Holy, moly, that's awesome!

We took the boys to see Santa (or Ho Ho as Charles calls him) and Mrs, Claus tonight at Johnson's Farm. On the way over, we saw an amazing house completely covered with lights. The boys were napping and missed it, so we made sure to drive by again. We pulled into a parking lot across the street so the boys could take it all in. William thought it was the best house he has seen, but Charles had the best line with "Holy, moly, that's awesome!"

Don't let Charles be adopted

Charles has been exceptionally ornery lately. Last night, he was at his worst. I told him I was tired of his behavior. William then said, "Don't let anyone adopt Charles." I asked if he wanted to keep Charles, and he said yes. After a few minutes, he was crying, afraid Charles would be adopted out. First, I have no idea where that idea even came from. Nothing like that has ever been said. Second, even as Charles was hitting and kicking William, William still wanted Charles to stay.

Renaming our elves

Charles excitedly ran up to me the other morning to tell me he had found Mike and Sully. I told him that was great but wondered why he had to "find" his new ornaments on the tree. Then he grabbed my hand to lead me downstairs to "see elves." When we reached the living room, he pointed to the elves and said, "Mike and Sully!" I told him they are Marzipan and Gingerbread. He said no, Mike and Sully. Then he said he wanted to touch them. I told him they would lose their magic and wouldn't be able to go see Santa. Charles thought that was ok. He wanted to touch them.

Anna/Charles

 We went to Toys R Us today for their free Lego kit, and Charles made his way to the Frozen aisle. He found the Anna costume and began begging for it. I told him he had to ask Daddy. When we tracked him down, Charles eagerly led him back to the Frozen aisle. Soon I heard sobs and Daddy reappeared carrying a hysterical Charles without the costume. Tonight, we are watching Toy Story of Terror that we recorded this morning. They had a Party City Halloween ad with the Princess costumes. Charles had me rewind it so he could see Anna. He again said he wants to wear it. He continued the argument by stating, "It fits."

Little monsters

William and Charles picked out their Halloween costumes this past weekend. William in a minion complete with fart gun, and Charles is Mike Wazowski with the green fuzzy slippers we found a few weeks earlier. Perfect!

Wishing

Charles is studying the newest Fisher Price catalog and dreaming of all the possibilities.

Anna & Elsa

We took Charles and William to see Anna and Elsa today at a special event at ACE Hardware to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. William said the trip was not a surprise, and Charles said he was scared. He loves Anna! He begs to watch Anna in her movie and on tv on Once Upon a Time, but today he buried his face in my chest and covered his eyes when we tried to get a picture. We waited a bit and tried again, but he refused to look at them. When I turned his body to the front, he shut his eyes to avoid looking at them. When we left, he again said he was scared. Daddy asked if he was shy, but Charles said no, scared. He was scared of Elsa. I think he was afraid she would freeze him!

Mommy Seaman

Charles has taken to "reprimanding" me or getting my attention by sharply calling me "Mommy Seaman!" I guess he has learned the double name means business.

Butterfly kisses

My little Charles Hansley just reached up and grabbed my face, giving me the Eskimo kisses and butterfly kisses my Mimi, Jane Charles Hansley, used to give me. My heart swelled. Love, love, love!!!

School is great!

Charles is now doing very well at school. He is no longer upset when he is dropped off in the morning. Plus he is basically potty trained after two and a half weeks! He is waking up dry in the mornings. Yay!

Friday, he did not want to go to school because he wanted to watch Monsters Inc instead. In an attempt to get him out the door, I told him he could asks Miss Sassano at school. William thought I was nuts, but I thought Charles would forget by the time we got to school. Nope! He walked in his room, and with the sweetest voice, he said, "Miss Sassano, can we watch Monsters Inc?" I apologized for throwing her under the bus, but she said it was fine and found Monsters Inc material on her iPad. All was good!

I'm not Charles

I'm trying to get Charles to eat a good dinner--rotisserie chicken and carrots. I got William to try the chicken by bribing him with a couple of Cheez-its. Charles wants some, too. I told him he needs to eat more carrots and chicken in order to get Cheez-its. He answered, "no." I said, "Charles, stop telling me no." He replied, "I'm not Charles. I'm William."

First day of school

Charles attended his first day of school today! He walked right into his classroom with little hesitation. We put his backpack in his cubby and gave his teacher his bag with his nap time blanket and sheet. He sat down at the table with Miss Sassano and had a quiet talk as I was able to kiss him good-bye and leave. Charles was fine--I was the one who nearly spilled tears as I got in my car.

When I picked Charles up this afternoon, he excitedly hugged me and told me he was playing with potato heads. We then went to his room and got his backpack and his papers. He got upset and started to cry when we didn't bring home his monsters university bag that had his blanket and sheet, but otherwise, it was a great day for him!

Play Doh fireman

Charles had his 3rd birthday party today. One neighbor family gave him a fire truck Plah Doh set that came with blue doh for squeezing out streams of water and red doh for stamping fire molds. Charles loves his fire truck! He was excited to make the "water," and we made some fire. Then in one quick motion, he squished the colors together saying, "Put out the fire with water!" So much for pure separate colors, but he's happy!

