Charlie's Blog

Late Summer Bliss

2010-09-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

Beautiful September evening in the park! We weren't really prepared to play in fountains so Charlie just got all his clothes soaked. He was carried back to the car naked, dripping, and all wrapped up in Dennis' over shirt.

20 months is F U N !!!

2010-07-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post with some new videos and photos.

Charlie with his new friend Tayden (the son of one of Dennis' closest childhood friends)

Some photos from Chautauqua Park, Boulder. ... we had some time to kill before meeting a friend so what better way to spend it than hanging out at Chautauqua

Fianlly, the rest of the Santa Fe album

2010-06-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

Karen taking Charlie for a quick dip in the hot tub - didn't last too long...

Outside a very Santa Fe type shop... Karen and Charlie (in stroller) are just to the right of the building.

Exploring some new hidden spots at the El Rey Inn

Shopping.... do you like the shoes?

Big Head Charlie... checking out the plaza

A True Irishman

2010-06-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

Dance, dance, dance, sip beverage, dance, sip beverage, fall down.....

I will try to remember in the future to only video horizontally... sorry.

Santa Fe.. part two... Sandwich Mayhem

2010-05-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

Okay so maybe I'm evil to give my kid something that he will clearly struggle with but heck.... do you blame me - the photos are funny!
For our first meal 'out' in Santa Fe we chose the little crepe place near the Plaza and had amazing grilled cheese with tomatoes and olives... oh, and crepes for dessert.

Sorry about the red eyes but if I didn't post until I had photoshopped them you wouldn't see them for months. Oh, and soak up the funny hair photos now because I chopped most of it off yesterday (don't worry - he is still the cutest kid in Centennial).

Santa Fe Fun! ...part one of three

2010-05-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not we finally have video! Okay, so it was taken with my phone and is really sketchy but still... it is video.

These shots are all from a wonderful playground near 'downtown' Santa Fe. I hesitate to call it a playground because it was 1/3 playground, 1/3 art installation, and 1/3 landscape design but regardless, it was FUN! Charlie especially loved this little twirly bucket seat. I am very sorry to say that I didn't get a video of him after getting out of the seat (crazy dizzy = crazy funny)

Swimming lessons

2010-05-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

Swimming lessons pictures.

Additional commentary coming soon...but we think the pictures tell the story pretty well.

BEWARE the WATER MONSTER! ARRRRRRRG!

Play Ball

2010-04-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

It has been rainy and cold for days so when the sun finally came back out the Vander Houwens headed to the park.

Charlie didn't even make it home before wanting to lay down for his nap - playing ball is exhausting!

A posting for Grandpa

2010-04-20T08:15:00.001-07:00

This week we wanted to post a few pictures for Charlie's Grandpa who has been working in Brazil. We're sure that he is missing Charlie and we know that this might be just the pick me up he might need. So these pictures are for you Steve. Hope you enjoy them and know that we all miss you here.

We start with some pictures of Charlie at our neighborhood park. He has a regular ritual now at the park where he has to ride on the swing, go up and down the slide and check out any of the new kids that might be hanging out at the park that day too.

This day Charlie met a very nice little boy named Noah who was about the same age as Charlie. It was nice to see Charlie interacting with another boy his age. He and Noah explored the whole playground together then finally settled in at this little table for a chat about the nice weather and the cost of tea in China.

Up to the mountains!

And now a trip up to the mountains. Charlie was having a lot of fun running around on the deck. He loves being up in the mountains. It was a great day for chasing dad around the deck while mom and grandma were out shopping.

We all had fun and the weather was quite nice. Sure it snowed a little and we had a some overcast mornings but it always cleared up and I was able to go out and go fishing on the river and caught a nice fish too.

.....But I digress about fishing. Back to Charlie...

Charlie still isn't saying much more than a "maamaa" or a "daadaa" but he is certainly exploring other areas of development at amazing speeds.

He got a great wooden train set from family friends Dennis and Kathleen Digullio and loves to take apart the track that I put together before I can complete a whole loop. He's a lot like a Godzilla in that senario.

Michelle has taken to likening him to being in a "racooon" stage of his developement. He is picking up everything in his reach, checking it out, tasting it and putting it aside. He's into everything and you can't turn your back on him for a minute or he will be on top of the kitchen table.

With that in mind here's a picture of Charlie at the fireplace with a box of pinecones that he collected.

I'll close this posting here with a few more pictures. We hope you enjoy them and expect to see more soon.

Feeding Frenzy

2010-04-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is a series of photos which I took the other day at CB Potts... they illustrate perfectly Charlie's new love of dipping sauces.

Easter at Aunt Jane's... Charlie didn't really want to 'hunt' for the eggs, much to his 'cousin's' dismay, but he did enjoy shaking then and discovering the sugary choking hazards inside.

We can see spring from here I think!

2010-03-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

Wanted to throw a few more recent pics of Charlie up for everyone to see. Spring is almost here in Denver much of the snow is melting and the days are definately getting warmer. This makes for some great oportunities to get out and do some stuff outdoors with Charlie. We'll start with a trip Charlie and I took to scout out the location of the Waterton Canyon Trailhead. I am going fly fishing there tomorrow so of course we had to know where the parking lot was. There was plenty of mud to play in and as you can see Charlie found a few puddles to break his suede shoes in on.

It was a little windy but that didn't stop charlie from running around and finding sticks to put in his mouth.

Baths are a big hit still at our house with Charlie. He can't get enough of them and after our muddy trip he kinda needed one.

Michelle made some cookies from a store bought mix this is only one of maybe threee that actually got eaten the rest ended up in the compost pile as unedible. Best just stick to making them from scratch.

Naps are still a requirement around here. Charlie is now fully settled in with his stuffed animals all around him. Yeah he's got his dad's belly and his mom's bed head.

The last bunch of pictures are from our morning walk today. We have two great parks near our new house to choose from. This is what we call the "Big park". It has some great toys to play on and is a little further from us than the "little park". Charlie loves the slide and this is a great oportunity for him to see other kids his size.

The boy loves a good stick.

That's it for now...We'll be posting some picks of the new house very soon. Still getting some things out of boxes and pictures hung on the walls. The backyard is starting to hint at hidden plants and flowers that are about to come out. I got our mini pond and fountain up and running and will now need to get a fence to run around it to keep Charlie from swimming in it. Oh and we think we are going to set up swimming lessons in April so look for those pics to come soon too.

Its about time....

2010-02-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

Charlie will be 16 months old in a few days! He is walking, running, climbing, chasing, pulling tails, head butting (hard), throwing the occasional tantrum and generally exceeding expectations in very area but speech. Still no words (unless you count the occasional Dada or Mama).

Things have been crazy here at the Vander Houwen house... mainly due to the Vander Houwen house being a new Vander Houwen house! Pictures soon to come but first, and more importantly, pictures of the boy.

Charlie has to wear a lot of different hats around here....

Misc. other photos...

And now for some "walking in a winter wonderland!"

2009-12-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

We got a good dump of snow last night and the timing couldn't be better. I had spent the whole day yesterday plotting and scheming on how I was going to make Charlie a really cool Christmas present. I had been out the day before and looking at all the crap that is made in China and just didn't have the personal touch I felt a gift for Charlie should have. I didn't want to buy him something that would just get tossed out later. I wanted to give him something that each year as he got older we could make just little better. So I built him a sled.

Here he is with Michelle

today she is playing the part of

the green booted sleigh horse.

I added the bolted on rubbermaid bucket for now but it will eventually come off as he gets older.
Charlie fits perfectly and was comfy with his blanket and pillow.

Here he is with his other sleigh horse.

We have a nice slightly steep grade (but not too steep) on our street that really put the sled to a test.

A trip around the block was fun!

mmmmm. This tastes like candy!

Well the snow is soon supposed to melt but we're sure to get more later. This is Denver afterall. We hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season. We're taking it easy for now and waiting things out until January when we get our new house. I haven't looked yet but I wonder if there is a good place to go sledding there.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM

DENNIS, MICHELLE AND CHARLIE!

Let's get everyone caught up shall we?

2009-11-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

So in the last few months we have gotten a little distracted. Both with work and big life changes happening all around us. I have been seriously scolded my many of you and in reply will now post a whole bunch of photos for you. Please be aware that our lives are in huge flux right now and we will try to keep you all posted with the changes as they occur.

Pumpkin patch

Out of this world Birthday Bash!

Some other random fall pics... note the cute plaid pants Michelle made

HE IS WALKING!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Charlie took his first series of steps yesterday... he walked about five feet before falling but was not deterred. He kept trying so I have no doubt that within a few days he will crossing the room.

(Dennis is working on getting some video downloaded).

Charlie spent about three days this past week with his Aunt Karen. Below are a few photos from our excursion to the Denver Aquarium with Grandma.

We also spent a few days with our friend Dave... for some reason there are no pictures but I'm sure that he will be back soon for a bit more fishing so, never fear... there will be photos of Charlie and his Uncle Dave soon enough. Thanks to Dave Charlie (and I) had our first tastes of fresh rainbow trout.

I did manage a photo from last night's dinner with Andy and David. They are moving to LA (today) so we had to squeeze in one last trip to to our favorite pizza place before they left. I suspect the next pictures of Charlie with them will be at Disney Land - Hooray. They have generously offered us a place to stay anytime we want to go visit the big mouse.

Summer's not quite gone yet if you ask us.

2009-09-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sure it's officially fall but you couldn't tell it from our front yard today. Upper 70's I'd bet ya!Today was a great day to get outside and enjoy the sunny weather. Also an excellent day for a quick photo shoot of everyone's favorite curly headed giggle-face. After I mowed the lawn we decided to let Charlie explore a little bit of the flower beds. He loved the flavor of the marigolds but we are still questioning his behavior at dinner where he seemed to be hallucinating and listening to voices from the dinner table. Sorry no photo available on that one. But we did get a few really nice pics. Here they are...

Ripping up the marigolds...

Just helping you reseed them dad!

Learning all about the flowers and which ones mom and dad will let me taste. A very intense little hortoculturist we have.

Nothing like the smell of fresh cut grass!

She loves me...she loves me not...she loves me....

So warm I'd better stay hydrated. Also need to wash that funny
marigold taste out of my mouth!

Mommy I sure love being outside with you and dad.

Do you think it could be summer for a little longer?

up up up up!

Oh no!

That was fun! lets do it again!

B-day wish list

2009-09-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry if this is tacky but I don't know how else to let you all know what sorts of things Charlie needs/ wants. Let us know if you get Charlie one of these things but not from Amazon so we can be sure to take if off the wish list.

Here is the link to Charles Vander Houwen's Amazon wish list...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2I0I14MZUOIS8

40 days and 40 nights until Charlie's first B-day

2009-09-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Charlie fans!!!

Mama Michelle here....

Wow, time flies and Charlie will be walking in no time. His grandma Cheryl, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Simon are all flying out for his 1st and we are hoping that they will see him walk. It really amazes me to watch him. This week he has figured out how to get the rings back onto the stacking toy, he is pushing things (like diaper boxes) around while walking behind them, I finally saw him step down backwards off a step, and, he gets better and better at feeding himself (see pictures). He is reading (rather looking at books and turning the pages very carefully), he is waving (all be it backwards), and he is even attempting gymnastics (off the changing table)... he is very advanced!!!

I have been working hard but have found a bit of time to start planning Charlie's big birthday bash (yes, I know he won't remember it). I think that I will make Charles an Amazon.com wish list... just in case you are wondering what he needs... well, he doesn't need anything but.... just in case.

