Play Ball

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

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

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!

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....

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...