16 months

Time just keeps chugging along; Charliebug is sixteen months old today. Sheesh.

Some Charlie news I have to report is the emergence of all sorts of teeth. Our boy has molars already! On one side he has both a top and bottom one, lined up nicely to help him chew. I was quite surprised when I found them, but there must be more on the way as he constantly has his fingers in his mouth. My favorite is when he puts both index fingers in the sides of his mouth and walks around like that. Poor guy.

Charlie has also developed a new level of shyness. At first I thought he was faking; when we were in the airport he had a great time toddling around the gate, waving and saying hi to select people (I'm not sure what his criteria are... it doesn't seem to matter if they are paying attention or not. He stopped in front of a businessman and just watched him until the poor man finally looked up from his computer; Charlie rewarded him with a wave). But then I realized he would bury his head in my neck or run to me and smush his face against my legs if someone approached him, or engaged too much after he said hi. Apparently the interaction has to be on his terms!

He also won't easily go to someone he doesn't know anymore, although it doesn't take him long to warm up. And he still doesn't have separation anxiety, he doesn't care much if his dad or I aren't around.

When Charlie is displeased, he does not hesitate to let us know about it. This boy is determined, and stubborn. It's an interesting combination. He has mastered the "go limp and scream" maneuver; it's his standard response when you attempt to pick him up in order to stop him from doing something he shouldn't be doing. The good news is - his reaction is very short-lived. He must not hold a grudge.

Where we hear his displeasure the most these days is in the car. I'm not sure what happened, but Charlie went from being content in his carseat to thrusting his chest forward and grunting and screaming in an attempt to dislodge that pesky 5-point harness. He started this fun routine before we left for Montana, but the long car ride to the reunion apparently put him over the edge. Now we rarely take even a short car ride without listening to his protests.

Talking-wise, Charlie is all about the "B" and "D" consonant sounds. When he's pointing at something, he usually says some variation of "dah" or "bah" or "bo." He often says "bay-bahh," which sounds an awful lot like baseball. And he says it while pointing at a tv (any tv, not just ours)... apparently he thinks tvs are just baseball-showing machines?

Charlie keeps displaying his fearlessness, although I think I may have convinced him now that he should sit down when going down the slide. I assume some of this lack of fear is from watching not only his brother, but all the neighbor kids. He wants to be a big kid! Fortunately all the kids are wonderful with Charlie - they even let him pitch when they play kickball!



And, of course, he continues to love his dog...