Thursday, February 11, 2010

Random Wednesday Moments

Check out the role reversal: Ava reads to me now!


Joe and Ava were shoveling the eight feet of snow piled on the deck, while Charlie and I watched from inside...


Charlie's newest trick: standing by himself (5-10 seconds so far). I think I'm going to strap weights on him to keep him crawling longer - I refuse to have a toddler already.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Month of Milestones

Six months was a huge month for Charlie (he turned seven months today). As I write this, he is up in his crib, fighting his last nap of the day...last time I went up to check on him, he was standing at the crib railing, grinning at me...arrgh!
Let me see if I can remember all of the highlights from the month...
Shortly before Christmas, he started sitting up on his own. This opened up a whole new world of play for him.



He'd been rocking back and forth on his hands and knees for several weeks, but now he is officially crawling, as in get-the-baby-gates-out-or-I'm-going-to-dive-down-the-stairs crawling.



And not stopping to enjoy one motor milestone for more than a few days, he is now pulling himself up to stand...on everything (such as the aforementioned crib railing).


Ava took her time a little more with all of these skills, and I was hoping to enjoy Charlie's infancy a bit longer, too - so much for that!

In another department: he got his first tooth the week before Christmas, and the second followed a week later.

He is much more vocal (as the patrons of Davanni's on Monday night learned), babbling (and screeching) like crazy. Dinner time is no longer a quiet affair...


And most recently, he's started "clapping" his hands (not imitating, just figuring out the mechanics of it) and banging toys together.
And, as you can see in the following clip, he's developed an affinity for being beaned in the face with a ball...

This 6-12 month range is one of my favorites - we are really enjoying Charlie so much. Ava continues to be a loving, doting big sister - she loves to make Charlie smile with silly faces, peek-a-boo and dancing around the room for him - she is really the best entertainment for him, and even though I sometimes want to tell her to give him some space, I have to restrain myself, because he is always all smiles when she is paying attention to him (even if it looks a little obnoxious to me). :)

Friday, January 1, 2010

Christmas

Here are a few shots from Christmas:

Ava had no apprehension about seeing Santa this year. We went on a little carriage ride with him at an event here in Woodbury (and waited over an hour in the freezing cold to do it!), and she chatted with him and told him what she wanted this year: a radio for her room and nail polish (such big-girl things). And, yes, she did receive both of these items, and is very much enjoying listening to CDs in her own room.


Well, true to the stereotype, Charlie was most excited by the boxes and tissue paper. He learned to sit up on his own just a week or two before Christmas, so it was fun for him to observe all of the excitement from that perspective.
As always, we spent the holiday in Eau Claire, celebrating Christmas Eve with the Reiters and Christmas Day with the Walkers. We tacked on a little extra time to the trip to avoid the bulk of the snow and ice. Highlights of the weekend were: playing outside in the snow at Oma and Opa's, playing games at the Walkers, and eating, eating, eating!!! And, yes, we arrived home on Saturday with lots of new toys for the kids - we spent most of that day opening up those darn toy packages, inserting batteries, and reorganizing.
It has been a fun couple of weeks, but I am looking forward to getting back into the routine next week, with preschool and a few extra activities for Ava (swimming, cheerleading (!), and a new music class). These next few months will get long with the cold weather, so I decided to sign us up for some more activities to get us out of the house; hopefully this will help spring come a little faster!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Christmas Programs

We had a busy weekend, with a neighborhood kids' Christmas party Friday night, Ava's Christmas program at church on Saturday evening, Princesses on Ice on Sunday, and Ava's preschool Christmas program Monday morning! It was a lot of action in a short amount of time, but everything was really fun. Here are a couple of clips from the programs...

"Away in a Manger" at church:


"Ten Little Snowmen" at preschool:

Friday, December 11, 2009

Catnaps

This is where I find the cats most afternoons, keeping Ava company during her rest time...

Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice start to the holiday season with a short trip to Eau Claire for Thanksgiving. We spent the first half of the day with the Walkers and the second half with the Reiters. Joe, Charlie and I headed home Friday morning (I still have a hard time being away from home with a baby - too much out of the routine), but Ava stayed til Saturday afternoon to enjoy a little more time with the grandparents.
At home, Joe and I enjoyed some time with just Charlie, and I got a chance to run some errands and make a small dent in the Christmas shopping. We stayed in and watched eight episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Friday night, and Joe let me sleep in 'til 8:30 Saturday morning (not including getting up to feed Charlie at 1:am and 6:am...)
Ava made a trip to the Children's Museum in Eau Claire with Oma, played at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and ate at no less than three restaurants in 24 hours!
We met at a tree farm in Hudson on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful day, and we checked out the sheep (and a little lamb), went on a hayride, and roamed around the farm. Unfortunately, we left with only a wreath - the trees were not in great shape (and pretty expensive), so I ended up finding a nice one at a lot here in Woodbury. Oh well, at least we got the experience of the farm, even if we didn't get to cut our own this year. :)

Ava in the barn (you can see the lamb in the background)


The whole fam


Sunday, November 15, 2009

MOA

We had a great time this afternoon at Mall of America's Nickelodeon Adventures with our friends. It was a girls' afternoon; the dads were home with the baby brothers, watching football I suppose...

Here is Ava waiting for the first ride:


Swiper Sweeper


Her first time on the Bumper Cars!


The log ride (thank you to Tricia for chaperoning, since I refuse to go on this one again, and Ava seems to love it). :)


Milkshakes at Johnny Rockets afterward...yum!