell how much Zach has been longing for spring??

^We closed our holiday with several serenades from Kasey, complete with Beyonce-like attitude. What a way to end a great weekend. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

A story of a hoarder

This morning Charlie ate his breakfast, played for about 20 minutes, and then was loaded in the car to take Zach to school. We came home and he went down for his nap. He napped for about 90 minutes, and then I brought him downstairs and laid him down to change his diaper. He opened his mouth to laugh or something, and I saw... part of an orange tucked into his cheek.

This was about 2.5 hours after he ate breakfast!!! How do you sleep with a chunk of orange in your mouth??? And he wouldn't even let me fish it out - apparently it was still good!

One year stats

Charlie's one year check-up was on Thursday, which he found delightful until he had to get four shots (that MMR one hurts!) AND have his finger pricked for a blood draw. But the doctor once again pronounced him perfect.

Here are his current stats:
Height: 28.5 inches; 10-25 percentile
Weight: 20 lbs 3 oz; 10-25 percentile
Head: 18.75 inches; 75-90 percentile

He must be really close to the 10th percentile in height and weight, since he goes back and forth between the 5-10th percentile and the 10-25th. He's a peanut, our little guy. But a healthy one!

Time for cake!

^ Charlie's cake before


^ the cake after

I started to just post the photos, thinking they could speak for themselves. But then I noticed Charlie doesn't look like he's enjoying this at all. Which was not the case; he was just extremely focused and methodical in his frosting eating!


^ the first taste; mmmm - that's good!


^ Not so sure about it sticking to his fingers


^ Very very focused on the cake. Well, the frosting anyway.


^ Zach thought the whole process was pretty funny. Till he went back outside to play anyway.


^ A picture of Charlie's virtual birthday party: on the ipad (on the pillow) - my parents; on Scott's phone - his dad. They got to see Charlie enjoy his birthday cake, and he got to be quite confused as to why those screens were talking to him when he was trying to eat frosting. Modern technology is pretty helpful when your family isn't right around the corner.


^ Ready for a few gifts


^ Yum - tissue paper.



^ His card from Zach


^ He's only one, but he's ready to go outside and play with the big kids!



And a short video of the cake process. We shot 12 minutes of video, but since the majority of that is just Charlie methodically swiping his index finger through the frosting and into his mouth, I edited it down a few moments that show he was having some fun.

One

Charlie is one today.

I did a lot of reminiscing about his birth last weekend, when I was working at an annual garage sale fund-raiser I co-chair. Last year, I went Friday night to set up for the sale, went home, fell asleep, and woke up when my water broke. Three weeks early... setting off a funny 1 AM scramble. It was fun to think about it all as I ran around at this year's sale. What a difference a year makes, in so many ways.

Charlie has really changed in the last couple months. Maybe it's that his mobility has brought out some previously hidden aspects of his personality. He continues to be the easy-going, joyful guy he's always been (I wish I had a nickel for every time a stranger asks me "is he always that happy?") But now he's letting us know his preferences, and he is not afraid to be loud about it.

^ A few of his favorite things: his lion ("Lionel Ritchie), an apparently tasty plastic turkey leg, and his new "retro rocket."

Charlie's vocalizing is the most noticeable when it comes to food. We do not dare to put this boy in his high chair until his food is ready to go directly in his mouth. To do otherwise is to subject yourself to a very loud, insistent wail/whine/yell. I can't really describe the sound itself. Let's just say you can't miss the fact that this little guy wants his food, and he wants it NOW.

And it's not limited to food - Charlie lets you know when he wants something and is mad he can't have it. This comes up the most when he and Zach are on the floor together; he always wants whatever Zach is playing with, and will rarely take a substitution. And when Zach tries to "block" him from getting to the desired object - RAAAAHHHHH!!! I was the subject of his irritation the other day when I wouldn't let him stand up in the tub; he did the full back-arching temper tantrum-like yell. It was impressive. Fortunately we haven't seen too much of that yet, but I'll keep you posted.

^This boy loves the tub. I think the 2nd one may be my new favorite picture of Charlie. :)

Charlie has examined every inch of the first floor of our house - he's an explorer. Pulling items off shelves is particularly delightful. We've put the gate at the bottom of the stairs, since he makes a bee-line for that climb any time he can. He's actually quite good at scaling the stairs, as long as he pays attention to what he's doing. He started out trying to put his foot on the step, instead of his knee, and heave himself up that way. Now he does a combo of the two, a bit like his crawling style. And yes, he's still doing the right foot/left knee combination when he crawls. He's gotten quite fast, especially on the hardwood floors where he can slide that knee/leg.

Other than the stairs, Charlie's favorite target remains the dog. Koskie has his faults, but a lack of patience is definitely not one of them. Charlie loves to pull the hair on Koskie's tail, but mostly he likes to bury his hands in fur, get up on his knees and bounce. No idea why, but he loves it. When I'm in the kitchen and can't see him, I can always tell when he's found the dog by the noises he makes - the same happy noises he makes when he has his favorite stuffed lion.