Charles has encountered some LARGE animals recently and adopted a very small one. First he and I went up to visit some friends of mine at their new home in NE Colorado. Ginger and Travis have a 105lb black lab. Charlie let him lick his ear (multiple times) without even flinching. Since he was okay with Porter I decided to really test things. Charlie took my parents and I to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs and he was within a foot or two of a giraffe's head (and 16" tongue) and Charlie didn't mind a bit. This was a great adventure and Charles and I decided immediately that we will have to go back with Dad. The entire zoo is amazing... if only it weren't in Colorado Springs.

The new small animal in Charlie's life is a bunny (hopefully a magic bunny). Dennis had a contest to name her and the winning name... (she will be long gone before Charlie can spell this) is.... Gossamer Pippinpoof III

I hope you enjoy these photos and have been enjoying them all year... we have been blogging for over a year now and I'm so glad. It is great fun to look back at how much my boy has grown... (and the pictures of me pregnant are pretty amusing too).

We have been a bit better this round about keeping the camera handy and catching some great moments.

Charlie communicating with monkeys at the Denver Zoo.

A flower as big as Charlie's big head (Denver Zoo)

Charlie's first Crepe (one of Dennis' specialties)... liked the crepe, the cream cheese and the peach but not so keen on the raspberries

Gossamer

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa

Charlie's delight in discovering the joy of matzo balls....

and then we added a bit of Grandma's brisket... he is his Grandfather's boy!

10 Months Old Already!!!

2009-08-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Wow.. it has been a while... a very busy while! Since we last wrote quite a bit has happened.

1. Charlie can climb an entire set of stairs but, unfortunately, can not make it down one without falling on his nose.
2. Charlie has his first tooth with first appeared about a week ago.
3. Charlie got to visit with his big sis who came out to visit for 2.5 weeks (she just left on Saturday). It was great to have her here. She is amazing with Charlie and it means the world to us that she wants to be part of his life.
4. Charlie went to the doctors office twice.... once was for his nine month check up... just after we last wrote. Charlie is still perfect... in approximately the 60th percentile for weight, the 80th for height and the 95th for head circumference.
The second doctors visit was a bit more traumatic. Dalai, our sweet, loving little dog, freaked out when Charlie tried to grab one of her treats and bit him on the mouth (muzzle). Charlie is fine but we had to find a new home for Dalai where she no longer has to compete for attention with a babe. We tried training, we tried dog psychology but, alas, Dalai needs to be far from babies and, she is now. Ours was no longer the best home for her... one of the hardest things I've ever had to do was admitting this. The decision was perfectly clear from the moment she bit Charlie... that didn't make delivering into someone else's hands any easier. She was a GREAT dog for six GREAT years and we miss her terribly.
5. Charlie is standing on his own for about 30 seconds, he is crawling at lightening speed, he is walking along furniture and, he is NOT afraid of heights! We have set up a huge fenced in play area in the basement and we have barricaded in the living room so that he won't crack his scull open when we turn away for half an instant. I'm sure that some babies and parents can do without all the gates but not Charlie, not us and not in this danger zone of a house.
6. Charlie is eating Cheerios and other little chunks... banana, Gerber puffs, cantaloupe etc. etc. - he is growing up SO fast!
7. Charlie is thinking of becoming an electrician... this can be noted from his extreme interest in outlets!!!

So you need some photos eh? Well Charlie and I went to the park today and had a little photo shoot. There are a lot more to come but for now these were what I had time to edit for the blog.

Hooray! The pool is open!

2009-07-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

After a series of trips and adventures and maintenance problems with the pool, Charlie's Grandma and Grandpa finally got the pool open. The weather was perfect and the pool heater had kicked in to bring the temp up to a very comfortable 85ish degrees. Charlie, Michelle and I all slipped into our swimming suits, grabbed the point and shoot and took the plunge.

Here we see Charlie touching down into the water. He isn't quite sure about it at first but has his shovel as a handy tool if he needs it to bail the water out of the pool. He decided quickly that he realy would like to use his inflateable swim saucer.

Still not completely convinced yet not really panicing Charlie Started to warm up to the idea of floating along so long as he could still hold his trusty bailing shovel.

Ahhhhh! That feels great! I'm not real sure...

But I think that Charlie thinks Pool is spelled "P-P-O-O-L "

...Well with that out of the way...

Charlie really became quite comfortable in his first swimming experieince.

Unfortunatley he may have stayed in too long as his feet started to absorb water as you can see in this photo here.

Don't worry son... I'm sure your feet will wring out just fine!

Here we are 2 dudes from muscle beach drying off in the afternoon sun.

Charlie looks like he is ready to hit the pool again but I think he is still a little worried about his waterlogged feet. He's hiding them here in this picture.

I'm not sure he will be the next olympic superstar...

...but I do know that is one totally beyond cute photo of our little swimmer!

The End.

July update.

2009-07-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

Finally!!!
Here are some pictures for everyone. Most of them are of our trip to Denver's 'Wildlife Experience' for my (mom's) birthday.
Dennis tried to get some video downloaded onto the blog but it isn't working... bummer. We will keep trying... we may even have to ask a computer savvy friend for help.

I would love for you to see how in a mere two weeks Charlie has learned to crawl, sit up on his own, pull himself up to standing, feed himself sweet potato puffs with his hands, etc. etc.
In other words... he is getting many bumps and bruises but we are preventing all that we can and we are there to kiss the 'owies' that slip though our fingers. He is learning at an unbelievable rate. If he keeps this up he might be a concert pianist by age 8... never mind that we don't have a piano.

Since we have to watch like hawks when Charlie is free to move we occasionally have to 'immobilize' him in one of two fabulous new toys. Charlie has a new exersauser and, even better, a swing. He loves 'hanging out' in the swing so much that he has even fallen asleep in it. So far we can move it to two different locations outside of the house and I'm working on a way to hook it up under the stairs in the living room.
A happy Charlie who can't do anything to injure himself is a precious thing indeed!

Charlie riding a wolf! Top that Kandace!!!!!!!

Charlie watching some fish (one of his favorite pasttimes).

Quick, veer to the left.

Charlie and his dad posing with a Steve Goodman original on display at the Wildlife Experience

In the swing.... see how happy!!!

Charlie standing and having a 'chat' with a very scary baboon.

These photos were taken during breakfast with Aunt Karen at Einsteins just before she left for Australia and New Zealand (he misses you Karen). The shirt says "Captain Adorable" in case any of you were wondering.

CRAWLING!

2009-06-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

Dennis is working on some video to add to this post but in the mean time I had to let everyone know. Charlie is crawling. I have been home for weeks and I just went back to work today... Murphy's Law... Charlie was crawling when I got home.
He only gets a yard or two before falling on his nose but I'm sure that by the time my parent's get home from Iceland on Monday he will have crawling mastered.

Still no teeth.

Charlie has a new smile... he scrunches up his nose, squints his eyes and grins from ear to ear. It is the CUTEST! He is going to be a charmer... or the class clown... either way he will be entertaining! He elicits smiles wherever he goes.. already.

So much to tell...

2009-06-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sitting up, log rolling, scooting backwards, getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth... this boy is ready to move!

Thankfully he isn't crawling yet because the baby gate for the stairs doesn't go on sale until Friday ;)

Charlie is really starting to develop by leaps and bounds. Everyday he is doing something new. He is eating all sorts of fruits, veggies and grains with no signs of any allergies yet, he is grabbing, punching, whacking and pulling all with great force and he is babbling like a maniac. Sometimes this babbling is extremely loud (usually in quiet restaurants) and sometimes he speaks very softly and gently as if he is telling a nice little story - this is my favorite!!! I wish you could all hear his beautiful little voice.

He has had a great many adventures and met many new people since our last posting so we'll sum everything up into a photo montage.

This is me in my favorite bathtub... it's a big inflatable duck that my friend Chris got for me...

Here I am in my stroller at the zoo... I've been there about 100 times already!

These are a few pictures of my last trip up to the cabin... I sure do like Dad's fishing hat.

up to Steamboat for the Weekend

2009-05-15T04:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted to quickly post some photos since I have a minute and Charlie hasn't given Dennis much time to get to it this week.

Two of these photos have little to do with Charlie except that they are proof of his Dad's photography talents... which he might be lucky enough to have inherited.
The final shot here is the long awaited one of my dad playing the guitar for Charlie. He was singing a song he used to sing to Karen and I. While he was singing Dennis and Karen were in the kitchen making crepes!!! Lucky moms.
Thanks Dad! Great Mom's day gift!
And thank you Karen for letting us come up and enjoy your sunny porch (and for the super cool organic gardening book).

An update with photos..

2009-05-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

We know it has been a while now since we posted so we thought we had better get everyone caught up. So here goes...

What we've been up to in general...
Michelle, Charlie and I have all been keeping fairly busy. Michelle is working on her second of two big mural jobs at two different daycares. She is putting in a lot of hours and I am sticking around with Charlie during most of the days. On the days that I work at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences doing my standardized patient work Charlie gets to spend some fun time with his Grandma Pat. As for magic shows I have been working my restaurant shifts on Monday and Thursday nights and taking whatever work I can on the weekends. My buddy Steve and I are working on doing several public shows this summer so there is plenty of planning and stuff to do there too. But enough of that...

It's all about time management isn't it?

(That and trying out new foods like carrots and bananas)

We are really having a time of time management but we are slowly working out the details. For instance I am up tonight doing the blog while Michelle goes to bed relatively early. She will get up at 4am to do some mural design projecting and prep for her day at the daycare while Charlie and I sleep until about 7am. When we get up she will get a little time with Charlie while I grumble and turn on my coffee pot and then perhaps take a shower or mix up some cereal for Charlie..This part of the morning I must admit is still a little fuzzy for me until that first cup of coffee kicks in. I'll feed Charlie a little cereal and then change him for easily the 3rd time that morning he'll have a small bottle and then hopefully take his morning nap for (hopefully) at least 40 minutes, but as long as an hour and a half if I'm lucky. This is my window to do any computer work, kitchen clean up or household chores. More likely I will post my status on Facebook and then get caught up on my e-mails. I have to take what oportunity I have to get as much done as possible. This is where I'm trying to be more efficient. The rest of the day is spent playing with Charlie, changing diapers, feeding him, putting him down for a nap, etc. When Michelle comes home we sometimes get some good family time in. It's not a perfect system but it is shaping up. If I work that evening I get ready for work. If not hooray and we can talk about our day, get some yardwork done, make some dinner and see what netflix has sent us. This system as you can probably tell is still in flux and is working out some...well...let's call them "Challenges" for now.

All this being said..

Charlie continues to grow and develops his skills more and more every week. I was just noticing tonight that he is getting much better about putting his pacifier into his mouth right side up. He had his 6 month check up last week and his doctor tells us he is still a brilliant "genius" however he is dropping back in his percentiles on growth. He weighed in at 19.5 lbs. We have started to feed him solid foods (slowly at first) for 3 meals a day. This is kind of hit and miss lately as he sometimes just can't get in the mood for He is grabbing for things and using his hands so much. Of course everything goes into his mouth. He isn't crawling yet but likes to roll around from belly to back and he gets frustrated when he can't reach a toy. Those knees will start propelling him soon I fear and then look out!

A visit from Charlie's best baby buddy!Last Sunday our good friend Chris Campbell finally brough over her 4 month old son, Nicolas for a playdate and "get to know you reception." We have been trying to get Chris, her husband Mathew and Nicolas over for so long now. They are every bit as busy as we are. The visit went wonderfully. The boys really hit it off and got to know each other a little. The day included a walk over to Chipotle for lunch with the moms while I was away at a birthday party. It was a fun afternoon for everyone.

