Chillin'

Charlie is so much fun to go to the grocery store with. He loves all the activity there and seems to have so much fun watching the workers, flirting with the ladies, smiling at other babies, and "helping" me choose our food for the week. As you can see above, he has gotten in the habit of reclining in the cart and throwing his arm over the side as we go through. He looks just like a teenager driving a convertible around with the top down (and I think he believes he looks just that cool :). We always get a lot of laughs when he does this and as you can see, he's pretty proud of himself too. :)

Charlie's First Bachelor Party

Charlie, Clint, and I enjoyed a quick trip down to the ranch for Sam's bachelor party this past weekend. Clint spent the day and night skeet shooting and cooking at the cabin with the guys and Charlie and I spent the day and evening hanging out, eating pizza, and playing bridge with Mom, Dede, and Meg at the House on the Hill (and made a short stop by the bachelor party to watch the shooting and drop off food). We had long drives both ways, but it was so worth it. I loved getting to see everyone and Clint had a blast at the party. Charlie was especially pleased with all the action--no one loves a party more than this little man. He has really been missing all the attention and all his favorite people since we returned home.

Charlie loved the skeet shooting and was quite pleased with his hearing protectors. They squeeze his cheeks together and it cracks me up when he tries to smile with them on. :)

The shooters (and partiers).

Elam, Will, Rob, and Sam.

Charlie LOVES his new hand-me-down jacket with the attached frog. This has rocketed to the top of his favorite clothing list. :)

Sweet Dede and Robie.

Charlie adores his Dede...

...and his Aunt Meggie! These two are SO cute together!

Charlie crawled around the House on the Hill non-stop...

...and made sweet music with his new musical instruments from Papa (another of his very very favorite people). Papa lets Charlie drive the truck around the ranch. This has become one of Charlie's favorite activities, but is ruining him for car trips. Thanks a lot Papa!! :)

Boys' Weekend

Technically, I should share blogging responsibilities with Katie, but I do realize that this is only my second post. We can all chalk it up to the fact that she does such a great job maintaining the site (and Charlie, of course). That said, it wouldn't have been a true Boys' Weekend if Mommy was in town . . . so blogging responsibility on this one falls to me. Overall, my first weekend alone with Charlie went well, if not a little hectic. Below you will find evidence of our most elaborate exploit, a trip to Dallas Zoo.

Entrance to the zoo (self explanatory).

Charlie ponders which is more fascinating to observe, the wildlife in the cages, or the clientele at the zoo (I think we ultimately decided on the other zoo patrons).

It was a fairly cool day outside, so the crocodiles weren't at their most lively. I had to be very persuasive in convincing Charlie that they were still alive.

Charlie was amazed at how human-like the chimpanzees were.

Charlie was concerned to find that only the "Lesser Flamingo" was exhibited at the Dallas Zoo. He actually left a comment card requesting the "Greater Flamingo" be present at our next visit.

Charlie and I were very impressed by the new savannah exhibit.

Charlie's concluding thoughts on our trip to the zoo: "Perhaps we do not observe the animals within their cages, but it is they who observe us within our cages."

A Shower for Baby V

I spent the past weekend in Houston celebrating the upcoming arrival of Baby Varner. Courtney, one of my very best friends, is expecting a baby in April and some of my other college friends and I got to host a shower for her. It was such a fun weekend--Courtney cooked a wonderful dinner for us on Friday, and Sarah and David were sweet enough to host the Dallas girls at their place for the weekend. We got lots of "girl" time in, and even got to try on bridesmaids dresses for Sarah's upcoming wedding, which was so exciting. We spent lots and lots of time talking babies and weddings--what a change from our college activities! :) This was also my first weekend away from Charlie, who stayed behind with his Daddy. Although I missed him terribly, the two of them seemed to have a great time together and it was kind of nice to have a few days to myself... :)

Here are the hostesses (minus Stephanie and Jill) with the lovely honoree.

The dessert table...almost ready for guests!

Kelly and Cooper came in from LA for the occasion and it was SO good to see them. Cooper is getting a new little sister in April--Kelly is due two days after Courtney!

Here's me with Courtney and Ann (who is also expecting!).

Now that the shower is over, I really cannot wait to meet Baby V!

