How has it been so long since I posted? Fortunately I have been keeping a little list of things I didn't want to forget. I haven't downloaded all my pics yet but I do have a few ready to go. Some of these are from "The Wonder Place" in Little Rock, my all-time favorite place for kids to play. I first took Charlie when he was 17 months old and I was pregnant with Henry, so this time was a lot different!
His little personality is really starting to show now! He has started this head shaking thing that will crack you up - it's really his whole head and shoulders, and he tilts his face up and shakes side to side. He does it to indicate he likes his food, or to indicate he's done eating, or just to get a laugh out of Charlie (which always works!). He also does what we call "face diving" in the bathtub. He thinks it is great fun to suddenly stick his face down in the water, try to take a drink (yuck), then come back up sputtering and spitting out water. He will do this over and over again. We can't figure out why it's so fun. Charlie, of course, still won't put his face near the water so he doesn't get it either.
"Do again next time" - he says this as he is leaving somewhere that he wants to go back to, like the park
He also had his first real nightmare the other night, meaning the first time he cried enough to get us out of bed and he was able to tell us about it. It breaks my heart. We had gone to dinner for my mom's birthday and they served a "birthday sparkler" which was a sparkler candle with a pretty high flame. He has a history of not liking fire (see the hot air balloons post) but I didn't think this would freak him out. Well, it did. He almost cried at the restaurant but didn't, so we didn't think much else about it. But he woke up sobbing and saying something about the birthday candle and "Daddy's big bed". We thought he meant he was scared remembering it and wanted to sleep in our bed (which he did, by the way). However over the next day he kept saying things about the birthday candle being in our bed, and how it's all gone now. So we finally pieced together that he dreamed the candle was actually in our bed and somehow burned Daddy. We tried to explain it was just a dream and not real, but I'm not sure he understands. Poor little guy!
Today Henry is 11 months old! I can't believe we are only one month away from his big birthday! Save the date, everyone, the party will be May 2. He weighed exactly 21 pounds tonight. He is not feeling well though -- one week ago he made his first trip to the ER. He developed a terrible case of croup overnight and could barely breathe so I rushed him to the ER where he recovered quickly. However, the congestion stuck around long enough to give him yet another double ear infection, so we are dealing with that now.
His little personality is really starting to show now! He has started this head shaking thing that will crack you up - it's really his whole head and shoulders, and he tilts his face up and shakes side to side. He does it to indicate he likes his food, or to indicate he's done eating, or just to get a laugh out of Charlie (which always works!). He also does what we call "face diving" in the bathtub. He thinks it is great fun to suddenly stick his face down in the water, try to take a drink (yuck), then come back up sputtering and spitting out water. He will do this over and over again. We can't figure out why it's so fun. Charlie, of course, still won't put his face near the water so he doesn't get it either.
Henry is not walking yet but he is standing alone much more often. We aren't really pushing him. He'll do it when he's ready. He has learned to put basketballs in the goal, or put blocks in a bucket, that kind of thing. He is starting to enjoy looking through books on his own (this is earlier than Charlie did) and he also thinks it is hilarious if you try to keep him from doing something. The surest way to get a smile is to say "Don't you put that hand in your mouth!" and push it away...he will giggle and giggle. He loves to initiate peek-a-boo, and he enjoyed his very first rough-housing session with Charlie the other night (meaning he didn't cry this time when Charlie shoved him down, he just got back up and tried to push back!). He is saying "Mama" and "Dada" pretty clearly, and he also says "Ba!" for Ball. We think he is saying "Hi" but I'm not fully convinced. His favorite TV shows are The Notekins and Harry the Bunny (both on Baby Channel), and of course, The Wiggles. Oh and he loves hip-hop music! It will get him dancing like nothing else! He has also figured out how to drink from a straw and loves to drink juice this way.
Charlie is still every bit a 2-year-old. He loves life and everyone he meets. He weighs around 33 lbs now. He has developed a good awareness of time so we can finally tell him something will happen "tonight" or "in 2 days" or "tomorrow" and he will mostly get it. He loves to sing in the car, and the songs of choice are usually "Where is Thumbkin" or "This Old Man". He has learned to count to 5 in Spanish, and he has figured out that letters spell words that mean something. So he is always asking "What this says?" for words that he sees. Sometimes he will spell out the letters and make some of their sounds. He seems to really like to do this, so we know he is a nerd just like mommy and daddy.
The potty-training is going just slightly better, but he's not anywhere near done. We put him on the potty constantly so he does go fairly often, but he doesn't ask us for it yet. We are having trouble finding a consistent motivator. Ice cream, cookies, stickers, all of these are great the first time but fail to get him excited after that. The latest thing is getting to play on the piano if he goes. That has worked for a few days now, so we'll see. We are convinced he is going to turn into a strawberry or a tomato! He eats tons of them. He would eat a pint in one sitting if we'd let him. I so hope he continues to love veggies as he grows up.
Here are common Charlie phrases these days:
"I sure do!" or "I sure like this!" - he inserts the word "sure" at random
"Let's check and see" - he mostly says this when he's convinced Tess will be there when he gets home
"Do again next time" - he says this as he is leaving somewhere that he wants to go back to, like the park
"Probably here somewhere" - this is his response if you ask where something is and he doesn't know. He will put his hands out and say this. If he does know, he will say "Ummm, right here!" and take you directly to it, even if it's at the bottom of a huge pile. (like his Mama!)
A couple of weeks ago, he went on a little excursion with his Grandpa to see some planes, trains, and automobiles. The picture of him at the park shows a girl wearing pink - this is the infamous "pink girl". You see, he apparently pushed this girl down while they were playing, and she cried, and he had to apologize to her. Then she left to go eat a snack. She must have made quite an impression because every single day since then, he has brought up "the pink girl" with this very sad expression, and he admits he pushed her down and she cried. He is feeling very badly about this. Then he always says "She's OK, she went to go eat" and life is good again.
He also had his first real nightmare the other night, meaning the first time he cried enough to get us out of bed and he was able to tell us about it. It breaks my heart. We had gone to dinner for my mom's birthday and they served a "birthday sparkler" which was a sparkler candle with a pretty high flame. He has a history of not liking fire (see the hot air balloons post) but I didn't think this would freak him out. Well, it did. He almost cried at the restaurant but didn't, so we didn't think much else about it. But he woke up sobbing and saying something about the birthday candle and "Daddy's big bed". We thought he meant he was scared remembering it and wanted to sleep in our bed (which he did, by the way). However over the next day he kept saying things about the birthday candle being in our bed, and how it's all gone now. So we finally pieced together that he dreamed the candle was actually in our bed and somehow burned Daddy. We tried to explain it was just a dream and not real, but I'm not sure he understands. Poor little guy!
And here are some pics from the fabulous O'Zega's St Patrick's Day Celebration! And, of course, how Charlie enjoyed the party hat!
1 comment:
I am very lucky to have such handsome and smart grandsons.
They entire group is great!
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