Take your family to work day...
This last Tuesday Charlie and I went to work with Michelle so I could help her out with the mural job a little and so we could have some time together even if it was working. It was a lot of fun actually. Charlie continues to be the best baby in the world. Happy as can be on his blanket and with a daycare full of toys he had plenty to do. We got quite a bit done that day. Charlie and I think we would like to do this again sometime in the near future.
Here is a sneek peak at one of Michelle's murals

Thank goodness I don't have to go to a daycare but they sure are fun to visit!

Finally...

We hope to get away for Mother's day weekend. We are heading up to Michelle's Sister's house in Steamboat springs for the weekend where we will meet up also with her parents. I am hoping to catch up with an old high school classmate who lives there and just take in some mountain air.

Michelle really deserves the break. She is working so hard for our family these days. We feel fortunate that she has had this current work as my business stuff has slowed a little. We're working things out day by day. That's all we can do anyway right? Until next time...Oh and I've added a few more closing pictures to satisfy your Charlie cravings for just a little while longer.

this has got to be one of my all time favorites now..>

That's all for now Folks!

6 months!!!

2009-04-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

WOW, time flies! Another six months and we will hardly be able to keep up with the boy... eeeks

Charlie's lesson of the week: My crib is kind of cool... it is all mine! No snoring Dad, restless mom or stinky puppy to share it with... just a few toys... which, as my friends, are welcome companions.

Parental lesson of the week: The Johnny Jump Up is a bad idea around 10am (poop time). Charlie, with no concern for his brand new pants (handmade by mom) pooped the most amazing poop just moments after being put in it the other day and the JJU resulted in extreme splatter... diaper, shirt, one very soaked pant leg and a large puddle on the hard wood floor... thank goodness he wasn't on the carpet!

Most memorable adventure this week: Income tax... Charlie went with me to Amy's office to help her and her gang get through the final push to April 15th. Charlie was a great help. He learned all about filing (but decided he should learn the alphabet first) and telephone etiquette.

Moment we could only get away with because Charlie couldn't stop us: mashed bananas!!!
Simple moment of the week: Sitting in Charlie's room at bedtime and listening to him put himself to sleep... giggling, grunting, and finally crashing

Scariest or most frustrating moment this week: Just the constant dilemma... how much time to spend making money to support Charlie and how much time to spend playing with him and helping him grow and learn... there is a delicate balance... I'm not sure that we will ever figure it out.

Deep thoughts of the week (by Charlie): Religion makes people do strange things! Not really sure about all these holidays... First we sat around the table at Grandma and Grandpa's reading a book backwards. Second, we were busy coloring eggs... why would anyone color an egg?

Photos of the week:

"This is my dad's WSU hat.. I like it!"

Where in the world did Charlie get those eyes???

Seattle in a Nut Shell

2009-04-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Charlie's lesson of the week: rice cereal... very diluted (spit up most of it) and, new this evening... scooting backwards six inches before having a meltdown

Parental lesson of the week: anticipation is overrated! Charlie was a perfect angel both to and from Seattle on the plane and he loved all his new friends!

Most memorable adventure this week: The entire week in Seattle but, alas, IKEA was AWESOME!!!

Moment we could only get away with because Charlie couldn't stop us: Nursing in front of Charlie's cousins... how embarrassing (and hilarious)

Simple moment of the week: Charlie crashed out in his dad's arms on the flight home and watching Kandace hold and calm her baby brother - Charlie loves his big sis and is perfectly at home in her arms.

Scariest or most frustrating moment this week: Honestly, there wasn't one... I was anticipating so much and Charlie was an angel

Deep thoughts of the week (by Charlie): I'm sick of being called an angel!

Photo of the week: Oh so many...

Growing

2009-03-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

Charlie's lesson of the week: Charlie is starting to mimic us pounding on things and clapping, he is becoming quite the log roll expert and he is reaching for toys, people etc.

Parental lesson of the week: Everyone told me that once Charlie was born my life would change. It has but more importantly, I have changed. My priorities are different, my work ethic is different, Charlie trumps everyone - always. I don't feel like I'm loosing myself to being a mom I feel that I have a more clear sense of self every day. I'm not sure how this is a lesson... more of a realization.

Most memorable adventure this week: Babies-R-Us with Grandma - Charlie got teething toys, a high chair and a mobile for grandma's house, a new blankie, some super cute socks and much much more

Moment we could only get away with because Charlie couldn't stop us: My leaving the house every morning after having been home only long enough to sleep.

Simple moment of the week: Breakfast Sunday morning with Kate's parents... after a 70 hour work week Charlie and I couldn't stop smiling at each other.

Scariest or most frustrating moment this week: Charlie had to do a 'barium swallow' today. It stunk!!! We had to hold him under an x-ray like machine while a tech forced him to swallow this gunk so that they could see his digestive tract working. They were checking for reflux or any other abnormalities. This, all because he occasionally has milk come out his nose when he eats (only when he breast feeds and only when his head is in a very specific position). Well, after ten minutes that felt like an hour they told us what we already knew... Charlie is perfect. On a positive note... Charlie looked just like a mini wizard in his little purple hospital gown.

Deep thoughts of the week (by Charlie): Pooping barium feels funny.

Photo of the week: Please pardon the photo quality.... these were taken with my phone... more photos to come soon

Coming up on 5 months fast!

2009-03-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hi! Dennis here...We really are liking this new format for the blog. It seems to be a great way to keep track of stuff that is going on. We hope you like it too. Charlie is growing so fast. We're amazed that he is almost 5 months old already! That being said...here's your weekly update and a photo or two.

Charlie's lesson of the week: "This slobber in my mouth makes really cool bubbles." Charlie is a gurgling, frothing, bubble maker lately. I am sure this has to do with the excessive drooling that has resulted from his starting to teeth a little. What else do you do with all that extra saliva...You make bubbles of course.

Parental lesson of the week: Charlie knows when you need to get work done. He must know because whenever I go to get on the computer to send out a confirmation or write an invoice he starts to fuss. He fell asleep the other day and I was sure I was going to get some work done. NOPE! Just as I tough my fingers to the keyboard he starts whining in the other room. Michelle and I came up with a pretty good solution. We put him in his "highchair" and set him where he can watch us. I also found out today that our battery operated back massager is a cool toy on his tray. It spins around like a little robot and Charlie really likes it. Now if I can stop watching him playing with it I may get some work done.

Most memorable adventure this week: With mom out working her tail off doing the murals at the daycare Charlie and I decided to take a little adventure. We put on his fleece dinosaur hat and loaded him into the stroller for a trip to our neighborhood park. A park we affectionately call "dinosaur park" because of the giant dinosaur that is there for the kids to crawl all over. Now Charlie is still too young to really play on this but I took him out of the stroller long enough to snap a picture of him in the mouth of the giant dino and send it to Michelle. We try to keep her up to speed on our daily activities with text photos.

Charlie couldn't stop us: My experiment this week with the boy was to see how well he could sit up on his own. I put him in the center of a bed and got him settled in. I then just watched him fall over backwards or from one side to the other. I was quite surprised that he sat up pretty well.

Scariest or most frustrating moment this week: Michelle is really putting the hours in on this latest mural job. I would have to say the most difficult thing I can see we are facing is that Michelle is feeling like she is missing so much of his little moments. I really appreciate all the work she is doing. I know how much I miss him when I have to go and work for just a few hours. I can't imagine the whole day. I love just being here at home together with them and sharing the time we can.

Deep thoughts of the week (by Charlie): Twisting and rolling is kind of fun. Not as fun as flailing outward in any direction that mom or dad isn't expecting. I wonder if gravity applies to me too?

Photo of the week: Okay it was a banner week for photos so here are a couple.

What a happy baby and he has so much personality! See you next week!

Weekly Milestones

2009-03-08T14:03:00.001-07:00

After a few weeks of working at least forty hours I am really starting to miss my boy. When I do spend 'quality' time with him I am noticing that he is growing by leaps and bounds while I'm not looking. Since I am not seeing all the little struggles in between the accomplishments those accomplishments seem to be coming one right after the other. In response to this I have decided to start keeping better track of each week's milestones. This way I'm a bit less likely to wake up one morning to Charlie walking and talking totally unsure of how he got there.

So, here is my new list of weekly categories (inspired by facebook)...

Charlie's lesson of the week:
Walls and coffee tables can not be pushed out of the way - no matter how hard you grunt. If you roll into one of these objects you are stuck... crying is your only option. (Charlie has not yet figured out that he can just roll back the way he came)

Parental lesson of the week:
When taking Charlie out it is best to pack enough diapers. Otherwise you might have to buy some cheap ones from Rite Aide... after the first blowout you will understand why it is best to buy the name brands.

Most memorable adventure this week:
There were a bunch of notable adventures this week....
Charlie got to meet our friend Rodona Fields, spit up at Kelley Forrester and beat Kelley and her beau Craig at Trivial Pursuit all in one fun filled evening. He took Dennis and I to the zoo where we met Grandma and he insisted on having a bit of lunch by Duck Lake. And, Charlie had to get all bundled up for a trip up the hill to watch me paint some offices in Evergreen.

Moment we could only get away with because Charlie couldn't stop us:
My parents and I singing a rousing rendition of Aiken Drum after dinner on Thursday night.

Simple moment of the week:
Watching Charlie discover what splashing in the tub is all about... FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Scariest or most frustrating moment this week:
My learning that no matter how much I want to be with Charlie, taking him with me to work is a bad idea. Better that I get the work done in half the time and come home to hold him. Big time bummer!!!

Deep thoughts of the week (by Charlie):
Does my bunny taste better than the caterpillar or does the caterpillar taste better than the bunny?...or perhaps the moose is best.

Photo of the week:

Tie Dye Charlie

2009-03-04T16:23:00.001-08:00

SMILE!

Perfect in Every Way

2009-02-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

Charles had his four month 'well visit' with Dr. Jenny this morning. He is 17lbs 3oz, 2' 2.5" and he is, and I quote, "perfect in every way". He is in the 87th percentile for his weight and the 92nd percentile for height. He looks chubby but this is perfectly normal for a breast fed baby. Apparently my milk becomes less fatty and he can be expected to slim down during the second half of his first year
The best news is that he is doing everything on today's 'developmental checklist'. Babies only doing half of these things are still considered 'on track' developmentally so Charlie is, and I quote again, "a genius'.

Time for me to eat (Dennis made chicken enchiladas) so that I can keep feeding Charlie his genius juice.

4 months old and 2 days

2009-02-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

Here is the first of a many more photos I hope to be posting soon!
This is the sepia edition of this shot.

Charlie continues to grow and add to our lives lots of smiles, and laughs. He is starting to make more screechy like noises and is experimenting with his range of tones.

almost 4 months

2009-02-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

I know that Dennis will be posting some new photos soon (Charlie will be four months old in two days) but I just had to post a quick update.

Yesterday Charlie did two amazing things...

He grabbed his feet for the first time and he rolled over (back to belly) on a hard surface, without help. (He had rolled over on our bed but the fluff helped a bit.)

My little boy is getting so big!

Happy hearts, jewelry and chocolate merchandising day!

2009-02-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

We hope you love the day!

Finally, a photo of Charlie and his Grandma

2009-02-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is a pretty silly photo which Dennis took with his new phone the other day. It is hardly 'blog worthy' and I imagine that my mom will insist that I remove it promptly but... there are no photos on here of Charlie with his Grandma so, until we get a better one, this stays!

