Wheeeere's Charlie?

The past few days have been like an endless game of peek-a-boo.  We've had glimpses of our sweet Charlie, but mostly we've been faced with an angry imposter...but let me start at the beginning.

Our trip to San Diego went very well.  In fact, Charlie behaved better on the flights than we ever could have dreamed, despite the fact that on the way out we woke him up at 4 AM to catch a 3+ hour flight at 6 AM, and on the way home, after 8+ hours of traveling, we were diverted to Charlotte where we sat on the runway for over an hour in the midst of a thunderstorm complete with high winds and hail...delaying our arrival in Charleston by three hours. 

Through all of this, Charlie was a champ.  He slept at least an hour per flight and almost 3 hours on the long flights each way, and while he was awake he played happily with his crayons and empty cups or flirted with the other passengers.

On top of these triumphs, Charlie had a great time with his cousins, aunts, uncles and BaBa and PaPa in San Diego.  While he didn't adjust to the time change until the day before we came home, he was perfectly willing to patrol the resort grounds in his stroller from 4 AM to 6 AM each day while Daddy, BaBa and PaPa slept in the room.  We had a great time exploring, eating raisins and chatting with the birds, capped off every morning with the glorious, highly-anticipated opening of the coffee cart, or as Charlie puts it "Caca".

Despite these lengthy stroller stretches in the morning, Charlie also did a great job at Legoland and Sea World.  While he definitely preferred to be out roaming the parks with his cousins, running, climbing, building, driving, splashing, etc, he put up with a lot more stroller time, too.  As a reward Charlie got his first set of duplos, which he valued to the point of locking them in the hotel safe, requiring a visit from hotel security to free them.

Then on Thursday we all loaded into the minivans and took a roadtrip up to Los Angeles where Jason, Charlie and I cavorted in a park just off Rodeo Drive while the rest of the family did a bit of shopping -- after almost 6 hours in the car, we decided not to try our luck in the shops. 

We followed this with a fabulous dinner at Moon Shadows in Malibu with Aunt Monica, where we had the most "California" waiter you can imagine.  He looked exactly like Frank Sinatra in Guys and Dolls and was throwing out surfer lingo and hand signals right and left.  Aunt Erin, Uncle Matt and I enjoyed the show thoroughly -- while Charlie napped blissfully in the corner.

Unfortunately, it was during the drive back to San Diego that the tides turned and "imposter Charlie" showed up.  About 30 minutes from the hotel he woke up screaming and wouldn't stop.  Jason and I were doing everything we could: singing, cuddling, promising, begging, praying, stroking, bribing, but to no avail.  He didn't calm down until we arrived back at the hotel after midnight.  Then he passed a rough night in the pack n play until we woke him up around 5:30 -- not a good start to 12+ hours of traveling, but as I said before, he was a trouper.

"Imposter Charlie" did rear his head a couple times through the week and on the flights home, when Charlie developed a new love for hitting, biting and pinching, but each time he would try it we would just correct him and he would stop fairly quickly.  We were convinced that he didn't even know he was hurting us when upon Jason's recommendation I returned pinch for pinch, and Charlie was completely surprised -- and hasn't pinched since.  How wrong we were though...

Rather than rehash the gory details, I'll just say that Saturday and Sunday were characterized by screams, pouts, smacks, bites, tears and one particularly memorable headbutt -- all by Charlie, other than the tears which I believe were shed all around.  It was as I was watching Charlie laugh at the tears streaming down my face after he headbutted me hard enough to give me a fat lip that I realized it is possible to dislike your own child.  

It was a very scary moment for me.  I have a pretty in-depth theory on like vs. love, but to sum it up, I basically believe that "loving" is a choice we make, whereas "liking" is a reaction we have.  To be clear, I never waivered in my love for the little monster, but I cannot honestly say that I liked the brown eyes laughing into mine.

Jason was actually out helping some church friends on a special project yesterday evening, so the return of "sweet Charlie" for dinner, bath and bedtime was an overwhelming relief.  I'm not sure I could have handled 2 hours of "imposter Charlie" on my own.

