We're back at home now and almost settled in to normal routines. Charlie did great on the trip back from Houston-- slept nearly the entire plane ride home. He and Oscar were the only two in the room at daycare on Tuesday, but they seem to have made the most of it. We had a great holiday dinner over at the Bohls' that evening-- delicious as usual. Today Charlie was at home with John (P&G Holiday-- daycare closed!) while I was at work.
This evening we decided to stay in for New Years Eve-- better on Charlie's sleep schedule, since we had not arranged a babysitter. With John having been sick, and me having to work today and Friday, it's just as well we have a quiet night at home.
We taught Charlie to "toast" at dinner tonight. This may have backfired-- now he wants to clink glasses all the time. I bought him a fancy cupcake at the grocery today for a treat, and we had lots of fun taking photos of him eating it after dinner. He has gotten into the habit of saying "cheese!" and sort of smiling sometimes when he knows we're taking photos. So cute!
Charlie has also started to enjoy brushing his teeth before bed. The other day, he saw me brushing mine, and started to say "ahhh" (which is what I have him do to open his mouth for brushing). He still likes just eating the fruity toddler toothpaste most of all, but he's getting the idea.
Charlie seems to have changed his favorite fruit from bananas to mandarin oranges. He's not even too keen on peaches lately. Just when I think I have him figured out...
Happy New Year to all!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Update from Houston
Charlie has been a pretty good boy during our Christmas trip to Houston. He did not sleep on the plane on the way down, and he had a rough time sleeping through the night the first two nights, but other than that, he's been very well-behaved.
Charlie has been attempting to repeat the last word of almost any phrase we say to him. If we say "do you want me to sit here, too?" he will say "too." If we say "do you want a snack?" he will say "snack." He's got a couple of new words that are starting to be distinguishable-- pillow (sounds like "bibbo") for example.
Charlie also will walk to a box of tissues and say "nose" when he thinks his nose is runny or stuffy. He doesn't yet know how to blow really well, but at least he does recognize what the tissues are for and when he needs one. Still, I think he really likes the part at the end about throwing them in the trash best.
His other new habit is to point next to him on the sofa or the floor or a step where he is sitting, meaning that he wants us to sit there. The only problem is when he is sitting on a rather small chair and wants us to sit next to him, but we don't fit. Then he gets really upset because we won't do what he says.
Charlie discovered that he likes mushrooms tonight at dinner. At least mushrooms cooked in a tomato sauce. So there is one Cincinnati Robenalt that likes mushrooms.
Charlie's favorite gift here in Houston was a Handy Manny tool box. He clearly recognized the tools, even before it started playing one of the songs from the show. He got many other nice things as well. I think he enjoyed looking at the Christmas light display here, but he fell asleep about 5 minutes into our drive around last night, so I can't be sure.
We're headed back home tomorrow, and I'm sure that Charlie, like John and myself, will be very glad to be back in his own bed.
Charlie has been attempting to repeat the last word of almost any phrase we say to him. If we say "do you want me to sit here, too?" he will say "too." If we say "do you want a snack?" he will say "snack." He's got a couple of new words that are starting to be distinguishable-- pillow (sounds like "bibbo") for example.
Charlie also will walk to a box of tissues and say "nose" when he thinks his nose is runny or stuffy. He doesn't yet know how to blow really well, but at least he does recognize what the tissues are for and when he needs one. Still, I think he really likes the part at the end about throwing them in the trash best.
His other new habit is to point next to him on the sofa or the floor or a step where he is sitting, meaning that he wants us to sit there. The only problem is when he is sitting on a rather small chair and wants us to sit next to him, but we don't fit. Then he gets really upset because we won't do what he says.
Charlie discovered that he likes mushrooms tonight at dinner. At least mushrooms cooked in a tomato sauce. So there is one Cincinnati Robenalt that likes mushrooms.
Charlie's favorite gift here in Houston was a Handy Manny tool box. He clearly recognized the tools, even before it started playing one of the songs from the show. He got many other nice things as well. I think he enjoyed looking at the Christmas light display here, but he fell asleep about 5 minutes into our drive around last night, so I can't be sure.
We're headed back home tomorrow, and I'm sure that Charlie, like John and myself, will be very glad to be back in his own bed.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A Very Merry Cincinnati Christmas
We've just completed our first Christmas Eve celebration here in Cincinnati. It's hard to believe this is my first, after having lived here for 17 Christmases now. John started the day at Urgent Care, getting some medication for his sinus infection turned bronchitis. We're hoping he's better by the time our flight leaves for Houston tomorrow. Other than that, we had a great day.