As you can see in the background there is a bit of painting going on at Grandma and Grandpa's... unfortunately it has become a huge fiasco (I didn't recommend the guys doing it and, if I had they would have been finished three weeks ago). That is a plastic drop cloth over the fireplace which, strangely, did not prevent the guys from spattering the brick work with paint.... argggh.

The colors are nice though, I did pick those out. ;)

2009-01-30T17:02:00.000-08:00

I have to post this time lapse video which a friend just posted on facebook... This is not Charlie but, it is a Charlie. It does illustrate how busy we will be, how much baby proofing we have yet to do and, how much fun we are going to have... I can't wait!!!

Bath Time plus...

2009-01-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

Cutie Pie

2009-01-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

This is a pic that Dennis took yesterday and, apparently, photo-shopped today while I was working. I love it so I thought I would post it and let you love it too.

Charlie is doing very well. I just looked up some 'developmental milestones' on line and I have decided that my boy is way ahead of schedule... of course, I'm a bit biased. He is now officially in 6 month clothing (the second big basket of clothes just made it's way over to little Nicholas Campbell - Chris' five week old son). I reorganized Charlie's closet and I'm a bit worried.. all his 9 month stuff is for summer. I think he might outgrow it before the weather really warms up. Oh well. I foresee more trips to ARC and Goodwill in my future.

Must sign off and go change a diaper... Prince Charles calls...

Just a quick picture of Charlie on inaguration day.

2009-01-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

We watched the inaguration at our friends Carolyn and Joseph's house this morning. Took Charlie along for the historical event and he just couldn't be bothered much. When we got home the whole experience seems to of caught up with him. As you can see he did wear his Obama Progress onesie!

One tough Week

2009-01-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

Here is Charlie after his hardest week yet... obviously not fazed by the trauma. Charlie started coughing a week and a half ago (Friday night) and by Monday we had him at the doctors office. Dr. Jenny diagnosed him as having brociolitis. She told us to keep an eye on his breathing which we did and, as a result, we rushed to the hospital at 3:30 Tuesday morning. To our surprise they admitted him and the Vander Houwens spent the next two nights at the Children's Hospital satellite at St. Joe's. We came home on Thursday with oxygen which we finally got to stop using this Monday when Charlie saw Dr. Jenny again and she tested his oxygen levels while eating and sleeping. He passed his test. Although this was all very stressful Charlie did well. Infants with RSV (which is the virus he had) usually wind in the hospital for 2 to 7 days... he was there for two. He is a strong little guy... well not so little... his weighed in at 14lb 11oz on Monday.

Below are a few pics from the hospital as well as of his new trick... rolling from his belly to his back. He hasn't rolled from his back to his belly yet - I don't think he has much motivation to try - he likes being on his back.

This last picture is of Charlie's magic toe (the pulse ox)

Now for my latest trick...

A winter wonderland in the mountains

2008-12-27T17:09:00.000-08:00

How beautiful it was up in the mountains at the cabin over the holiday. The river was just gorgeous as you can see from this shot taken from the porch of the Goodman Cabin. We spent our holiday there and really had a nice quiet and calm break from home.

Michelle and I had a rough start getting up to the cabin. Not due to weather but due to "Murphy".

We had so much to do in getting gifts ready, packing for ourselves and Charlie, last minute erands and more.This was just completely shaken up when I discovered that Michelle had run over a nail at her last job site and the front driver's side tire was flat. Of course I didn't notice this until after I had loaded everything into the car. We finally did get everything transfer to our other car and made it up to the cabin. The door was snowed in but not impossible to bypass and get a shovel out to clear a path. Grandma Pat and Grandpa Steve showed up shortly after we did. It really was nice to be away from Denver for a few days.

Charlie takes it easy in his Moses basket. You can see the snow outside.

Grandma Pat brought up Chalie's Kicking time fun mat thingy! He loves it. His little legs are very active and he is "talking with coos and woos".

I noticed that in this little outfit of his with his bib he looks a little like santa.

See him here just kick-in it by the fire!

Here is a fun picture of Charlie and Michelle hanging out having something to eat.

Grandpa and Charlie have some time hanging out too.

Unfortunately due to weather and road conditions Michelle's sister, Karen, couldn't make it over to the cabin from Steamboat Springs on Chirstmas morning. We really missed her. But I think we will see her in a few days here in Denver.

Well, I have to make this the end of this post here. Dinner needs to be put to the fire. We did get back today after a fairly nice visit. Such a nice escape. Michelle seems to be suffering from a slight sinus infection. We're doing all we can to keep Charlie from catching it.

Oh and the tire was repaired this afternoon too. Can't wait to get back up to the cabin again soon!

Tooo FReaKKING CUTE!

2008-12-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

Charlie was in rare form today. He has been just as sweet as can be. After running some erands today I thought I would give him some tummy time on his floor toy. Here are a few photos that he was kind enough to pose for both on his floor toy and in the back bedroom. Yes, you can expect to get a copy of these photos soon. IF you want a specific one..Let me know. I can always burn a disc of them or send you a large photo file by e-mail and you can print your own.

Dalai stands guard so Charlie can sleep safely

Waking up a little he asked for his "nuk"

Charlie loves the peek-a-boo game now!

Yep that's one happy boy!

2008-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

Finally we are getting around to posting some new photos of our brilliantly cute boy!!!
Charlie is now eight weeks old and is already weighing in at 14.5 pounds. Some of his 3-6 month outfits are already a bit snug but the 6 month stuff is still a bit big. These are all head shots so it is hard to tell how big he is but if it weren't for his bobble head and his inability to sit up one would think that he was four or five months old.
However, with a big body comes a big stomach - yeah!!! Charlie slept for almost six hours straight the other night. I think that it will be awhile before this happens regularly but it is a great relief to know that he is already well on his way to sleeping through the night. We are VERY lucky.
Generally Charlie is still an extremely happy kid. He has had a few 'colicky' evenings this week. But, since he is an absolute angel 95% of the time he can have a bit of a meltdown now and again - we don't mind.
I have to keep this post short as there are many holiday gifts to be finished, wrapped and mailed but, enjoy the pictures.
Charlie sends his love!!!

Just pictures

2008-12-03T17:17:00.001-08:00

zoo pics plus

2008-11-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos taken over the last few days.

We had a day at the zoo. Which as you will see Charlie paid absolutly no attention to anything.

We did get a good share of vitamin D. The weather was a sickeningly hot for November in the high 70's.

Here Charlie is watching the polar bear. No wait .....he is sleeping.

Here is a photo of Charlie exploring Bird world with his mother...No wait he's still sleeping

Somebody wake up that boy! I guess all he needs is a good diaper change and someone to explain to him how much fun the zoo can be.

As you can see at least Kandace is awake.

Look at how far she can jump!

Look Charlie ......a bear!

And the fearsome "GIANT ELEPHANT SHREW!"

okay not so fearsome, not so giant and not so much a shrew but still one of my favorite animals at the zoo

How about the new baby red pandas. Uhhh Charlie are you awake?

Here we are after the tiring day at the zoo getting some fish and chips at our favorite fish and chips stand "GB's" Kandace is rooting for Manchester on the soccer game playing on the television (not seen in photo)

We do have a great suprise coming up but I just couldn't help sharing these photos our friend Heather took.

I love this one of Michelle and Charlie

I like this one too!

Kandace continues to hog Charlie. Sure hold him all you want but when it comes time to change him she disappears.

I close here with this artys fartsy fall photo.

We are thankful today to everyone for all of your love and support.

We are thinking of you this fine thanksgiving day!

Kandace is here to eat turkey with us!

2008-11-24T08:06:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! My big sister Kandace is here for a week. She is really cool and goes to college too!
She's a Coug and so am I. I'm not sure what that means but it sure makes Dad proud of her. I'm not really sure just yet what college is but I think from listening to Mom it has something to do with making cheese.

We're having lots of fun. But I'm getting ahead of myself here a little.

Mom and Dad have a few photos to share as well. Below are a few from the bath I took before Kandace got here. As you can see Mom and Dad have perfected the system a little. Dad can get in the tub with me.

Dad has promised to keep me covered a little better.

As you can also see I like this method better. Happy tub time is great for everyone!

Kandace has been holding me quite a bit. She is very helpful and finds great excuses to steal me away. She's got some cool piercing and later this week I'm going to get some too. Mom say's "like hell you are." so probably not.

On Kandace's first morning here I came into her room and woke her up. She is on break from college and she is kind of sleepy. I guess college is a lot of work. Someday I am going to go to college too. Art school or maybe join the circus.

I love my dad. He sings to me, dances with me, makes funny faces and noises, and he is really good at getting rid of my hic-ups.

Here we are riding a horsey in the messy office. I guess I should really let Mom and Dad get some cleaning done once in a while. It's not my fault I'm so cute and they can't help themselves from playing with me

In other news around the house. Our cat, Pogue, has figured out how to jump over the gate at the top of the stairs. Dad is really mad about this.

Last night I let mom and dad get some good sleep. I really like waking up with them in the mornings. Dad made me smile really big the other day and he keeps trying to get me to do it some more.

We will try to post some pictures of my first Thanksgiving. I probably won't get to eat any turkey (directly from the bird anyway) but mom needs the calories so I am sure that she will be trying everything on the menu..Lucky me!

I'm getting bigger and mom seems to be getting skinnier. She's not complaining but says she will have to watch out and keep trying to bulk up a bit.

Mom was also complaining to dad that there haven't been too many pictures of her on the blog. So dad took one of her this morning. No guarantees how long this one will be up though. I think she meant pictures of her and me together and not in the shower.

If the picture to the right isn't of mom in the shower that means that dad probably had to go to the hospital to have the camera removed from somewhere not so nice.

I'm sure we will have a whole posting dedicated to just mom and me soon.

Well that's all for now folks. Check back in for Thanksgiving pics and update (probably around Friday)

Peace out....
Charlie

(Kandace taught me that...She's so cool!)

Letter to Santa

2008-11-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

Santa,
For my first Christmas please deliver stuff that will help me learn. There is so much stuff that I don't understand yet and my parents just talk jibberish all the time. I have shelves full of books and drawers full of clothes and Mom and Dad seem to have been pretty well prepared for my arrival so I don't think that there is anything I NEED. I hear that I'll have to start eating different food in a few months... maybe there are some things that would help with that? I do like toys but my daddy hates plastic... he says that it is bad for the planet. I don't know what plastic is but maybe it would be better to avoid it so Dad stays happy. He is lots of fun when he is happy!

Mom and Dad said that we are going to start making some stuff for you to deliver for us if you have room in the sleigh. Dad doesn't want me to think that the holidays are just about 'getting'. He says that it is more important to give and he seems pretty smart so I guess that I'll listen to him. Dad sure does have lots of opinions!

More than anything I would like it if you could bring Mom and Dad some REM sleep and please bring Dalai a warm coat and some treats. Pogue wants me to let you know that he would like to be allowed upstairs again but I don't think Mom and Dad will let him... even if YOU ask them.

Thanks for thinking of us Santa... even if Mom is Jewish!
I promise that I have been good (Mom says I've been 'great' but I don't want to sound too cocky).

Charlie Vander Houwen
The weird house with the green brick chimney
Bates Ave., Denver

Monday, Monday, Monday..Better post!

2008-11-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

Charlie in fussy mode!

It's been a longish week for us here at the Vander Houwen household. Michelle and I have been feeling the long term effects of shortened sleep patterns. Bless here heart though last night she gave me an extended sleep period. How will I ever pay here back? I can certainly take over some feedings tonight perhaps. We have a pretty good stock of milk in our freezer now. Not that we can stop storing up.

Charlie in sleepy mode.

