5

Five years ago,

on a beautiful,

 white

 

Advent Saturday,

I got to marry the love of my life.

Here's to 65 more.

Charlie at 15 Months

Our Charlie turned 15 months this week! Where does the time go? Here are a few things about our guy.

Sweet little Charlie, at 15 months...

You're still a peanut. We'll get your official stats next week at your checkup, but you're about 19 1/2 lbs (5th-ish percentile, I think). And yet, your personality is much bigger than your size!

You have been in a Mama phase, scared of strangers, and upset if I walk more than 5 feet from you. You're just coming out of that phase and becoming friendly once again!

You have six teeth- four on top and 2 on bottom. I think you're working on more!

If your teeth aren't bothering you, you're a pretty good sleeper! Recently you've gone back to two naps, and often those each last 2 hours! In addition you go to bed a little after 6 pm and usually wake up at 7 or 7:30 the next morning. (Well, you usually get up once around 4am to eat.) That's over 13 hours of sleep a night!

You play so well. Next to other kids, by yourself, with your brother... You love to explore, take things apart, put in and take out, and drop things. Often you'll play for a good 30-45 minutes by yourself!

You aren't walking yet- although I've seen you take as many as 6 steps at a time! You just prefer to crawl or cruise the furniture almost exclusively. We know that you'll walk someday... when you're ready. :)

You are a sweetie. You love to give (open mouth) kisses, hugs, and high fives.

kissing Daddy the day you started giving kisses a few months ago

Your vocabulary is pretty typical for your age, I think. You say... peas (please), cheese (as soon as you see the camera or for the food), Mama, five (for high five), boom, muh (more), bye bye, Gigi, Papa, and Ack! (which I'm pretty sure is Jack). You also speak in fluent sentences... in Charliese. You're definitely saying something, I just don't know what!

You're a great eater! You haven't developed much pickiness yet, and you eat a ton! A banana and a half in a sitting is nothing for you! You love anything in a sippy cup and drink mostly milk, and occasionally water. You also still nurse about 3 times a day.

You love, in no particular order... fruit, ride-on toys, yogurt and applesauce, your pacifier (oh what fun that will be to break you of :), climbing  on anything and everything, snacking constantly, going up and down stairs, pulling everything out of cabinets, dumping buckets of toys, and Gerber yogurt melts. You really like the yogurt melts.

We love you sweet boy, and we're so proud of you!

A milestone...

Charlie is eating! He actually has been for a little over a month now and he's a great eater! So far he's tried (in roughly this order): banana, oatmeal, apple, sweet potato, avocado, and squash. This week we'll try some green veggies and carrots.

He wasn't super crazy about the avocado, but everything else he's gobbled right up! He also loves any kind of cracker or bread he can get his hands on (a boy after his mama's heart :). The other day I made him some graham crackers, and boy did he go to town!

This weekend I let him try a few of Jack's cheerios, and he mostly had fun playing with them. His pincer grasp isn't quite perfected, but he did get a few into his mouth.

Sunday morning I took advantage of the early hours before Daddy and Jack woke up to take some video of Charlie babbling... enjoy!

so close

Hey, you! Watch me while I try to crawl!

See, I just put my hands down like this...

 

and get up on my knees!

Hmmm... now what?!

I think I'm suppose to move my hands. That's it!

But wait, why did I go backwards?!

This crawling thing is harder than I thought. Off to practice some more!

Family Time- and a video surprise!

I know this blog is basically just turning into a picture-fest of my kids, but quite frankly I haven't done much in the last three weeks but hang out here and stare at them. Such is the season of life we are in.

Actually, today was a big day in that I actually went two places with both boys in tow. The first was to Toddler Town, a fun indoor play place that a nearby school system sponsors, and then to Jo Ann's to get some fabric. Toddler Town was awesome... Jack played hard with Eli and his cousins, and Charlie slept in the moby wrap. Good times had by all. Jo Ann's was a different story. Not for Charlie, except that he slept in the sling rather than the wrap, but Jack- well let's just say he didn't want to be there. Fun times for all.

Moving on, more picture of the kids... at least the grandparents are loving these picture posts!

Daddy and Charlie

(A very scary picture of) Mama and Jack- who apparently wants you to notice his ear

And some of the boys alone:

Finally, yesterday I was giving Charlie tummy time, and he did this three times in a row. This video was the third time, so it takes a little longer, but I could hardly believe it. I know it's probably a fluke, but hey, at least I have video proof that it happened!

