Modeling

CHARLIE: "Bye Mommy!"
ME: "Where are you going?"
CHARLIE: "I going to Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee and a bagel sandwhich!"

The Butterfly Place

We took Charlie to the Butterfly Place in Westford today; he enjoyed watching the butterflies from a distance and would have liked to see the fish pond up close, but had a good time nonetheless. Here are some not so good pictures taken with my rapidly expiring camera:

Armed and Ready...

We went out tonight and bought Charlie 12 pairs of underpants and 4 extra pairs of sweatpants, as well as a new potty seat. We are gearing up to go "cold turkey" on Monday! Wish us luck that we will be done with diapers soon!!

A Present

The summer clothes I ordered last week came in the mail today; they were discovered by Mike and Charlie as they came in the door. Charlie was beside himself with excitement. "A present!!" he shrieked as he came running in the door. "Mommy, you have a PRESENT!! I open it? I open it? I open it?" Then, after clawing the package open, "A pillow! You have a PILLOW!!"

"It's a dress," I corrected him.

"A DRESS!! A PRETTY DRESS!! MOMMY HAS A PRETTY DRESS!!!"

Just imagine if the package had actually been for *him*...

Dinosaur Days

This is the title of Charlie's new favorite book. He can pretty much recite along with it: "In the day of the dinosaurs there were no people. There were no cats or dogs. There were no cows or horses. What animals were there?" Here Charlie pipes up: "There were turtles! Fish! Crocodiles! And dragonflies!" When a giant crocodile is shown snapping its jaws at a chicken-sized dinosaur, Saltopus, Charlie screams: "THE GIANT CROCODILE IS TRYING TO EAT SALTOPUS!!! AAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

Sometimes I wonder about the appropriateness of this type of reading material before bed, but he just loves dinosaurs... And crocodiles... And sharks...

Something Dangerous

Yesterday I caught Charlie at the top of the stairs, arms spread wide and flapping. "I'm a bird! I can flyyyyy!" he was yelling, apparently moments away from jumping. I wrestled away from the stairs and lectured him about how little boys can't fly and how very dangerous the stairs could be.

This afternoon Mike and Charlie were up on the 3rd floor. I was heading up there to tell them dinner was ready when I heard Mike telling Charlie to get away from the 1/2 wall that overlooks the 2nd floor.* I came upstairs and lectured Charlie very sternly on how dangerous the wall was and how he was not to touch it at all. He wimpered and whined a little so I thought the message had sunk in.

After dinner I told Charlie he had 15 minutes to play before his tubby. He promptly hopped down from his chair and went over to the kitchen drawers, opening and closing them in turn.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, baffled.

"Looking for something dangerous," he replied.

Thinking I had misheard him, I asked him again. "What are you doing?"

He looked up at me. "I looking for something dangerous to play with, Mama."

Apparently we have a little more explaining to do about what the word 'dangerous' means. Either that or I have the next Evel Kneivel on my hands.

*I put a call out to a contractor today to figure out what we can do about the 1/2 wall.

A Bad Moose

We went to Bugaboo Creek for dinner tonight. There is a large statue of a moose outside and the restaurant is adorned with several more moose heads inside. Charlie of course, was fascinated. On our way out, Mike made the mistake of telling him a story of how a moose once ran in front of his car in New Hampshire.

The entire ride home we were forced to listen to the following not-quite-coherent rant brought on by Mike's moose story:

"That's a BAD MOOSE! Chahlie Wobisson's daddy crashed the car! Chalie Wobisson's daddy crashed the moose! That's a HEAVY MOOSE! That moose is TOO HEAVY! That moose RAN THE ROAD! That's dangerous! That's an accident! That's a BAD MOOSE! That moose crashed Chalie Wobisson's friends! That moose needs a TIME OUT!"

The Beginning Of A New Era?

Not to jump the gun or anything, but Charlie has slept through the night for the past 2 nights in a row; when I woke him up this morning and commented on his good night's sleep he said: "No more elephants and bears in the dark!"

