Charlie has been a little rough with Wally lately. Charlie loves Wally, laughing and smiling at him most of the time which is why I know he isn't purposely being mean. We have recently had to take away a spoon because Charlie was hitting Wally with it. Anyways, Matt and I have been working with Charlie on being sweet to Wally. We have been praising him when he gives sweet pats and hugs so the last couple of days, it seems that Charlie has really showed an interest in loving on Wally and giving him hugs. I must say I love to turn to see Charlie hugging Wally and Wally laying there and letting him do it. (Of course, Wally was trying to play with his toy and Charlie was a little occupied with his snack!)
Wally is for sure a very sweet dog. He is so good around Charlie.
Please disregard the food on Charlie's mouth. He enjoyed a cookie prior and it was almost bath time, so I just didn't bother wiping his mouth. Here are a couple of videos of Charlie talking tonight. He is also saying "Daddy" all.the.time. :-) It's about the cutest thing I've ever heard.
Anyways, we were trying to get him to bubbles for the camera but instead he said Momma.
I was trying to clean up the kitchen tonight and as I'm cleaning up, Charlie is busy making a mess. Such is my life these days! He is like a tornado going through the house. Anyways, I noticed that he kept playing music on one of his toys and going see him twirling around. It took a couple of times but I realized that he was busy dancing. So, I got some of his dance moves on video.
This boy surprises me every day with what he comes up with!
My time for redecorating is little and honestly, I'm exhausted taking care of Charlie and doing chores, that I am spending spare time just relaxing and enjoying this stage with Charlie. However, in the week that Mim and Pops kept Charlie, Matt and I got several things done around the house. There are always things on the to do list but most of them will just have to wait.
Anyways, I took a secretary from my Mamaw and Papaw's house when I went home. I had measured prior and knew it would fit perfectly in the space that I wanted to put it in. I wanted it to be distressed to match the table in our breakfast nook.
It was my week long project but I found it to be relaxing while painting.
I've never done anything like this but am very happy with how it turned out.
I apologize in advance but I'm playing catch up and just about every post has videos and no pictures.
This past weekend we went to the tomato festival and they had a petting zoo which was a hit with
Charlie. He is getting so big.
The festival was
crazy. There were so many fun things to do but of course I didn't have my
camera. It was very hot and we were worn out when we got home. It may have had
something to do with Charlie deciding to wake up at 4:30 that morning.
Charlie loves to play in the water. We have been doing a lot of water play, both at school and home. It's a way for Charlie to get to go outside but also stay cool.
These videos are a little slow and his flip flops weren't staying on too well which meant he was sliding all around in his shoes.
MORE PICTURES COMING SOON!! Things about you this month
This month has been very busy. The most significant part of the month was probably the time you spent away from Mommy and Daddy. I don't think you had a hard time but now that you are home Mommy and Daddy are holding on to you tight. We missed our little buddy a lot! As for other things you visited the zoo this month. You loved it. It was such a fun day. You did get a little tired during a part of it but you were able to sleep it off so that you could make sure to enjoy a fun lunch where you could laugh at your friend and future babysitter, Olivia.
Your memory skills are really great and I can see such a difference. With that skill, comes a little frustration as once you have determined that you want to do something dangerous or get into something we don't want you to and we are trying to redirect, it's pretty impossible. You may give up but you are likely to go back within the day to retry. You are obsessed with going outside. You love to help Mommy water flowers and think it's pretty funny to get sprayed a little with the water hose.
You had a weird spell that lasted about a week where you screamed when we gave you a bath. Not sure why that happened but luckily that seems to have passed, hopefully for good, and you are back to loving baths and splashing just as hard as you can. You get to have water day every Wednesday at school. One time when we took you to the pool, you spent so long walking in the pool that you scraped up your poor toe so badly that it bled a lot. You have been swimming several times and seem to love it.
You have gotten better at your aim and throwing skills. You are also getting stronger. You are constantly trying to pick up things that are much bigger than you or convert everything into a push toy and push it around the house.
You stopped taking a bottle this month. You gave it up pretty easy or so I hear. You did it at your Pops and Mim's house so I don't really know how Mim did it. She tells me it was easy though. Next year, they can potty train you!! :-)
We have been able to go to church a lot this month and you are really loving the nursery. You seem to be one of the only little boys in your group which doesn't seem to bother you at all. You get excited to go in and play with the toys and the nursery workers always tell us how good you did.