Charlie continues to be the best baby in the world. I have been trying to catch him smiling but to no avail. He did smile at me...A real smile yesterday morning. Really not a gassy smile like he usually does but one that I inspired with funny noises. He is definately bigger than he was when we brought him home. His cheeks are filling out a bit and his hair is growing. We've decided to let him grow it out for a while.

Last night he did something funny too. As I was changing his clothes for the night and pulling his outfit off he wrapped his arms around my arm and wouldn't let go..Like a big bear hug on my arm.

Here he is in his Ergo Carrier

...Thanks agian Leonard and Isabell. Charlie and I both love this!

Charlie and I have had a pretty busy morning so far just hanging out together playing.
This morning was bath day and he isn't yet completely convinced that baths are a good idea.

I am sure these will get better as time goes by.

Bundling up to go get grandma and grandpa from the airport.

I plan on spending much of today sealing the house up and tuning up the furnace... if I can get the part I need for the furnace pump that I noticed wearing out the other day.

We are all excited about Kandace coming out to see us next Saturday for a week. She sounds really excited too to be coming to see us and meet her brother Charlie. I'm sure we will be posting photos of her visit later.

Still sleepy!

Well that's unfortunately all we have for you this week so far. Maybe there will be some time to post a few more photos later this week.

Photos from this week in the World of Charlie.

2008-11-09T20:09:00.000-08:00

We know that it has been a little while since our last posting. We are going through the motions of learning our system and working out the bugs. Today we took some photos and then also downloaded one from election day.

As you can see Charlie is happy with the outcome of the election!

Here he is today looking out the window over his mom's shoulder. The weather has been nice but we are sure to get some snow soon!

Today Charlie got another bath. This time with more water in the sink. As you can see his umbilical cord has fallen off leaving a nice little belly button. And dare I mention his circumcision ring has fallen off neatening up things a bit.

Here's the boy and his dad after the bath.

Here we are just a little later catching some Z's

I've been keeping fairly busy with work and December promises to have a few decent holiday party bookings. My time in the office is short and I've had to be very deliberate in my office work and management. I will have some time to work a bit more on organizing the basement tomorrow. (Knock on wood)

The night feedings are going fine but I am feeling a little weary from time to time. Heck I should be in bed right now.

It's hard to start new sleep habits. I'm used to staying up late but not so used to getting up so late. This is a delicate balance I am finding between not enough sleep and sleeping too late and getting my day started too late.

This is not to say I have any grudes about getting up with Charlie for the pre-dawn feedings. I am cherishing these morning moments together. It is a special bonding time for just he and I. After the feeding and a diaper change we usually crash out in the guest bedroom and let Michelle get a little more rest.

Michelle and I continue to follow most of the advice the baby books are giving. Most are telling us to take it easy and figure out how this is going to work for us. We forget sometimes that we are in a learing cycle sometimes and things do get a bit tense at times. We do appreciate everyone's support, suggestions and inquiries. We feel the best way you can support us at this time is by letting us get ourselves worked out. We are trying to savor and enjoy the many once in a lifetime moments that we can. I enjoy posting the photos and keeping you all up to date and we will continue to post photos about once a week but please understand that we are doing all we can with the energy we have just to keep ourselves balanced, healthy and stable.

Finally, I will leave you here with a small milestone in Charlie's developement . Michelle found him today in his day crib twisted over onto his side. He'll be making the transition to the full turn over in no time.

He is wearing a size 3 months outfit here and it fits him perfectly. Somebody should tell him he's only 3 weeks old.

Love you all ...

Dennis, Michelle and Charlie!

Mom's Version

2008-11-03T16:37:00.000-08:00

After fifteen days I finally have found a few free minutes to sit down at the computer. It is about time you all heard from Mom. Charlie is amazing. He has the most wonderfully goofy little expressions and he is a doll. I think he will look like Dennis with my roman nose and lips and, I like to believe that behind that strong Goodman brow there might be genius lurking.

Being a mom is all that I hoped it would be and yet nothing that I expected. Who knew that I would be so crazy possessive and protective. I have had some very emotional moments and sometimes I don't even know what the emotion is. Poor Dennis. It has been hard for him to figure out how to deal with me... I'm not sure that I am the same person I was sixteen days ago so, the rules have changed. I know that only other moms are going to really understand that comment but, at the same time, I think that every mom's experience is different. Charlie has had so many visitors and he, Dennis and I have received so much help and support. I can not fathom doing this without our families, our neighbors, our friends and, most importantly, each other. For those of you who have raised kids alone... I have a whole new level of respect!

If you are only reading Dennis' version of the last few weeks one would think that life is perfect at the Vander Houwen house. We have the perfect baby (and we really do), the perfect relationship, we had the perfect delivery and, we have all the help we could ever need. In reality, that is pretty near accurate. I do, however, have a few comments that need to be added. I was amazed with my OB and my recovery has been much smoother and faster than I ever would have hoped but... oh my G-d!- the actually surgery was bad. PAIN! The anesthetic wasn't really doing all it was supposed to, my blood pressure spiked and, they knocked me out as soon as Charlie was out. I will say that ten minutes of the worst pain I've ever felt is still a whole lot better than 36 hours of it! Also, Charlie, as perfect as he is, is a big baby with a big appetite. Keeping him satisfied is not easy. All I had heard was that your nipples become soar if your baby doesn't latch correctly. No one said that you're going to be in lots of pain no matter what... (dreaming of piranhas). Breastfeeding is not fun. I imaging that this will change and Charlie and I will gradually get on track but, for now, keeping him happy is a painful and exhausting task. I am a long way from giving up on breastfeeding but, I now understand why so many women do.
On that note... Charlie is hungry so, I must go (no, I am not making that up).
Just for the record... my favorite picture thus far is the one of Charlie in the laundry basket. I think that this is because he was sleeping for a long enough stretch that I was able to accomplish something... even if it was just the laundry!

My eyes are open wide!

2008-11-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

Look into my eyes!

We were looking at the past photos of Charlie and noticed that his eyes have pretty much been closed in most of the photos. So I thought we would start today with a few great photos with his eyes open. Michelle and I are waiting to see who's color of eyes he will have. Sometimes they come off in that smokey blue color that Michelle's eyes are and 0ther times they seem to have the slight green tinge leaning towards my eye color.

Grandma Cheryl finished up her 2 week stay with us and we all took a trip to the airport to see her off. Don't worry grandma, Charlie will be out to see you in the spring! Until then expect to see lots of photos both here and by e-mail.

Charie continues to be one of the best babies I've ever seen. Sure he has occasional outbursts of crying but otherwise he is content and as this photo shows..flexible.

We went out to breakfast the other day with our friends Steve and Heather and their girls Megan and Madeline. Heather took this picture that I thought was a really funny pic of the boy and I looking silly together.

I can't beleive how much fun this is. Sure it is a lot of work still but I am loving every minute of this. Here we are just napping together on the couch. Thanks michelle for seeing and taking this wonderful picture of us. We really love you!

Charlie's closet is an amazing aray of clothing and accessories. Here we see his Teva shoes. Unlike many of his other clothes they adjust with him as he grows. We're finding that many of the clothes that Michelle purchased for him he may not get to wear because he is a bigger baby. At 2 weeks old he is already wearing 3 month old tops and his feet are big enough for 9-12 month socks.

This has been a great exercise in teamwork for Michelle and I. Our communication skills as parents are developing quite well and I love sharing all of this with her. Michelle is doing such a wonderful job. I am so proud of her as a mom. Here she and Charlie are getting him dressed for the day in his nursery.

Everyone told us we would go through a lot of diapers . They were right!

I don't think that we were expecting it to be as many as he has. He's a bit of a trickster. Once you think he has done his buisness you change him and then he immediately fills it sometimes just as you fasten the diaper tapes.

Our bundle of joy is also responsible for a lot of laundry around here. Blankets, shirts, outfits, socks, burp rags, and whatever he occasionally hits when he pees during an open diaper change. In addtion to the fun of laundry we are also doing a lot of bottle washing and pump sterilizing.

Well, I hope that tides you all over until we get a few more photos taken. Today is Sunday and we have set our clocks back...This is a real blessing for us as new parents as we think we took full advantage of the extra hour of sleep last night.

Such a perfect baby.

2008-10-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hello again!!!
It's been a few days since our last posting. Charlie has been very busy over the last few days. He is doing just great! Michelle and I keep saying how we feel that we won the lottery with him. Each day we are amazed at how good a baby he is. He only fusses a little now and again. Otherwise he is just as quiet as a mouse and looks around at whatever the nearest contrasting patter or color is within his depth of field of his vision. His eyes are just beautiful. Michelle thinks that they are shifting towards my color a little. I guess green eyes wouldn't be so bad, but I do think Michelle's eyes are prettier.

I have been changing a lot of diapers. It seems to be a new hobby. I am beginning to feel like I am in the diaper rodeo and the event is to see how fast you can change a diaper. \

This last weekend was full of visitors dropping in to see Charlie. We are still taking visits, please just call ahead first to set up a good time.

Charlie got his first car trip out of the house yesterday since coming home from the hospital. We went to show him off at the "CAPE" at the Univerity of Colorado Health Sciences where I work part time as a standardized patient. If you don't know what that is just ask me sometime. From there we went to Michelles OB/GYN appointment where they told her she is recovering very well from the c-section. I have been amazed at how quickly she has been healing up too.
From there we zipped over to Grandma Pat's house top pick up Gramma Cheryl. They had lunch together while we were galavanting about the town.

As for sleep we are doing just fine. Michelle is catching a few more z's this morning to rest up a bit more. I've been giving Charlie his early morning feedings and helping occasionally at night so I guess you could say we are getting a system down that allows us both to get some rest.

Charlie is currently happily asleep in his bouncy chair. He really likes it. I put it on vibrating mode and I presume it feels like a 1000 fingers massage to him. I've decided I'm too big to sit in the chair myself to try it out. There will be plenty of time to teach him the story of the three bears without visual aids..

My mom continues to be a huge help around here. I really appreciate all of her support. I suppose I forgot what a great cook she is too so let me say if you ever get the chance to try her chicken picata leap at it. Mom leaves in just a few more days. It has been a really nice stay. She will be getting away tomorrow for an overnight visit in Lyons with a friend. I think it will be a nice break for her and at the same time a chance for us to see what it is like to be just the three of us in the house. Having mom around to take the baby while I run stuff upstair or to change an occasional diaper has been quite handy but I can't get too used to it.

We would also like to thank everyone who has dropped off food. It really is appreciated. We have quite enough lasagna now; enough to feed an army! Thank you Will. I'm going to end up dividing it into sections and freezing part of it.

Okay so enough writing here is your "Charlie Photo Fix"...Until next time.

Auntie Anne pays a visit

Jennifer and Idrissu popped in on Saturday too!

What a happy looking family!

Look.... two "Charlies" for the price of one!

Dalai and Charlie are getting along fine!

Such a little hand.

First bath and I'm not happy!

2008-10-25T08:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning Charlie got his first bath at home. He isn't a fan of baths yet but I think that has to do with the cool air feeling you get with a sponge bath.

Here a picture of the bath experience. I was going to post this last night but we are all keeping very busy. The boy needs his food you know. Michelle is doing great too. We are so lucky to have such a sweet and contented baby. He is so funny when he does his little squeeks and squeals but as for crying "mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" cries he hasn't had one yet. (knock on wood)

I did have a little time yesterday to play with some of the photos I took of Charlie and Michelle. I really like the half tone one of Michelle and Charlie sleeping. We may be publishing some of these as greeting cards to pay for the boy's college..Sure we will...with all of the other projects that I need to get done too.