Music Moves Me

Jack is loving music more and more. He has even started to "narrate" his day through song. His conversational skills have also taken off. Here are a few examples of common Jack phrases these days, with a video montage of made up and parts of "real" songs at the end.

These days, Jack can say:

Uh, oh? Where'd it go? I don't know!/ Here is!

Oh, no! What happened? [usually after doing something like dumping out a bucket of toys]

No, I don't want any/No, I don't want some.

Mama (Gigi, Papa, etc.) come on!

Let's do it!

Mmmmm, it's good!

What dat?/ What dis?

Come on! Wet's go!

He Papa (Grandpa)/ He Meemaw (Grandma)/ He Mama [while pointing people out... right now "he" can mean he, she, or you!]

One, Two, Free, Four [sung as he marches around] or March! March!

I sorwy. [used appropriately only sometimes, but so darn cute]

Where phone? [when it rings] ball? ehfant [elephant]?

And, the other day in the car I hear him count to 10 all by himself with no prompting!

He's also loving talking to my tummy. I have some precious video, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the world to view my very stretched out stomach! A typical "conversation sounds like this:

Where Carnie (Charlie). [lifts shirt] Dere is! [gives lots of kisses and hugs]Ahhhh. Nice baby. Huuuuug!

[sings the Barney song to my tummy] I love you...

Bye bye, baby. [Said to little brother as he puts my shirt back down] Where baby go?

Rinse, Repeat

And the video you've been waiting for:

Jack Counts to Five

... sort of! He also shows off his new spoon-eating skills at the end!

17 things for 17 months

Our little man turned 17 months over the weekend.  I can't believe that next month he'll be halfway to two. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating his first birthday. Who am I kidding? It seems like just yesterday that he was born! I have some new pictures to upload, but the camera battery is dead and it's still charging. Until I get them uploaded, I thought I'd give you 17 Jack facts in honor of 17 months!

1. Jack's favorite foods are pizza, avocado, oatmeal, and yogurt. He also loves milk.

2. He loves his cousin Colton, and goes around the house calling "Coco?" All. Day. Long. when Colton isn't here.

3. Although he was a giant at birth and for most of his first year, he's slowed down a ton and now measures up to be just above average.

4. He currently seems to have forgotten the word for "Daddy" and squeals "Mama!" when Mike comes into a room. Mike does not think that's funny.

5. Right now Jack is all about pushing his limits... saying "no" to a request I make or flat out ignoring me. While I'm all about developing independence this is one thing I do not think is funny.

6. Conversely, he can be sweeter than ever now, and routinely leans in to give a big, fat, open mouthed kiss.

7. Jack doesn't talk in sentences, he talks in paragraphs. Paragraphs that, for the most part, I can't understand. But he definitely knows what he's trying to say!

8. Climbing on and off of furniture takes up at least 30% of any given day for him.

9. Jack refuses to feed himself from a spoon. I'm almost positive he could, but he refuses.

10. When he was little, his most commented on feature were his eyes. Although he still has big, beautiful, blue eyes, now people are most likely to comment on his massive amounts of hair.

11. Jack LOVES to brush his teeth. He points to his mouth and asks me, "teef?" five or six times a day.

12. His other great love is Barney. Barney has allowed him to create his first ever four-word sentence... "I wash Bartey more!" (translation: I watch Barney more!)...which he says at the end of the episode. For Easter he is getting a Barney toothbrush (see his first love above) that I found at the dollar store.

13. Jack is super polite. He usually says "pees" and "than tu" without being prompted. Unfortunately he also thinks being polite means he's entitled to whatever he's asking for. Even if that's the last bite of my sugar cookie.

14. He has a signature dance move that involves bending sideways (think I'm a Little Teapot) with his hands, palms out, above his head.

15. Jack is going to be a great big brother. I just know it.

16. The first thing I hear in the morning, every morning, is "Mama?" Then "Maaaaaamaaaaa." I love it. :-)

17. Jack can "sing" his ABC's to the letter K. There's nothing more heartwarming to me than hearing my baby singing.

Name that Tune

This picture was taken a year ago, one of a series that I love. In fact, another one of those series is used as part of our blog header. Think it might be time to update it? I seriously can't believe how fast this time with my little man is flying.

