Christmas Time

This is the second Christmas that I have come home and realized that I didn't take many pictures of the celebration. I guess running around after a child keeps me away from my camera. Anyway, we had last minute plan changes as my dad came down with a bad bug that no one wanted to risk Charlie catching. So, instead of Yakima, we travelled to Spokane for a Christmas gathering. Fun times were had.

This is a picture of a "singing elf that came to deliver a Christmas message to Maddy, Ella and Kristin. Charlie was pretty enthralled. He wasn't to happy about a photo by himself with the elf. So, the rest of the gang piled in.
Charlie continued his love affair with the piano. Here he is playing Christmas carols with his great grandma - GG.
This shot is actually a week before Christmas. His aunt gave him some wonderful new toys and a book. He got into the opening part this year a bit more than before. He still wasn't too enthused by the gift part of Christmas. He was much more into playing with his cousins. They are cool chicks!
My mom sent Charlie a Frosty book that she recorded with her voice. This has become a favorite "toy". He reluctantly shared this book with Auggie when they came over to visit.

Yarrow opened in Spokane!

My sister Beth, held an open house for her new yoga studio, Yarrow, in Spokane. Charlie and I flew over to join the festivities for the weekend. Charlie had tons of fun with his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great grandma. I wish I had a picture of everyone together. Since this weekend, I realize how much Charlie loves to play musical instruments. As you can see from the picture below, he had fun on the piano. He also really enjoyed the recorder.

The cousins posed for a few shots this day with a professional photographer. I didn't do too bad though with this shot.
This is how Charlie watched a good portion of a basketball game. His cousin Ella was playing in a co-ed game. This was the first experience with live basketball for Charlie. As you can tell, he really was engrossed.
Charlie with the big kids.

Hats on display & playing with a new toy

Charlie has been having fun playing with my hat. He puts this thing on and runs all over the house. He often has it over his eyes as he is exploring our home. I was able to get him to pause for a picture. He needs to grow into this hat, but it is dang cute on him as well.
Below are a few shots of Charlie playing with a new train Boppa bought him at the Santa Train shop.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we spent lots of time having fun with Nonnie, Boppa, GG and Vinnie (the dog). The following are some pictures from the Santa Train in Snoqualmie. Charlie had fun on the Choo Choo. Below is a picture of Nonnie and Charlie looking at the rain puddle. Charlie really wanted to jump in.

Charlie did not love the actual Santa part very well. I had to stay in the picture. Santa sure looks good for having a freaked out boy on his lap.

Riding the train.
Charlie had tons to tell his GG. She was a very doting great grandma for the weekend. Charlie adores his GG.

Boppa and Charlie snuggling on the floor. Charlie loves to snuggle these days.

Well, we have a new hard drive on our computer and I was finally able to get our pictures to download. The following is a picture out our front door back in November during our week of snow. Charlie loved the snow. The first time he saw the snow he said: "Oh, pretty."

Tom made me a birthday cake in the shape of an A. Pretty tasty cake indeed.

Charlie enjoys playing on his easel.

Playing at home

Here are a few more videos from the last week. I attempted to edit these down into a small clip, which I hope works. There were a few naked videos of Charlie on his new slide and running through his dad's legs, that didn't make the public publishing of this clip. This is the censored version. Enjoy.

Playing time

Charlie and I had a play date last Monday with Emmett and his mommy. All of us had such a great time. These boys played and played. Lunch was eaten, but they also had fun playing footsie and flirting with each other. Charlie and Emmett also finger painted in the nude and shared a bath tub for a while. At the end of the play date, Charlie went to his room for a nap. Charlie and Emmett called to each other for a while through the door. Emmett can say Charlie, so it was so dang cute!

We had a lovely fall day today, so Tom and Charlie put on their caps, grabbed a ball and headed to the park. I caught them on the way out the door.

Football fans

Tom and Charlie were watching the Seahawks and there was lots of "booing" going on, so I grabbed my still camera (the one with the charged battery) and took a mini movie. I have finally figured how to post videos on this site. Vocabulary is growing in our household as this video shows.

