February comes to a close

As February comes to a close, I realize that I have forgotten to write here for almost 2 weeks! Charlie has been so busy in that time.

For starters, he continues to add new words daily. Some new ones include arm, finger, brush, elevator, and giraffe. Since we visited the zoo in Atlanta, he's caught on to the word panda, and uses it frequently (when he wants to watch Kung Fu Panda). He's also starting to combine two words together-- as in "this one," "this way," "more milk" or "more cracker." He has learned to call Beth by name (sounds like "beff") and when he has a "boo-boo" he shows it to me and says "kiss."

He's been complaining a lot about his mouth having a boo-boo. We're convinced that he's getting his 2-year molars. He puts his fingers way back in his mouth a lot, and he wants to eat a lot of really soft foods most of the time (yogurt and applesauce are common).

There's a new friend in Charlie's classroom at daycare. Lauren, who was in his infant room, has been moving up to Busy Bees. Yesterday when she was dropped off she was very upset. I told Charlie to go pat her on the back and tell her it was okay, and he did go over and pat her on the leg. It was very sweet. He also likes the girl Charlie in his room. Apparently she calls him Charles, and he calls her Charlotte, even though everyone else calls them both Charlie. They both have the same big cheeks. It's very cute.

Last weekend John took Charlie up to Columbus for Ryan Zimmerman's birthday party. Charlie had a lot of fun bouncing around at the play place, driving little cars, and playing with hula hoops. He did fall once and bump his chin, but it barely got a bruise and he was fine. He came home with a hand-me-down pirate ship, and that has been a favorite toy this past week.

On Wednesday of this week, I had a work event at the Cyclones hockey game. Charlie and John got to come with me. We had great seats for the game, down in the 3rd row from the ice in the corner by the goal where the Cyclones were shooting in the first period. We only stayed for one period because then it was Charlie's bedtime. But he enjoyed it while he was there. When Twister, the team mascot (which looks like a grey funnel of a tornado wearing a hockey jersey) skated out onto the ice, Charlie shouted "Elmo!" I guess to him, anything furry is an "elmo." He also pointed at the skaters and said "hockey" and slapped his hand on his knee to the beat of the music when it would play. I was concerned he would think the noise was too loud when the played the horn when goals were scored (usually with a loud noise he covers his ears), but he was fine with it. Thank goodness he did not seem to pick up any of the bad words the die hard fans were shouting at the refs and the other team!

This morning Charlie was digging through his toybox and found his phone (the spare cordless phone from which we've removed the battery). He took it and climbed into his rocking chair (which was his Grandma's when she was little) and pretended to talk to his Grandma on the phone. He kept saying "bye bye bomma!" ("Bomma" is how he says "Grandma.")

With all the cuteness, there are also some tantrums. He has picked up a behavior from his classmates at daycare-- to lay face down on the floor and pout or cry. So far it does not come along with pounding fists or kicking feet, but I'm sure those are coming. Sometimes he also just goes and stands with his face to the wall to pout. We try not to react, and usually it does not last long.

March will be a busy month. We're looking forward to a trip to Florida to see family, and also make Charlie's first trip to the beach. Mommy has two trips out of town this month, also-- so Daddy will be on his own with Charlie. The first is for work and is just one night, but the second is for three nights over the weekend.

A weekend in Athens

On Thursday we drove from Cincinnati to Athens, Georgia to visit with Charlie's Aunt Taylor, who is in grad school at UGA. We got a later start than we expected, and it took close to 10 hours with two long stops in the middle. But Charlie did well in the car, thanks to the Pixar DVDs playing in the back seat.

On Friday we took a day-trip into Atlanta to go to the Georgia Aquarium. Charlie loved it. After a while, though, he would say "all done" when he was ready to move on from a particular window or exhibit. We were impressed with many of the exhibits, and would definitely return again if and when we have the chance.



After we finished at the Aquarium, we read that the zoo had pandas. So we decided to take advantage of the discount we would receive from our Cincinnati Zoo membership and stop at the zoo to see them before heading back to Athens. We also got to see kangaroos, and Charlie petted some goats at the children's zoo. After a few raindrops started to fall, we successfully navigated the start of Friday rush hour traffic on the way out of Atlanta, and Charlie slept most of the way back to Athens.

Friday night we found our way to an Indian restaurant just a block from our hotel, and the food and service were both excellent. Charlie astounded us with the amount of food that he ate, including some chicken appetizers and the usual saag.

Saturday started with a great lunch at The Last Resort, also just a couple of blocks from the hotel. After lunch, we went for a walk and visited Taylor's studio. Charlie enjoyed pointing and barking out directions to push him "this way" in the stroller.



In the evening, Taylor and Charlie spent a while coloring in a coloring book, and Taylor drew some other pictures on plain paper for Charlie to color. We had Thai food takeout for our dinner and sat up drinking wine and beer and talking into the wee hours after Charlie went to bed.



Today we had a lazy morning, and then met up with Taylor at Big City Bread for some delicious brunch. The patio was dog-friendly, and Charlie made some new friends. John and Taylor spent the afternoon working on her computer and a movie for one of her classes while Charlie napped and played in the room. Dinner was takeout pizza from Transmetropolitan, another great local spot here downtown near the hotel. We head back home in the morning.



We had a great weekend visiting, and the Georgia Gameday Center was perfect for our needs as far as the hotel goes. It was right downtown, in walking distance to shops and restaurants, and had easy parking in an attached garage. Having a separate bedroom for Charlie was wonderful. And John managed to contain himself when confronted by all the UGA memorabilia, photographs, carpet, and even door knobs.

Other mileposts this weekend include some new words (pizza, dinosaur (really, we heard it once!), panda, woof, bunny, tray, and Incredibles (sounds like "bibbles")), and transition into size 5 diapers.

21 months old and a mouse in the house

At 21 months, Charlie has started to become attached to his stuffed friends, including the hand-me-down baby doll from the Maloneys. He likes to feed them and offer them his milk. He also covers them with blankets, or puts them all in a pile and lies down next to them. Occasionally he'll pick one that he wants to take to bed, or take in the car with him to daycare. The other night, he insisted on taking his little Mr. Potato Head to bed with him-- just the potato (with no features or arms and legs)! Luckily, he's not attached to any one item exclusively, and I hope it stays that way.

Last week was an eventful one here at the house. We had at least 8 inches of snow fall on Tuesday during evening rush hour, and John ended up driving me home, leaving my car downtown for the night. Later in the week, we discovered that we had a mouse in the house. The next day, we were able to spot it, and although John tried to catch it and set it free, it got away. So we set traps, and it was caught by morning.

Beth gave us a free night of babysitting for a Christmas gift, and we used it this past Saturday to go on a date and celebrate an early Valentine's Day. We started with a shopping trip to IKEA, and were proud to get out of there for under $50. We did plan a much larger purchase while we were there, as we picked out the furniture we hope to buy for Charlie's new room when he moves out from the nursery. I could not remember the last time we went shopping together without Charlie in tow! After our shopping, we had dinner at Bravo and then went to a movie. All in all a wonderful evening.

We're off to Athens, GA to visit Taylor this weekend. It will be a long drive, but as long as we can keep Charlie entertained, it should not be a bad one. We are really looking forward to it.

More words Charlie knows how to say

Buckle, bicycle, again, cup (sounds like "pup"), spoon, banana, and buggy.

The other day we were driving in the car and John called another driver by a name. Charlie repeated him. I just looked at John and tried not to laugh. I guess Daddy has to start watching what he says more carefully!