Jack can now "sing" several songs, and does so throughout the day at random times, as well as sings along with me. Its so cute to hear him from the backseat or look up to see him singing. Sometimes he sings to himself while putting himself down for a nap or just after waking up. I love hearing him over the monitor and usually sneak upstairs to peek in and watch him singing into the mirror in his crib. I'll have to get some of these on video soon, but for now,  here's a recap of some of his specialties...

"Happy uh day ah yoo" (repeated over and over)- Happy Birthday

"Whoa, whoa, whoa"- Row, Row, Row Your Boat

"Pea, pea, pea. Pea, pea, pea. Ohwwwwwld"- Peas Porridge Hot

"I yuh you. You me. Happy (kissy sound)."- The Barney Song

"Ay Bee Cees. Now my no my."- The ABC Song

"Ah ah ah ah ah"- when he wants me to sing When All of the Raindrops

Today was warm!

We had to take advantage of the warm weather, so we headed to Allison and Kenny's and let Kennison and Jack run around outside. Poor Colton is sick with another ear infection and was just miserable today. He enjoyed the outside air from a stroller, but I'm sure the sunshine did him just as well as it did all of us!

Jack and Kennison, however ran in circles around me and Mike! Or, I should say, drove in circles.

Jack didn't quite understand how the Cosy Coupe (or as Kennison calls it, the Coupey Coupe) works. You can see the hands reaching in to help him. I wish I could tell you they were mine, but I decided to take a picture instead.

Then we ran around in the grass a bit. Jack loves leaves. :-)

Jack's newest phrase is actually a song. We noticed whenever Kennison sings "Happy Birthday" (which is one of the favorites in her repertoire) he would mumble-sing something. Today I decoded it as "Hap-py day you" with a couple of "tha tha"s (cha cha cha) thrown in, and although it is interspersed with some random babbling in this video, if you listen very closely you can hear it a few times. He's such a ham!

Is there anything more adorable

than a little boy in his overalls? Some new pictures (finally!) and a video to boot!

Here's Jack, working on his, "How could you be mad at this face, Mommy?" face.

We decided to get away and visit Allison's parents in Des Moines last weekend, and had a wonderful time. Jack and Kennison had fun playing peekaboo with Nana's table, and we all had a great time with Kenny's brother and sister, and Cousin Braden who drove down to see us. Good times!

Jack decided to be a daredevil the other night, but got very upset when he realized he couldn't get down!

But really, the overalls just beat it all, don't they?

This video cracks me up! Now before you think I drill Jack every night before bed, let me just tell you that I don't! He was given a magna doodle for Christmas and loves to bring it to me and have me spell out his name. I did it once and he kept asking again and AGAIN! Somewhere along the way he picked out the letters "A" and sometimes "K", and now he can help me spell his name!

What a difference a year makes!

Something about the holidays makes me aware of how far we've come in the last year.

Christmas, 2007

Christmas, 2008

Here are some things Jack is doing at (almost!) 14 months old:

• Standing up from sitting without any help from Mommy, Daddy, or furniture
• Saying new words: nana (banana), cracker, night night, one, two, Al-sin (Allison), grandma, grandpa, woah! (said very emphatically), ok, yes! (too funny- he says this whenever I bowl on Allison's Wii), bee (for Barney)... and some Christmas words like baby, angel, tree, and light
• Saying some two word phrases: more please, up please, my nana, and hi dada
• Knowing to say "please" or "more" in order to get something he wants without Mommy or Daddy prompting
• Calling Mama and Dada to get their attention, or when we're in another room... and walking into a room where we are and saying "hi"
• Initiating songs by "singing" parts of them (row, row, row; patty-patty) or doing motions (taking my hands and clapping while saying "patty" or signaling "head, shoulders" ) then saying "again" after it's over
• Walking up to things he knows he not allowed to do and saying "no, no, no" while wagging his finger (and then often trying to do it anyway)
• Fighting with Colton and Kennison over favorite toys
• Testing his independence at just about every chance he gets
• Crawling up into my lap to give hugs... sigh, SO sweet
• And my favorite... sleeping in his crib until at least 6 am every night! (He even slept until 8 once!) It seems after 14 months, he's finally figured out the sleeping thing!

We're so in love with this little boy! He amazes us everyday!