The cutest penguin

 

Charlie dons his first Halloween costume. Too funny. And too hot for the Halloween party at mommy's work. He almost sweat to death! But the warmth will come in handy for the big night this week.

In Ohio, there are no rules!!

 

Well, we recently returned from another wonderful visit to Ohio. Charlie thoroughly enjoyed his family, especially since he clearly gets away with murder there. He played on the countertop with the tea kettle, in the cabinets and pantry, with all of the electronics. You name it, he did it. He now understands that his parents are lame with their "rules" and concern for "safety." He went for several walks with Papaw, who is clearly a favorite of Charlie's. Who gets a round of applause when they enter a room? He's no dummy. He hopes to get a car out of him some day. And Sammi bought him his first pair of shoes. Well, really Robeez slippers, but still. They are sharp! He ate like a king too. True to his roots, he loves Bob Evans and chicken and noodles. Charlie loves Buckeye country, but unfortunately he didn't bring them any luck as they lost to Penn State on Saturday. Bummer for Mommy and Daddy who went to the game. It was still fun though. Charlie loves his grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncle and cousins and can't wait to spend Christmas in the home land!

No major developments to report. He is moving faster and eating more every day. We really think he is close to that first step so keep your eyes out for a post to that effect. We are in huge trouble when this kid can run...

In Loving Memory

 

It was a very sad week for the Warner family as Phantom, our beloved dog for the last 14 years, went to doggy heaven. He was an awesome dog and obviously very much part of our family. We will always remember his quirky traits like how he used to sleep on his back wrapped around a corner in the house, or how he loved carrots, or how he used to take off sprinting like a mad man through the house sometimes when he got excited. He loved sitting in dad's chair with him watching TV and he loved going for walks. Even more than that, he *loved* Christmas. He was like a little kid so excited about all of the presents. Even though he wasn't a big dog, he was a great watch dog as he had an intimidating bark that made you think a Rotweiler was behind the door.

I am very sad to know that he won't be there to see us on our next visit to Ohio, but he was struggling in his old age and so I'm glad to know that he isn't suffering and I'm thankful for the years we had with him. We love you, Phantom, and hopefully we can have Twizzlers and peanut M&Ms together in heaven some day.

Sammi Comes to Visit

 
 
 

We have been spoiled at 88 Pine Street as we had another wonderful visit with a grandparent this weekend. This time it was my mom, who goes by Sammi to the grandkids (long story for another day). Charlie loved every minute of it and is going to go through withdrawal the next few days. He ate even more like a king (even though we didn't think that was possible) and he got pretty much anything he smiled at when we were out and about - including a Red Sox balloon that he's been crawling around the house with. See the pic to the left. He also got his first Halloween costume and will go arctic as a penguin for his first outing. He also got his first snow suit which will come in handy when he and daddy go out in the yard to play in the snow. Charlie got to go out to dinner with Sammi and Grammy at the club and then had dinner with Grampy, Patty, Chris and Sam so it was a fun-filled weekend all around!

Charlie turned 10 months old today! Only two more months until the big 1 year. Latest developments include letting go of whatever he is leaning against when standing (balance is getting better every day), being able to crawl up the stairs, starting to shake his head "no" when you say it, and he seems to be associating da-da and ma-ma somewhat. He can also mimic the whistle sound his play train makes.

Watch out Cupboards

 

 

This week Charlie advanced to being able to actually open the cabinets in the kitchen. What a wonderful development! Our pots, pans, tupperware and cutting boards will be a little less clean for awhile. Charlie took a trip into the big city with me yesterday and had lots of fun at backup day care. He was mesmerized by the big aquarium with all of the bright colored fish and the day care workers were mesmerized by the amount that Charlie ate during the day. Apparently he happily ate lunch for over an hour. Good thing we bought a house with lots of cabinet space because it looks like we will need to buy lots of food! Another development is that Charlie is eating almost exclusive table food. While this is somewhat liberating, it has required far more cooking than I bargained for. Turns out he loves pizza. So he is definitely American. (He ate two whole pieces the other night!)

 

 

 

Papaw came to visit this last weekend and I learned so much! I'm officially the plumber in the house as I helped him fix the bathroom sink. Mommy is so glad I discovered all of the really dirty pipes behind the pedastal sink. I also learned how to install gates (hopefully I don't figure out how to uninstall or open them now). And I can now ram my head into the back of the fireplace in the playroom as much as I want because it is covered in foam. It was a wonderful visit very focused on improving the safety in the house! Although we did make a very important trip to Walmart where Papaw bought me my first toy cars. He noticed I didn't have any and felt that was remiss. The old man can be very clutch...

Since Charlie is standing up against everything and is starting to get brave enough to let go from time to time, safety became a major concern. Walking does not appear too far off. He's also made great progress in eating table food and now can eat almost exclusively table food for many meals. He is starting to reject his baby food - who can blame him? He recently had a doctor's appointment and not surprisingly, he continues to be a good grower. He weighs 23 lbs, 7 oz and is 30 inches tall which put him in the 86th and 92nd percentiles for weight and height respectively. He is still a lot of fun as he'll now play little games like peek-a-boo and race for things (on all fours of course). Hard to imagine he is 9 months already. How time does fly. In any event, he loved seeing his Papaw and is anxiously awaiting Sammy's arrival in a few weeks!

He's turning into a little boy.

It's been a while since I have provided a real update. That is largely because when I'm not chasing Charlie all over the house, I have little energy left for blogging. He is certainly on the go. He has to be one of the fastest crawlers in the East and to top it off, he has started to pull himself up to standing on things. This has lead to the first of many bumps and tumbles, try as I might to catch him. He should be a very tough guy - with a very tough head - when all is said and done. He also surprised us when we went to get him from his crib the other morning to find him sitting up. He hasn't been able to sit up from the laying down position before so this is new. While exciting, it brought about some struggles with going to sleep that we haven't had before. Charlie is addicted to sitting and standing up so no matter how tired he is, he feels uncontrollably compelled to pop up to a sitting or standing position. As you can imagine, that makes it hard for him to sleep. Yesterday, he fell asleep sitting up and then fell forward with his head between his straddled legs and napped like that. Good thing he is flexible. If he doesn't grow out of this soon, we'll have to look into a program for him. Something like AA for sitters/standers.

I also had a moment the other day. I went to pick him up from day care to find him sitting in one of those little red and yellow play cars. Of course Randi was right there with him to ensure he didn't fall, but he had ahold of the steering wheel and just looked like such a little boy. I thought about trying to swaddle him (which would be hilarious). This all goes so fast. You can see how those crazy people in Arkansas ended up with 18 kids. (Fret not, you will not be seeing me on the Today show. I'm just saying...)

So now we are taking bets on when Charlie will be walking. So far by 11 months is the consensus. Since he turns 9 months next week (what???) I guess I've got almost 2 months before I start to really have to run.