Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Charlie's Birthday Party!

Sunday afternoon, January 22, we had a wonderful time celebrating Charlie's "turning one" milestone.
When he was about 2 months old, we found Very Hungry Caterpillar plates, napkins, and invitations on clearance at Target that we excitedly bought for his first birthday (that would be ten months later...)!
His birthday party afternoon was very special to us, and most importantly, Charlie seemed to have a great time.

Here are some pictures we took before everyone started arriving:
The food table

A close-up of his cake!

The basket of party favors (little bags of gummy worms and gum drops) and the Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Byrds, pre-party!

The party was from 1:30-3:30 PM, and we just visited while everyone was arriving. The kids had a good time playing together.

Charlie trying to hug Ashlyn

Our cute little neighbor Breckon!

Dad and Breckon- looks like serious laptop business!

Uncle D and Charlie

Then it was....
Cupcake time!!




I think he liked the cupcake!

Our neighbor Kian enjoying his cupcake too! He will be turning one very soon!

Ashlyn (she picked a good spot to eat- right beside the cheese doodles!)

Stephanie and Anna Kate (we were sad that Abby and Larry didn't get to come!)

Mandie and Jason

Mom and Dad

After everyone ate Charlie got to open his presents:
Here he is holding some finger paint that he can use when he is a little older! This goodie bag from the Lyons came with playdoh, a coloring book, crayons, and some books. I can't wait to do art projects with him later on this year!

A new tractor from Jeni!

A cute little puppy and Bible Promises from the Porters!

Bryson picked out this basketball for Charlie all by himself! We were also sad he and Zane couldn't come.

A cute shirt and Baby Colors from Granana and Granddaddy

Here I'm holding a really cool set of Baby Einstein CDs the Joneses gave Charlie! He has had fun dancing and clapping to them!

A set of musical instruments from Uncle D!

The kids decided to pass out the musical instruments among themselves (and eventually they involved the adults too) and made a great Birthday Band!! See for yourself:

Charlie is mostly watching in this video, but he had a great time trying to hit the xylophone and waving the mallet all around!

Daddy showing Charlie what to do with the xylophone


After a while eeeeveryone had something that would make noise! (Since most kids' toys make some kind of noise...) It was loud but the kiddos had fun! It was a great way to wrap up Charlie's first birthday party!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar became the Very Little Caterpillar by the end of the party...

Charlie with Granana and Granddaddy- as you can see, he would not give up his xylophone mallet!

With Uncle D
We were excited for Daniel that he had a cheat day and got to eat a cupcake, green icing and all! Even better, there was no reaction to it! Woohoo!

The Byrds, post-party. Worn out but happy!
Happy 1st Birthday, Charlie!

Daily Life

So often I post about special events or milestones, but here are some recent "normal life" pictures:

Charlie and Dad watching a the new "Very Hungry Caterpillar" DVD while I was cooking one night

Happy boy after stuffed shells!
a full tummy = smiley Charlie
In case you're wondering, the scab on his forehead is from falling down the other day outside, trying to chase a neighbor... our little neighbor was riding his bike and Charlie tried to keep up (only he can't run...). Obviously, he tripped and fell on the concrete. He had a goose egg for a while that went down quickly, and he only cried a little bit. I anticipate many more of these type things...

Milk before bedtime

You can't really tell here, but Charlie was walking around the kitchen waving his arms to one of his CDs that was playing. I was washing dishes, and he was "dancing" and drinking his milk! I love that he really seems to enjoy music. Also, in between sips of milk and dancing, he would investigate the cabinets he likes to play in. 

Charlie's new chair! A friend whose children have outgrown this passed this fun chair along!
Charlie grinned every time I helped set him in it tonight.

Other fun daily life tidbits:
*Sunday afternoon Jimmy and I let Charlie get in our bed for a few minutes because we were all getting ready to take a nap. Charlie grinned like he was really pulling one over on us! : )
*In the bathtub these days Charlie splashes... and splashes... and splashes! He likes to crawl around and splash too. Tonight he was waving around a soaking wet washcloth. Good thing it's just water!
*Charlie has recently tried yogurt and likes it. It was strawberry "Dora the Explorer" yogurt...
*Today Charlie and I shared a chocolate chip cookie in Target- I love that he's big enough to share a treat like this with me!
*He has recently learned to wave, and it is really cute. He has even waved to Jimmy as he was leaving for work!
*He is walking well in his new shoes, and even though he knows how to un-velcro them, he hasn't yet figured out how to get them all the way off. When we come home from running errands and take his shoes and socks off, he grins at his "free" toes!!
*Charlie loves to look at his books, and he is able to listen for a pretty good while as I read to him. He especially likes books right now where he can feel different textures.
*He loves "brushing" his teeth (this involves walking around chewing on his toothbrush) and gets really excited every time I get ready to give him his toothbrush.
*He gets really excited whenever he realizes I've put a Baby Einstein DVD in for him, and then he sits there virtually spellbound until the credits come on.
*He likes going to the store and riding in the shopping cart, and he always tries to turn around so he can see where we're going! Usually there are always some people in the store we're in who like to stop and talk to him. Sometimes he smiles, sometimes he doesn't.
*He thinks it's fun to open and close doors.
*Jimmy generally does a lot better with Charlie in the early morning than I do (big shocker, I know...).

