It's been a year!

Wow! I just realized that I haven't posted in over a year! Here is a quick summary of everything I've learned to do since my last post:

Feed myself (I really don't remember ever not doing that, but that start in October of last year)
Clap my hands
First haircut (also in October of last year)
First steps (November)
Eating table food (January 2012)
First shower (all baths before March 2012)
Singing (July 2012)
Dancing to music with mommy (August 31)

Yeah, I know, a lot of stuff. I also do more than blogging, and I can carry on a conversation now. My aunt said I'd be picking up more words soon, and she was right. It's not just "mama", "dada", "no", and "more" but I can say "more cookies please" and "go to school" and "brush teeth" (among other things).

My dad won't ever let me use the computer because he says he needs to do work to pay for my college. I have no idea what college is, but I hear it related to football a lot these days, which I remember is one of those TV shows that my parents watch for hours! I don't know how they do it. I can stand watching TV for more than 5 minutes.

Let's see, lots to write about, so I'm going to break it up into a few posts.

• Halloween and Thanksgiving 2011
• My 1st Birthday!
• Christmas
• Beach trips
• Swimming
• July 4th
• Stone Mountain
• Camp in New Hampshire

For now, I've got to go - first football game!

A Day at the Park

So much has happened since my last post - I took my first steps, I turned 1, and I celebrated an incredibly fun Christmas with all of my family. I think my parents have literally taken too many photos of me from all those events to fit on my blog. Ugh - the paparazzi!

I thought I'd share with y'all some fun I had today at the park- you'd never believe it was January 7th from the weather!  My parents have taken me to this park once before, but it was before I was able to walk on my own, so I really couldn't do much.  This time though I was able to get into everything!  I'm looking forward to playing here more when the weather gets nicer in the spring; since it's only 5 blocks from my house, it's definitely walking distance.  Hope you are enjoying some pretty weather of your own!

Me and Mom on the swing

The slides were so much fun!  There are lots of different ones at the playground, and at first Mom and Dad didn't trust me to go on down on my own, so here's some photos of me with my Dad.

WEEEEEEEE!

Happy 2012!

Love,

Charlie

My First Halloween!

Yesterday was my first Halloween!  I think my parents were a little more excited about it than I was.  Apparently everyone comes by our house to try to scare us, and we give them candy.  The streets were completely full of kids in costume - it was a crazy sight!  Look at this...it was pandemonium!

Anyway, I'm a kid, which means I had to put on a costume and get out there.  I was a bit reluctant, but once I got my costume on, everybody said I made a great dinosaur, so I was fine going out to hit the streets.

Here I am with Mom, early on.

 A little later, when we're out getting candy.  You scared yet?

 Being a scary dinosaur is exhausting work for a little boy.

I'm helping hand out the last of the candy.

All in all, I think it was a pretty good time.  I'm probably going to like it more when I'm old enough to walk and eat candy.  If you don't walk or eat candy, then it's hard to scare people and you're just a kid in a dinosaur costume.

I hope you had a great Halloween, and I'm looking forward to more fun times in the upcoming holiday season!

love,

Charlie

My First Haircut!

If you've been following along closely, you've probably noticed how shaggy my hair is getting. I've noticed, too, since it gets in my eyes when I'm trying to sleep and in my mouth when I'm eating. My parents finally broke down and decided it was time for a haircut.

It's pretty self explanatory, so I'm not going to write much.  Watch the transformation!

Not bad, huh? To be honest, I thought it was going to be a lot worse, but I'm pretty happy with the results.

Photos in the Park

Hi there!

One of the things I forgot to mention in my last post from my stay in Atlanta, was that my mom and I went to Piedmont Park one evening to have some photos taken.  A good friend of her and my dad's, Miss Jules, was super fun and took the photos.  As you will see, she has an eye for what makes for a good photo.  It was a beautiful evening and I discovered so many fun things to do in the park!  Have a look at some of my favorites from the first part of our time together -- I'll post some more good ones soon!

XO - Charlie

Adventures in the City

This has been quite an exciting week for me!  Since my parents are getting the walls redone in my bedroom and the other rooms upstairs, my mom and I got to take a trip to my Mimi and G-daddy's condo in Atlanta.  What fun!  There was so much to see and do while we were there -- I'll try to hit the high points.

First off, we did a lot of walking - since my grandparents place is right in the city, there's really no need to drive anywhere.  What a concept!  You can see here how cozy I was strollering --

Mimi and I did lots and lots of playing - here's an action shot --

We found a stand of these big, round, orange things that I've never seen before, but are all over the place these days.  They were great to climb around on!  Here - take a look and let me know what you think they are --

Then we went to this huge garden area, right downtown, where I got to crawl all over the place and smell lots of different types of flowers.  Here's a shot of me and Mimi dancing to some music that was playing --

I finally got to come home and see my Daddy this weekend, and it really feels like Fall out!  I got to get all bundled up in a new hat and mittens for our walk this morning... I think it makes me look tough!

Time to go practice the Ramblin' Wreck song before the football game today -- Go Jackets!

My First Bike Ride

Crazy new stuff today!  I was hanging out with my mom while my dad put together something big.  I wasn't sure what it was; actually, I had no idea.  He put it all together and then he and mom got their bikes (I know what these are because I have a giraffe bicycle).  Anyway, so my dad put me in this trailer, hooked it up to his bike, and we rode all over town!  I have to be honest, I wasn't all that excited about it to begin with.  New stuff, and I had to sit back in a trailer without my parents.  But then after we got going, I got used to it and it was a lot of fun!

Here are some actions shots!  Like I said, my dad was pulling me, so my mom took the pictures.  That's me in the back with the awesome helmet on!

Obviously, I had a great time on the ride, but it's always nice to be back in my mommy's arms.

We were famished after riding around the lake, so afterwards we went to get some lunch.  Dad said it was National Hot Dog Day, so you can probably guess what he had.  Me?  I had cereal, but as you can see, I had a great time anyway!

There's more summer fun to be had, but this was a fun day.  Nap time.  Talk to you soon!

love,

Charlie