Just Relaxing...

While I closed on our new house today, Charlie relaxed at home. When I returned to the apartment, he was thrilled to hear that we are officially homeowners again! We have a week of work to do at the house, and then we are moving in over Labor Day weekend. So excited!

Here's Charlie, trying not to wear himself out before the big move... :)

We Love Auga!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having my brother and sister-in-law in Dallas? They moved here in June and we have had so much fun with them since. Clint and Sam are residents at the same hospital, which has been fun, and Charlie has become incredibly attached to them in the short time they've been here. We randomly met up for dinner the other night, and Charlie was so excited--he said "Auga" (his word for both Sam & Audra) the whole way into the restaurant, dove for Audra as soon as we walked in, and then quickly settled himself onto Sam's lap. He nicely sat in his highchair for dinner, but as soon as we were finished eating, he insisted on being back in Sam's lap (and luckily, Uncle Sam is a very good sport :). He had lots of hugs for "Auga" before we left, and we all enjoyed our fun evening out!

Random dinners with a Buda statute are so fun...

Even though his meal was vegetarian, Charlie's stomach looks more like he ate a steak dinner!

A Wild Week

I had two reasons to head to Austin this week--my cousin Megan and her family was in town visiting from LA, and I had a bachelorette party there over the weekend--so Charlie and I decided to make a week out of it and headed down south on Tuesday to see the Californians before they headed back to cooler temps.

My cousin Amy hosted a pool party at her house on Tuesday and it was so much fun. Charlie didn't nap in the car on the way down, but had so much fun with his cousins that the lack of nap didn't seem to phase him a bit--we played hard and he was furious when we had to leave. I LOVED getting to see little Elec. I hadn't seen him since Christmas, and he had changed so much in the interim. He and Charlie are only 3 months apart, and they are so similar--both very boy. :) I can't wait for them to get more playtime this Christmas!

Here's Megan, Elec, and Chris. We miss you guys already!

Our sweet hostess, Amy, and her two lovely girls. Jane Ann is becoming quite the little swimmer!

Abbey and George came over as well and it was such a treat to get to see them. I hate not having them in Dallas anymore, but love seeing them in Austin!

Charlotte and KK enjoyed some Cheetos. Charlie found the discarded Cheetos later and thought he had hit the jackpot. He also found a discarded Lunchable and very quietly dug into it. I caught him with the soggy food, took it away, and got a very angry "my cracker!" in response. :)

Baby Katie wasn't sure she wanted Charlie invading the sandbox with her. Smart woman! :)

She later decided he wasn't all that bad, and the two of them played very sweetly in the pool.

Charlie and I headed to Seguin after the Austin festivities and spent a few days with my parents, Uncle Robie, Aunt Dede, and the Reeds. On Wednesday, my mom, Dede, Addie and I took all four kids to the Children's Museum in New Braunfels. We had a blast. Charlie was obsessed with the ambulance. I think we spent 90% of our time fiddling the steering wheel and turning on the lights.

His second favorite thing was the train table. He hasn't quite figured out how to keep his trains on the track, but he tried hard. When all else failed, he swiped a couple trains and carried them around the museum with us. :)

Jack and Julia knew just what to do. They headed straight to the "bank," got some quick cash, and started shopping!

Katie nicely cooked up some lunch for us.

We also got to see a reptile show. Our favorites were the baby crocodile and baby alligator.

Someone almost got up the courage to touch them...

On Friday, I headed to Austin for my bachelorette weekend, but Charlie didn't let my absence stop him. He had plenty of plans for his weekend in Seguin. On Friday night, he took my parents with him to Katie's 2nd birthday party. I HATED missing the sweet girl's birthday, but I was glad Charlie didn't have to miss out on the fun.

As usual, Charlie loved the slide (both the climb up and the slide down).

I love this picture of Katie and Charlie at the top of the slide. I think Jack and Julia are trying to coax them down.

Looks like Jules had to go up, but Charlie is headed down!

Charlie loved getting in on the Reed Family baseball game. He loves baseball bats right now, but if you're in the vicinity when he has one, beware!

Charlie loved getting to swing with his Aunt Addie. The little birthday girl looks a little unsure of why HE'S getting to have all the fun. :)

Sweet Katie and her fish cake.

Isn't this cute??

Looks like someone got lots of help opening presents... :)

Charlie's favorite words right now are "tractor," "truck," and "digger," and he is obsessed with all of these. As a special treat, Papa took Charlie out to La Vernia on Saturday to check out both a digger AND a tractor. Charlie was thrilled, and apparently quite stirred up while they were out there. There was a lot of "tractor" talk on the way home... :)

I had a wonderful time during my weekend away, but it was SO good to see Charlie on Sunday. I was missing him terribly, and we were both really excited to get home to Clint. Thank you so much Papa and Ali for making our week away so fun and easy!

