Charlie's making great strides on talking lately. He says daddy, mama, Maggie ('aggie'), hi, bye, doggie, up ('uh'), uh-oh, patticake (well, the vowels anyway, it sounds like 'aa-ee-ay') and thank you ('ay-koo'). He baa's like a sheep, hisses like a snake, and makes elephant noises. And he signs 'more,' 'all done,' 'drink,' and 'milk.' He's really very effective at communicating what he wants!
We get comments all the time about what a happy, smiley little guy Charlie is. He's so friendly and loves to smile at people. He waves at everyone we see when we're out and about and makes friends everywhere we go. He also loves to wave at passing cars when we're out in the yard and people just love to wave back.
Charlie is currently obsessed with trash cans. It's sort of bizarre and also funny. He gets excited whenever he sees one, and of course they're everywhere. At the park he's often more interested in visiting the trash can than in playing on the playground. He loves to throw things away! That's the one redeeming aspect of diaper changes -- he gets to throw the used diaper away afterward. We've had to put the trash can out of his reach because he gets a little carried away and has been known to throw away things that he shouldn't...like my keys!
He's sleeping much better and has been for the past month or so. Patrick took over handling his night wakings when he was about 11 1/2 months old, and once Charlie realized he wasn't going to be fed, he started sleeping better and waking less often. He still usually wakes up crying once or twice in the night and often needs a little comfort, but he always goes back to sleep really quickly once he gets it. He does this during naps, too. Most days Charlie has just one nap, and he usually sleeps around 2 hours, but he might wake once or twice during that time and need a little help getting back to sleep. It's so nice having him down to one nap, and having both kids resting/napping in the afternoons around the same time. He's still adjusting, though, and sometimes starts to nod off during lunch -- his eyes start closing, all while he's still shoveling the food in his mouth! :)
Charlie's still a great eater. He loves all kinds of fruit but especially berries -- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries: he scarfs them up. His favorite meal is pizza; tonight he ate two slices! He'll try just about anything we give him, and he's very demanding when he wants more of something. One thing he doesn't like: milk, at least not yet. So far we're 0 for 2 on milk with the kids. Oh well, at least they love their cheese and yogurt.
At just over one, Charlie loves to go places. He tries to put on his own shoes (or brings them to us for help) and then makes a beeline for the door, asking "bye bye"? He loves animals and gets so excited when we see a dog or cat, dogs especially. According to Charlie, dogs and cats both say something that sounds like "aye aye aye." I think he's trying to meow, though he's not quite there yet. He's interested in other kids, especially other babies/young toddlers. And he loves to read! He brings us books all the time to read to him, and he's very insistent that the only proper position for reading is in your lap. His favorite book is currently his "First 100 Words" and he especially loves the page with the vehicles -- he points to each one and says "bye!"
Our Charlie is so silly -- he loves to laugh and loves to make us laugh. And he's such a sweetheart, always giving hugs and kisses, climbing into our laps, wanting to be held and cuddled. We love our sweet boy and are so thankful to have him!
