My Little Bruiser

 
 

Charlie had a bit of a run in with the rock wall at day care a few weeks ago. Looked like he had been in a bar fight for a few days.

15 Months

Charlie had his 15 month doctor's appointment today. 27 lbs and just over 33 inches tall puts him in the 84th and 95th percentiles respectively for weight and height. He's a big guy. The doctor did not believe that he had all of his teeth until she looked for herself. I personally wonder if the eating prompts the teeth to come in. Today, Charlie shared a burrito bowl with me - including the guacamole. And then he had a full piece of lasagna and green beans and bread at dinner. And I'm not even spelling out all of the snacks. The doctor assured me that there was no need to worry. Easy for her to say. She's not trying to keep up with this kid with a hollow leg. I know that some day I will wish that he would eat this well though so I'm not stressing (other than over what to cook for the next meal).

He's still talking up a storm. He's developed many more words and is starting to really understand them in context. And it's becoming increasingly clear that he understands a lot of what we say. This is exciting. I have a sneaking suspicion that he will be a good conversationalist.

Other news... We survived the puke bug from he*&. Five days. It was pretty awful for the little guy. Made me sad. Matt picked it up too but only for 24 hours. I somehow survived. Then last Friday Matt broke his ankle. Fortunately, it isn't a bad break - just a chip - and he is able to get around in an air cast. For a while, I thought I was going to be doing two tubs a night. Fortunately, my mom and dad were here when it happened so we had a lot of help around the house. We get spoiled when they are here. And Charlie loved his visit. We've been playing with a web cam and having video calls with them since they left. It is pretty cool to be able to see each other and Charlie seemed to really like it.

I'll close with a bit of advice that I learned from the tummy bug. Hang on to old towels. They can seriously come in handy. And use the medicine dropper every 15 minutes to keep hydrated, avoid milk/dairy at all costs, and keep plenty of baking soda boxes on hand. We put them in every room there was an incident.

Born to Talk

We have officially moved into the language development stage. It is so fun and exciting to see what comes out of Charlie's mouth. The video above shows Charlie "reading" one of his favorite books. I was so surprised when I picked up the book one day and he said "puppy" and then when we got to the end and he said "me". His other words include apple, please, thanks, cheese, shoes, mommy, daddy, cup, ball, and I'm sure there are some others I'm missing. He's also working on his letters. We got the alphabet magnets for the fridge and he can pick out the letters "P" and "O". He seems to have a strange affinity for the letter P too. There are two of them and he carries them all around the house saying "P", "P". What can I say, I'm a proud mama :) Of course, for all of his talking, he does seems to be a bit of a scaredy cat. He is so afraid of the vacuum cleaner, even when it isn't on, that he refuses to be in the same room with it. He has the same apprehension about the dust buster although he'll be in the room with that and just keep checking it from time to time to make sure it isn't coming after him. Very strange. Maybe he inherited my distaste for cleaning. So all is well with our little guy. He definitely has a mischievous side though. He ate dog food the other day and has also taken to climbing which has resulted in me finding him standing on top of his toy chairs and his train. I swear I look away for 60 seconds and the kid tries to teach me a lesson. Hence the lack of blogging. Free time is precious!

Most recent pictures

 

 

Here are some of the latest photos of our little guy. A new album is also posted on the right with fun in the snow and some of Charlie's typical antics. Not much to report other than that we actually had a healthy week thanks to the antibiotics for the ear infection. We also seem to be going through a change in napping. Lately Charlie has only been taking one small nap, if any at all. Needless to say this leads to a pretty unhappy guy at some point in the day. Hopefully he settles back into a schedule again soon. It is no fun playing the guessing game as to when the melt down is going to occur. Latest words are "Papaw" (my dad) and "apple." He also sort of says "thanks". I realized he was saying the same thing every time I handed him something and I just started saying "you're welcome" back to him but didn't really think that was what was going on and then the other day at Randi's, she handed him something and he said it and she said "thanks" back to him. What a polite one. He has also taken to throwing things down the stairs or in his play pen (which is apparently where we keep the phone and remotes these days) so it is always fun to see what he has chucked where.

Belated Happy Holidays!

I know. I've been a bad blogger. I would promise to be better but that would be setting myself up for failure. In any event, above are some pictures from Christmas. We had a great time in Ohio visiting with everyone and being spoiled to death. Charlie has a full array of flashing, singing toys to play with (which we also get the joy of hearing as well). He definitely didn't completely "get" the gift-opening but he loved the excitement and everyone being in one place. Ironically enough, he also learned to say the word "wow" with a fair amount of wonder in his voice on Christmas Eve. So we heard "wow" from him with just about every gift that was open. At least it was an appropriate time to say it. Although his astonishment at my brother's spatula was a little overstated if you ask me. That definitely got the biggest "wow."

The poor thing kicked off the holidays with pink eye and an ear infection and then got a cold followed by the stomach bug. He battled through all of that while his molars were coming in. And now, he has another cold. I don't mean to brag, but Charlie is a bit of an overachiever when it comes to building his immune system. Which has led me to the Vitamin C addiction I've developed. (I know, it can be toxic in excess. No worries. I'm on a 12 step program). A word to the wise for any parents that haven't gone through the molar process yet. Obviously different for every kid, but Charlie was in a tremendous amount of pain and went through about 4 days where he threw awful temper tantrums. I will admit that it was scary and I ended up crying to our pediatrician at one point. So if you're child appears to be immitating a demon abruptly, give him some Motrin and a cold wash rag to suck on. I hope it goes smoother for the rest of you. I'm glad to report my smiling little man is back to his normal self.

As mentioned, Charlie is a full-fledged walker now. Correction - he's a runner. And usually in the opposite direction from us. Oh well. It's the best exercise I get!

First Haircut and Visit to Santa

From 2008-12

From 2008-12

From 2008-12

The Big Birthday!

Charlie's First Birthday Party

Well, the day finally arrived and our little (big) boy turned 1. Hard to explain exactly how fast the last year went. It was the blink of an eye but a total roller coaster ride that we absolutely loved. So fun to watch him grow and develop and I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed at how much happens with these little people. And we are blessed to get to watch it all.

Charlie had a wonderful first birthday party surrounded by his family and friends in Mass and his Sami and Papaw from Ohio as special guests. He goes to Ohio this week to celebrate with the rest of his family. He loved every minute of the party - he seems to like the center of attention. The video is long, but about 15 seconds in is a really cute part.

Updates: Charlie is officially walking. He went from taking 5-7 steps to really walking from place to place. He also spent his actual birthday getting his very first haircut! Okay, it was just a few snips but it cleaned up his strays quite a bit. Charlie also took his first trip to see Santa. I'll post a picture so you can see.