I also wanted to give a "daily life" update on Jimmy and me...
Jimmy is still working hard at Home Comfort and seems to enjoy it. His day off is now Tuesday so he can take a class on that day.
He has Hermeneutics on Monday nights and Old Testament II on Tuesday afternoons. So far he really likes both of them and appreciates his professors' senses of humor. : )
Jimmy has been attending the Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace University" class at our church for the last couple of months, and it has been well worth it. We have learned so much that we are eager to apply (I've been listening to the CDs).

I am still working part-time at Girasole several nights a week but feel like my "real job" is right here in our house! I love staying with Charlie, cooking our family dinner each night, and helping Jimmy make our house run smoothly. There's no English class for me this semester; we're just focusing on getting  Jimmy through his classes, and well, I'm having a baby before the end of the semester. For fun though I am currently reading Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and will break out a new Charles Dickens book once I finish that. 
I am also getting ready to start up my Beth Moore "Daniel" Bible study again! I wasn't able to continue the classes last fall, so I'm going to the leader's house to watch one lecture a week until I finish! Can't wait to see what I'm going to learn!

We still have small group on Wednesday nights, which we love. Big group is two weeks out of each month, and then men's accountability is one week and ladies' accountability is one week. Accountability is both refreshing and challenging; we love the encouragement our brothers and sisters in Christ give us in our walks with the Lord. On Sunday mornings our pastor is preaching through Deuteronomy, and the theme our elders want the Body to focus on this year is "Loving Obedience to a Loving God." So far the series has been good but sobering. I love sitting under our pastor's teaching- he is gentle but uncompromising in the way he shares the truth of God's Word. 
Right now Jimmy and I are serving in church in the Young Toddlers class. I dreaded this hour of the week for, oh, the first couple of months of our time of service but am enjoying it now! The kids have grown on me. Jimmy has enjoyed it since day one.

That's about it for now! 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Bye Bye Bottles...

Well, this was the last load of bottles that were sterilized for Charlie (yesterday), and they are now going up in the cabinet.
Today was the first day of his life that he did not drink anything from a bottle.
Kind of makes me sad. And it's kind of surreal.

This morning when he got up I gave him some whole milk in one of his sippy cups. He didn't want to snuggle and take it all at one time like he would a bottle; instead, he sipped on it while he played in the floor. He drank water throughout the day as usual, and then for dinner tonight I gave him some more whole milk. No bedtime bottle. It makes me feel like Charlie is not a baby anymore...

One plus, though, is that we don't have to sterilize bottles every day!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Charlie Turns One!

It's hard to believe, but a year has already gone by since our little man was born! We had a great time today celebrating as a family. 

We started off the day with a birthday cinnamon roll:


He loved it!

Then it was on to presents:





Here he is trying out his new carseat that he is now old enough to use:




We left for Charlie's one-year check-up around 9:15 this morning. 
Rookie Year-End stats:
 Weight:   22.15 pounds
Height:  29.5 inches long
Head Circumference:  19 centimeters. 
He is in the 50th percentile for height and weight now, but the 95th for his head! : ) Ha! They also checked his vision, and he has 20/20 vision in both eyes. Woohoo!

Waiting for the doctor - I keep him in his stroller because otherwise he would be all over the place.


We found out that Charlie's most recent cold was turning into an ear infection, so he prescribed amoxicillin and delayed his vaccines until we follow up in two weeks. He is acting like his normal self, though. I was secretly glad he didn't have to get shots on his birthday...

We then had some business to take care of in Durham, and afterward we met Daddy for lunch! He has been on express this week, which means he goes in later in the mornings and doesn't have his usual route everyday.  We went to a nearby Chick-fil-A.

Charlie had his first kid's meal there- a four count pack of nuggets, a fruit cup, and some apple juice.

When they discovered it was his birthday, they brought him a cow, a birthday balloon, and some ice cream!
He had fun trying to feed himself! (He even pushed Jimmy's hand away earlier when he tried to give him his juice box! HE wanted to hold it!)

Stylin' in his new shoes

He had lots of birthday cards to open this afternoon- thank you family! He enjoyed carrying them around.
Here are some pictures of the cards he opened yesterday:


At 12 months Charlie is...
*saying mama (said it the first time on January 4th!...he's been saying Dada for a while)
*getting another tooth in (he has 7 total now)
*taking baths in the BIG tub!
*walking, walking EVERYWHERE!!! (he's a bit unsteady but loves practicing his new skill)
*eating all big boy food, including his favorites - bananas, cheese, black beans, and bread
*giving his own version of hugs and kisses - I love them and can't get enough!
*wrestling with Dad (this involves Charlie throwing his arms up and coming down on Dad's stomach and sometimes saying "Huh," and cute snuggling)
*learning how to roll/drive his various cars and trucks
*making ALL sorts of babbling noises and other sounds, especially when he is concentrating on something or walking
*beginning to drink whole milk- he had his first 4 oz. tonight and pretty much sucked it down

Bath time fun:


Practicing walking:
This was a couple weeks ago; he is quite a bit steadier now. For some reason he likes to walk around holding washcloths...

We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday with a small Very Hungry Caterpillar party on Sunday afternoon! Happy Birthday, Charlie!