I've been balancing work fairly well these last few days. Working while taking care of Charlie shouldn't be too difficult. If anything I think it will make me more focused. Well I'll need to load up the photos I promised and finish up this posting here.
Michelle needs some breakfast.

Charles is now at home and WE ARE LOVING THIS!!!

2008-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Home at last!

Finally we pulled into the driveway on Wednsday at 1:30pm. It is so much nicer taking care of your baby from the comfort of your own home. We had our first night last night and it was really wonderful. Charlie is such a good baby. He hardly cries or fusses (knock on wood for now) and he let us get a whole 4 hours sleep in one stretch. Michelle seems to be developing the food source quite well and seems to have a pretty good system for feeding management. The diapers have been flying off and onto the baby at a healthy rate which is great because that helps some guy named Billy Ruben, (Inside joke to anyone who has had a baby that turned a little yellow in complexion right after being born)

It's so nice to have my mom here to help!

The mannor here is running remarkably smoothly. Our live-in chef and director of house management has done a superb job and created some wonderful gourmet meals already. (Thanks mom!)

Let the visitations begin!
The Kaiser Permanente nurse drops in later today and we are ramping up for a big "open house" visit day this coming Saturday. In the mean time if you would like an earlier visit, please call ahead and we would be glad to set up a time for you and give you a few ways that you might be able to help us get through the first couple of weeks settling into home. We are requesting for the first little while that visitors not bring younger school age children until we get Charlie's immune system into shape a little more.

And now what you are really coming here for...
Here are a few more photos for you to oggle over and Charlie will be posting here himself very soon to tell you about all he is going through. Thank you again to everyone who has helped us leading up to this wonderful event and we are over the moon with happiness!

He's here..and he's BIG!!!!

2008-10-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlement may I present to you...

CHARLES NASH VANDER HOUWEN
BORN 10/19/08 AT 11:34AM BY CESARIAN

9 LBS. 15 Oz. 21"TALL.

(Yeah that's big!)

I'm tired AND amped at the same time, mom is doing great but needs some rest too. I figure that because a photo says a thousand words I would go ahead and let the photos do the talking for me so I can get a shower in and get back to the hospital to hold my boy some more and help Michelle get some more needed and deserved rest. We want to thank all of you for your support over the last 9 months.

Sir Charles will be taking court at our home very soon. Please call ahead to see about visits and if we need anything.

Here's a short photo essay. Because you might be eating we have omitted photos that show the disembowlment of my wife.

2008-10-19T05:13:00.001-07:00

We are up and ready to go! Not much sleep....We watched a little 30Rock season 1 on dvd last night to lighten our tensions and laugh a little. That was nice but it was still difficult to get settled in. Dalai was acting all weird like she wasn't ready for bed or something. I took her out several times and she was still acting weird. Well at about 2 am Michelle wakes me up to ask "Was that the dog throwing up?" ....Why yes it was... Some would say that she was also nervous or perhaps picking up on our nerves. More likely it was the amount of treats she had paired with a little tapioca pudding I stupidly let her taste.

As I said we are up and almost really ready to leave the house. It's 6:20 and we leave here at 7. Most everything is together we're just waiting for clearance from the tower to taxi to the runway... I'm going to turn the blog posting over to Michelle so that she can say a few words...

Words, words, words...
But seriously, Cheryl flew in yesterday and we had a great day just bumming around with her. Now it's off to the hospital on very little sleep (about three hours) to be told whether induction or c-section seems like the better option. Considering that I was miserable last night I'm guessing that it will be induction. I believe that my body is finally playing along. I have had some good contractions, major back pain and it looks a lot like Charlie is heading south.
Contrary to my training as a traveling Goodman our bags for the hospital are not small. They look like we'll be staying for a month... to say nothing of the birthing/ yoga ball. There are so many massage tools, sudoku books and snacks for Dennis that the bags are brimming.

Please keep us in your thoughts today and send us all the good ju-ju (Britta's word) that you can. The next posting should be full of wonderful news and maybe even a picture or two.

Still no Baby

2008-10-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks... still no Charlie. It is getting a bit harder to move every day but, other than that, no significant changes. Although today would be a good day as he would share a birthday with Oscar Wilde, Eugene O'Neil and Angela Lansbury.

Still, better to share a birthday with Gramma Cheryl. I'll have to look up who else was born on the 19th.

I must say that I love you all for caring but... stop giving us advise on how to induce labor!!! We have heard it all and believe none of it!!! Apparently pumping is the only thing that has been scientifically proven to work (occasionally) and, I don't have a pump yet. Walking, sex, driving down bumpy roads, drinking mineral oil.... none of these things produce oxitocin and, without that, no labor... sorry. We will all have to be patient... it can't be more than three or four days now so, relax, have a cup of tea and be glad you're not the one hobbling around looking like Tweedle-Dee without the suspenders.

Take care everyone. The Tweedles love you for checking in. (No, Dennis' belly isn't quite Tweedle size yet but, he is working on it).

Where is that boy?

2008-10-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Okay so it's officially the end of the 14th of October and there is no Charlie to be seen without the help of an ultrasound.

I suppose some would say we have to be more patient still. Well, we've played our share of solitaire (me on the computer and Michelle the old fashioned way, with actual cards.) I've organized my magic studio, started reading 2 books, and have cooked up as much food as I could from the garden. So I have decided to issue this announcement.

Attn: Charles Nash Vander Houwen

On behalf of your mother and I, we are quite tired of waiting for you to decide to come out here to the big world. We've been to the doctor's office so many times now we can literally hook your mother up to the testing machines ourselves and I have learned to read your ultrasound images better than the nurses sometimes. Your mother has worked very hard to get your room ready, stock up on diapers, clothing, and food in the freezer and has kept her own health in check throughout this whole process.

We have read every piece of literature we can for your safety, taken special care to get you the best car seat, learn how to install it correctly, taken every class for getting you here, sat through insanely contrived and mundane video productions for your ergo baby carrier, and furthermore learned to correctly make a "shhhhh" sound to calm you and make your the happiest baby on the block, The house is cleaner than it's ever been... What could we possibly be forgetting to have ready? Come on little buddy. Don't you know how wonderful things are going to be?

Understand that we love you very much. Please be advised though that you are to begin heading south for the winter. Please go head first towards the birth canal by the 19th of October or we will be serving you an eviction notice in the form of an induction drug called "Pitocin". If further action is required beyond that we are prepared to ask for a cesarean section removal from the premises you more commonly know as "this warm comfy place." Please let this letter serve as our official notice that we are ready to shower you with love, kisses, fun and learning!

-Sincerely and with all our love,

Your dad and very tired mom

Giraffe! Giraffe! ...Yes Charlie, That's a giraffe.

2008-10-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

The mom finally got around to the giraffes in Charlie's room. Ideally there will be fish above the crib too but at least one wall is finished! It is hard to tell from the photo but the orange giraffe is tone on tone retro patterned wall paper. Please note the expertly installed light fixture (thank you Dennis) and, the beautiful glider from our friend Amy... yes the same Amy responsible for my shower... we love Amy. I just had to turn the glider from green to orange and add the ottoman. I still need to make two valances and three roman shades but the giraffes are done - yippee!

Dennis has been working his tail off. He had three gigs yesterday and he spent this afternoon defrosting the freezer and trying to clean the laundry room (the kind of mess no one wants to have to deal with). Charlie and I are very lucky to have him!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am getting bigger every day but... this shall cease soon... the induction is scheduled for a week from today so sometime this week Charlie will join us all in the land of air and light.

So, the bags are packed for the hospital, the moses basket, crib and play yard are ready for a sleeping baby (we hope he sleeps), the freezer is stocked with lasagna, brisket and zucchini muffins thanks to my mom, the house is clean, the spider traps are out and, Charlie's closet is full of toys, clothes, and ten thousand diapers. I challenge anyone to say that we're not ready... ha ha... of course we are not ready... how could we be? There will be an infant in this house within the week and I haven't changed a diaper since I was thirteen... Oh well, bring it on Charlie.

Gramma Cheryl.. coming soon

2008-10-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! We just found out that Dennis' mom is coming next Saturday and staying for two weeks! If I don't go into labor before then and I am induced on the 19th she will be here when her birthday present (grandchild #6) arrives.
If I am a ball of nerves later on and overwhelmed by 'postpartum crazy' and I don't say it enough... Thank you for coming Cheryl! Your help will be greatly appreciated and I know how much it means to Dennis that you will be here! Plus, Charlie can't have too much love and attention.
However... and this goes for everyone... know now that Charlie's entrance into the world will only be witnessed by his dad and a few medical professionals! No web-cast, no videos, no grandmas ;)

P.S. New pictures of the nursery coming soon...

paderfamilias ...bonafide...Sometime in the next 10 days!!!!

2008-10-09T12:33:00.001-07:00

Michelle pointed out this morning that sometime in the next 10 days Charlie is going to be here. Not a day later I say and earlier would be wonderful too.

We're both very excited and anxious too. Charlie has been moving around quite a bit today and it looks like he is practicing for the big arrival. Well, why don't I let him tell you..?

Hi everybody. It's getting a little cramped in here. Dad's been talking to me a lot a lately about all the great stuff waiting for me on the outside. I understand that I have a dog who likes to sit on me a cat that likes to knead on me and dad says there are a couple of stinky hamsters out there too.

Mom and I started working on my nursery again last night. She's been so busy lately that she hasn't had any time to work on the room. I'm trying to let her sleep better at night but I just get too uncomfortable sometimes. I must admit it's been fun to push down on her bladder too sometimes. Mom has another doctor's appointment on Friday to get her blood pressure checked and stuff. The next day we have scheduled for a doctor visit is my due day. We'll see how much work I can get done inside here to make that the last one. Well, I've got to get a little rest in for now it's even harder than you think to type from en utero so I'll turn things back over to Dad again.

Well that's what the boy has to say for now. Myself, I have a public show the night of the 18th so I am hoping that Charlie doesn't decide to come on that evening. If he does I guess that I'll have to find a fill in for the show. Suppose I should get on that. So far it has been a relatively easy pregnancy for Michelle (from my humble position as paderfamilias ...bonafide) I'm sure the rest is going to be smooth sailing as much as I can help it.

2008-10-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this will make you all smile... it makes me smile. Pogue does, in fact, have all four feet on my belly and, you can see by the stoned look on his face, that he is loving his new perch.

Mom's getting TIRED!

2008-10-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

I almost had a breakdown (okay maybe I did) after this morning's appointment with the nurse. My blood pressure is still creeping up (134/94) so they hooked Charlie and I up to the monitor for twenty minutes... again. He is still doing just fine but the crazy nurse had me in a very uncomfortable position and, she kept leaving. My doc. wasn't in the office but a different doctor looked at the print-outs and said that all is well. They did have me pee in a cup for a second time down in the lab to check my liver function and said they would call me this afternoon if anything looked abnormal (somehow the liver is involved in preeclamsia). Since it is 8pm and I haven't heard anything I'm assuming that the results were normal.
Anyhoot, the crazy nurse slipped and told me that Dr. Bozeman has me scheduled for an induction on the 19th (Grandma Cheryl's b-day) and that is what my breakdown was about. Anything could happen between now and the 19th but, the idea of waiting for over two more weeks sent me into a tail spin.
I am happy that Charlie will, no matter what, be a Libra. Not that I don't love Scorpios but I don't want to think about a teen age one living in my house (Catherine, this might be your fault). So, that is all the news for now. If Charlie hasn't arrived by the 19th, that will be the day. Hopefully, however, something will motivate him to move before then. I am getting VERY anxious to meet the little guy.
My next appointment is on Tuesday morning so maybe things will have progressed a bit further by then. Thank you to everyone who is reading this nonsense with sympathy in your heart. I know that we all go through it and the frustration is what makes the idea of labor bearable.
I'm going to stop bitching now and see if I can muster up some dinner.
We love you all!

