Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

As the pies bake in the oven, I thought I'd take a couple minutes to update the blog. First of all, I'm not able to download any recent pictures from my camera. Canon seems to think it is a computer software problem, so now I need to find the time to actually call them, sit on hold, and then have them navigate me through a bunch of stuff that totally confuses me -- so, I put a couple pics up from a few weeks ago until I can get something figured out.

Charlie is now TEN months old! Though he is still sick and suffering from yet another cold and ear infection, he's still our smiley little boy - though these days he prefers to flash those smiles while being held. He pulls himself up to everything now and has even managed to figure out how to get back down. His gums are swollen and those two bottom pearly whites are just waiting to burst through - though I've been saying that for two months. He tries all kinds of table food now, which he LOVES! Some days I think he eats more than Sam. He now takes a bath in the big tub as you will see below, and he has finally starting listening to stories rather than eating the books.

Sam will be three and a half tomorrow! He's such a fun little guy to have around. He loves to talk and asks questions constantly as he tries to soak in everything around him. As any parent knows, this sometimes gets overwhelming. For example, I once overheard Sam ask my dad question after question when finally my dad responded with, "Because Sam. Because is the answer." His favorite things to play with independently are his tools (just like Grandpa Roy) and his flashcards. When we are playing with him, he prefers wrestling, playing bears (one of us is the mommy bear and one is the baby bear - we hibernate and wait for spring to come - and then celebrate when it finally arrives - over and over again - it's really fun - you should try it!), playing school (he likes to be the teacher and quiz us on our letters), and playing memory. He also recently grasped the concepts of addition and subtraction! We are very proud of our little boy:)

As you can see, Charlie definitely gets enough to eat.

Sam was watching Cars. I think that a) Charlie is getting too big for his swing and b) Charlie needs to be placed in a position where he cannot see the tv. Have a wonderful, safe, and relaxing Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 08, 2010

SamTalk

From the kitchen the other day, I told Sam that it was time for him to go upstairs to go potty. He said, "when I'm done, can I come back downstairs and be a turtle again?" I came out into the livingroom to find him like this...


I was playing Super Mario Bros on Wii the other day with Sam. He likes to be Luigi, who he calls "the green guy". By "be Luigi" I mean he randomly pushes buttons on his remote control until Luigi goes to take a nap (i.e. Luigi dies). I was playing rather poorly, and Peter was making fun of me for it. When Mario "went to take a nap," Sam said, "Mommy, you're special. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and it's okay." -- Thanks Yo Gabba Gabba for teaching this very important lesson to our son.
Embarassed by Mom already....
The other morning I was sitting with Sam as he was eating his breakfast, and he informed me that my hair was sticking up. I explained that I hadn't showered or gotten ready for the day yet. A couple minutes later I asked Sam if he wanted to go to Target with me. He said, "Are you going to fix your hair first?"

A New Milestone

Just tonight, Charlie pulled himself to a standing position at the coffee table, completely unassisted! He was so happy, and we were so proud:)

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Poor Charlie

Even though he has a cough, cold, an ear infection, pink eye (including some disgusting eye boogers), and his first tooth coming in - he is still smiling. He's SUCH a good baby:) Hopefully he is on the mend again soon.

Meanwhile, an unexpected day at home gave me some time to get some blogging done - scroll down for six more new posts!

A Frog and a Dalmatian Puppy





Auntie Candy with her niece and two nephews
Josie"bee" and her Mommy

My sweet little puppy and my silly frog
We went to a Halloween party on Friday night. Peter won the award for worst costume. The two Charlies playing ball together.


I think our little Charlie is a bit of a ball hog.






Sever's Corn Maze

We headed to Shakopee to meet my whole family at the Sever's corn maze. It was chilly, but we still had a lot of fun!


I am STILL finding kernels of this corn around my house!
Sam enjoying the giant slide with Uncle Jeremy!

The pig races!

32

Yep. That's my age. Only eight years away from 40! My younger sibs like to make fun of me for being "old". Don't worry - you all aren't that far behind! My birthday celebration was great. Peter and I took Sam to his first play - Charlotte's Web. He was completely enthralled, but he was a little confused about why there weren't "real" animals. Then we went home and picked up Charlie (thanks for watching him, Candy!), and we went out for Vietnamese food for dinner, followed by a trip to Byerly's to pick out a birthday dessert. I should say though, that Sam picked it out - a grasshopper pie. Good choice, Sam!


Peter's Parents' New House

While up north, we also got to see Gary and Peach's new, beautiful home on Whitefish! Thanks for having us for a visit - the boys will have so much fun in the bunk bed room as they grow bigger:)




Dad's Work

My dad has been remodeling my aunt and uncle's cabin up north for some time now. It started with just the studs up for the walls - now it looks just beautiful! I'm glad I finally got the chance to get up there to see it. Nice work, Dad!






Gertens Fall Festival

This is an annual fall family tradition for us, and this year was even more fun because Sam was old enough to enjoy so many of the activities - painting pumpkins, pumpkin bowling, straw maze, haunted house (don't worry, not actually scary), and more!