You've been eating a lot this month and I think you may have gained a pound or two. You are really growing and I am concerned that you are going to outgrow your clothes and shoes before the end of the season. You are a big boy. You are in mostly 18 month clothes. Although, you we have started pulling out 18-24 months and I even bought you a 2T outfit and a pair of 2T pajamas.
More cute things from this month that I want to remember on top of everything else above :-) - At the zoo, it would be a toss up on which you enjoyed most: the ducks or the walk-in aviary. The zoo was very hands on. You fed the birds which landed on you in the aviary. You got to feed the giraffe's which is definitely high up on your list of things that you enjoyed. They also loved you since you were doing so good feeding them. You even got a lick on the head from a giraffe. Anyways, after we got home, you spotted a bird on our fence in which you tried to hold your arm out to get it to land on you. When I told you, no, that it would come land on you, you started quacking at it.
- You love to dance.
You like music. You have a Elmo video that you love to listen to about ducks.
- Your Pops likes to laugh at you. It's very sweet to your Mommy's ears to hear the joy that you have brought him, your Mim, and all of us. You also laugh A LOT at him. :-)
- Your Aunt Meredith has a cute video of you snorting.
I don't know that you've been this loud around me but you provided a good laugh for you aunt and grandparents!
Firsts during the month:
- You had your first stay at Mim and Pop's house without Mommy and Daddy
- You love to be outside but prior didn't really care too much about exploring the yard. You were just as happy on the deck but this month, you have discovered the yard and want to be out there so you can pick up pine cones.
- You rode your first carousel this month. It was from the quarter machines. You also rode a fire truck and a few other toys.
- You played with a lot of kitty cats this month and LOVE them. You even got scratched by one. That's not a great first but it was a small scratch that healed nicely and quickly. It didn't seem to stop you from wanting to play more with the kitty cat the next day.
Your vocabulary
- Not a lot of new words this month but I think you are saying out when you are ready to go outside and also grunting "uh" when you want to be picked up.
- You are making the vroom sound when playing with cars and or getting rides on your fire truck car that your Grandpa and Grammie got you for your birthday.
- You Mim and Aunt Meredith tell me that they think you are saying something that sounds like Kitty Cat which you consistently said around the cat.
- You also seem to say they same thing when you want us to come and play with you or you want to play with an animal and get it to chase you. Wish I knew what you were saying but it's pretty consistent.
We had such a good time at the zoo. We met Barrett's (Matt, Christie, Olivia, and Madeline) and Hamrick's (Mark, Ali, and Wyatt) there. Charlie's favorites were the ducks, birds, and camels. I forgot my camera as it was a little hectic getting out the door in the morning so I'm using pictures that the other's took.
We've had a wonderful day trying to show Matt how special he is to us. Charlie adores his Daddy. His face lights up and there is nothing better than sitting with his Daddy or riding on his Daddy's shoulders.
We went to Charlie's first Flying Squirrel's game, the minor league baseball team in Richmond. It was a lot of fun and Charlie made it for most of the game. We had 2 fly balls in our section but only one of them gave me a heart attack as it was caught 2 rows down from us. Matt told me that he had it covered as I watched him holding Charlie and trying to catch the ball with the other hand! Whew!
Here are some pictures from our day:
Look at how cute/handsome my boys are! Am I lucky or what?!!!!
Matt, thanks for being you and being so good to all of us. I love our little family!
To both of our father's, I hate that we didn't get to see you today but we'll celebrate soon. I have so much enjoyed watching Charlie with his grandfathers. It's brought back so many memories. I loved my grandpa's but boy did they love me!
Dick, I watch how good you are to Debbie and have no doubts in our many more years, Matt will continue to treat me like a princess. You both have raised Matt well. You have shown him how to be a very sweet and loving husband. You are wonderful with Charlie and he obviously adores you!
At one point today, I was watching Matt with Charlie and remembering how Dad took Meredith and I to ride our bikes on Sunday afternoons and how much I loved that time with him. And sometimes, we could go get an ice cream sundae at McDonald's. Anyone who knows my Dad, knows how fun and happy he is all the time. You make everyone, especially me, smile! You are the softest hearted person I have ever known and I know I got my tender heart from you. I love watching you hold Charlie and love on him. Charlie and I can't wait to see you in just a couple of weeks.