P.S. Charlie has been hiccuping like crazy lately... I like to tell myself that this is because he is practicing breathing, sucking and swallowing and all those other important mammal qualities.

Sometime in the next two weeks...

2008-10-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

We had another two hour doc. appointment yesterday and Charlie got his first 'A+' (the first of many I imagine). His heart beat was perfect, he has plenty of fluid around him, no excess calcium in the placenta and, he is still dancing around quite a bit. Dennis seems to have a better sense of what he is seeing in the ultrasounds than I do and, he saw all kinds of fun stuff (he says that Charlie has my mouth)... we'll see.
As for me... I only got a 'B-'... this according to Dennis. My blood pressure is holding steady at 'higher than we would like it to be but, nowhere near dangerous' and, I'm showing no signs of going into labor anytime soon (but you never really know). I figure that I should get an 'A' just for getting out of bed at this point, let alone being at 38 weeks without having developed preeclampsia.

"I disagree with Dad and give Mom an 'A-'... she could be singing to me more and, my nursery is still not finished!"

2008-09-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

These are a few pictures of my friend Chris and I. I will be at 38 weeks on Tuesday and Chris' little boy is at 28 weeks today... the day before her birthday!

These two little guys are going to be the best of friends. These are their first photos together.

Three weeks and counting

2008-09-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Charlie begins his 37th week 'in utero'. By the end of the week he will be considered full term - hard to believe.
We had a great visit with Dr. Bozeman today. My blood pressure continues to creep up but, Charlie is doing extremely well. Because of my blood pressure they are being extra careful with the little guy. They hooked me up to a few different monitors for about a half hour and did another ultrasound to check how much fluid Charlie has to float in. Apparently he has plenty of swimming room and, it was a blast to listen to his little freight train of a heart for such a long time. All the nurses were amazed at how much he was moving (it was making their job difficult since every time they found his heartbeat he would move and they would loose it). They have been telling me for weeks to make sure he is moving at least ten times every two hours... today they realized how silly that sounds. He moves ten times every twenty minutes (at the very least).
Dennis had a great time following the heart rhythms. I had a little button to push when Charlie moved and you could see his heart beat get faster after each move. The best part was when Charlie started to hiccup. With all the monitors on it was incredibly loud. One of the nurses and Dennis think that they also saw Charlie swallowing on the ultrasound - apparently that is pretty rare to see but, I had had peaches this morning so maybe he was tasting a bit of Colorado peach goodness.
I have to get to work as I have a big mural bid due tomorrow but I wanted to blog since I know that a few of you are keeping track of when my appointments are. I see Dr. Bozeman again next Tuesday and they'll monitor Charlie for another half hour then. In the mean time I have to have another blood pressure check on Thursday.
I'm very comforted by the level of care Charlie and I are getting. I don't think that anything is going to be left to chance. I just have to stay off my feet but that won't be too hard since, by tomorrow afternoon, I should be finished with all my 'work' related work for a few months.
Take care everyone. We love you all.

I'm a Pod

2008-09-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has taken me four days to write about Charlie's shower. Granted, it has been a busy four days. The entire upstairs has been torn apart and, mostly, put back together in order to replace the thirty year old nasty carpet. Our bedroom looks great so, one room down, the rest of the house to go.
Thanks to the shower we are feeling much more prepared for Charlie's arrival. We still have gobs to do but we have most of the essentials (car seat, changing pad, baby monitor, receiving blankets, the play yard and, cute clothes galor). I have said it before but, I feel that I need to say it again... Charlie is soooo lucky to have all of you! The shower was perfect thanks to my friend Amy Stone (a.k.a. Martha Stewart) and the gift intake was unreal. A few of the gift opening highlights were The Smith Income Tax gang getting us both the car seat and stroller (amazing) and Britta making Charlie the most spectacular collection of hand knit goodies ever! She even out knit (in quantity, never quality) my Auntie Anne. I don't believe that this feat has ever been accomplished before. Since Charlie received a blanket, sweater and hat from his great Auntie Anne you can imagine what this means he got from Britta. Everyone went overboard and we couldn't be more grateful.... Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I can't believe that I'm already well into week 36. Time is flying but, this week has been very productive. If Dennis and I can keep up this pace we'll be ready for the little guy for sure.
Sleeping is getting harder and harder and my bladder is getting smaller and smaller. I saw the nurse practitioner on Tuesday and Charlie is head down, facing left and has not dropped yet... I really can't imagine what will happen to my bladder when he does. Everyday I feel less like myself and more like a pod. Dennis woke me last night to tell me that I was snoring like a water buffalo and I felt horrible as there wasn't much I could do about it. My body is full of muck and snot and I can't make it go away. I suppose that this will all be over soon and, if not for this blog, I would forget all about it.
Thank you everyone for your generosity.
Thank you Jenn for the blow drier and nursing bra advise.
Thank you Cheryl for creating and raising Dennis - he is going to be the greatest dad ever!
Thank you Karen for making the time and driving all the way to Denver just for a baby shower.
Thank you Ginger and Travis for taking the duck and
Thank you Smith/ Stone family for the greatest baby shower ever!!!

Saying good-bye and good ridance to allergens

2008-09-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Our latest step in preparing the house is getting the new carpet in upstairs. Yesterday I spent the afternoon tearing up the old carpet and the carpet pad. My allergies were really put to the test with all the dust. We are going to both feel great when the new carpet gets layed in today.

Michelle and I worked last night installing the new carpet pad and so everything will go in quickly and we will be able to sleep in our bedroom again. We have been sleeping in the guest room on a full size matress like we did when Charlie's room's floor was being painted.

I am much more aware of Michelles getting up in the middle of the night when we sleep in the guest room. Supose I will get used to getting up in the middle of the night soon enough.

Last night was such a nice night outside that I decided to just sleep in the backyard and give Michelle the bed to herself. As I layed out my sleeping bag last night Dalai (our little dog) curled up on the sleeping bag and from then on camped out with me. She is a great sleeping bag warmer.

In looking at the work we have a head of us I feel we can get it all done. It continues to be a little overwhelming at times but we are taking it one day at a time. Once this carpeting is installed Pogue (our cat) will be shut out of the upstairs by a baby gate.

The next project will be the living room. Until then, best wishes to all (Achoo!)

Oh the anticipation...

2008-09-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

Charlie is very excited these days. I think he is starting to understand how many people out here are anticipating his arrival. The showers have begun and, wow, he is one lucky kid with two very lucky parents.
We had a shower last night which a faux painter friend of mine organized. It was just a small group of us from the JSG showhouse at a pub in the highlands (this is an area near downtown Denver... we did not all fly to Scotland... too bad). Among other things we got all the goodies for Charlie's crib. As soon as I do a load of wash his crib will be all ready for him, mobile and all. The most wonderful surprise was the enormous box that arrived just before we left he house last night. It was from red envelope which meant that Uncles Andy and David had been shopping. Underneath loads of packing material was the most beautiful little quilt ever!!! It has the alphabet on it with little woodland creatures illustrating each letter and Charles N. Vander Houwen embroidered on the bottom. I LOVE IT and I know that Charlie will too. The next onslaught of gifts/ love is scheduled for Sunday and then, out neighbors are doing something for us the following Saturday. I just hope that Charlie doesn't get too excited.
Karen has a friend who just had a baby about four weeks early. Charlie can't do that to us. There is still far too much to do around here. No one who knows me will be surprised that the nursery is still not finished, the house is a disaster zone, we have new (to us) carpet to install upstairs and, Dennis has multiple public shows which are demanding a lot of time and attention. And really, who knows when Charlie might make his grand entrance.
Dr. Bozeman informed me at my last appointment that, although my blood pressure is fine now, he does expect it to go up and, when it does, they will schedule an induction. I don't think that anyone would hesitate to induce early since the boy is so big already so... it is, apparently, all up to my blood pressure.
I better get to work!... without stressing or lifting anything over 15 pounds. I did do the awful chore of nursing bra shopping today. It was almost as bad a swimsuit shopping but, since my butt wasn't involved... Anyhoot, it was a strange, droopy, expensive experience which I hope to never have to duplicate. $50. bras are still a lot cheaper than formula, right?
I am tired all the time but remaining rather calm. Dennis is starting to panic though and the poor man has way too much on his plate at the moment. It is not helping that my hormones are making me needier than I have ever been in my life. He is doing everything he can for Charlie and me and, since the house is a pit and our hospital bag still isn't packed, he doesn't feel like he is doing enough. Silly man!

Take care everyone! We love you for reading all this goofiness.

Zoinks! 5 weeks now....Gulp!

2008-09-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

The days continue to click on by and we are starting to get more than just a little nervous about this whole being ready thing. I (Dennis) just got back from my annual Magic convention, "Magic In The Rockies", in Fort Collins. It was really great. I'm not sure how this is going to work next year when we are 3 people. I'm going to have to be smarter about the stuff I am selling at my vendor's booth I suppose. I'm not sure how late I will be able to stay up then either. I guess we will cross that bridge next year. This year's convention was wonderful and I learned a lot as always, but I was also thinking quite a bit about Michelle and Charlie while I was there.

It was also very nice to hang out with some of my magic heroes...including R. Paul Wilson and Charlie Frye.

Charlie Frye (seen in picture to the right) is on the "Charlie name sake list "Michelle and I made of great Charlies we liked along with Chaplin, Shultz, Darwin and others.

Here's Charlie Frye in action on a youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1W4OVrYwaw

I can't wait to share magic with our Charlie. For my first trick...the light switch. OR will it be the disappearing and reappearing dad playing peek a boo? I did vanish a baby once. Man that freaked out the mom.

Michelle is definitely getting larger. Sorry honey, there's no other way to say it. We are both wondering what 5 more weeks is going to look like. Michelle starts going to the doctor weekly now. We continue to watch Michelle's blood pressure. Last night I could feel Charlie going bonkers and kicking away, turning etc. All this while Michelle was asleep. FREAKING AMAZING!

I am a little nervous about a business trip I have at the end of this month up to Aspen Colorado. I am supposed to be going up with a group of people but I am beginning to think a separate car would be a better idea.

That's this week's postings for now.

Only Six Weeks to Go

2008-09-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all. This is Michelle again. I hope that you all enjoyed the 'in process' photos of the nursery. I'm hoping to finish it up this week but, considering how exhausted I am, that may be a pipe dream. I still have some touch up painting, two valances and three roman shades to make, a bit of 'muraling' to do, the side table needs another coat of paint, and I have a curtain to make for the closet. That's without including the quilt I have fabric for and a moses basket (well, three moses baskets... one for grandma's house and one for my friend Chris). I have all the baskets (thanks to my favorite store - Ross) but I need to line them and cover the mini-mattresses. So, I only have six weeks and TONS to do.
We have had a few people ask what we need right away...obviously we don't 'need' everything on the registry. Want yes, need no. Our priorities are the car seat, one baby gate (to keep Pogue downstairs), a diaper champ, the changing pad/ and a cover, toiletries, bath stuff and diapers. That is the stuff that we really need before we bring Charlie home.
I was super excited to get our invitation to the baby shower this past week. Amy did an amazing job... now I just have to be patient and wait a few weeks for the actual event. The invites are so cute that I scanned them to show you.