Of course, there was a downside to Jason being away.  Basically, I cannot be trusted alone with a channel changer and spent the evening watching the Discovery Health Channel, which was highlighting children with Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia.  While even I am not ridiculous enough to think that Charlie was showing signs of Schizophrenia, a lot of the symptoms discussed on the Bipolar show hit a little close to home -- to the point that by the time Jason got home, I felt compelled to discuss the possibility that Charlie was showing the first signs of the disorder.  Needless to say, I believe Jason may be blocking that channel in the future...

Despite his confidence that "sweet Charlie" hadn't been permanently replaced by "imposter Charlie," even Jason was a little nervous to send Charlie to daycare today.  Yesterday morning in the church nursery he actually pulled a sweet little girl's hair, so we were somewhat expecting a call to come get him quite early today.  But much to our surprise and delight, this morning everything seemed to be back to normal.  Charlie seemed thrilled to be back on his normal schedule, waking up on time, eating his breakfast and playing in the living room, and he was excited to see Miss Jo-Jo and Miss Amanda at school. 

All in all, this morning went off without even a glimpse of "imposter Charlie".  And, as it's almost 2:30 in the afternoon and we haven't heard from school, I am hopeful that all of the drama and mayhem of this particular game of peek-a-boo are behind us, and our "sweet Charlie" is back to stay.  I sure hope so...

Jamming with Daddy on the first flight

Pro-traveler

Bliss!

Motorboat with PaPa and Cousins!

Pre-dawn wandering

Coffee Cart is open & has "Na-nas"

Heads of the table

Chuga-chuga

Loving the Legos

Maximizing the Daddy Time

Bob who?

The Killer Whale Show

Starfish are way more exciting

Zoom-zoom

Ready to swim

Fun with cousins

Whee!

Happy Family

Tackling the Tree

Art Appreciation in Beverly Hills

Big Boy Bonanza

Ask and you shall receive!  I said that Charlie needed a big brother and tah-dah: a week full of water-related fun with big boys and one very special little girl!

The fun started on Saturday when Sophia came over for some water table and popsicle adventures.  I can't imagine a better way to beat the heat -- especially since Megan and I got to sit in the shade and chat while they got sticky and soaked. 

We followed that up with an outrageous amount of fun learning how to water Bob's driveway.  Bob was high up on the hero list before, but I believe Charlie is officially a landscaping apprentice to his dear "Bob-o" now!

Then on Sunday we met Calvin (and his parents) at Sullivan's Island for some serious digging and getting dirty.  Jason and I learned that a very deep hole and an umbrella are the perfect setup at the beach.  Charlie and Calvin were entranced and corralled, so we adults got to sit around and enjoy the sun and waves!

But that's not all! (marketing speak, for please keep paying attention!)  My college roommate, Susanna, her husband Jeremy and their two sons arrived in Charleston on Sunday evening for vacation.  Due to completely unreliable forecasts, we cancelled a boat ride on Tuesday night for a picnic dinner up here at home.  Charlie just adored following George around and "playing" fooz-ball with Clark.  Luckily, we ignored the forecasts on Thursday and took our chances on the boatride.  Charlie and George had a ball squealing in the front of the boat and urging Captain George to go faster, faster, faster!

I truly couldn't have scripted a better week for my baby boy dying for a big brother.  Amazingly enough, it's going to get even better.  Tomorrow we board a plane for San Diego where Charlie will get to spend an entire week with his big boy cousin, Tyler, along with all of his big girl cousins, Alexis, Mallory, Ellie and Elizabeth.  And he'll get to be the the big boy cousin to Landon. 

I have a feeling mom and dad are going to seem pretty boring come mid-August -- but then Grandma comes to town for some serious spoiling.  What a summer!

Splish-Splash

Whoa!

Oh...I get it...

