biggest fan

Charles walked across the floor to the sofa where William was sitting.  William shouted, "He made it all the way to me!  I'm so proud of you, Baby!"  The Charles was wrapped in a big bear hug by his big brother.

Olympic fun

Charles is getting to see his first Olympic with the summer Olympics in London.  We had fish and chips and bangers and mash Friday night for the opening.  Then we sat down to watch the opening ceremony, and Charles was transfixed by the music and the lights.  He also got a Mickey Gold Medal.

big brother's influence

Lovely. Charles at 11 months old just added a new word to his vocabulary: "poopy." I was changing his diaper, and said, "Ooh, Charles has a poopy diaper," to which Charles replied, "poopy." William, the four year old whose every third word is poopy, heard it and asked, "How does he know poopy?" My response, "I wonder..."

I'm walking!

Charles has achieved so much in the last month!  He started to stand by himself and quickly moved to walking!  He went from one tooth to four! And he has added new vocabulary words.  Jake began working on Charles saying "Jake," and after repeating it a few times, Charles got it!  10 1/2 months old and he got it!  The next week, he started letting go of the chairs and the walls, attempting steps.  Those timid tiny steps soon grew into two bigger steps, and now, at 11 months, Charles is walking up to 8 steps in a row!

With the new mobility, Charles is getting into mischief.  On July 16, Charles climbed into the dishwasher!  He was exploring by putting his head between the racks, and then he stood up on the door to look on the top rack!  Too funny!

But two days later, it was not so funny as he squeezed himself out of the sliding glass door and landed head first on the cement step.  He ended up with a triangle bruise, the shape of the corner of the step, on his forehead.  I kept ice on it all afternoon, and Daddy checked his eyes, and by evening, after a call to Granddaddy for some comfort, the mark was going down.  It was actually gone in just a couple of days.  Oh, my heart!

Good-bye, Mema

After we returned to New Jersey, we were met with a powerful storm of weather juxtaposed with an even more debilitating storm of emotion when we suddenly lost Mema.  Charles is so young, he most likely will not have his own memories of his grandmother, just those we share with him.  So to give him a little bit of her spirit, I will post the piece I wrote and was read at her funeral:

We are completely heartbroken and shocked by the sudden loss of our Mema. We are saddened that her grandsons will have to grow up without her, especially the youngest two who will not have those precious memories of the older three boys. We are frustrated knowing she was going to work only one more year and then retire. We mourn the loss of the years we wanted to spend with her. But then we have to stop and remind ourselves—Mema wasn’t waiting to begin her life with retirement next year. She LIVED every single day. She lived with her heart and touched everyone she knew.

Mema’s spirit was amazing! She was always ready to embrace life—and she did. She traveled everywhere: Washington State, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Nevada (with a side trip to see the aliens), South Carolina, a random map pick in North Carolina, New Orleans, Niagra Falls, Bermuda, a girls’ ski weekend in Virginia, Disney World at the cusp of the New Year. One of her most adventurous trips was just two years ago to Africa where she was part of a mission trip to build a school. She also got to go on a safari and brought back amazing stories of seeing lions, and most memorable, an elephant who gave up her herd to stay with another elephant born without a trunk. She was amazed with the world and shared her stories eagerly. If only we all had her courage to seize each opportunity for adventure.

Mema and I shared a joy of mathematics teaching. I had the fun of going on annual weekend adventures with her in the fall to the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey convention. The fun and ease of those weekends with her demonstrated to me that I was not just her daughter-in-law; I was a daughter to her. In fact, while visiting Joe at college at Clemson, she made a point of sitting with me at a party, then telling him she thought he should date me. Boy, am I glad she did. She and her Joe created and nurtured the most wonderful man in my Joe, and now we have our most precious little family.