And because even your done with pictures face is cute:
Things about you this month:
You are obsessed with balls. See pics up above! I think Frank Beamer needs to see your potential but your Daddy says that he doesn't want you playing football since there are too many head injuries. You get really excited about the football because your Mommy is working on teaching you to say "Go Hokies" and "Touchdown". No pressure but you need to say those words by football season! :-) You think I'm just silly when I start cheering so you like to grab the ball and turn around and wait for my reaction. You know what you want and get frustrated with us. It's frustrating that you can't communicate what you want us to do. I think that would make you happier and I think we often get it wrong! I find you to be "more difficult" and not the easy going baby when you throw a good fit (down in the floor, putting your head down, kicking and screaming) but then you turn around and do the most adorable thing that I've ever see such as blow kisses or come give me a hug. You are very insistent when you want to be held and when you don't and you get very upset if we don't respond quickly. You are a great snuggler when you are tired, if you aren't too fussy. You love to get extra snuggles in the morning after you wake up! You are a great sleeper still other than you stopped napping well at daycare. You come home sometimes with only a 20 minute nap which can make for a long night. You had one night where you slept from 6pm until 7am because you were so exhausted. You are a big boy. You have outgrown most of your 12 months clothes and are in 18 months. It seems as if you are taller too. You love to eat and have really had an appetite these days. You eat what we eat most days and are not eating any more baby food other than your pureed squeeze pouches which are the best invention ever! They are so easy to take and you love them! You smile whenever I pull them out. You love to snack and get very angry if you see your snack cup and if we don't hand it over. We have to sneak it when we are packing it away in order to avoid a meltdown. You like your sippy cup now. This month, we had to work at getting you off bottles and it was a real challenge. The first week, you cried a lot over it and was very angry when we gave you cup instead of bottle. We bought many different sippy cups but the ones you like at home are the ones with straws. At daycare, they say you won't drink out of them and that your prefer the kind without the straw. I'm hoping over the next month, now that you are more used to it, we can mix it up more. You are eating well and trying to use the spoon. Typically your food falls off before the spoon makes it to your mouth. We have to have 2 spoons if I try to use one to feed you because you will just steal mine or become very angry if I don't give it to you. You are a great milk drinker! You still take the nighttime bottle which we will try to work on phasing out this month. You are pretty serious but when we get the giggle box turned on, you can't stop. You love being outside and we have definitely kept you busy these days. We have done all kinds of fun things like Maymont to see the animals and walk around, the pool(s) several times, play outside at home with water/sand table, use all of your riding toys.
Next month, we are planning a trip to the local zoo. You love your wagon and all your new toys from your birthday. We do rides pretty regularly around the house in your fire truck. You love to play with buckets and balls.
Those are by far your favorite things. You have started to notice the TV a little more. You are starting to love Elmo. You love the Elmo book that Wyatt gave you for your birthday and also your Elmo bath book. You are fascinated with animals. You are walking around everywhere. You like to walk and are doing less and less crawling these days.
You still like to walk holding our fingers but instead of using it more to keep you upright, it's more like you like to lead us around. You wear us out because you are go go go all the time. You love to bring us things though which keeps you going and gives us a break. For example, today, you brought your daddy every bucket you had. Then you took them all back and then brought them back again. You probably did this for 15 minutes, making 20+ trips.
More cute things from this month that I want to remember on top of everything else above :-) - You give high 5's all the time.
- You say quack to everything now. At the petting zoo, over memorial day, you saw ducks and immediately starting quacking at them.
- You went to Maymont and got to see the animals. When the donkey came over close to you, you said "hi!"
Firsts during the month:
- You had your first sleepover (without Mommy and Daddy) on Saturday, May 19th. You stayed with Grammie and Grandpa and Aunt Knee-Knee.
- You stayed in the church nursery for the first time.
- You blew your first kiss on June 6th.
- You ate your first blueberries and loved them!
- You started eating breakfast before school because you have been a hungry boy. You eat breakfast again at school too.
- You had your first bath with nothing to keep you upright and to keep you from standing. We normally use your bath seat but are finding that you don't need it. For now, we'll keep it as it makes things so much easier for the person giving you a bath.
- You played with Playdoh for the first time.
- Today, you rode your toy around the yard all by yourself (with a little help)! (See video below which isn't the best but Daddy got hot and had to go in and I couldn't steer you and take a video. Also, I don't make a great videographer because it ended up sideways again.) While I was proud, it did make me a little sad that you are growing up so fast!!!
Your vocabulary- Still consists regularly of hi, bye, dog, baba (bottle) but you have master a few new ones like:
- Night night (only said it one night right after you turned 12 months)
- Quack (all the time)
- Ball
- Up (or so I think that's what you are saying)
- Bubba (I haven't heard it but there is a baby who goes by Bubba in your class and apparently you say it.)
- Elmo (Your Daddy doesn't believe me but I heard it!)
