I crack myself up...

If you're happy and you know it...

...clap your hands!

Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,
not a creature was stiring (except Charlie, like a mouse).

Earlier, Charlie slept nestled all snug in his bed,
while visions of sugar plums, danced in his head.

The stockings were hung with presents under the tree,
can't hardly believe, all of this is for me!

Then I heard Charlie explain as he shook his arms with great might,

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Sweetness...

Christmas in California

Charlie took his third plane ride to California to celebrate Christmas early with family.  An exciting start to his 10th month!  While we were in California he...

drove a tractor...

had two visits from Santa (once while he was snoozing)...

opened presents...

sang Jingle Bells...

and practiced his walking and talking skills. 

What a FUN trip!

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (almost)

We caught a little grinch trying to open his presents early...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

...in Hood River!

Charlie met Santa for the first time today (the first of many more introductions this season I'm sure).

Jail Bird

...good thing we moved the mattress down a few weeks ago.  And, he has already tried to gnaw himself out with his teeth. :-)

New trick

Charlie learned a new trick...how to pull himself to standing.  He's so proud of himself!

Happy Turkey Day!



What a ham! 
Oh wait - it's Thanksgiving... 
I guess it's Charlie's best turkey impression - gobble gobble!



Sleepy Boy

Two days in a row I checked on Charlie while napping and he was in the most peculiar positions...

 SATURDAY

  

SUNDAY

  

N.O. means no

I had no clue he knew what this word meant...I guess now that he's into things more he hears it more often: "no" don't get in the dirty diaper pail, "no" don't pull on the electrical cord... 

However, I'm quite surprised he associated the head shaking with it. 

New tooth

Finally got the other front tooth in...yahoo!  It was a doozie...

Now up to five - on my way to a full set!

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Who's the fairest of them all?

The mirror answered: Thou, Little One, art the fairest of all.

And Charlie was contented because he knew the mirror could speak nothing but the truth.

I'm so cute I could kiss myself...

Don't you agree?

Playtime with Sam

Blue-eyed buddies

Beep Beep

Say Cheese...

...cuz I'm 9 months now! 

Over the past few weeks Charlie has been trying lots of new finger foods - scrambled eggs & shredded cheese are a few of his new favorites.  Surprisingly, most (but not all) makes it into his mouth. 

 

Rub a dub dub

Bubbles in the tub!!!

                             

I'm in the Mooooood for...

...HALLOWEEN!!!  Headed to downtown for my first trip Trick or Treating.



Practicing my scary face...



Do you think anyone would notice if all the candy is gone by morning???

Me and my candy pail...let's fill'er up!

Downtown Hood River - fun fun fun!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!! 



From my little Jack O' Lantern...



Am I big and scary? 





Army Crawl

Charlie is practicing his army crawl to see if he would make a good military fighter.

He goes in for the ambush...

Construction Supervisor

Sunday, we started early in the day to get a house project completed that had been on our "To Do" list for a few years.  We finally made it happen, probably because we now have a construction supervisor to keep us on task. 

Charlie wouldn't let the brisk morning temps deter our motivation.

As the weather warmed up, Charlie made sure he watched our every move.



California Memories

Well, a week has gone by and we still think fondly of our time in California.  Here are some of our favorite moments...

Baby Stages

We had a great time this past weekend in California.  I will post more pics as the week goes by and I can find some spare time.  However, right now I'll get to the highlight of the weekend -- Charlie is almost...practically...just about...crawling!!  Not sure if I should really be excited about that (which means watching him like a hawk at all times) but it is neat to watch it progress right in front of your eyes. 

It also makes me reflect on the baby stages of other animals.  Just the day before this video was taken, we were visiting the dairy and witnessed a baby calf struggle to find its balance and strength to walk.  Not too different from Charlie, who is doing the same on four limbs of his own.

Now Charlie...

Meal Time Munchies



Eyeing his prey...(aka cereal puffs)




In for the kill...




Down the hatch with the help of his new top tooth
 (Charlie has four teeth in now - two on top and two on bottom - with his other front tooth on its way)