Please, stay away bears and elephants..

Got Pink?

This morning Charlie looked my pink scrubs up and down and observed, "You got pink, Mama!" Then he looked down at his own orange shirt and grey sweatpants and asked, "Where my pink?" He even picked up his feet, inspecting his sneakers for traces of pink. Realizing there was none to be found he wailed, "Wheeeere's my piiiiiink? I waaaaant piiiiiiink!!"

Tubby Day

This evenings when I told Charlie it was time to go get ready for his tubby he protested: "Noooo! It's not a tubby day today!"
Nice try, kiddo...

Pancakes From Scratch

Charlie and I very successfully made pancakes from the following recipe this morning:
Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
1 TBSP vegetable oil

Mix wet and dry ingredients and add chocolate chips of course.

Dinner

We had a very delicious dinner here last night and I am now thoroughly hung over.

The Childrens Museum

We took Charlie here this morning. He had a blast even though there were no "lions and tigers and buffalo!!" as he had initially been hoping when I first told him where we were going.

Playing Catch

Because playing on the stairs makes everything more fun...

I Love You More Than....

Last night after we read stories I lay snuggling with Charlie for a little while. "I love you more than all the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world!" I told him.
"Beaches?" he asked, perking right up. Charlie loves beaches. "More than sea shells?" he asked.
"More than all the sea shells in the world," I told him.
As I put him into his crib he piped up, "Mommy -- I love you more than my [toy] spider!"
Umm, gee, thanks...

Cute Things Charlie Said Today

(looking in the mirror): "It's Chahlie Wobbisun and his Mommy!"
(Licking his fingers): "I eatin' my fingers Mommy!"
(eating a piece of candy): "My candy coin is very good in my mouth!"
But now we are trying to get him to sleep after a Valentine's party sugar rush so he will probably get decidedly less cute ;)

Must Be A Valentine's Party...

A Month After Christmas Let Down?

The other day as we came home Charlie looked around and asked out of the blue, "Where is the Christmas Tree?" (We took it down over a month ago...)

"It's not Christmas time anymore," I explained. "The Christmas tree will be back next year."

Charlie peered across the room to where the Christmas tree used to be. "Daddy put the Christmas Tree back in the box?"

Umm yeah good memory -- so much for trying to pretend it was a real tree...

The Art of Guilt Tripping

Charlie is beginning to learn this art at an early age.

I just went into his room in response to his crying, and he announced: "Charlie's crying!"
"Why are you crying," I asked.
"Charlie's so sad because Charlie wants his Mommy!" he answered, complete with sticking out his little bottom lip.

Oy -- give him a few more years...

Sometimes I Really Wonder...

... what goes on in the mind of my child. Like this evening when I was reading his bedtime stories and he announced: "I want to put an apple in my Mommy's pants!"

Umm -- what??

Bring On The Spice!

Charlie loves spicy food.

"Oh no, those are buffalo flavored doritos," my brother-in-law warns. "Oh, that's fine," I assure him as Charlie digs in.

"The chicken is spicy, is that okay?" asks the man behind the counter at Chipotle. "No problem," I answer.

The other day Charlie devoured a thai chicken basil dish that makes my nose run and my eyes water. (In between mouthfuls he chugged water and announced 'All better!') This evening he actually grabbed an onion that I had put out on the counter to cut and, while I looked on horrified, took a large bite out of it. I watched as he chewed and swallowed. "Yummy yummy!" he proclaimed.

I took it away from him anyway.

Waffle Days

To Charlie, days are not divided into weekdays and weekends. Rather, they are divided into school days and waffle days. This is because during the week he has Cheerios at daycare for breakfast (and, err, a munchkin or two from dunkin donuts), and on the weekends he has his food of choice: waffles, at home. Thus, yesterday when he bounced onto the bed and announced, "Wake up Daddy! Wake up! It's not a school day -- it's a waffle day!!"

Sledding With Grammy