Rub-a-dub-chub

It’s possible that I squeezed Keanan into his baby bath a little longer than I should have.  It was just so convenient to give him a bath on the kitchen counter so I could supervise the bigs, but about a month ago, I finally accepted that my big 11 month old was ready to move to the big bathtub.

His last bath in the baby tub:

And a month later, he still gets crazy hyper during bathtime in the big tub.  I can only fill it a couple of inches because he splashes an insane amount of water out of it!

Charlie’s party

Given Charlie’s love of all things with wheels, we had a little transportation-themed birthday party for him.  “Theme” might be a bit generous – we had adorable invitations, courtesy of Auntie Jamie:

And a little road out front:

As soon as his first guest arrived, the sweet birthday boy ran to the table, sat down and said “can I have my party now?”  I think he meant cake, but it took some serious bargaining to get him to get up and enjoy the party instead of just waiting at the table.

Cain ready for some birthday fun:

Ellie was in gymnastics camp the week before the party and she met a little girl named Deya.  They hit it off immediately and Ellie was thrilled that her “best friend” came to the party!

Jess Morris, Emilie and Andie Jane.  It’s so cool that these ladies have been a part of Charlie’s life since he was a tiny baby.

Jess Geiser and Jay (I love that Jay came (with his big smile) after having to spend the morning at work):

Hillary and sweet baby Lincoln.  Jackson’s 4th birthday party was the first party that Keanan went to (at 5-ish days old) and Charlie’s birthday party was Lincoln’s first.  We have truly done (and continue to do) life with the Adams family and it’s so hard to believe that five years ago there were 4 of us and now there are 10 of us!!  Can’t imagine our lives without them.

We played pass the parcel, which I thought would be a huge hit since all of the kids got a couple little trinkets.  Not so much.  Nearly all of them ended up whining at some point because they inevitably wanted the trinket (and by “trinket” I mean “total piece of junk that was guaranteed to break before they left the party”) that the kiddo next to them got.  Oh well.

How old is Keanan?!  He’s ready for the action.

Frankie Joy unwrapping a layer

Think he was having fun?

Instead of doing a pool party, Daddy made a drive-thru sprinkler for the kids to play in and it was a huge hit!  It was so fun watching them run, ride, and generally scream their way through the spray!

Sweet Kiri:

Hillary was the official party photographer (these are all of her pictures) and she specifically sent me this gem.  I have no idea what I was doing, but it’s definitely the most awesome picture of me.  Ever.

                

After burning off some energy, the kiddos came in for lunch.  We decided to serve Charlie’s favorite foods…PB&J, watermelon, Pirate Booty, pretzels, applesauce, Baby Bel, and juice.  Easy-peasy.

I rented a cake pan so I could make an 18-wheeler cake for Charlie.  My first attempt was a total failure, so I changed directions completely and made cupcakes in ice cream cones.  It had nothing to do with our “transportation” theme, but the kids didn’t seem to mind.

        

Ellie and Deya waiting to eat:

Jack and Rileigh:

 

Frankie:

Charlie was pretty excited about lunch

    

I didn’t realize that Charlie had a mini muffin in his hands when we started singing to him:

Still holding on to the muffin:

I made the mistake of saying “Charlie, just go ahead and finish your muffin and then you can have your cupcake.”  Charlie thought about it for about 2 seconds and then just stuffed the entire muffin in his mouth:

Still working on chewing that muffin:

Bear was pretty excited about scoring a cupcake with sugar:

Our little man is THREE!

Every parent says it, but how is it possible that my little baby is three years old already?! Charlie has blessed our lives in so many ways over the last three years. He makes us laugh countless times of day…and while living up to the “terrible twos” label, he made us yell several times too. He is just the sweetest, most loving little guy. He says “I love you, Mommy” (and “I love you, Daddy” and “I love you, Ellie”) about a hundred times a day. He’s also not afraid to go all ninja-superhero-cage-fighter on you if you cross him. He’s actually sort of a study in contradictions…he only eats about 5 different foods, but he eats insane quantities of those foods (think 10+ pancakes, an egg, a banana, and a bowl of cereal for breakfast…and he’ll still be asking for more -- I just have to cut him off so we can leave the table before its time for lunch); he is all boy in the sense that he absolutely loves buses, trains, trucks, tractors, etc., but he still loves pushing a doll stroller and carrying a glittery handbag, and he wants to be a princess for Halloween; he could easily disassemble a TV, but he can’t get himself dressed. You get the point.

Charlie is our little sheepdog. He likes the whole family together and if one of us is away (even if we’re just in another part of the house), he asks where we are. Every single weekday he asks repeatedly where Daddy is. It’s such a sweet quality.

Charlie loves Ellie and Keanan, but often gets too rough with Keanan (sometimes because he’s being naughty, but usually because he just gets carried away) and he fights (constantly!) with Ellie. The bigs really are the best of friends…and the worst of enemies…and usually within about 30 seconds of each other. I’ve started separating them (by closing the baby gates and having one play in the playroom while the other plays in the living room) when they’re being particularly argumentative with each other and Ellie quickly moves on and entertains herself, but Charlie is absolutely lost without her and spends the entire time standing at the baby gate, asking when he can play with Ellie again. Of course once they’re reunited, the squabbling starts up pretty quickly, but there is certainly no question just how much Charlie adores his big sissy.

Although we’re struggling to get Charlie to do more things for himself (seriously, the kid has to learn how to pull down (and pull up) his own pants and maybe even put on his own shoes), he has a real desire to help. Whether its helping Damian make his tea or “cleaning” the floor with baby wipes, he clearly gets such a buzz from helping out.

Charlie truly blesses our lives in so many ways. I’m so thankful for him teaching all of us to be more expressive (we should all tell our loved ones “I love you” as often as Charlie does) and for making it sunny every day with his big, bright smile. Mostly, I’m thankful that God picked us to be his parents!

Some recent quotes

Me: What do you want for your birthday dinner, Charlie?

Charlie: Suitcase.

Me: What?

Charlie: A suitcase. With no beans.

Me: Uh...do you mean a quesadilla?

Charlie: Yeah.

 

After I tripped over Charlie's little suitcase that was in the middle of the kitchen, Ellie said "you should pick that up, Mommy." So helpful.

 

When Charlie came in while I was talking to Gaga on the phone...

Me: Do you know who I'm talking to, Charlie?

Charlie: Yeah.

Me: Who?

Charlie: Me.

 

Charlie: "I'm handsome, Mommy."

Me: "You are handsome!"

Charlie: "I'm handsomer than Daddy."

Oh if only we were all so confident!

Stripes

Damian is generally really supportive and encouraging about my random sewing projects…until I came up with the great idea to use some leftover fabric to make matching clothes for the kids.

When I asked whether he thought I should have the stripes on both Ellie’s top and pants vertical or one vertical and one horizontal, he said “I don’t think it really matters as long as you have a dancing penguin to go with them.”  It’s possible that he had a point.

Oh well.  They make really cute pajamas. ;-)

Keeping cool

Playing in the paddling pool (and Charlie demonstrating some brotherly love at the end)...

Baby food is for babies!

At the ripe old age of 10 months, Keanan has decided that he's much too old for pureed food and will pretty much only eat finger food. I'm hopeful that this is a phase and he'll go back to the purees (since it's so much easier to get veggies in him that way), but it's hard to to be too worried about it when he's so darn pleased with himself and his "big boy food."