This afternoon we had Grandma Robenalt over for presents and dinner. Charlie was thrilled with his new tricycle that Grandma and Grandpa Knepper picked out for me to order (that was our first pre-Christmas assembly job last night). Now we just have to keep him from killing himself on it (our little daredevil came home with a split lip this week from standing on a chair!) The Curious George from Kohl's that Grandma Knepper suggested was a hit as well. And of course he liked the new Little People that I got him. But his favorite gift of all was probably the little pretend camcorder.
After we opened our presents, the sun had come out and the rain stopped, so we decided it would be a good break to take Charlie out for his first outdoor ride in the new wagon I bought on Black Friday.
Soon after that, our dinner was ready and we had a nice meal. We were all pretty tired after dinner, but we watched Charlie play with his toys for a while, had some brownies and ice cream for dessert (even Charlie got some!), and then Charlie played some more. We had a good time jamming on his new crocodile xylophone from Grandpa Robenalt along with his drums. Soon, though, it was time to take Connie home and put Charlie to bed. Tomorrow it's off to Houston to celebrate with the Knepper side of the family.
In other news, Charlie has started to mimic us by blowing when we say the food we're serving is hot. He has also discovered that he likes turkey-- Boars Head Maple Glazed Honey Turkey, of course! He had never really taken to it before. And his latest word is "pippo" (for hippopotamus!)
This afternoon we had Grandma Robenalt over for presents and dinner. Charlie was thrilled with his new tricycle that Grandma and Grandpa Knepper picked out for me to order (that was our first pre-Christmas assembly job last night). Now we just have to keep him from killing himself on it (our little daredevil came home with a split lip this week from standing on a chair!) The Curious George from Kohl's that Grandma Knepper suggested was a hit as well. And of course he liked the new Little People that I got him. But his favorite gift of all was probably the little pretend camcorder.
After we opened our presents, the sun had come out and the rain stopped, so we decided it would be a good break to take Charlie out for his first outdoor ride in the new wagon I bought on Black Friday.
Soon after that, our dinner was ready and we had a nice meal. We were all pretty tired after dinner, but we watched Charlie play with his toys for a while, had some brownies and ice cream for dessert (even Charlie got some!), and then Charlie played some more. We had a good time jamming on his new crocodile xylophone from Grandpa Robenalt along with his drums. Soon, though, it was time to take Connie home and put Charlie to bed. Tomorrow it's off to Houston to celebrate with the Knepper side of the family.
In other news, Charlie has started to mimic us by blowing when we say the food we're serving is hot. He has also discovered that he likes turkey-- Boars Head Maple Glazed Honey Turkey, of course! He had never really taken to it before. And his latest word is "pippo" (for hippopotamus!)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Charlie's minimalist period
Charlie has been bringing home lots of artwork from daycare. It seems as if he likes pulling things off the paper more than he likes putting them on. Oscar's cubby is right next to Charlie's, and it seems when I glance over there, Oscar's paper is always full of stickers or feathers or whatever they were gluing that day. As you can see below, Charlie's work is what we like to call "minimalist."
Last weekend Charlie helped me make cookies for his teachers and the staff at daycare. He had been sick overnight on Thursday, but he seemed to be fine as of Friday morning. He spent a good amount of time over the weekend cuddling with Daddy. He has become quite attached to his pooh bear, too.
Charlie is very curious about how things work right now. He likes to drop things down chutes and through holes to see where they go. He's gotten much better about not throwing food from his high chair. But he is in a new phase of not liking baths at all. It seems it's been like that since we stopped using his little baby bathtub inside the tub. We also finally found slippers Charlie will keep on his feet, which is good since it's so cold out now.
Wednesday we will celebrate Christmas Eve with Grandma Connie, then it's off to Houston on Thursday for a visit with Mommy's side of the family.
Last weekend Charlie helped me make cookies for his teachers and the staff at daycare. He had been sick overnight on Thursday, but he seemed to be fine as of Friday morning. He spent a good amount of time over the weekend cuddling with Daddy. He has become quite attached to his pooh bear, too.
