Aye, aye, teeth!

Oooh, aren't we lucky? Charles is cutting his two upper eye teeth (still doesn't have the two front teeth, so he's about to look like a strange, little boy-jack-o-lantern) and we are livin' the good life of snot, shrill cries, coughing, pained expressions, and gooey eyes. Wanna visit?

"What's going on, guys? What's with the little guy? Wanna go play toys in the yard? Can we go for a walk? Huh? Huh? Huh?" {Side note: Buster loves Charles. It's awesome.}

When he's not shrieking in pain, he's shrieking in joy. Our boy expresses himself without reservation. He will wave at you, offer a smile, and then bury his head in my shoulder as if he is shy (he's not). We are so blessed to have such a happy baby.

"NNNNNNGGGGG!" Charles loves tofu. And it loves him, too.

Sans Fireworks

The weekend at the Landon's was a trip planned, originally, to allow Tony and Andy to go head-to-head in a triathlon in Richland. Sarah also moved party plans around so we could all celebrate Claire's birthday that weekend, and Joe and Loris came out, too. Unfortunately, Tony's days have been just a bit too packed to train for a race, so we watched Andy compete instead.

We did, however, follow through with Claire's birthday party, at which all the kids had a ton of fun, even if we parents were smoldering in the heat. You see, the kids had pools.

Charles got to enjoy some fun time with his grandparents, so that was great also.

Not even heat could get this guy down.

I'm sure the Landons will post about the party, but Claire seemed quite satisfied with her toys, even if Cousin Hannah pushed her down and stole her toy stroller.

At one point, I had corralled all the cranky kids (my own included - it was sleepy time!) onto/nearby my lap on the couch inside (in the Tri-Cities, you have air conditioning, so I hung out indoors whenever the heat outside got unbearable) to read books. It was quite sweet, as I had started out just reading to Charles, and then one by one, other children gathered.

Check out this video. Plastic bottles are Charles' favorite toys.

Weekend at Landons

Books - good source of fiber and fun!

We're lucky to have family that is also friends. We spent last weekend with the Landons in the Tri-Cities where they put up with us West-Siders who were not AT ALL used to the oppressive East-Side heat. On the 4th, the mercury hit 104. I have said this before, and I'll say it again, I do not do heat. Tony and I were pretty much sloths in that weather, and Charles was his usual happy self.

This is cousin Claire. She asked me frequently, "What's Charles doing?" and "Where's Mister Charles?" She is quite the well-spoken little girl, and Sarah and Andy have much to be proud of in her.

Tony took a long nap with Charles

Charles continues to wake often at night. While he is not as bad as he was a couple of months ago, he still has his nights of difficulty. He is asleep between 8 and 9 every night, but it's the continuity (or lack thereof) that is slowly driving me mad. I had a classic breakdown last night, in part prompted by the fact that I spent most of today in bed with some sort of achy-muscle crampy-stomach flu bug. I feel much better now, but when you're feeling rotten and your baby wants to scream in the middle of the night, a mental breakdown is the least that can happen. We let him fuss it out pretty often now, but it has not resulted in any miraculous sleep-all-night changes. Oh! And he crawled out of his crib yesterday morning, which was a big shocker. The boy is a monkey.

Thankfully, no matter how badly he appears to sleep, he is alway super happy the next day. I have never met such a smiley, happy baby in my life. The ladies at daycare are always commenting on his general contentedness, and willingness to offer a grin to every human.

Bathtime!

Charles is, I think, getting another tooth. I can see it, but it's not one of his top front teeth... rather, it is a top side tooth. He's gonna look like a jack-o-lantern! Too bad he can't wait for Halloween, though I think we're planning on dressing him as Bam Bam from the Flintstones, anyhow. Only I would be thinking ahead to Halloween.

Squirm Bucket

Sometimes, it can be pretty tough to get Charles dressed in the morning (especially with the distraction of daddy taking photos). Observe:

Finally! The clothes are on, but Charles isn't happy about it.

Giggles

A few weeks ago, we celebrated my friend DeAnna's birthday with cake and ice cream at her house. Charles had squash, but it was celebratory squash.

Anyhoo, DeAnna's younger brother, Cody, was tossing a ball in the air as we were getting ready to go and Charles was giggling SO MUCH! He laughed for 2 or 3 minutes before we finally got the camera out to capture the action. The first few giggles on this short video are more like what he was doing pre-camera. I think the laughter was tiring him out near the end.

Funny

A link for the mothers: www.lets-panic.com

Because I, too, look for the funny in all this. Did I tell you about Charles' explosive diaper yesterday? Or his projectile vomiting during his last cold (he coughs with force!)? We need a laugh on occasion, sistahs.

Snooze...

Would you like it if we posted more? Wouldja? Well, too damn bad. Life is busy, y'all.

Aw, jeez, I didn't mean to make you upset! No, seriously, stop crying. Okay, here, have a baby photo:

Phew. Now we all feel better.

Well, we are leaving again. Buster is headed to the kennel and the rest of us are trekking to the Tri-Cities for the long weekend. It's Claire's birthday party (watch out, Sarah and Andy, we got a noise-maker!) and I'll get to see some Walla Walla friends and scorch my poor white skin in 100-degree weather (I thought it was bad that we have 80-degrees-plus here!) and hopefully escape the angry hordes of mosquitos that are feasting on said poor white skin. We would take Buster, cuz I hear that Claire loves doggies, but the extra-thick coat of fur does not play well with 100-degree heat. I think he would just be miserable all weekend. And probably take over the kiddy pool, angering the young ones. This way, he gets to be with other doggies. But I'll miss him. Buster, I LOVE YOU!!!

Also, before I go, an update on Daddy: He will check out of the hospital today, and though he is very drugged, the surgery/radiation is over and he will hopefully see his cancer indicators plummet over the next few months. It might seem premature, but I am already thinking that we can call this a success!

See you next week, when I hopefully will find time to regale you with stories of mirth and joy from the weekend! (Here's also hoping that I remember to take photos, as I summarily dismissed my camera last weekend - during which I partied like a rockstar, or at least like a married, young mother rockstar - as too heavy to lug around.)