Enchanted swim

We just arrived at Winterthur and came straight to the Enchanted Wood so the boys could play. We got a couple of pictures with Bee Bee and Granddaddy before the boys played with the water pump and trough that spills into a pond. Suddenly Charles fell in! He is completely soaked, so we stripped him to let his clothes dry.

Jack Sparrow Baby

This is Jack Sparrow Baby. Charles allowed the costume to be taken off yesterday, but he has otherwise worn it for three out of four days. He wore it to Storybook Land's Pirate and Princess event on Saturday, slept in it that night, and then wore it to church Sunday. Only after playing in the sand table that afternoon could I remove it for a bath. He woke this morning requesting Pirates of the Carribean movie and his costume.

Motorcycles for breakfast

Charles loves to eat "motorcycles" for breakfast. He begs for the flavored ice pops each morning, and his cute name for them always makes me chuckle.

Hair cut

We were playing with our "Flubber" this afternoon when we were distracted with another toy. Charles found the playdoh scissors we had left out and came smiling into the kitchen with a sing song voice saying, "hair cut!" and aimed for my head! He then proceeded to "snip" my hair. It was actually very calming and felt amazing! I love having my hair played with, and with all boys, the experience is rare. Thank you, Charles!

Bubble snake

We played with a contraption from a workshop on messy play that I attended this spring. It is a solo cup with a special fabric stretched across the top with a straw inserted in the side. William found it  in our box of fun and wanted to play. We both had fun, but when Charles took his turn, he sucked on the straw and got a mouthful of dish soap! We cleaned his mouth, but he wouldn't try again. "Bubbles yucky!"

Fourth of July

Yesterday was the 4th of July. After a day on the beach and dinner of hash and BBQ, we went for a walk. As we neared the condo, Daddy, William, Bee Bee, Mary, Austin, and Aly went inside, but Charles and I walked on to Charlestown Grant and went out on the beach to watch the fireworks. Since fireworks are no longer allowed on the beaches of Litchfield by the Sea, we were close to South Litchfield where we had a great view. It was a special Mommy and Charles moment.

Play doh fun

William found clay figures in this month's Disney Family Fun magazine and was determined to build them himself. He and Charles set up their creature shop in the kitchen and went to work making a bunny (William's), a penguin (Charles's), and a pig (not pictured).

Play date with Nathaniel

Nathaniel came over to play with Charles on this last day of school before summer. Hungry dinosaurs, anyone?

Beautiful Charles

This morning, Charles decided to participate in my morning "beauty routine." He got in the shower with me, and then afterwards while I put on my lotion, he insisted on the same. He smoothed Jergens cherry-almond on his legs, feet, and arms. Then when I was working on my hair and squirting the foam ball of mousse on my hands to smooth through my hair, he wanted some, too. He got a little poof on his palm and applied it to his own hair. We blew it dry, and now we are ready for the day. 

No-ah

Charles has entered into a new language pattern--all words ending in vowel sounds are getting an additional syllable added to the end. No-ah. Me-ah. You-ah.  It is cute. 

Paddington's sticky bun

Charles and I read through a lot of the collection of board books we have gathered over the years. Since he was wearing his beach clothes (tropical surfboard print), Charles wanted to read about Paddington at the beach. At the end, Paddington eats a sticky bun. Charles said, "Sticky bun? Yuck! I don't like it!" Sure you don't, Charles. He would devour one if it ended up on his plate, but his response and facial expressions were so funny!

Whose present?

We finally went shopping for Mary Elizabeth's birthday present. Charles and I got her Barbie Lipgloss in a cell phone shaped container and a pack of Barbie nail polishes. We also picked up Barbie's baby sister doll with orange lion ears, an orange dress and boots. Charles wanted to see it and held it all the way home and is currently cuddled with it (in the box) on the sofa.  He thinks it is small and cute. Hopefully he is over it by the time we go to South Carolina so we can give it to her.

Pirate, Argh!

I selected an outfit for Charles to wear today, and it had a nautical wheel on the front pocket. Charles spotted it and said, "Pirate?" I said, " Yes, it is the wheel to a ship." His response, "Argh!" Then he was exceptionally pleased to find there is a matching hat. Photo op!

Mickey & Minnie Mouse

I put on my Minnie Mouse t-shirt, so Charles asked to put on his Mickey Mouse t-shirt. As soon as he was dressed, he grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, Minnie." I replied, "Ok, Mickey!"  We came downstairs to get breakfast. I opened up the cabinet with the vitamins. He asked, "What's that, Minnie?" Then, "Thank you, Minnie!" when I gave him his vitamin.  He said, "Hold me, Minnie." Everything is ended with Minnie, and I call him Mickey right back. It's cute!

Kissing fool!