Charlie is very curious about how things work right now. He likes to drop things down chutes and through holes to see where they go. He's gotten much better about not throwing food from his high chair. But he is in a new phase of not liking baths at all. It seems it's been like that since we stopped using his little baby bathtub inside the tub. We also finally found slippers Charlie will keep on his feet, which is good since it's so cold out now.
Wednesday we will celebrate Christmas Eve with Grandma Connie, then it's off to Houston on Thursday for a visit with Mommy's side of the family.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
December is here
December is here, and with it the crazy traffic patterns and nasty, variable weather that is typical in Cincinnati for this time of year. But aside from dealing with all of that, and busy work schedules, Charlie is bringing us much joy.
This past Saturday it snowed most of the day, so we bundled Charlie up late in the afternoon and took him in the backyard to see what he would do. He mostly just watched Daddy throw snowballs for Lucy dog to chase and catch. But you could tell he enjoyed being outside. We took him to the local Indian buffet for dinner that night, and as usual, he stunned us with how much he ate. Pretty soon they'll start charging us for him!
When we left the restaurant on Saturday, John was impressed that he identified a baby that was covered up in a carseat. Without seeing it, he knew there was a baby inside. His ability to reason and understand things that he cannot see or hear is really great.
He's using a lot more words now, some even in two syllables. He asks for "ogg-oggs" to eat (hot dogs) and calls more of his new Busy Bee classmates by name (Audrey, Anna, and Kacy in addition to Oscar, which he's had down now for some time). He asks for "Boo" right before bedtime, which means he wants to watch a little bit of Monsters Inc. before going to sleep. John plays it for him on his iPhone and it calms him down.
We've also shown him Nemo and a couple of other new movies and shows to add to the arsenal. Handy Manny is taking a much needed break. But having the videos on the iPhone comes in really handy, especially for situations like when John took Charlie to get his haircut on Sunday. Instead of taking him to the kids' place, John took him to Sports Clips, where he gets his own hair cut. Of course, the ladies working there were just goo-goo over Charlie.
Charlie is getting much better with crayons now that we got him some big fat ones to use. He more easily makes marks on the paper-- although it's still just scribbles for now. One of his favorite toys at daycare are some hot pink pompons that he shakes around while he dances to music. He's now easily going up the ladder on the indoor climber and knows how to go down the slide by himself.
Instead of just saying "bye bye" and waving, Charlie will now routinely blow kisses at you. Sometimes he will even come up and give you a hug when asked to (which is really more like him leaning his body up against you and letting you hug him.)
Altogether we're really quite pleased with how he's adjusted to his new room, teachers, and classmates.
This past Saturday it snowed most of the day, so we bundled Charlie up late in the afternoon and took him in the backyard to see what he would do. He mostly just watched Daddy throw snowballs for Lucy dog to chase and catch. But you could tell he enjoyed being outside. We took him to the local Indian buffet for dinner that night, and as usual, he stunned us with how much he ate. Pretty soon they'll start charging us for him!
When we left the restaurant on Saturday, John was impressed that he identified a baby that was covered up in a carseat. Without seeing it, he knew there was a baby inside. His ability to reason and understand things that he cannot see or hear is really great.
He's using a lot more words now, some even in two syllables. He asks for "ogg-oggs" to eat (hot dogs) and calls more of his new Busy Bee classmates by name (Audrey, Anna, and Kacy in addition to Oscar, which he's had down now for some time). He asks for "Boo" right before bedtime, which means he wants to watch a little bit of Monsters Inc. before going to sleep. John plays it for him on his iPhone and it calms him down.
We've also shown him Nemo and a couple of other new movies and shows to add to the arsenal. Handy Manny is taking a much needed break. But having the videos on the iPhone comes in really handy, especially for situations like when John took Charlie to get his haircut on Sunday. Instead of taking him to the kids' place, John took him to Sports Clips, where he gets his own hair cut. Of course, the ladies working there were just goo-goo over Charlie.
Charlie is getting much better with crayons now that we got him some big fat ones to use. He more easily makes marks on the paper-- although it's still just scribbles for now. One of his favorite toys at daycare are some hot pink pompons that he shakes around while he dances to music. He's now easily going up the ladder on the indoor climber and knows how to go down the slide by himself.
Instead of just saying "bye bye" and waving, Charlie will now routinely blow kisses at you. Sometimes he will even come up and give you a hug when asked to (which is really more like him leaning his body up against you and letting you hug him.)
Altogether we're really quite pleased with how he's adjusted to his new room, teachers, and classmates.
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