Charlie's Mom: A Boy's Boy

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Boy's Boy

Watching Charlie's little personality (or should I say big personality in a little body) develop is keeping Jason and I very entertained. Over the past few weeks we've had many glimpses of the man behind the curtain -- and he is a hoot!

To be clear, there haven't been any drastic changes -- Charlie still loves to eat, loves to laugh, adores his Daddy, hates to nap, and lives to tease Otis -- but all of his emotions and reactions are focusing, and we're even starting to understand some of his thought processes -- and I take quite a bit of the blame for his wacky logic.

One of the highlights of the past week was his discovery of "walking backwards". To be honest, I never realized this was a skill to be learned -- but last Thursday Charlie mastered the ability to back his way around the living room and spent most of Thursday evening running into Otis. He has yet to discover the benefits of peeking behind him for obstacles.

Also, last night he amazed (and alarmed) me with his newfound ability to make obscene noises by blowing raspberries on his arm. Apparently this is a favorite way to entertain himself while waiting for his dinner. It's only slightly less exciting than the real thing -- and yes, at 13 months he already finds bodily functions a source of unending amusement. Is this just wired into the Y chromosome?

Charlie is also working on some of his flirting skills -- but the angels are anything but push-overs. Over the past week, we've had both Lakely and Kate over to play. Charlie used his smoothest moves -- leaning against the couch and drinking one-handed from the sippy-cup, as well as moving in for the oh-so-sweet hug -- but both girls were more interested in his toys than his attentions. Poor thing...

In general, Charlie absolutely adores anything that can be done outdoors. Just putting on his shoes gets him crazy excited, because he knows he gets to go outside. Biking and swinging are near the top of his list for outdoor activities, but the real winner is...mowing?? Charlie is an avid lawn boy. He absolutely adores his little musical reel mower and has even progressed from using it as a jackhammer to pushing/pulling it around the yard. He can actually spend almost as long out there "mowing" as it takes Jason to do the real thing -- too bad for Jason his doesn't cut the grass.

I have no doubt that even as I type this, Charlie is enlightening and amusing Donna with some other new habit that will have us all cracking up this evening. Actually -- he, Donna and Otis are just outside my window playing in the yard!! It truly doesn't get any better than to be able to look up and see your baby boy while diligently participating in a conference call. Life is good!