so brave

Charles had his one year well check on Monday and had to get two shots.  The doctor gives them to his patients, and it looks like he really jabs them in!  He holds the syringe in a fist and POW! rams the needle in the little baby arms!  Well, Charles didn't even flinch.  Not a single whimper or tear came out of him.

Today, Charles had to get his well check blood work.  We went to the lab, and Charles sat in my lap.  My instructions were to hold the body and the arm not being drawn.  They tied the tourniquet around his left arm and poked at his vein, but they didn't like that one, so they tied the other arm and poked and poked at the vein until they were happy with it.  When they were about to insert the needle, the vein disappeared, so they went back to the left arm.  They got the needle in, and Charles again did not cry!  He started talking very matter of factly.  I guess he said it hurt a little and talked about what they were doing to him, but he was so calm and cool.  Very impressive little man!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Charles turned one yesterday!  He has accomplished so much!  He is running and chasing William.  He adds a new word often and visibly puckers his little lips to try to copy words he would like to say.  He asks (with his eyes) what things are called so he can learn the word.  The other day, he wanted to know "sleeves" and thought they were very cool on his shirt.

Since Christmas, Charles has grabbed his Very Hungry Caterpillar toy at night.  It is the perfect diameter for his little hand.  When I painted the boys' rocking chair, I added the caterpillar to the back.  So for his first birthday party, Charles had a Very Hungry Caterpillar party.  There were lots of colors and fruit everywhere!

Happy birthday, Love!



Charles, his baby friends and their older siblings painted their own colorful worlds.





"I ate it all!"



He's gonna get you!

William decided to head butt Charles tonight.  Instead of getting upset, Charles turned over on all fours, let out a war cry, and started barrelling at William.  He took off after him ready to attack.  William ran half shrieking, half laughing from the room to get away from the baby.  Thus, a game was started.  When Charles was rounded up and returned to the room, William came back in and head butted him to the floor once more.  Charles scrambled to his knees, let out his war cry, and the chase was on again.  William only laughed this time, and Charles was grinning the whole time he was tearing after him.

On the run!

Charles has decided his only mode of transportation now is walking with attempted high speeds.  He is everywhere!  He climbs stairs so fast, hurrying to the living room to play the piano or eat seashells decorating the entrance table.  He rushes into the kitchen to steal cat food.  And he dances to all music he hears.  He gets an ornery look on his face when he snatches one of William's toys and runs away with it.  He tries to climb in the dishwasher.  He tries to step out the sliding glass door.  He refuses to slide backwards down the stairs but wants to step down forwards--giving Mommy a heart attack.  I wrote before that he climbed a ladder.  The boy is a daredevil and a puzzle cracker, and he gets into everything.  Plus he loves all cords and electronics.  And he steals Mommy's cell phone from her purse.  He is an unstoppable ball of energy until I strap him into his baby swing and lull him into a nap.

Olympic dancer

Charles loves the Olympic closing ceremony on tv tonight. He has been dancing and bopping to the music the whole time. He liked One Direction's You Don't Know You're Beautiful as well as music from Stomp.

King of the mountain

I painted our den last weekend, starting it while Daddy was away, so Charles was confined to his pack-n-play. Apparently he was watching me while I moved about the room climbing up my ladder to tape off the room and paint near the ceiling because as soon as he was allowed out of his prison, Charles headed right over to the ladder and scaled it! Daddy was home by that time, and the two of us were in awe. Our 11 month old went up that ladder so sure and so quick! We were both a little scared as well as impressed.

We rearranged the room a tad. I moved our club chair close to our padded hearth to keep Charles from going behind the chair to tip over our floor lamp. He attempted, got stuck, and backed out. He went to the other side of the chair to go between the chair and side table. I had put the table close to the chair to block him, too. Charles paused a moment and then dropped to his knees to crawl under the table to get to the lamp. Gee, he is a smart little guy! We're glad he can problem solve, but we still have to worry about the lamp.