I think it'll be a while yet before Charlie walks. He can pull himself up on anything, and cruises all over the place, using the furniture and his walker and ride-on toys; the stool in the kitchen is apparently perfect for pushing across the floor. He'll stand on his own for a few seconds until he realizes that's what's happening. So he's probably ready, but I just get the feeling he's perfectly content to crawl. He does like to walk around holding your fingers; when he has the opportunity, he makes a huffing sound, like he's exhaling little puffs through his teeth. That's his excited sound. :)

We're also seeing a mischievous side to Charlie. When he's crawling for something he knows he's not supposed to have (Koskie's dog toy, the blinds), he'll turn and look at me and give me a big grin before he goes charging after it. I see that same expression during diaper changes; he loves to escape mid-change, then turn back as he scoots away to see if I'm going to chase him.

Charlie's preferences are emerging food-wise. This baby would eat any vegetable in puree format, and loves finger food; yet does not like veggies as finger food. Go figure. He will look at the assortment on his tray and very efficiently pick around the vegetables. If it's a particularly offensive one, he'll delicately pick it up and deposit it over the side. Like his dad, Charlie loves anything bread-like: pancakes, waffles, toast, etc. The one exception is noodles. (Somehow I am surrounded by three guys who don't like pasta, not even mac 'n cheese!) Fruit is a big hit, especially bananas. He's a huge fan of pizza and ice cream. And he's already had his first cheeseburger at McDonalds!

^Those are kiwi seeds on his chin; I thought he looked pretty good with a "soul patch"!

Charlie's sense of humor is emerging, but he still thinks blowing raspberries is about the funniest thing out there. He's getting quite good at it, and loves to create big loud ones to make his brother laugh.

As far as talking goes, Charlie says a "ma ma ma" sound a lot, but not necessarily in reference to me. I often hear it in conjunction with his sign for "more," which he does by clapping (close enough, right?). That is his only sign so far; we've definitely never seen "all done" - he never seems to be done eating! He's pointing a lot more, which can help with communication. But in general he finds ways to tell us what he wants.

Charlie's mouth is now full of three, almost four teeth. He's had the bottom two for a while, then a top one came in, and it seems like he's had this funny one-tooth look for months. Fortunately the other top one is now about halfway down. He's been biting and chewing on anything he can, so I think the process has not been pain-free.

Sleep-wise, Charlie has been doing us some favors by sleeping later, closer to 6 am most days. This is a vast improvement from 4:30! I suspect it may help that he's discovered sleeping on his stomach, but who knows. I just hope it lasts. He continues to go to sleep easily; when you lay him down in his crib he always does the same thing - wiggles around a little, snuggling his arms up over his head to get comfy. So cute.

We're having a family day today, with a simple birthday celebration. We had Charlie and family portraits taken this morning, and then lunch at a favorite pizza place in our old neighborhood. Later today will come the cake... I suspect this boy will love it. More pictures to come!

Happy birthday Charlie-bug. We love you.

A tale of two brothers

Once upon a time, there were two brothers named Zach and Charlie. Zach, the older brother, handled the arrival of his new sibling extremely well, considering he was the center of his parents' world for his 3 years and 3 months of life up to that point. He never showed any jealousy when his mom was constantly busy with the new baby, and while he struggled a little bit when his dad (and hero) tried to spend one-on-one time with Charlie, he never showed any aggression or ill will toward the little person who had changed his world. In fact, he seemed to delight in his baby brother's newborn and infant antics as much as his parents did. And Charlie was downright fascinated with Zach.

iNow Charlie is almost a year old, and extremely mobile. The brothers' mom, despite the warnings of wise friends who had gone before her, was completely unprepared for the change this mobility would bring to her world. Not the new level of vigilance required to ensure Charlie was safe, but rather the end of any sort of peaceful existence in her home. Just a few short weeks earlier she had been able to make dinner while her boys occupied themselves in the living room; Zach involved in his usual pursuits, Charlie happily playing with whatever toys were within reach. And usually only good things resulted when Zach decided to play with his brother. Now, when both boys are awake and in the same room, the typical result is a cacophony of yelling, whining, crying, and screaming. CHARLIEEEEE!!!! MOHHHHHMMM!!!!!! WAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!

This story is not a unique one, I know. Many of you reading this story are likely laughing, remembering your own experiences attempting to adjust to and learn to manage sibling spats. I'm sure in time, I too will be a bit more immune to the constant bickering, or at least able to handle it better. I've already learned that Charlie's wail doesn't necessarily mean that Zach has done something to him; it often means Charlie is just p.o.'d that Zach won't let him have whatever it is he wants. Other times it means Zach has intentionally knocked him down, has done so unintentionally while attempting to protect his toys, or just gotten a little rough when trying to hug/wrestle Charlie.

I've also learned to appreciate even more the times that they play well together, with the resulting belly laughs that only Zach can evoke from Charlie. I just wish those times outnumbered the other kind.

I really thought I had more time before all this began.

(As you can probably see, the pictures are from some good times. I thought I had a picture of the two of them in the tub together - a place where they always have a good time. But I can't find it... I'll have to take one soon!)