These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things...

Charlie has definite opinions now, and has settled on his favorite things. He has a special affinity for all things with wheels (particularly trucks), balls (not particularly choosy in this regard; we have about 10 different balls and they all get plenty of attention), dogs, and books (especially those about trucks, tractors, diggers, and dogs). As evidence of his love, some of his first words and noises have been related to these special items. Charlie makes truck noises every time he picks up a vehicle, his first word was "ball," and he barks wildly every time we see a dog (or a dog-like animal :). He is starting to talk more and more--I was so proud of him the other day when he brought me the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and said "Bow Bear!" It was pretty adorable. :)

Charlie's favorite truck, below. This one is constantly in use. It disappeared for part of a day recently and caused quite a stir.

We have many trucks to choose from, however.

Our favorite activity is sending trucks down the slide. This can entertain us for minutes (which is a long time in kid-world).

Charlie and I went to a Monster Truck birthday party recently. Charlie was so excited he could hardly stand it. There were trucks everywhere and Charlie frantically tried to play with them all. He even got to take a Monster Truck photo--I love the tongue sticking out. :)

Balls are a constant fixture in our days. We throw them at each other, against the walls, and anywhere else we can think of. One of us really likes to bite them (I'll let you guess who).

Caught you, Charlie!

I came out of the kitchen the other day to find this--Charlie crammed in his wagon with his favorite ball and trucks, patiently waiting for me to take him on a joy ride around the apartment. Wiggly Giggle ball made for a bit of a tight fit, but who could leave a ball like that behind??

Charlie REALLY loves his books. He reads constantly, and now that his room--with his bookshelf--is easily accessible in the apartment, he spends a ton of time in there. I try to put the books on the shelf from time to time, but they don't stay there long. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes until all the books are back on the floor, as seen below. Charlie seems to derive much more pleasure from his books when he has to crawl over them to get to the one he wants. For some reason, organization is not appealing to him (in this way, I think he may take more after his Dada :). Some of Charlie's favorites are Heads, Tails, Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, Good Night Gorilla, and I am a Bunny, but he really loves them all.

This is a very frequent sight...

If you ever feel like the worst-mother-in-the-world, don't worry, you're not. The person who didn't have time to read Charlie his Bible Stories book (resulting in the extremely distressed face seen below) is.

Poor baby had to read his Bible Stories on his own. :( (Don't worry, I did read all of them with him later...and we really were in a hurry; I swear! :).

Dogs are another constant favorite of Charlie's. Whether they are real or stuffed, he always barks at them. Charlie gets so excited when he sees a dog that his whole body goes still, he stiffens up as he prepares to bark, and then he very carefully goes closer to inspect. We love reading about all things dog--our current favorites are Where's Spot and DOG. Charlie received a stuffed Spot from his Mimi and he is truly a cherished pet. Spot goes in the crib with Charlie and comes out when Charlie comes out. It always cracks me up to hear barking in the crib when Charlie is going down for a nap or waking up... :)

DOG...love this book! :)