October 30, 2010 Dear Charles...

We went to a Halloween party this morning. Luckily it was cool enough for you to wear your fleece shark costume. You didn't like the hood too much but you kept it on enough. Sometimes it covered your eyes so we pulled it back. 

After a while it was a little too hot for the fleece, so we did a quick costume change. The static from the fleece worked out perfectly for your hair! 

 Trying to pick up a rock, lifting heavy objects is one of your favorite things to do!

As always, you wanted to explore the perimeter and beyond of the park. 

 

 Pushing the cooler is just as fun at the park as it is at home!

October 14, 2010 Dear Charles...

Daddy and I saw you climb up onto the outside of your crib today. We knew you had been trying to climb but this is the first time we’ve seen you get both legs up on something like this. Scary times ahead!

October 7, 2010 Dear Charles...

Last night you did something I never expected from you. You are always full of surprises of course but this seems too advanced for your age to me so it was especially endearing. You were telling me you wanted more milk. We were up in your room and you already had drunk all of your milk. I told you that you didn’t really need more milk. You were pointing at a couple of different things and making noises and then you burped, twice. Instead of just excusing you I laughed and you laughed after each burp. Then you proceeded to reenact the scenario by pointing to your milk again, me saying “no”, and then you “fake” burped, twice! You tried to make a burp noise and then we laughed, you then repeated the whole thing again. So cute Charles! I hope you always want to make Mommy laugh. But that you learn politeness when it comes to burping!

October 2, 2010 Dear Charles...

A few days ago we watched some of the hit show “Dancing with the Stars”. You started spinning around in a circle after watching some of the dancing. So Cute. You also clap your hands sometimes when you see the other people clapping. You have been caught spinning to music at Grandma’s and you were spinning tonight before bed and pointing to the TV (which we did not turn on.) I think you were pointing to it because you associated it with the iPad that Daddy was showing you. Tonight I was reading “Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?” to you and asked you if you could do the “buzz buzz” sound like Mr. Brown. You tried to do it! I am so excited. This is the first time you’ve tried to say a new word. You sounded more like P or F with some spit thrown in but it was so cute and I know it was intentional. I love you my tiny dancer!!! On Sunday October 3, we went to Blanco State Park to “fish”.  On Saturday we bought a fishing pole and on Sunday we were off! Daddy tried to catch a fish while I chased you around the park. You like walking up and down hills, up and down curbs, up and down rocks. You aren’t too stable on rough terrain so I try to hold your hand as much as you will let me.

September 22, Dear Charles...

You are 15 months old today. I can’t believe it. When I look down on you sleeping in your crib I can see just how big you are getting. Otherwise, you have grown so fast that it is really hard to comprehend how big you are and that you are becoming more of a boy every day and less of a baby, though you will always be my sweet baby. You have been a bit fussy and tired from your 15 month Dr’s appt and shots. You were such a trooper though as you always are and barely noticed the shots and blood draw. Such a good boy! Just as you were on our trip to Colorado and your first airplane flight, a real trooper. One of your most favorite things to do right now is flush the toilet, you also like to be chased. You hand me or Daddy the corn popper or your car and ask us to follow you around, you try to run and walk as fast as you can and sometimes fall. You also like to climb in laundry baskets, where once you liked to push them around now you like to get inside.  You haven’t been falling too bad lately, so that is very nice. When you first started walking we had to watch you constantly.

September 11, 2010 Dear Charles...

Your first plane ride! You did pretty well. It was challenging as we expected but it was only a 2 hour flight so we managed to keep you entertained through food and books for the 2 hours. We flew to Denver. We stayed in Estes Park for 3 nights, then in Frisco for 2 nights, then in Denver for 2 nights. Sept 12 we visited our first National Park as a family, Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove the highest continuous paved road in the US on this day.

We tried to hike a little at Alpine Visitor’s Center but our trail was closed for construction. We started down another trail but it was too cold and windy. We ate lunch with a beautiful view from the visitor's center and then drove to a short trail leading to Alberta Falls.

By then the sun had a chance to come out and we had perfectly warm weather on the hike. You like being in your backpack on Daddy’s back, so that makes the hiking great! Sometimes Daddy jumps or skips and bounces you up and down and you just giggle with delight! We were at 12,000’ at the visitor's center so we were feeling a little sick from the altitude but as far as we could tell you were fine. You slept for a while in the car earlier than normal on our first day and that may be from the altitude. While at Rocky Mountain National Park we hiked around Bear Lake and Sprague Lake. While at Bear Lake we were close to an elk and took a video.

We couldn't do too big of a hike as you would only tolerate the pack for so long. Don't get me wrong, you were a real trooper. You were great the entire trip! 

After our Alberta Falls hike. 

 You got to face forward in your carseat for the first time while we were on vacation which was pretty fun!

After our stay in Estes Park we went on to Frisco where we visited with Heather and her 3 kiddos. You had a lot of fun watching Kellyn, her youngest who would pay you some attention. We also went on a hike with her to Rainbow Lake behind their house and also visited Breckenridge. When in Denver we visited friends and went to the Zoo. You rode a merry-go-round for the first time! We tried to go to the Children's Museum but it just so happened to be closed for cleaning.

Fun times with Daddy in the hotel crib! It was a wonderful vacation. I can't wait until we do it again.

September 9, 2010 Dear Charles...

Nana and Papa came to visit and we went to City Park to practice with you in your backpack carrier. We were supposed to go to Padre Island for a few days but a tropical storm changed our plans. Nobody is at City Park this Thursday. We have been getting a lot of rain in Austin too and it is muddy. As you rode in the carrier you chanted “Dada” for plenty of the way. It was very cute. We ate at Ski Shores and you walked around the play area while we held your hands.