Calvin making us all soup for lunch

Captain Clark

Tour Guide George

Zoom-zoom

Our rainbow to bless the evening

Only Child Blues

I am convinced that there is nothing Charlie loves more than being "one of the boys".  He had the time of his life last weekend with Caleb, Logan and Will Daniels.  I bet they hadn't been here 5 minutes before he grabbed Will's arm and pulled him to the toys, and he would have been happy to just follow Caleb and Logan around for hours.

Bottom line, Charlie wants a big brother.  Jason and I still have hopes of making him into a big brother someday, but I truly believe that he would prefer having one to being one.  Big kids are just the best thing ever to him. 

Apparently, I went on and on about my new theory Sunday and Monday, because Monday evening Jason told me in no uncertain terms that we will not be adopting a big brother for Charlie.  And as much as I would like to say it had never crossed my mind...it had.  And while I would also like to say that my thoughts were focued on providing a safe, loving home to a child who needs one...they weren't.  Charlie loved having a big kid around, so my instinct was to go out and get him one.  Crazy, but true.

Nonetheless, the Daniels' visit was a pure pleasure from start to finish, and we were all sorry to see them go on Monday morning.  Charlie took it a bit harder than Jason or I did, and was a bit of a pickle Monday night.  Of course, it could also have had something to do with the fact that he was coming down with a stomach bug that sent him home from school Tuesday and sidelined both him and Jason all day Wednesday, but Charlie was definitely acting a little bit big for his britches Monday evening. 

From insisting on no clothes, to throwing a fit when forced to drink out of a sippy cup rather  than mom's glass, to having the nerve to enjoy time out, he was a handful.  Tuesday night and Wednesday he was downright docile, due to his fever, tummy ache, and sore bottom, so much so in fact that I was almost relieved to have him running around like a maniac again this morning...almost.

Caleb Fishing with the Big Boys

Will ready to hit the waves

Logan chilling at the beach

Living it up during Time Out

Back to Himself

Perfect?

Ok...this post isn't really Charlie-based, but I had to share my "a-ha moment" from last night.  As I was washing my hands, I looked in the mirror and had a vivid flashback to one morning when I was about 11 or 12 years old. 

I was in my Heather Blue (still my favorite bedroom color ever) bedroom, lolling about in my twin bed on my fabulous pink and white pin-dot striped Laura Ashley sheets.  Having been your typical pre-teen, I was mopey and grouchy.  I remember laying there wishing that just about everything about me was different.  I wished that I had unpermed, bangless hair, didn't need glasses, was 20 pounds thinner, had clear skin and was in love.

Flash forward 20+ years and...
 - I have straight, bangless hair (though "uncurly" might be a more accurate term in Lowcountry humidity)
 - I am still giddy about 8 years of 20/10 vision thanks to Lasik surgery
 - I am about 10 pounds thinner, but at 20 years older, I'm perfectly satisfied with that
 - Pimples are few and far between
 - I am head over heels in love with my husband and my perfect baby boy

For a couple seconds I was in complete awe.  Every wish I had made that morning so long ago had come true -- even the vane, superficial ones...  The realization made me smile and I immediately noticed that while all of the physical wishes of my pre-teen self have come true, I now have wrinkles.  Hah! 

So while I started down the path of thinking that all of our dreams do come true given enough patience, time, prayer, etc, blah-blah-blah...what I really realized is that God has a terrific sense of humor to go along with His perfect plan.  Maybe that and the fulfillment of that last wish are what keep 33 year old Jenny from dwelling on the wrinkles the way 13 year old Jenny did on everything else.  I can only imagine what I'm going to see in the mirror in another 20 years!

Vulnerable

It is so frustrating that one incident can ruin a whole weekend! 

We had an absolutely fabulous time with Brent, Christa and family Saturday morning when they came to brunch.  Then after they left, we had a whole day ahead of us with no plans!  After Charlie's nap, we headed into town where Jason and Charlie both got haircuts, and Charlie had his first and second lollipops!  He is a huge fan of Mango Dum-Dums (did they even have Mango when we were kids??).

