Rollin'

Charlie was upset that I neglected to mention that he hit a big milestone during our weekend away--he rolled over from his back to his tummy! He was playing on the floor in our hotel room on Saturday morning while Clint and I were getting ready and all of a sudden he did the fastest roll-over we have ever seen. I had no idea that such a little guy could propel his body around so quickly! He surprised himself as well--after working so hard to get off his tummy, he was NOT happy to find himself back on it. :) He has also been perfecting his tummy-to-back rolling over, doing it four times this morning. Go Charlie! :)

Weekend in Granbury and Meeting the Great-Gmas

Clint, Charlie and I got to spend this past weekend in Granbury, Texas with Clint's parents, grandmothers, and some aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a really special weekend because it was Charlie's first time to meet his two great-grandmothers. They are both such special women and Charlie is so lucky to have the chance to spend time with both of them. He just loved them and entertained them with lots of gummy smiles and excited chatter. We also loved introducing him to the extended family. What a fun weekend!

Clint's Aunt Jeanna and Uncle Donald hosted all of us at a new place she and her husband bought on Lake Granbury. It was so cool! Here we are in the big yard...

Charlie relaxed with his Mimi on the big deck and smiled at Granny. :)

Whatcha lookin' at?

The big boys fished quite a bit--Charlie is eager for them to teach him about fishing in a few years...

But for now, Charlie was content to look at the goldfish in the pond.

Here's Charlie chatting with his great-grandmas Sarah and Granny.

And relaxing with his cousin Dee.

Sunny, Dee, and Grandon have a lot of energy...

But also enjoyed relaxing with one of Charlie's books. Hopefully Charlie will find it just as entertaining as they do!

What a fun weekend! Thanks everyone for a great time!

Cousin Charlotte

While we spent the weekend in Granbury, TX with Clint's family (more on that later), my cousin Amy's precious little girl made her appearance in the world--two days before her due date and expected induction date. Little Charlotte Susan Skaggs was born at 4:26 a.m. on August 28, 2010. She clocked in at a tiny 6 lbs., 15 oz., and 18.5 inches long. She is gorgeous--I think she already looks a lot like her beautiful mother and sister. We cannot WAIT to meet her!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

It's SuperCharlie!

Update: We're THOSE Parents

I never thought we would actually do a song-and-dance routine to entertain our children, but fast forward 3 months and here we are. In order to get Charlie to take his bottle yesterday, we had to get him very distracted--which meant Clint danced and sang in front of us while I dangled the bottle in Charlie's mouth. The evening entertainment included a rousing rendition of Hava Nagila, an attempt at Riverdance, and a dramatic courtroom scene in which Clint played both prosecutor and defendant (who was apparently a scientist-turned-murderer--scary :). All of this took place in Charlie's favorite environment--outside--so I am sure the neighbors are thinking we're going crazy. But I thoroughly enjoyed the festivities and Charlie got distracted enough that he forgot he had a bottle in his mouth (we got 2 ounces down his throat, so I am counting that as progress). Can't wait to explain feeding techniques to the next babysitter... :)

Bottle Wars

Charlie has proven himself to be a bit hard headed already, and we are currently engaged in what I am sure is only the first of many battles of wills. Despite starting to try bottles with him at 5 weeks, Charlie has staunchly refused them. We have tried different bottles, different nipples, different locations, and different people feeding him, we have adjusted the music, the lighting, and his surroundings, but nothing seemed to work. The mere entrance of a bottle into his line of vision would send little Snarles into a screaming fit that could be cured only by the removal of the offending item. I was beginning to get desperate, given that I am starting work in 3 weeks and do not want to leave him without a source of food (and, selfishly, would like a few date nights out before I go back to work). I invited my mom to join me in bottle boot camp and after days and days of trying, we finally have had a breakthrough. My mom had the bright idea of using a bottle that has the same nipple as Charlie's beloved pacifier and that has worked far better than anything else (i.e., he will actually put it in his mouth). Although bottles are still a bit of a messy struggle (it works best outside, where he's happiest, and there's a lot of crying, spitting, and alternating between bottle and paci), Charlie is actually eating from them now. Clint and I have gotten him to do one bottle a day for the last few days. I am very excited about this new development, very proud of our little boy, and very much looking forward to a night out. :)

Here's the little rascal with a few of his many bottle options.

Surveying the choices.

The mere thought of another bottle feeding makes him tired...why can't they just give this silly idea up?

The winner! :)

Meeting the Varners and Playing with Blythe and Reid

Charlie was so lucky to have the Varners come all the way from Houston to visit him this weekend. After a long night on call on Friday night, Clint had all day Saturday off, so we took advantage of this time and had some fun. Courtney and Andy stayed with us, which was SO much fun--nothing better than staying up late and drinking wine with old friends. :)

Here are the Varners with Charlie. He was especially entranced with Courtney--I kept catching him staring at her and he was always very thrilled with she came over to chat with him or hold him. He has been missing her since she left!

Courtney and Andy went to Southwestern with me and Clint, where Courtney and I were sorority sisters and Clint and Andy were fraternity brothers. As a result, we share a lot of the same friends, which makes for fun get-togethers. The Varners organized a play date for Charlie with the kids of some of our other college friends. Erica brought little Blythe (Greg wasn't feeling well, but we hope he gets better soon!)...

And the Athertons brought little Reid.

George decided to join in the fun as well.

