Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Oh, Lovely Vacuum

While Neal has been at home for the past several weeks taking care of Charlie, he has also been an even super wonderful husband by keeping the house clean and tidy, doing the laundry (bless him!) and keeping up with the growth of what resembles grass on our lawn. One of the most important tasks in our house is vacuuming. With 2 very shaggy dogs who L-O-V-E to roll around in the grass and dirt, vacuuming is something that must be done more than once a week. It could probably be done every day. (And, I might add that the experience might even be pleasant if someone would just break down and buy me a Dyson already!)

So, Neal is being the super wonderful husband that he is and is vacuuming regularly. When we returned from our trip, he quickly learned that Charlie loves the vacuum. One day, while sucking up the dusty fur balls and dead leaves tracked in from our beasts, Neal noticed Charlie practically exploding with excitement over this task. Neal decided to give Charlie a front row seat to this chore and put Charlie in the Baby Bjorn while he vacuumed. Apparently, Charlie kicked his legs, waved his arms, and squealed the entire time!

Not only does Charlie love the roar of the machine and the process of vacuuming, he also loves the machine itself. While in the kitchen, he will often scoot over to the closet where we house our Hoover. He struggles to open the door, and when he finally gets inside, he commences in an adorable routine of vacuum adoration. He points and grunts and smiles at it. Then he pokes at it and tries to hug it. It is seriously the cutest and funniest thing when he hugs the vacuum cleaner. Finally, Neal or I will take it out of the closet and put it in the middle of the kitchen floor where Charlie has full access to his beloved vacuum pet. Most of the time, we will lay the vacuum down on its back, giving Charlie every opportunity to investigate its many parts. His favorite, at the moment, is the underbelly where the sucking happens. He pokes around trying to determine just how this thing works. I swear, I would not be surprised if one day I leave him alone with it for 10 minutes and come back to find that he has completely disassembled the whole thing. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be the next inventor of a new vacuum technology that will put the Dyson to shame!

Posted by Cathy at 8:09 AM | | Comments

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Toast

When Neal and I returned from our trip in Ireland and the UK, we both had a new affinity for toast. It seems like each and every morning, the British (and Irish) MUST HAVE TOAST. Regardless of what one orders, whether it be an omelet, oatmeal, fruit, or the full English breakfast equipped with sausage, beans, eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, AND mushrooms, every breakfast must have toast. I even saw people get upset if there was a wait on the toast – or as upset as the English can actually get. Toast is simply a staple of the English/Irish breakfast. Without toast, it seems that the day cannot begin. Thus, Neal and I ate toast for breakfast each and every morning of our trip/vacation. Toast with jam. Preferably, strawberry.

When we returned, we continued to eat our daily servings of toast with jam. This time, though, it was raspberry. We offered some to Charlie, who at first shook his head no, as if he did not like it. But, we soon realized that he does that with every new food. It’s his way of saying, “I’m not sure if I like this because I don’t know what it is. Therefore, I’m going to make you think I don’t like it by shaking my head. And then, if I do in fact like it, I will open my mouth wide and make noise until you plug it up with that food stuff that I actually like.” This was our experience with toast.

Initially, he didn’t seem too thrilled by it. He shook his head, and we didn’t force any more toast into him. The next day, we tried again, and he enjoyed sucking the sticky raspberry jam off of the toasted brown bread. Yum! Sweets for breakfast! And further on, he has gradually come to take full bites of toast with jam, often taking an enormous bite, smearing jam all over his cute chubby cheeks.