The most important part of her life was her family--especially her grandsons. She had what can only be described as “Mema magic.” The first rule when it came to her grandchildren was “There are no rules at Mema’s house.” She spoiled her boys. She gave them everything. Christmas will never be the same. She would shop all year so that by Christmas, each boy would have bags overflowing with dozens of mini presents ready to be ripped into. But those gifts are nothing compared to the pure love and devotion she had for the boys. She was always open for hugs and kisses, and the boys ran to her eagerly. This year, the three oldest boys, Gabriel, Samuel, and William, would spend “in the middle of the night,” as William says, with her, and at some point, all three would end up in bed with her by morning. If ever any of them got hurt or upset, she would say, “Mema will make it better,” wrap them in the warmest hugs, and indeed magically make them better. With the babies, Charles and Nathaniel, her “Mema magic” would quickly sooth their crying and put them to sleep as she snuggled them on her chest. And she played! She would get down on the floor and play Bug World and Sesame Street. She would sit out in the playroom with the children playing with all the toys they could dig out to cover the entire floor. She loved the beach and would play in the sand and waves with them. Mema was fun! Mema was magic.

We were given an extra 42 years with Mema after a terrible car accident when she was 18. She took hold of the life she was given back and lived it to its fullest, tackling adventures, loving everyone with whom she came in contact and making them feel welcome, and building a tight family that will ever hold her in our hearts. There is no one like Mema.

June catch up

Whew!  It is the end of July and I am just writing about June!  June went by fast because we were out of state for three whole weeks!  At the end, we had a true appreciateion of how wonderful our boys are and how truly blessed we are.  We spent a week at Litchfield Beach with the Brown family.  Charles had so much fun playing with the other children at the condo.  He especially loved playing with Aly's baby stroller because it allowed him to walk on his own.  Charles also had his first trip to the beach.  The first night there, Charles put his toes in the sand a little timidly, but soon he loved it!  He was crawling down the beach to the water like a baby sea turtle--and he was ready to keep going in if I didn't stop him.  He also loved the taste of sand as he shoveled it in his mouth.  Yuck!  Tidepools proved to be a Godsend as Charles could play in the water without me worrying he was going to crawl out to see and get tumbled by the waves.

The next week, we drove upstate and spent the week in Greenwood and Laurens.  Charles had lots of fun staying with Aly and Austin and playing with their toys.  He liked playing with the babies at Bee Bee and Granddaddy's house when we got together with Anna and Molly and their children.  Charles had his first ride on Uncle Byron's boat on the lake and loved it!  He was so cute in his life jacket!  This week he also began to stand for a few second all on his own--without any props!  When Mommy and William went to a show, Charles got to stay with his great-Uncle Byron and great-Aunt Alice and taught Uncle Byron how quick he is.  While Alice was putting Aly down for a nap, Uncle Byron was in charge of Charles.  Suddenly, Uncle Byron couldn't find Charles and started looking in the laundry room and the kitchen and down the hall, and then he called to Alice, "I can't find Charles!"  Alice found him at the top of their stairs to the second floor!

The third week, we went to Oak Island with my sorority sisters Lori and Susan and their children.  It was three mommies and six children--a house full!  The children got along well, and Charles tried to teach Walter how to climb the stairs.  Charles got to go on his first ferry ride, and we had a great time at the aquarium.  William, Charles, and I took one afternoon to ourselves and went to the nature center on the island, and Charles loved looking at the animals--and the wooden snakes.  I got him his own wooden snake (very real looking--ooh!) and he loves it!  When Mommy and her friends went to dinner, the boys were left with their first non-family babysitters, and they did very well!  Whew!

During the trip, Charles ate everything!  He had his first tastes of Greek yogurt, blueberry waffle, fat back, hash, barbecue, plus anything that was dropped on the floor! 

We drove back to New Jersey, just the three of us since Daddy had to get back home during week two.  I was nervous, but the boys were perfect!  Charles slept most of the way, and when he woke up hungry, William fed him little yogurt melts.  If only traffic were as cooperative as the boys!