Reflections on 2009

As I look back on a busy 2009 for the Cincy Robenalts, I recall many highlights. We started the year celebrating 2009 with Charlie at home.

In January, Charlie experimented with his first walks in the snow. Over MLK weekend, we made a trip up to Cleveland to visit with various Robenalt relatives, and Charlie was showered with attention.


February brought our annual Superbowl party and a trip to Athens to see Taylor.
Charlie survived the 9 hour car ride with Pixar movies on the DVD player. He loved the Atlanta aquarium and coloring with Taylor at the UGA themed hotel where we stayed.

We soon learned that we were pregnant and our world was about to get even crazier. March brought trips to Sarasota and a Vegas trip for Michelle for the first weekend of March Madness. Vegas was tame, since I was tired, not feeling well, and not drinking. But Charlie loved the beach in Florida and playing with Uncle Rory.

April brought Easter Egg hunts and trips to the zoo. May brought my family in for Charlie's 2nd birthday party, and our annual Memorial Day weekend grill out. We also expanded our photography efforts this Spring with a photography workshop at the zoo and a photography session at the Butterfly Show at the Krohn.

In June we made a trip over to St. Louis to visit with the Brewoods. The kids all enjoyed visiting the Magic House, which has greatly expanded since Christine and I were kids. We started making trips to the pool with Charlie, and he went on his first carnival rides. Grandfather Robenalt had been taken to the Cleveland Clinic, so our planned 4th of July trip to Lima was replaced with a trip up to Cleveland. It turned out to be a good chance for Charlie to get accustomed to the Maloneys' house, where he would stay during our trip the following week.

In July, John and I enjoyed our first childless vacation since Charlie was born. We stayed a couple of days at a great B&B at Niagara falls, visited some great Canadian wineries, and then spent a couple of days in Toronto. We almost didn't make the trip, because John's passport had expired, and he didn't realize it until only 3 days before we left. We returned to Cincinnati in time for Charlie to have his face biopsied, which was more traumatic for us than for him.

In August we moved Charlie into his new "big boy room" so that we could prepare the nursery for the new baby, which by now we knew would be another boy. My mother came to visit us in September, and October was filled with outings to the Museum Center, Gorman Farm, the Zoo, and other fun activities so that we could spend time with Charlie before the baby would come to take our attention. We all enjoyed following UC as they had an exciting football season, and watched as they surpassed Ohio State in the rankings. Charlie started showing interest in potty training mid-year, and finally stopped using a pacifier at night by early December.

Liam came early and surprised us all. My parents and sister all made visits to see him shortly after he was born. We had a quiet Thanksgiving here at home, followed by the usual Black Friday shopping excursion for Michelle.

This holiday season I decided to take Charlie to see the trains at Duke Energy, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Taylor came to visit in time to join us for the trip to Cleveland for the Robenalt Christmas, which was the first without Grandfather, as he had passed away in October.

We spent our first ever Christmas at home in Cincinnati, since Liam was so small for travel. We enjoyed watching Charlie's excitement and wonder this year since it was the first he comprehended Santa.

As I started this post, we had a pork roast in the crock pot, getting ready for a quiet New Years Eve here at home with the kids. Tomorrow brings us the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl and time to cook a big pot of chili to entertain some friends. Next week Charlie starts at his new daycare and I begin the countdown to our Disney vacation and my return to work.

We are truly blessed to have been able to spend such great times with friends and family all throughout this year. We will miss Grandfather Robenalt, but we welcomed Liam and his cousin Wyatt into the world. 2010 promises to be another exciting and fun-filled year of parenting!

2 Months Old

At 2 months old, Liam is starting to grab at his bottle and his "wubbanub" pacifier. Sometimes he almost gets the pacifier into his mouth on his own, if it is nearby. He is making more "talking" sounds and starting to smile with a wide open mouth. He will sometimes sleep for about 5 hours at night if his belly is full. The challenge is keeping his belly full! He eats like crazy most of the time, and I can't wait until his next appointment with the pediatrician (next week) to see how much he weighs now. Two month photos are on my flickr site for you to enjoy.

Merry Christmas 2009

Last night John went to the movies, so Liam and I picked Charlie up from daycare and I took the boys to Skyline. Little did I know, it was family night, and not only did Charlie eat for free, but Santa was there! They had Christmas coloring pages and ornament kits for the kids to make. Charlie helped me put the eyes on a reindeer ornament, and tried to color on one with a crayon. He would not sit on Santa's lap, but stood near him for a photo on my blackberry. He told Santa again that he wanted Lego Blocks for Christmas. He colored a reindeer page while we waited for our food. On the way home, he asked to hold his "kangaroo" (the reindeer ornament), and when we got home, he had to hang it on the Christmas tree advent calendar.

Charlie loves The Polar Express movie, which he has nicknamed "the train movie." It has nearly surpassed "the balloon movie" (aka Up), which was his current favorite until just this week. We had to watch it again when we got home from Skyline last night.

Today we're having our friend Beth over for Christmas Eve lunch and exchanging gifts. I am making Mom's peachy chicken for our meal. Tomorrow John will make lasagna for our Christmas lunch with his mom.

Charlie is very excited for Santa Claus to come to his house tonight. We wish all of our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Winter Fun

We've had lots of fun this month with holiday festivities. Two Fridays ago we went after dinner to look at the holiday lights at Sharon Woods park. Charlie really enjoyed it. Liam was fussy, so we skipped the hot chocolate and Santa at the end and drove on home. That next Monday, Beth and I took the boys downtown to see the trains at Duke Energy. Charlie had a blast!

After the visit to the trains Beth and I went to see "Every Christmas Story Ever Told." It got us in the holiday mood for sure.