Too Cool for School

Ok, so I know he'd be even cooler without a price tag hanging in front of his nose, but I didn't actually want to buy these... :)

A Fun Weekend with Papa & Ali

My parents came in town last week to see Charlie (and us...hopefully), and we had so much fun with them. Clint was on call most of the time they were here, but it was nice for me to have some company. We kept busy, busy, busy, and as a result, Charlie napped harder than he has in a long time. They accompanied us to Little Gym one afternoon, and Charlie loved the extra attention there. He also put on a quite a show for them, Sam, and Audra in the pool one afternoon, "swimming" wildly around (and doing quite well as long as one of us was holding him up :). Charlie had so much fun the whole time they were here--the only bad part was the day after they left, when he was missing them and in a terrible mood!

One of our favorite excursions was to the Children's Museum. Charlie and I hadn't been before and we loved it. It was exhausting, but totally worth it.

The dinosaurs fascinated Charlie. We didn't do the full dinosaur exhibit, but I think that will be so fun when he gets a bit older.

And he's off! The next two pictures crack me up. Charlie was definitely a "man on a mission" at the museum. He was completely busy and independent the entire time--he really did not care if we were there or not. :)

The fire engine was probably his favorite part: steering wheels at the front, stairs in the middle, and 2 slides at the back. How could anything be better??

But, we managed to leave the fire engine for a while and enjoyed the barnyard. Charlie loved riding horses and riding his John Deere "tractor" tricycle.

"Tractor" is our current favorite word (and book).

Although he felt that it was beneath him, Charlie let us relax for a few minutes while he enjoyed the 0-2-year-old play area.

After watching Mr. Barry's tricks at Little Gym, Papa helped Charlie perfect his forward roll on the mats. Charlie loved it!

Thanks for a great weekend Papa and Ahhh. We miss you guys!

15 Months Old!

Charlie is 15 months old and loving life. He is walking, running, swimming, and talking up a storm. Some of his words I can understand (favorites are "tractor," "bellybutton," "apple," "all gone," "bye bye" and "doggie"), and sometimes Charlie says very elaborate "sentences" that seem to have a lot of meaning to him, but I haven't been able to decipher yet.

I know I think this at each stage, but I really think this is my favorite stage yet. Charlie is very independent right now, and seems to understand so much. He follows directions now (those of you who have been at playgroups with us will dispute this, but he's really pretty good at home :), and loves to try to do everything on his own (including trying to put his own dinner together when I don't do it quickly enough). We laugh together constantly--luckily for me, he has a nutty little sense of humor and is always laughing at various things that happen in our days. I love just riding along in the car with him and listening to him talk and laugh to himself in the backseat.

Charlie is still as social as ever, and although he doesn't mind playing trucks at home with me, he is happiest with he has lots and lots of people around. He loves our various playgroups, playdates, swim classes, Little Gym, and any other activity where there are other people involved. The only downside to his social ways is that Charlie usually pitches quite the fit when we have to leave social gatherings, but we are working on that... :) Charlie still loves playing trucks (especially loves sending them flying down the slide), playing with toy trains and train tables, throwing balls, chasing ducks, squirrels and dogs, and reading books (one of the few activities he will do alone for long periods of time). He has also turned into quite the little fish this summer and is getting pretty fearless in the water. Charlie can now stay under for 6 seconds and has just started to "swim" to me under water. He also does a great imitation of a swimmer when we hold him on top of the water. I think he thinks he's swimming when he does this, but it mostly just amuses us. :)

And now, here is the perky little 15 month old on one of our morning strolls around the Village lakes.

The ducks were smart to be running: Danger was following close behind!

When the ducks proved too illusive, Danger decided to take a jog on the running trails instead...

I tried to get an action shot, but unfortunately, it came out all blurry...

Following our walk, Charlie helped me get ready for the day. This included pulling out all the tissues from the tissue box and then stuffing them back in and kissing himself (repeatedly) in the mirror.

Charlie had his 15-month appointment this week and did great! He passed with flying colors--even giving our pediatrician some very sweet smiles and happily telling him "bye bye" at the end of the appointment. His 15-month stats are:

Weight: 23 lbs., 4 oz. (35%)

Length: 31 1/2 in. (70%)

Head: 19 1/8 in. (85%)

Charlie didn't really need those official stats to tell you that he is SO BIG!

And because I mentioned it above, here is Charlie preparing his own "dinner." Thanks for the help little guy! (And no, I don't give him fruit pouches for dinner, he chose that on his own. :)