Signs of the season, signs of the times

Red cups at Starbucks. Dark when I go to work, and dark when I come home. Christmas displays in the windows at Macys. And Christmas music playing in the elevator lobby of my parking garage downtown. Isn't it a little early for the music? Actually, driving home in the dark, with it so cold outside, gives me the urge to stop and do Christmas shopping on the way home.

As if to hammer home this economic crisis, the Skyline Chili across the street from my office has started to charge for oyster crackers when you buy take-out. Apparently the bottomless bowls of the crackers are still free of charge when you eat-in, but for take out they are 20 cents a piece. That's when you know times are getting rough.

It's off to Houston today for me and Charlie. I hope the people on the plane are understanding parents themselves.

Full Time Busy Bee

Charlie had his first full day in the Busy Bee room on Friday. He did great. He started saying a few new words this week, including "thank you" and "jacket." I also first saw him blowing kisses on Monday when I picked him up from daycare. He doesn't really get the blowing part, but he'll put his hand up to his mouth.

I'm finding that my job of doing laundry has become more difficult since Charlie started spending more time in the toddler room. Meals are messier, because he's sitting at a table feeding himself, and they use regular cups and plates. Activities are also messier-- more paints, playing in sandboxes, and new things like playdough are the order of the day. Nearly every day there is some sort of unidentifiable stain on at least one of his sleeves. I am learning not to send him in in any really nice clothes!

I'm turning in soon-- it has been a long week with the election and all. John and I both spent the day on Tuesday working to "get out the vote." I've got to recuperate and get ready for our trip to Houston. Charlie and I leave in just a few days!

Monkeying Around at 18 Months

Charlie had his 18 month doctor appointment on Thursday. It wasn't originally scheduled for a couple of weeks yet, but the rash on his face had gotten so bad that we wanted to get in a little earlier. The pediatrician couldn't really do anything to get us into the special dermatologist faster, but he did give us a new steroid ointment to try for 2 weeks.

At the appointment, Charlie weighed 26 pounds (55th%), was 31.5 inches tall (30th%), and his head was of course huge (19.5 inches-- or 95th%). Definitely built like his Daddy! He got three shots, and otherwise everything was great.

Late in the week, Charlie started trying to say Busy Bee, the name of his new daycare room. He does a pretty good job, and if you ask him to say it, he'll usually get out something that sounds like "bizee-beh" or "bizzuh." He's continuing to do well with the transition.

Halloween went great at the Robenalt house. Charlie put up with his monkey costume for almost 2 hours. He loved walking around out in front of the house, and seeing all the other kids. He got into the process of walking to other houses also- we just went to four. He enjoyed pointing to the doggies that he saw. And of course, he loved carrying around a little treat pail. He inspected all of his candy several times. At the end of the evening, I split a small Kit Kat bar with him. He had 4 small bites, and he seemed to really enjoy it. What a treat after a long hard night of walking around! Pictures from the evening are posted on my flickr site.