Charlie's first visit to Lima

Charlie made his first visit to Lima this weekend for the 4th of July. We went up to see many of the Robenalts, and especially Charlie's Great Great Aunt Sally who was up visiting from Florida, and who I had never met. We had been out of town the past few years when she was up for a visit, so we didn't want to miss out on this chance to see her. Charlie had fun running around with all the kids on Thursday evening, especially watching them play ball, and sometimes getting to play a little catch with them. As if to prove he was having lots of fun, he got quite muddy from the knees down. It was my first laundry challenge as the mother of a young boy! Of course he was wearing nice light colored shorts!

On Friday it was a little cool to actually go in the pool, but we all got together at the club to visit and play games at poolside. They had a baby swing on the swingset, and Charlie really enjoyed swinging next to the other kids. We were awfully tired upon our return to Cincinnati, and since the weather was threatening rain, we decided to skip the fireworks and festival that we had planned to attend that evening.

On other notes, we finally got in to the dermatologist on Wednesday this past week. We got a prescription for some steroid creme, to be used only when the rash on his cheeks and ears flares up. Of course, the day of his appointment, they looked better than they had in months! We'll go back in to see her in a few weeks. The other instructions were just to watch what he's eating, and to stay away from scented soaps and detergents (which I do, anyway), to make sure there are no allergies involved.

Charlie has also formed a cute relationship with Ryan in his daycare class. Just as Henri acted sort of like a "big brother" to Charlie, Charlie now seems to do that with Ryan. Apparently Ryan also looks up to Charlie.

The little guy continues to eat more meats-- he chowed down on some mini corndogs at dinner last night with his Grandma Robenalt. He still seems more willing to eat meat at daycare and when we're out at a restaurant than at home, however.

John also had to use his first "time out" with Charlie yesterday. He's been awfully ornery, pulling on Lucy's ears and poking her in the eyes. So far he only laughs when we say "no" in a stern voice. So we're trying some other things to get the message across.