As for how I'm feeling... BIG. My blood pressure has been slowly getting higher so I'm cutting out the caffeine entirely (as if I'm not tired enough), cutting back on the salt and keeping the blood pressure cuff close at hand. I have so much info on what the warning signs are for preeclamsia that I can't imagine that, if I get it, it will go undetected for long. However, if I get it, Charlie makes an early entrance. I'm not really all that worried but, better safe than sorry. My ankles and feet are growing and my hands are sore (can't explain this one but I hope that it is a pregnancy thing and will go away in a few months). Friends tell me that my belly seems bigger every time they see me and, I don't doubt it. I've started to outgrow some of my maternity cloths already! All in all things are good. Charlie is growing and, as long as I can get enough rest, I don't feel all that bad. Dennis is a huge help and his enthusiasm is wonderful. Anytime that he is away from me for more than a half hour he lifts up my shirt, kisses my belly and tells Charlie that he loves him.
Thanks again to Amy for what I know is going to be an awesome baby shower and thank you for caring enough to keep checking this silly blog.

Nursery sneak peak

2008-08-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

Okay so it's like 12:30am on Friday now. Michelle is up in the mountains with her mom and I am home after a busy night of restaurant magic work and a late night planning meeting with some magician associates of mine to discuss some public shows we are doing in September.

I'm a little (well...more than a little) hyped up on caffiene from the inevitable cup of coffee. Being wide awake, I grabbed the camera and took some shots of the nursery that is in the process of coming together. Here we go....

So far we have the base coat on the walls and the floor is finished. I stained and installed the baseboards myself. We also have all of the furniture in place and the closet is filling with clothing already. You will also notice the boy has a pretty large library started. That is mostly thanks to his mother conveniently having all these great books from her mural business. Look closely in the photo and you will see the cute shoe collection that is starting too.

There are bins in the closet that will soon hold diapers, toys and other baby paraphenalia. For furniture we have a changing table,(not shown but in the room already) a beautiful new crib and a late night nursing glider. I proud to say that I expertly installed the light fixture over the chair.

The only things left are finishing the window treatments, hanging a curtain door on the closet and the final murals. Michelle will be working on those soon and the final pictures will be posted then.

I could describe the murals but I think we will leave that as a surpise for later.

As I mentioned Michelle is up in the mountains with her mom at her parent's cabin. I am more than a little jealous and wishing I were up there too. There is too much work to be done still this weekend so I couldn't go. Michelle deserves the break too as she just finished another mural project. I think this is going to be her last one for a short while. She is still taking calls but putting the work off. She has some sewing work to lool forward to for the next little bit of time. I helped here a couple of days with this last job and she really shouldn't be getting up and down off of ladders anymore. That is my professional medical opinion. Okay so I'm not a doctor but I can tell you that her ankles are really big after a day of painting.
Poor girl!

We were talking earlier today about something and Michelle mentioned. "Well we still have two months more to go...etc." I quickly corrected her. "Sweetheart, we have about 7 weeks left. That is only about a month and a half." Time flies I guess.

As for me I'm ready. I have my bootcamp for new dads this next Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to it. Charlie and I have been talking regularly still about all the fun things we are going to learn and do together.

Well for now that is what I have to offer Charlie's blog. Keep coming back for more.

Pregnancy brain for dads.

2008-08-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Is is possible for pregnancy brain to be contageous? Seems lately like my head isn't quite screwed on straight. I am wondering if there isn't some junk science out there that could explain how a pregnant woman's hormone levels don't spill out and consume the husband as well. I can't seem to get very organized. I am scheduling meetings in my calendar for the wrong day. One thing after another.

We finished up our last "Preparing for child birth class" and now I think I know enough to keep me from passing out or going too crazy during the labor.

I found this wonderful Dick Van Dyke video that I am using to help me prepare for when Michelle goes into labor. It is a little long but worth your time to watch.
I was going to save this video for a later posting but I thought I had better do it now or my pregnancy brain would make me forget to do it later.

We still have quite a bit more preparing to do. I am taking the "bootcamp for dad" class at the end of the month.

Having a baby really does a number on you. My perspective of things is really different than it was even a month ago. I see babies now and I am trying to gauge how old they are and how big Charlie will be at different stages. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't get a little ga-ga about the process.

It's cold and rainy and I'm stuck in flip-flops

2008-08-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

I am finally sitting down to write something so that my hippo photo isn't the first thing you see when you open this blog. It is Saturday evening the 16Th and we will be at 32 weeks on Tuesday. Less than two months until our due date. Charlie seems to be doing well. We are learning more and more about him (well, babies in general) every day. Last weekend we learned that a newborn's stomach is only the size of a small marble for the first few weeks. Amazing!
After our heat wave a few weeks ago it is a great relief to tell you that Denver has been cold and rainy for the past few days. Charlie, Dennis and I went to the zoo yesterday morning and had a very nice, although cold and soggy, time (since my feet have been puffy the only shoes that fit are my flip-flops - just a little uncomfortable considering the weather). It is fun to watch all the other families and imagine what Charlie will be like. What kind of personality will he have? I'm sure that with the frequent visits to the zoo with his grandma, Charlie will have the whole place committed to memory by the age of two. One of his first lessons will be how to tell the difference between an African Wild Dog and a Hyena if Dennis has anything to do with it.
I hope that you have all enjoyed the pictures of Charlie and me on this blog. Considering that we are still two months out, and already I look like a hippo, they may be the only pictures you get.
Take care everyone. Charlie sends his love.

A little about my parents

2008-08-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is my mom!

She likes to garden, paint, sew, and listen to books on tape. You can see that I am making her belly stick out quite a bit more than it usually does. The funny doctor says that I am going to be a big baby. Mom has been taking very good care of me. I get my vitamins everyday and she is eating healthy foods. We have a really great garden to get vegetables from too. I can't wait to help mom plant it next spring. I do make her tired and her ankles have been getting a little swollen from carrying me around. She talks to me a lot and tells me jokes about dad. Mom works as a mural artist and decorative painter for people with really big and expensive houses. She has been making a really nice room for me. I can't wait to see it too!

This is my Dad
He is silly. I'm really lucky to have a silly dad. He is a magician too and can do amazing things. I haven't seen any of his tricks yet but I do know that he can make a funny noise on moms belly. I am sure that he and I are going to have a lot of time together and that we are going to learn all kinds of things. Dad likes hiking, camping, playing poker, inventing magic tricks, brewing ginger ale, cooking, and baking bread.
You can see in this picture his big belly. I'm not the one making it bigger. Dad has gained some sympathy weight. He needs to go to the gym more. Dad has been busy helping mom with everything around the house in getting ready for me to arrive. Dad has been talking to me quite a bit about going hiking and camping. I am so excited! I will have to do some getting bigger though before we can go.

Well, that's the poop on who my parents are. You probably know them if you are looking at my blog but just in case you are a new visitor that's our story.

Last Sunday's breast feeding class

2008-08-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Dennis here...
Just wanted to post a small bit about what we did last Sunday. I think I learned all I ever needed to know about breast feeding and then some. We were both happy to learn that many of the things people have told us are pure B.S. and things we shouldn't consider doing. We learned about propper latching techniques, how breast milk is made by little tiny farmers pouring buckets of milk from tiny little cows that...No wait that was what I dreamed about last night.
The whole process is really quite facinating to me. We learned about breast pumps, bottles, myths about bottles and breast pumps (FYI never buy a pre-used breast pump unless it is a hospital quality unit with a closed system...That's just gross!) We also learned what nipple confusion really is. Suprise! It isn't what I have been experiencing lately but something that the baby can experience from too many different resources of breast milk outside of breast feeding.
All in all, we are really glad we took the class. We haven't regretted any of the classes thus far.
Next Sunday is the "tot savers" class. I'm not sure why we need to save tator tots but I've already started. I guess it's just one of those foods that kids can't get enough of so you had better stock up before they are born...

Today was picture day (I'm the one in the middle)

2008-08-11T15:47:00.001-07:00

Here are my head shots

2008-08-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

What a morning... Charlie suprized us a bit during our 30wk ultrasound. Turns out the little guy isn't so little. His size is in the 90th percentile and he has a huge head (just like his mom). The doctor said that if we go full term he will be a nine pounder (at least). Unless he is early he will have already outgrown half of his clothes before he is even born. Maye he will be a normal size but I think we can count on a big head (literally and figuraltivly), it runs in the family.
The doctor seemed very pleased with Charlie's wiggliness and everything else that means 'healthy baby'. He is just big and, better big than small. Dennis will post some photos of Charlie and me soon and, we'll see if we can scan the printouts they gave us of the ultrasound.

Gramma Cheryl asked about Charlie's registry so, here it is so that everyone knows. We registered for the majority of the stuff we need at Babies-R-Us and for a few little things at both Target and Firefly Furnishings (a local Denver shop with tons of super cute little gifts). Babies-R-Us is the easiest to navigate on line and, I would even recommend that if you are going to go to a store you look at the stuff on-line first (http://www.toysrus.com/ControllerServlet?lastName=Vander+Houwen&firstName=Michelle&state=&target=search&userType=giftGiver&searchForPerson=primReg&whereTo=viewRegistry&x=87&y=12 ). You will have a better idea what you are looking for once you get to the store (it can be overwhelming). Also, Babies-R-Us has a great system so that noone has to pay for shipping. If you are shopping at a store in Seattle (or whereever) and pick something out, they call Denver to see if there is one at the Denver store and that store will call us and tell us that there is a gift waiting for us to come pick up. Easy as pie. One thing that we did not register for but would love is a baby carrier but not just any baby carrier, a specific one which is not sold at any of the big stores. You can see them at http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ These carriers are apparently much better for baby and more comfortable for Mom and Dad and, since I forsee Dennis wearing Charlie for a few hours a day, at least, I think comfort should be considered (The very generous Leonard and Isabel Sherman are getting us the carrier but, there are still a few carrier accessories we could use so I have left the link on the blog. We are getting the black/ retro lining carrier). I think that sums up the baby gift info. except to reiterate that newborn sizes are best skipped - opt fot 3 month sizes (and up) just to be on the safe side.

Negative ten weeks and counting...

2008-08-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

Dennis and I thought it would be fun for Charlie to have his own blog. Since so many of his fans are so far away this seemed like the best way to keep everyone up to date. Little Charles Nash Vander Houwen will be at 30 weeks gestation on Tuesday.... he is 3/4 of the way there and his mom (that would be me) is getting rather uncomfortable. Denver has been in the 90s for weeks and we have hit 100 the past few days. Fortunatly, I have my parent's pool... I'm swimming (or, rather, floating) more than I have in years. The distraction of the slew of classes that Dennis and I are taking this month is helping me cope as well. We are learning everything from the anatomy of birth to baby bathing and infant CPR. Oh, and Dennis has daddy boot camp too. We both realise that none of this will prepare us for Charlie but maybe it will help a bit. We toured the hospital this past Monday and WOW. Although Charlie won't have a clue, he is going to be delivered into the lap of luxury... every labor and delivery room had a spa tub, CD and DVD players and, wireless Internet access. If we can find a laptop and Dennis can think straight everyone everywhere will be able to stay informed on the big day/ days via this blog. Please do not expect graphic photos or videos... I trust Dennis' extraordinary photography skills to give you all a very 'shiny happy' interpretation of the big event.
Speaking of his photography skills, Dennis hasn't taken any prego pictures yet but I'm sure he will soon. We'll get them posted so that you all can see how round I have become.
Also, Charlie's much anticipated nursery should be getting finished soon so we'll post pictures of that too.
I'm going to sign off for the night as Charlie is kicking me in the ribs and I think it might help to change positions. I don't know much about this little guy but I know that he is going to be tough!
We love you all.