Haircut & Coloring

Recently we realized that it was probably time for the first haircut. Seventeen months old and the hair was getting a little shaggy. Tom was brave enough to do the honors. Charlie did a great job staying still. He just struggled when the clippers got close to his ears as he really wanted to look at what was vibrating on his head.

I rearranged Charlie's room to make space for the table that his Grandpa Bud and Grandma Patsy bought for his first birthday. He has loved coloring, eating, and just playing on his own table. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a very fun spot for your grandson. We will certainly get you a few pieces of his artwork soon.
On a side note, Charlie has become a true blanket boy. He doesn't want to go anywhere without his blankets. Often, if he can find all of his 4 blankets, you can find him wandering around the house with a big ball. Pretty funny.

Oh, the joys of puddle playing

I wish I could figure out how to get these pictures in the right order. Oh, well. We had a really rainy day today. Enough so that our front accumulated several puddles. Because of this, Charlie was able to experience his first puddles. I think I had about as much fun watching him as he did running and splashing. This first picture is from after the playing.

Below is the biggest puddle of the day. Boy, he got wet!
A rare look at mom for a picture, but he didn't stop running.
Tom escaped some yard work today. If it had been sunny, that hedge would be trimmed. (tom just chimed in that he did yard work today. That is true, just not the hedge trimming he had planned.)

Climbing...

Recently, Charlie has really gotten into climbing all over furniture, his parents, and pretty much anything else he can find. One afternoon we brought his small stroller inside and let him have fun. I brought the camera out to capture a few of these moments. If you can't tell, Charlie is beginning to love posing for the camera.

Holden pt. 2

Although Holden is not far from our home on a map, it takes three modes of transportation and many hours to get there. We needed to drive 3 plus hours, take a 1.5 hour boat ride and then a 30 minute bus ride up the hill. We had one tired and excited boy. Here are some pictures from our time mostly on the boat and waiting for the boat. One shot I included is of a frustrated boy. We saw that face tons on the boat if we attempted to hold him back from running every which way.

First trip as a family to Holden Village

Holden Village is part of the Lutheran tradition. It is a wonderful space for rest, hiking, education, worship and communal living. We were blessed with the opportunity to live in the Village for several days. Our days were wonderful, but the nights a struggle. We believe that living with 200 people, flirting, playing with friends and being out of his environment, made it very difficult for good sleep. I didn't take my camera out much during our stay. The last one here has the back of one of Charlie's buddies at Holden, Jack. They had tons of fun playing together. So much so, that I couldn't get a photo with them both looking at the camera.

Trip to Yakima to can tomatoes & see family

We recently returned from a trip to can tomatoes, visit family and Holden Village. Ironically, I did not get any pictures of tomato canning. Something about having tomato juice all over your hands, leads to no camera time. Anyway, here are a few shots from the remainder of the weekend. Charlie loved playing on his grandparents farm with his aunt Erin!

Charlie loved the new grass that grandpa Bud planted. He kept running and then falling flat on his stomach. Each time a huge laugh came out of him. Here is a shot of one of his landings.
Uncle Will invited us to come watch him load up his truck with hops. Here Charlie is holding tight to his own vine of hops and studying what his uncle is doing. The next shot is Uncle Will on top of the bails and Tom and Charlie on their way to see him up close. We had some awesome clouds!

Corn, Finger Painting & Friends

Our little picky eater has figured out the greatness of sweet, summer corn. After watching his parents eat off the cob, he now will only eat corn off the cob. Here is a picture of him enjoying his corn.

I bought Charlie a set of finger paints. We have now created two pictures. Charlie doesn't quite get the concept of needing to put his fingers on the page - he tries to shake the paint off his fingers. However, he was really proud of what was created. These two pictures are now on display at our home. For any other young parents thinking of doing this. We learned quickly that nakedness is the best way to go.


Emmett came over to eat lunch and play with Charlie. Tom and I enjoyed having Dana over as well. Although the boys aren't looking at the camera, this is a good shot of them playing on the couch.