Charlie, Otis and I had a quiet, fully lit and fully heated weekend here at home. It's amazing what a difference electricity makes! It was nice to be free of any schedules or obligations and to just take it easy. Charlie even took two naps each day, allowing me to lay on the couch and watch TV -- talk about a lazy indulgence!
In the midst of all of this glorious monotony, we did have two amazing moments that I know I'll remember for years to come. Each was a little glimpse of the future, and I wish it were possible to capture them like a scene in a snowglobe and pull them out from time to time.
First, during breakfast on Sunday morning, Charlie was drinking his oj from his sippy cup. He has improved this skill vastly over the past couple of weeks, but from time to time he still holds the cup with the spout on top and the liquid pools beneath it.
In an attempt to "help", I tried to pry the cup out of Charlie's hands and turn it 180 degrees. Well, the little booger is stronger than he looks, so after a few seconds I let go...and Charlie pulled the cup back directly into his eye. He's definitely going to be tough one, though, because despite the loud plastic vs. bone bonk, he didn't cry -- he just looked at me like, "What the heck are you doing?!". I had a very clear and ominous preview of how he'll be looking at me from 2022 to 2029 on a regular basis -- I saw a teenager in my Charlie's eyes. It was both funny and scary at the same time.
Thankfully, a one year old's memory is short, so we were back to blissful morning fun just a few moments later. After breakfast Charlie was carrying around one of his baby picture books, which holds photos of family. He was flipping through it and saying "Dada", but the only picture of Jason in this one is pretty small and dark, so I handed him a frame from the end table and pointed out "Dada" in the picture.
Charlie immediately grinned, grasped the frame and started walking laps around the living room, all the while pointing at Jason's face and giggling "Dada". It was absolutely precious. It seemed to me that he really connected the image in the photo with a person for the first time -- either that or he thought that I had somehow shrunk Jason and trapped him in a picture frame...either way, it was great!
One might ask why I didn't capture at least the "Dada" laps on video -- one without a toddler that is. Just Saturday night Charlie and I were "rocking out" to Blondie, Duran Duran and my favorite, Rick Springfield. And yes, it does appear that I have passed my horrendous taste in music onto my innocent little boy. He was waving his hands in the air and laughing as I belted out Jesse's Girl (Jason's and my song, for the record -- sorry, honey!).
Well, as any adoring mother would do, I grabbed the camera and tried to capture Charlie's first full-fledged boogy, but each time I hit "record" he stopped and laughed. Then when I hit it again to stop the recording, he started dancing again. The kid is just as ornery as his Daddy! So needless to say, I'm going to have to capture the most precious moments in my memory and in words, because Charlie's too quick for me!
Sippy Cup Practice
Ornery Little Booger