Last week I also took Liam to the baby movies with Lauren and Mallory, for his first "movie date."


Taylor came to visit us this weekend, and we all drove up to Cleveland for the Robenalt Christmas gathering. Charlie was spoiled with all the attention and gifts. He stayed at Great Aunt Margie's house while we stayed at a hotel nearby with Liam and Taylor. It was great to see Taylor and for her to have time visiting with the kids.

Charlie's vocabulary and understanding of the world increases every day. He amuses us with some of the things that he says. Today in the car, while John was listening to NPR, Charlie told him to change it to music. Last Sunday he gave me a hug and said "I love you Mom" for the first time. He had been a bit of a pain the night before, while John was in Indianapolis for a broomball tournament overnight. He also pooped for the first time in the potty seat-- just a little-- while John was away. He made me take a picture to show Daddy. I don't think he's been back on the potty at all since then.

Charlie is very excited about Santa coming to our house. I'm not sure where all he learned about Santa-- we haven't spoken to him explicitly to explain the concept, so he must have learned it from TV and school and books.

I signed Charlie up for some swim lessons starting in February. We hope to get him more acclimated to the water before summer arrives. I'd like to get more value out of our Rec Center membership this year.

A Trip to Santa's Village

Last Friday night we decided at the spur of the moment to make a trip to the Ohio National Victorian Village display near our house, so that Charlie could visit Santa. Looking back, we should have prepared him for the event by explaining what was going on. The topic of Santa had just never really come up in a formal way at home.

When we got to the little house where Santa was, Charlie was anxious to go in. He politely responded to the elf at the door when asked his name, saying "Charlie Robenalt." We even peeked in the window to see that Santa was in there. But once it was his turn, he stopped right inside the doorway and didn't want to get any closer. Since I knew there was a line of people behind us, I urged him quickly to think of something he might want for Christmas. Again, I was ill prepared, as I should have come up with something that I knew he would be getting. But the first thing that came to mind was that he loves to play with his mega blocks. So I asked him if he liked blocks. Santa heard me, and suggested that maybe he would like lego blocks.

Charlie would not get on Santa's lap for a photo, so we stood together and I got him as close as I could. Once we had left the little house, Charlie looked at me and in a very sad voice said "lego blocks?" I am pretty sure that he thought he got to go home that night with whatever he asked for. Luckily, we got past it without a meltdown, but next time I will be better prepared!

We were also not terribly well prepared for the weather on this last minute outing, and I did not bring a hat and mittens for Charlie. But we had Liam all snuggled up in the stroller, and he didn't get too cold. Charlie enjoyed the train ride back to the parking garage, and he's been playing with his balloon animal (he chose an elephant) all week.

The other day it was snowing lightly when Charlie left for school, and there was a dusting of snow on the driveway. Apparently the snow is not so "icky" to him this year, because he sure enjoyed "crunching" it with his feet. I guess we'll have to get him some good snow boots this year.

We've had success with no pacifier for over a week now. He's only asked John for it once at bedtime, and he hasn't said a word to me about it (although a couple of times I could tell he wanted to). I simply suggested to him early last week that maybe by Christmas time when we got presents he could be a big boy and not use a paci anymore. He used it that night, but not again since then.

Liam has moved out of newborn clothes, and into 3 month sizes. He's been eating like crazy, and I can hardly keep up with him. We're looking forward to a visit from Taylor next week, and then soon it will be Christmas-- our first here in Cincinnati. In the meantime, we'll have orientation at Charlie's new daycare center, and a few other holiday events. I hope everyone out there is having a great holiday season!

One Month Old

Liam had his one month checkup on the 1st. He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces (55%) and 21 inches long (45%). His head remains at a normal size (15 inches-- or 50th percentile). Everything checked out fine, and we have no concerns.

Liam is starting to find his "voice." Occasionally I will hear "ooh" and "ahh" instead of just cries, hiccups, and grunts. He's also trying a lot to pick up his head and move it around. He seems to have had an unusually strong neck since his first week after birth. He does not like to be cold-- we've been putting him to bed with a hat and making sure to bundle him up in a swaddler nice and tight. We never had this problem with Charlie-- since he was born in the spring and did not like to have his arms wrapped up tight.

Some nights with Liam are easy (last night he woke up only once to feed), and some nights are frustrating (the night before he woke up every hour and a half). He seems to be eating a lot this week, and we're having to supplement his diet with formula to keep him happy. I guess this explains the large weight gain over the past two weeks (about a pound and a half).

Since I wrote last, we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. Charlie was excited about turkey, but then would not eat it when it was served. We think he was expecting deli turkey and not the smoked bird we got from Jim Dandy's.

It was beautiful, but John and I agree that we have now decided that we prefer roasted turkey for Thanksgiving. Beth and I added to our Black Friday shopping tradition this year with a trip to the UC football game, where the Bearcats remained undefeated. I had lots of fun shooting some photos of touchdowns with my camera. You can see a selection here: "http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrobenalt/sets/72157622889071286/" Unfortunately for John, Liam decided that was a day he would be Mr. Fussy Pants for 12 hours straight.

We started using Grandma Bovier's advent calendar (a Christmas tree with ornaments for each day of December) with Charlie last night. We hung a rocking horse on the tree in a spot that he chose. This morning when he woke up, he told me he was going to go downstairs and do another "horse rocking chair". I also started last night to encourage him to stop using the pacifier to sleep at night by Christmas time. At bedtime he started to hand it over to me, but then decided he needed it. We'll see how it goes over the coming weeks. We're still not forcing the potty training, either-- but Charlie voluntarily asks to use the potty occasionally, and when he does he is rewarded with Diego pants (Easy-Ups).