10 Months Old Already!!!

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!

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.

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!

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...

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

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..

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!