Charles has apparently watched too many kissing scenes because he is really into kissing at the moment. He has always given sweet little kisses, but recently he has gone for the cheek squishing, open fish mouth kisses. Daddy and I can't help but giggle when he tries to attack us, but we also squirm our lips away or purse them really tight to avoid such a bizarre (yet sweetly funny) full-on kiss.

Earth Day Events

We have had quite the Earth Day weekend.  Friday, William, Charles and I joined Daddy at his school's Earth Day celebration.  The boys were able to pet a ball python and a white rat.  They then played such games as aluminum can recycling hockey in which squashed cans were used as hockey pucks and shot into recycling bins.  William used his Wild Kratts knowledge to Velcro animals to the right locations on an inflatable globe.  The boys played recycling basketball, throwing plastic bottles into bins.  They shot darts at greenhouse gases, and they jumped plastic frogs onto lily pads hoping for the safe green lily pads and not the bird, snake, bacteria, or lizard lily pads.  They also got to fish for the snake headed fish to get them out of a pond while protecting the bass swimming there.

Yesterday, after an overnight rain, we found earthworms on the sidewalk in our backyard.  We quickly placed them in a gardening pot until we could get William's worm home, a gift for Christmas, ready with its layers of dirt and colored sand.  We placed eight earthworms in their home and placed wet leaves on top for their food.  Already the boys are having fun watching the worms make their ways through the dirt.

Today, the boys and I went to the ACUA Earth Day event.  We entered the grounds by driving through the recycling center, getting to see the mountains of recycling collected by the county.  We later took a tour of the recycling center to see where everything is sorted and baled.  William was very interested in talking to a biologist who works for Atlantic City Electric.  It is his job to protect the animals.  Just last week, he found a peregrine falcon roosting on the Brigantine bridge.  He is now trying to find its nest so it can be protected.  The boys also got to watch the meter reader as they turned on an incandescent bulb versus a halogen bulb.  They got to see a display on natures animals and see the whelk shells and the seed pods laid by the whelk.  They saw a display on solar energy and got to play with a solar powered toy beetle and a model of a solar powered house.  They got to make their own pine cone and peanut butter bird feeders, pet alpacas and baby goats, and plant milkweed seeds for butterflies.  William made an owl magnet, and Charles made a chimpanzee magnet.  William painted a stone for our garden, Charles squealed with fright at the sight of the Rainforest Cafe frog and the ACUA's walking recycling bin.  William got a picture with the bin.  They played on a playground with slides built into the ground, and we walked along a path in the woods while reading nature poetry printed on plaques.  We finished out the day by reaching into a tub to pet hermit crabs, a horseshoe crab, a regular crab, a sea urchin, a whelk, and a star fish.  William got an actual autograph from a turtle named Rocky, and Charles got to feed a blueberry to a turtle named Gracie.  It was a great day!

Mommy loves Charles

Charles the comedian

I was getting Charles in the car this morning for his play date and my prayer group. He spotted my turquoise flower necklace and asked about it. I told him they were flowers, and he started sniffing the air.  Sniff! Sniff!  I laughed and asked if the pretend flowers smelled. He said yes and pulled the necklace up to his nose to sniff them some more.

I also brought his milk cup along. Before we pulled out if the drive, he took a long swig and then belted out his pretend burp. Lovely. He took another swig, burped, and laughed, "I burped!"

Jelly Beans!

The Easter Bunny came last night and filled Charles's basket with a toy bunny, a chocolate bunny, jelly beans, the Aristocats DVD, and the Letter Factory DVD. He also hid eggs with the rule that Charles's eggs were green, yellow, and pink. The eggs had two gold dollar coins and twenty quarters. 23 eggs to hunt! (One egg had chocolate coins.) Charles was not a quick searcher for the eggs, though. Between finding each egg, he had to make a trip back to his basket to eat another jelly bean.

Outside all day

We finally had a beautiful day, and Charles and I spent most if the day outside. Charles and his friend John rode in a double jogging stroller while John's mom and I walked across the Ocean City bridge. They were lulled to sleep by the experience. Then we took them to Castle Park to play before the older siblings got out of school.

This afternoon, we went back to OC so the boys could see the boardwalk, and they ended up playing a little on the beach.

Pet store fun

Charles and I had to get Lang Se cat food, so we visited Petsmart and turned it into an experience. The workers were feeding the reptiles, so they called us over to see an albino snake. Charles was wary, but I showed him they could be touched. 

He really enjoyed the running furry creatures, like the robo dwarf hamsters, guinea pigs, and the chinchilla.

He also spent a lot of time looking at the goldfish.

Literary or, uh, monster cat

Charles decided Lang Se needed to wear Mike Wazowski 3D glasses this morning. Lang Se is such a good sport.

Where is Charles?

I couldn't find Charles. William and I had been reading upstairs, and it was time to get ready for the first day of soccer. The house was quiet, so I figured Charles had fallen asleep somewhere. I checked the den floor where I have often found him. I checked the living room where he had been playing. He was not in his room when I went to get his socks. I was about to search William's room when I spied two little feet sticking out from under the dining room table.