Racing around Target in the cart and chicken nuggets and icecream cones at Chick-Fil-A were topped by a trip to Lowe's.  All I can say is that Charlie is just like his Daddy.  He had an absolute blast running through Lowe's, high-fiving and fist-bumping the employees and flirting with a 5 year old girl in the checkout line.  We might have to see if Lowe's hosts birthday parties!

We closed out the day with a run through the sprinkler and some splashing around in Charlie's new water table...perfect for a hot Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was great, too.  I got to work in the nursery at church and watch Charlie play with all his little friends -- once he finally decided that the room was sufficiently vacuumed.  Then we all went down to check on the boat and play at Mt Pleasant Waterfront Park -- followed by more icecream. 

It was just a perfectly relaxing and enjoyable weekend, during which we learned some invaluable life lessons:

1 - We don't put food in our mouth while we're coughing

2 - Mom and Dad really can ignore 16 miles of worn out screaming

3 - Otis likes icecream, too

4 - Daddy only has 2 handles and those are his hands. NOTHING else on Daddy is a handle.

5 - Yelling makes you run faster.

And unfortunately,

6 - We're not necessarily safe in our own backyard

Jason came up to bed at 11:00 last night and looked out our bedroom window to see someone rooting around in his truck!  He grabbed the keys to set off the alarm, but accidentally started it -- serves the thief right!  The police came and took a report, and luckily nothing was stolen.  The creeps must have made their move when they saw the light go off. Thank goodness they weren't smart enough to wait longer! 

The crazy part is that Jason's truck was literally 4 feet from the corner of our house and it was only 11:00 at night.  We're pretty sure that it was just some bratty kids, but that doesn't really make me feel any safer.  Looks like Jason won't be going on any overnight trips anytime soon...

Post-brunch photo-op

Like father like son!

I'll take one of these, two of those...

Can't catch me!

Woohoo!

You mean I'm allowed to do this?!?!

Following in Daddy's Flip-Flops

Long Distance Love

What a week!  Over the past 8 days Charlie has said goodbye to some of his first dear friends and has deepened relationships with some of his family.  It's definitely been a week of ups and downs.

Unfortunately, we've had to bid farewell to two of Charlie's Angels.  Lakely and Kate (and their respective parents) are both leaving Summerville for opportunities and adventures elsewhere.  We are thrilled for both families, but selfishly, we are very sad to see them go.  To make sure they all knew how much they would be missed, we had a neighborhood Shrimp Boil last Thursday night to celebrate friendship and new opportunities.  It was such fun!

On the heels of the celebration, Charlie's great Uncle Brent, Great Aunt Christa and cousins Stephen, Ryan and Katie arrived on IOP for their summer vacation.  Then two days later Uncle Matt, Aunt Erin, cousins Tyler and Elizabeth and the whole Haggerty clan drove up from their vacation on Hilton Head, so we've had a wonderful week of eating, laughing, boating, eating, digging, sunning and more eating. 

Charlie is quite smitten with Elizabeth & Katie, has a serious case of hero-worship for Tyler, Stephen, Ryan, and has quite possibly found his soul mate in Uncle Brent.  Obviously, we would have enjoyed our visitors no matter when they came to town, but the timing couldn't have been better.  We needed the reminder that relationships can still flourish with family and friends regardless of where we live -- and while a week here and there doesn't replace living in the same town, it does provide the opportunity focus all of our energy on enjoying each other. 

And it gets even better!  The Daniels arrive a week from today, the Freemans a week later and then we head to San Diego to meet up with BaBa, PaPa and the whole family for the first week of August!  Charlie isn't going to know what hit him!

Mmmm....

Charlie's turn at Corn Hole

Looks like Kate's winning...

The Ladies of Reminisce

Uncle Brent,  Aunt Christa, Stephen, Katie and Ryan on IOP

Ready for the Fireworks

Hmmmm...not quite as exciting as he'd expected

Captain Tyler and his First Mate

Cruising with Cousin Elizabeth

Fist Bump

Cheers, Uncle Brent!