Daddy Time

Daddy Time is by far the most precious in our household.  Whether it be "sneaking" across the bed to lean over Daddy and say "Hi" directly into his face to wake him up, climbing into the recliner each morning to help Daddy put on his shoes, racing out to the truck as it rumbles up the driveway each evening or randomly yet frequently asking, "Da-da?", which can be translated many ways:  Where is Daddy?  When will Daddy be back?  What are you doing Daddy?  Please pick me up Daddy, etc. etc.

Charlie loves to tromp around in Daddy's shoes, to play in his laptop bag, to follow him around the yard, to sit next to him in their matching recliners, to walk around blinded by his hats, to vroom-vroom in his truck, to roll across the floor in his arms, to mow the yard in his wake, to drive the boat on his lap, and most of all to talk about and to his Daddy in an endless, high-pitched babble.  Essentially, Charlie just loves his Daddy.

I have to say, we had no idea just how cool Jason was until Charlie was born.  Charlie literally cannot contain himself when Jason walks into a room.  It doesn't matter if it's been two minutes or two days, Charlie's excitement about Da-Da will overflow in shrieks, shouts, giggles and arms thrown in the air.  Jason is truly his "rockstar."  In fact, I like to tease Jason that he knows just what it's like to be a Jonas Brother.  Were Charlie not Jason's son, I'm not sure it wouldn't actually be considered stalking...

Seriously though, when I have a moment to reflect I realize how amazingly blessed I am to have a perfectly healthy and goofy one year old son and a perfectly healthy and goofy 33 year old husband, but even more, to have them be the light of each others' lives. 

I remember journaling back when I was pregnant about who our baby would be.  While I was convinced that Charlie was actually going to be Ansley, on the off-chance that he was a boy, I remember writing that I hoped he would be exactly like his Daddy with only two minor differences:  1 - he would love to read (check - at least so far!) 2 - he would never go through the chewing tobacco stage (I plan to be vigilant and downright mean if necessary!). 

To date it looks like my hopes may be realized.  Charlie is definitely a little, blonde mini-Jason, and I couldn't be more thrilled or more proud!

A few of the basic skills Jason has passed on to his little protege over the past 18 months:

Grooming 101: Basic Cleanliness

Computers 101:  Video Conferencing with BaBa and PaPa

Swimming 101: Toes in the Water

Boating 101: Ease on the Water

Grooming 200: Extraordinary Bathing Opportunities

Chilling 101: The Recliner

Chores 101: Winter Yard Work

Christmas 101: The Art of Digesting Christmas Dinner

Survival Skills 101: Building a Fire

Automotive 101: Truck Cleanliness

Automotive 200: Engine Repair

Animals 101: Slimy Creatures

Animals 200: Hairy Creatures

Grooming 300: Looking Good & Knowing It

Boating 200: Safety Gear

Swimming 200: Fun and Games

Gymnastics 101: The Somersault

Cooking 101:  Sand Birthday Cake for Mom

Grooming 300: The Importance of Good Hair

Grandma Time!

What a fabulous weekend!  Grandma came to town and we had an absolute blast.  From our belated Birthday dinner at Eileen's Thursday evening through feeding the fish last night right before bed, Charlie had a ball  -- and he wasn't even around for the outlet shopping, card playing and fuzzy navels! 

Charlie absolutely loved reading story after story after story in Grandma's lap and practicing his camping skills in his new tent/tunnel combo...but I definitely think the highlight of the weekend was Celebration Town.  It's basically a large, padded room full of jump castles.  After an early dinner of guacamole and margaritas Saturday evening (we adults had to psych ourselves up), we took Charlie for his first adventure based on the recommendation of a good friend.

All I can say is it was absolutely fabulous.  Of course, I have a 2 inch vinyl-burn on my left elbow and Jason may have broken his left foot, but Charlie had a ball!  At first he was much more interested in running around on the padded floor, chasing the balls that other kids were throwing, but once Mommy, Daddy and Grandma joined him in the jump castles, it was game on.  I must have gone down the slide (and therefore climbed the extremely slippery stairs/ladder thing) in the Cars castle at least 10 times.

Jason and I have tentative plans to make Celebration Town a monthly date.   Basically, we'll take Charlie there around 6:00, wear him out, pick up carry-out at Eileen's, Oscar's or Mustard Seed on the way home, put Charlie to bed and have date night. 

The only bad part about the weekend with Grandma was saying goodbye this morning (and the stress/fear that she would miss her flight due to malfunctioning gates at the railroad tracks) -- but fortunately, she made her flight and we are already planning our next trip to El Paso for Thanksgiving.  I can't imagine what Charlie will be up to by then!

Family Hug!

Honest, Grandma,  Mommy lets me eat my crayons all the time!

First Soccer Game

First Corn on the Cob

There he is!

Yeah!  We found him.  Our Charlie is back and appears to be planning to stay.  After a few nights in his own bed and a return to his routine, it appears that life is back to normal.  I'm no longer flinching when Charlie comes at me, confident that he plans to hug, not scratch, bite or hit, and he's replaced his frustrated habits with some new games.

Jason's and my favorite is "family hug".  We have no idea where he got it, but Charlie's new favorite thing is to insist on hugging both Jason and me at the same time.  He demands a family hug every morning before Jason leaves and another each evening while I'm making dinner -- with others sprinkled in from time to time.  It's absolutely hilarious.  If one of us is holding him, he'll yell the name of the other until we're all together, then he grabs us both around the neck, pulls us in tight and giggles.  And once we think we're done, we generally have to come back in for another squeeze or two.  What started out as a funny moment in San Diego has become a highlight to our days.

And I can't tell you how excited I was to replace "Imposter Charlie Peek-a-Boo" with "Where's the Book?" this morning.  After three for four run-throughs of the Boat book, Charlie stashed it behind the couch cushion, looked at me, held open his arms and asked "Go?"  I quickly learned that my role is to become very concerned about where the book could have possibly gone, until in a fit of giggles, he pulls it out from behind the cushion.  Then I say "Ta-Da!"  As you can imagine, for a 17 month old, this game just does not get old...and only ends when Daddy comes downstairs to put on his shoes.

It's definitely good to have our happy little nut back.

Another new game: Naked Piano

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!