So now, each morning, Neal prepares a ½ slice of toast with jam for our little Charles, and for the most part, he gobbles it up. The funniest thing about this new morning ritual is the combination of Charlie’s scooting and toast munching. Neal gives Charlie a nibble, rather a chunk, of toast. Charlie mushes it around in his mouth while he scoots around the den and kitchen. He chews and chews with full cheeks while chasing the dogs, loving on the vacuum cleaner (this is another post), clapping his hands, and attempting to check out the contents of the garbage can. Then he scoots right back to Neal, looks up at him, and opens his mouth wide, demanding another sticky, jammy bite. Once he gets a sufficient mouthful, the process starts again until he’s either finished with the toast or just ready to move on to another exciting item of food.
By the way, we finally have Charlie weaned off the bottle! We decided to wait until we got back from our trip (under the idiotic assumption that he would go with us, and continuing with the bottle would help travel be more comfortable for all of us). So, a week after our return, we gradually started taking them away, and this past weekend, he had his last bottle. I really thought it would be more difficult than it was, but he has coped quite well and it’s almost as if he has forgotten about the bottle completely. I did make the mistake of looking at a parenting magazine with him the other day (we were looking at pictures of babies and pointing out the parts of their faces) and we came upon an ad with a baby holding a bottle. This made Charlie a little fussy, but we quickly averted his attention with one of his favorite books that moos.

Posted by Cathy at 8:05 PM | | Comments

Thursday, July 05, 2007

It's Been So Long

I know…it’s been LONG time since we’ve posted anything. This is partially due to a lovely vacation in the UK and Ireland for two weeks. It’s also due to downright laziness. I’ll spare you the details of Charlie’s NOT being able to go on vacation with us (stupid passport people!) and get on with the cute andwonderful world that has been Charlie since May.

While Neal and I were on vacation, Charlie had two glorious weeks spent with Nana (week 1) and Gammy (week 2). Apparently, he didn’t miss me and Daddy much because every time I called from overseas, the report was that he was doing great and was not fussy. I must admit that while I was happy that Charlie was having such a great time with the grandparents, I was disappointed that he didn’t scream for me every morning. But, the two weeks flew by, and since we’ve been back we’ve been busy documenting his life again – and giving him loads of hugs, kisses, tickles, and more hugs and kisses. We missed him so while we were away!

Some of the newest Charlie-isms that have occurred over the past month are of course, his faster ability to scoot scoot scoot! across the room. He sometime hits lightening speeds, which are problematic when he reaches the rug. Picture this…Charlie works his way across the slick wood floor with a quickness. His bottom and feet practically glide across the floor. When he hits the rug, his momentum is slowed, his feet hit the speed bump of carpet and he does a somersault. He rolls over, lands flat on his back on the rug and looks straight up at me like, “What in the world just happened?” I laugh to let him know that all is well and he gets in his Pilates stance to pull himself back up to sitting and then continues to scoot across the carpet. It is hilarious!

He is not yet walking but he has begun pulling up in his crib, on the coffee table, on the bar chairs, the dog food bins, and of course, the dogs. He is finally using a sippy-cup with greater fervor, and we are this close to weaning him from the bottle.

Charlie also had his first visit with a dentist this week. He has a total of 6 teeth with two more on the way. We scheduled this visit because he had an area of discoloration and odd texture on one of his front teeth. It turns out, that there is no certain known cause for it. The dentist said that oftentimes, such abnormalities actually occur in the womb during the second trimester and is usually the result of an infection or gestational diabetes. So, technically, it’s my fault. Or the fault of the NASTY upper respiratory/sinus infection I seem to recall getting in my second trimester of pregnancy. Sorry Charlie! It should get better with brushing and a fluoride treatment and shouldn’t affect his permanent tooth. Next stop, the ear/nose/throat doctor to see if Charlie has ear/adenoid problems that might be the cause of his long string of ear infections that he HAS NOT HAD SINCE HE LEFT DAYCARE, I might add.

For the summer, Charlie is staying home with his Daddy everyday. Since he left daycare he has not been sick ONCE. He and Daddy are bonding well. In fact, they are bonding SO well, that Charlie often wants his daddy over me. He even says “Daddy” clearly. He also says “uh-oh,” “Maggie,” “Doggie,” and a version of “Roxy.” He does not say “mommy” or any semblance of the word. And I’m jealous. But, at least he is learning to communicate in ways other than points, grunts, and screams. And it really does melt my heart to watch Charlie look at Neal from across the room and say “Daddy.” It’s the sweetest thing ever, actually.

Posted by Cathy at 11:00 PM | | Comments