And Cynthia came over to play as well. Thanks for all the good food Cyn! :)

Charlie watched the older kids with a lot of interest (and a small amount of trepidation).

Blythe entertained Charlie and showed him how to do the exersaucer. We're still working on sitting up straight...

Blythe and Reid shared a romantic smooth for our amusement.

Post-kiss flirtation.

The stairs and the wagon were both very exciting.

But not exciting enough for Charlie...he had to take a quick cat nap to make it through the party.

Thanks everyone for coming to play and thank you Varners for a wonderful visit. We are all missing you guys already!!

My Trip to Austin & Seguin

Charlie here. My mom is running around unpacking and acting like she doesn't have time to blog, so I thought: "If I want cute pictures of myself posted on the Internet, I guess I'll just have to do it myself." Just wanted to update my public on my wild and crazy life. This week, my dad was on call a lot, so mom and I headed down to Seguin and Austin to visit some of our relatives. Our first stop was at Aunt Amy and Uncle Jack's house to see my cousins Samuel and Jane Ann. Those kids are really awesome. Samuel is super cool and Jane Ann is so sweet. I am pretty excited about playing with them more. I also heard that Aunt Amy is about to have another baby. Her name is going to be Charlotte, which is a pretty awesome name (if I do say so myself), and she's going to be almost my age. I think I'm going to have to teach her most of the important baby things (like how to find your hands, how to make your parents bounce you on an exercise ball, how to refuse to take a bottle, etc.), but that will be fun. Ok, enough small talk--on to the pictures.

We'll start with one of me in the Bumbo. Here I am exercising my core muscles. Notice my excellent form. And the way my wife-beater shows off my muscles. H-O-T.

Here's me, Samuel, Jane Ann, and a practice baby Charlotte. Is it just me, or do my hands look particularly delicious here?

After stopping at the Skaggs', we went on to Aunt Meg and Uncle Graeme's house for the night. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with Uncle Graeme, but let me tell you, he is super cool. I tried to smile a lot for him and tell him some funny stories, but it wasn't really clear whether he is old enough yet to understand them. I think in a few years, we will really get along nicely. Aunt Amy and Uncle Jack came over for dinner, but I decided to go on to bed and let the adults get some time to themselves. It sounded like they had lots of fun, but I think I had more fun in my travel crib.

Here I am with Aunt Meg before she headed off to work. I just wish she could have spent the whole day with us--she is so much fun! It's kind of cool that she looks like my mom but with different color hair. Sometimes I get a little confused by them.

After Aunt Meg left for work, my mom and I headed down to Seguin to see Papa, Grandma Ali, Grandma Dede, and the Reeds. Boy was that fun. Papa is a really good reader and read Good Night Moon over and over to me. Apparently he thought I only needed one book before bed (does he think I have the attention span of a newborn or what??), but I showed him.

Uncle Elam came by to say hi and see how much I have grown (a lot, in case you hadn't noticed). His first name is Charles, like mine, and I think he's a pretty great person to share a name with. I think we kind of look alike here, but he might have a little more hair than I do (this is a bit of a sore subject for me, but I'm dealing).

I just loved hanging out with Grandma Dede. She looks a lot like Grandma Ali and is also a lot of fun. She always brings the Reeds with her to visit, so that makes me like her even more!

Baby Katie turned 1 year old while I was there, although her real party isn't until this weekend (I am really bummed to have to miss it :(. Everyone said they couldn't believe she was 1 already, but I really didn't find it that unbelievable. She looks really big to me!

I worked really hard on a cake for her. My mom seemed to think my cake looked a bit rough, but seriously, what does she expect? I am still learning hand-eye coordination people!

I am so jealous that Katie has already figured out how to walk. I am going to have to remember to get her to show me how to do this!

Jack and Julia are my other favorite people to hang out with (except when Julia refers to me as a "she"; I guess I may need to pay more attention to what mom is dressing me in). They always have something fun and exciting going on and I am pretty happy just watching them play. Hopefully I will be big enough to play with them soon. Jack tells me that babies have 0 power levels but that 5-year-olds have a power level of about 540. Being 5 sounds awesome.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful trip! Although I was pretty pumped to get back to Dallas and see my dad, I miss you all lots! Happy Birthday Baby Katie!!

Weekend Fun

What a fun weekend we had! It started with a trip to the Cowboys' game on Thursday night. Clint and I were offered amazing tickets to the game (50 yard line!) and John and Caroline were sweet enough to babysit for us, so off we went!

Here we are at the game. Even though the Cowboys lost, we had a good time (Clint especially liked the all-you-can-eat hot dog bar :).

Then, on Saturday, we got together with some of our best friends for a pool party. William's parents were kind enough to host for all of us and it was so much fun. The poolside margaritas were the best!

Here is Charlie all sunblocked up for his big swim.

The crowd in the pool--can you find Charlie? :)

Here he is visiting with his favorite babysitter.

He took a quick snooze while we played...

The boys (minus Travis).

Clare, Caroline, and Charlie's little girlfriends, Adde (in pink) and Clare (in green).

Sweet Adde and Clare showing off their splashing skills. Thank you Keys for a wonderful day!

My parents also came up to see Charlie and we had the best time with them. We took a day trip to McKinney on Sunday and had fun looking around the town square.

Charlie wasn't so sure about the Longhorn tutu we found.

But he LOVED playing with his Papa back at our house. I have never heard him laugh so hard as he did for my dad!

Charlie with his Papa and Ali. Love you guys!!!