Closet Idea

Charlie's closet is long and narrow. Martha features this closet from her home in this months Martha Stewart Living. I think it's a great solution...but where can I place a rod for hanging clothes?

Busy Bees and Bookshelves

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial weekend. The weather in Seattle was amazing on Saturday and Sunday and the members of the Morgan family were busy little bees. On Saturday we headed over to Swanson's, which is an amazing nursery in our neighborhood. They have it all. A koi pond, cafe, gift shop and oh ya...plants. Our goal was to find veggies for our raised bed that KC's dad gave us. We purchased lettuce, carrots, beets, artichokes, sweet and hot peppers, sweet peas, pumpkins, winter squash, two types of melons, and a bunch of herbs. Charlie and Dada did the digging, Charlie ate dirt and now knows how to say "Arugula". Pictures below are of Charlie at the nursery.

Another family outing this weekend was to Ikea. What the heck were we thinking!? Ikea on memorial day weekend? We planned to get there right when it opened and unfortunately I misread the website and thought it opened at 9am. Well, the restaurant opened at 9am and the store at 10am. So we had an hour to kill, which is really difficult with a 16 month old. We made it into the store with about 100 other people (it was tax free weekend at Ikea - who knew!?). Charlie got a bee in his bonnet right around the sofa area and didn't stop having a tantrum until we reached the cashiers. That place is a maze and takes forever to get through normally. With a screaming child, it's even longer and more agonizing. I wanted to take the little shortcuts but feared we would miss something. We talked of just dropping everything and going to the car, but decided we weren't bothering anyone as it's quite loud in there and people were hustling through. Had we been someplace that Charlie would normally be enjoying, we would have left in a second. Our goal for this whole trip was to buy shelves for both Charlie's room and the bathroom. KC spent most of Monday installing them. Thank you Honey, I think they look great! We hung the first shelf at a level where Charlie could get to his books all on his own.


Now, how do I go about arranging the shelves? Any suggestions?

Evidence

Video: Charlie Wakling

Six steps or more

Charlie walked tonight for the first time. Well at least I'm calling it the first time. KC said he took three steps last night, but I wasn't there to witness it, so it didn't happen as far as I'm concerned. We were hanging outside waiting for KC (Dada) when I decided to try to get him to walk. He's been standing up with "look mama no hands!" for a few weeks now and about two weeks ago he started standing up on his own from a sitting position. Well, long story short. He walked, our boy finally walked! KC wasn't there but our neighbors saw it and made sure to really rub it in when they saw KC. Speaking of our neighbors...they have a brand new baby and she's precious! Little Josie will be Charlie's girlfriend.

Strike up the band

The house I grew up in was located on a direct route between a Rose Parade float warehouse, where they create many floats each year and Colorado Blvd. Every year on New Years Eve, we would have our own mini Rose Parade in front of our home while 10 or so floats were being driven to the starting point. We loved it and were lucky if we walked away with a few flowers thrown by the workers riding the floats. I had a similar feeling tonight. Our local High School is about 6 blocks away. When they're preparing for a parade, they use the streets of Ballard as their practice route. KC and I were getting Charlie ready for bed when I heard the music. I ran outside and saw them about a block away, moving in our direction. All the neighbors came out and many decided to join the "parade" by walking the sidewalks with the band. Charlie was dancing around and having a great time!

Where's my sharpie?

The day has come. I've dreaded it for 14+ months now and it's finally arrived. Charlie's going to daycare. KC and I are starting our "program" tomorrow and Charlie gets to be a "sea turtle" for 4 hours a week while mom is busting her bum on the treadmill. I sharpied his food containers, lunchbox, diaper bag, blankie and extra clothes. I know I'll have separation anxiety. I hope he plays well with others.

Update: Charlie did really well. I met KC in the hall after our workout and we picked him up together. I cried when I dropped him off but the teachers were so kind and told me to give them a call from any phone in the club if I wanted status. I only thought about doing that twice...or many three times.

Garbage Day

Wednesdays are a big deal in our house. Wednesday is garbage/recycle day and Charlie's favorite day of the week. He is in love with the huge, dirty, stinky, loud trucks. Regardless of what we're doing, playing on the floor, eating breakfast in the kitchen, changing a diaper, etc. etc. - Charlie must get to the front window immediately when he hears the rumble of the truck creeping up or down our street. It's so funny to see his eyes get even more enormous than they already are and for him to look at me like "window, Mama - STAT!". The garbage men (er...waste management coordinators), know him and make sure to wave every time they pass. I don't think it's a coincidence that they always choose our house to stop, raise the bucket, dump the trash and run the compactor. They do it for the boy, for sure. If it's nice outside, which up here means it's not raining, we'll sit on the front steps or our stoop by the sidewalk for a closer more personal look at the action. I caught a few shots of Charlie's usual hangout at approximately 7:45 and 9:00 AM every Wednesday.