Charlie's Summer

Oh how guilty I feel for not keeping up with this. Charlie had a fantastic summer. Below are a few pictures to get us up to speed. From most recent and back...

Charlie on his first day of Preschool. He rocked it. He marched into that classroom and barely noticed I was present the entire 2 hours. He adored Teacher Tom of course (you must check out his blog. Who wouldn't love a preschool teacher in a cape!?) and can't wait to go back on Tuesday. You have another new fan Teacher Tom!

We have a couple of die-hard Sounders fan under our roof. We purchased season tickets to the Sounders inaugural year in the MLS and have never regretted it. Charlie has a blast dressing up in his jersey and screaming directions like "don't give it up in the midfield!" and encouragements like "GO Sounders!". He's showing off his autographed jersey below.

Charlie got a new bike this summer. It's a balance bike which doesn't have peddles and allows the child to learn how to use their balance while pushing with their legs to ride the bike. He hasn't yet mastered it but we'll keep trying.

We spent the 4th of July with friends. They have a parade in their neighborhood each year and Charlie (uh, Mama really) had a great time decorating his trike and participating in the parade. At the end of the route, the SFD firetruck was parked and ice cream was served.

A picture of Charlie and Pa hanging out at "Pa's Beach". Too cute.

Charlie's playground

Charlie's favorite place to be is with his Grammy and Pa on their farm. When we know that he's going on the ferry and over to the farm for the day, we can't tell him until the night before or he will ask every few minutes if he's going to the farm today. Three more night-night's. Two more night-night's. One more night-night...TODAY! They have the most beautiful veggie garden where Charlie has acquired a taste for raw broccoli. He absolutely LOVES raw broccoli now. He gets dirty, he gets tired, he gets tons of love and freedom. It makes KC and I smile when he tells us the stories of the farm and how he hangs out with the dogs, watches birds and picks veggies. If the horses, dogs, cats, donkey, fish, garden and tractors weren't enough, something new came to the farm.

Pa and Grammy called us a few weeks ago to tell us they bought a play structure for Charlie. We had NO idea what this meant until we visited the farm.

I introduce to you, Charlie's very own park and playground. Wow! This kiddo doesn't even know how lucky he has it.

Charlie loves the trac-toys big and small.

Another favorite thing to do while at the farm is to go down to "Pa's beach". This is the community beach in Eglon, where the Grandparents live...not far from the farm. Charlie even got to ride the big tractor down there one day. It's beautiful and Charlie could spend hours throwing rocks.

Thank you Ed and Kim for all you do and all the love you give to Charlie!

The Artist

Charlie received all sorts or great gifts for his 2nd Birthday. Three were of the "Art" theme and ones that he has thoroughly enjoyed. His easel, paints and art apron. An artist at work.

Blue Hat

Charlie

Pictures by Dada.

Just because

I just love this guy. Charlie the morning after his big party in his jammies and the kitchen apron Mae Mae gave him for his birthday. We love you Charlie!

Birthday Party

We celebrated Charlie's second birthday with friends and family at our home. Deep dish pizza and chocolate sweet and salty cake were served. Charlie was pretty tired as people were arriving and retreated to his bedroom and the hallway with Pa. Only until our neighbors came over did Charlie light up and realize that it was party time and it was all for him. He received many wonderful gifts and has had an amazing time exploring and discovering them all. Thank you! Charlie's dear Mae Mae flew up from California for the occasion and got many snuggles, kisses and in depth conversations from Charlie. She was amazed at how much he's grown in height and in his speech. We've got a talker on our hands people...I just don't know where he gets it.

Ginny and Meg fluffing and primping the house.


The red lanterns I had to drive all over the city to find as I bought them one day before the Chinese New Year.


"Sweet and Salty" cake from the cookbook Baked written by the owners of the same named shop. This cake is crazy rich, crazy good and only made by crazy people. It's not the easiest cake I've ever made. I actually made it for Charlie's Grammy for her Birthday two weeks before and burned the caramel 4 times! Ahhh! I had better luck with Charlie's cake, but I tell ya, it still wasn't for the faint of heart. Thanks KC for frosting it for me...I just don't have the patience to make it look pretty.


Charlie and Pa's favorite past time. Hangin' with each other.


This is what Charlie looked like as guest were arriving. I looked like he needed a nap.


Cut to five minutes later...this is what he looked like when Michael and Maddie showed up!


Thanks a lot for the socks Uncle Will, I play with them all the time - Love Charlie.


The most beautiful guest in my opinion. Baby Josie!

Sparklers for the sparkler.

Ahhhh....Chocolate Clown Coma.

Charlie opening gifts and loving being the center of attention.

A 2 year old lives with us

It's very hard to believe that two years have passed since Charlie was born. We celebrated the actual day, January 28th with a day with just he and I. Spanish class, a haircut and a cupcake. The evening was spent with Mama, Dada, Grammy, Pa, Skipper and Auntie Meg. Dinner and homemade cupcakes for dessert. The gifts that Charlie received were very special, which included an easel that was designed and handmade by Pa and a beautiful table built by Pa Skipper and Charlie's Great Great Uncle Willard. Charlie is wild about both. I should also mention that EVERY cool gift he got was forgotten when he opened Auntie Meg's gift. A remote control car. He went crazy over that silly thing! We made the mistake of having him open that gift before KC and I revealed our gift to him, which he virtually ignored. He could care less about the tricycle and helmet...oh well!

Charlie before getting his haircut. An example of his new smile which he does with his left eye closed.

Dada and Charlie blowing out his Birthday candle (why didn't I put a second one on there? I have no idea). Notice the spit coming out of his mouth on the last shot.

Another smile. He only does this when he knows you're taking a picture of him.

Pa and Grammy gave him this doggy card that sounds like a dog barking "happy birthday to you". Charlie couldn't get enough of it.

While I'm on here I should give a developmental update because god only knows when I'll get the time to post again.

Charlie's speech and vocab have sky-rocketed. He talks constantly and always makes sure to say "please" and "thank you", even without being asked. He's using multiple word sentences and often says things like "thank you dada it was really fun" or if asked how he's doing, he may respond "I'm doing really well, mama". Sharp kiddo.