9 Months Old!

Charlie's 9th month has been WILD. Not just with the winter storms that have hit Dallas, but also with the amount of activity going on inside the house. Charlie has gotten to be quite a fast little crawler and jets around the house constantly while he's awake. He loves to be standing and pulls up on everything he sees, and then "cruises" around the room by moving from one piece of furniture to another. He really likes pulling up on toilets and looking inside, so I am doing my best to keep the bathroom doors shut--yuk! There was a lot of falling at the beginning of the month, but he's getting much better and is even standing without support for very brief stretches every once in a while. He now gets up and down easily, which means he can entertain himself for long periods of time. I was a little nervous about the crawling stage and all the potential dangers it opened up, but I have really enjoyed it. Charlie loves his independence and plays so much better on his own now that he is mobile. I definitely have to watch him pretty carefully, but he's so amusing to watch that I don't mind. :)

He babbles a ton, and although Clint thinks it's getting more purposeful, I'm not so sure. His favorite sounds are "dat" and "da-da," but he also does the "na-na" sound every once in a while. He is also becoming communicative in other ways--he shakes his head from side to side to indicate "no," scrunches up his nose and gives a big smile when we ask for his "cute face," and waves "bye bye" occasionally (he's getting better). Aside from that, we primarily hear screeching and laughing out of Charlie--which there is a lot of! He has a breathy little laugh that we just love. He seems to do it when he finds something kind of funny, but not fully enough for a full-on belly laugh. He loves to play games with us, and is still pretty fearless. He loves to be surprised, to be thrown up in the air, to be tickled, to be turned upside down, and for us to pretend to drop him. This makes him seem so much more like a big kid all of a sudden!

Charlie still loves reading and we read several books a day. He is really interested in turning the pages right now and does not like it if I forget that that is his job. He loves books with flaps that open and close. We love "Pat the Bunny" right now--he pats the soft little bunny, plays peek-a-boo, sticks his fat little finger through the ring, and waves "bye-bye" wildly at the end.

One of the funniest things about Charlie is how vitally interested he is in his world. When we are out and about, he is constantly craning his neck to watch the people and things that are new and different. He will really stare new people down, which I think is a little jarring to them at times. :) Similarly, if new people come over to our house, he cannot take his eyes off them. I loves his curiosity, but hope that, with age, he becomes a bit more polite in the staring department. :)

Charlie is a pretty good eater these days. Technically, he can feed himself finger foods now, but he's pretty picky about what he'll eat on his own, opting primarily for Puffs and Yogurt Melts. He's not quite as diligent about eating the cut up fruits and vegetables I put on his tray, but he still eats those well if I feed him the purees. And he's taking after his father and grandfather in one important area--he is a big beef lover! :)

Charlie did great at his 9-Month appointment and seems to have put on some weight:

Height: 28.5 inches (60%)

Weight: 18 lbs., 14 oz. (24%)

Head: 18 inches (60%)

All in all, this was a wonderful month and I feel so lucky have gotten to share it with Charlie. I loved watching all the changes that have happened this month and have had so much fun with him. I will do just about anything for Charlie's sweet laugh--and he knows it!

Charlie still loves being outside and we have been spending more and more time outside in the pretty spring weather. As a result, we have eaten a LOT of leaves.

When Daddy takes care of the bath...

...look what emerges. Charlie's inner rockstar has been released! :)

Yard Work and a Little Fever

We spent the entire weekend working around the house and the yard, getting our house ready to go on the market. Although we don't know where we will be going yet, we are hoping to get a jumpstart on the selling process. It has been a lot of work to get the house and yard ready, especially after our big snowstorms. Clint worked like crazy all weekend on the yard and it finally looks really good again. Charlie and I weren't too much help (I know that's shocking to hear. I mean, how could taking pictures inside the new planters NOT be helpful??), but we did spend some quality time outside with "Dat." Charlie was fascinated with eating leaves and grass--I do not understand why this kid won't touch a piece of pear or carrot on his high chair tray, but eats as many pieces of leaves and grass as he can get away with.

On Sunday morning, poor little Charlie came down with a virus (making us even less helpful :). [We think his little make-out session with Baby Blythe over the weekend was the culprit, as they both got sick afterwards. Baby mono maybe?? :)] He ran a pretty high fever all day Sunday and seemed really sick--he was so pale and lethargic that I was kind of worried about him. He did not want to play or eat, but was such a sweet little cuddler--I definitely treasured the opportunity to get some time holding him and loving on him. Today he seemed to be feeling better, but is definitely not back to his old self yet. His fever was down and he was more active, but he was grumpy! Today was a little more trying because he did not want to cuddle, and really didn't seem to want to do anything. We spent a lot of time reading books and walking around the house and the yard inspecting things together. :) I am hoping he is all better tomorrow!