It's My Party, and I'll Cry If I Want to...

Loser: Chocolate Ice Cream. Charles thought it was okay, of course, but it was nothing compared to...

Winner: Wild Mountain Huckleberry Ice Cream (vanilla and berry, yum!), which was my ice cream, and Charles ate the whole cone. Each time I would swoop in for a lick, he would turn the cone away from me. I gave him my cone because he summarily dismissed his chocolate cone by tossing it on the floor. I long ago realized that I will likely never again have a full meal or full dessert all to myself.

It's for a good cause, though... Charles' smile is worth depriving my hips of more fat.

Winner: Hand Puppets from Costco. They're adorable. Charles especially loves the penguin.

Winner: Toy truck. "Hi, I'm Chuck. I'm a DUMP TRUCK."

Loser: Cake. Charles was not impressed by said delicacy.

Loser: Party with lots of people. Whether it was the stimulation, the noise, the coughing through sleep the night before, or the tooth we are pretty sure is coming in (or has it disappeared already? I call it jerk tooth.), Charles spent a lot of his party crying, a little bit sleeping, and some of it smiling. I hope next year is better.

Thank you for all the wonderful gifts. We have had lots of fun since the party playing and reading (in French!) and playing some more.

They Say It's Your Birthday...

Charles' birthday started out right, with a friend over to visit first thing in the morning (Ethan's dad plays ball with Tony on Tuesday and Friday mornings). The boys had fun, whilst I got to understand, if only for an hour, just how crazy life would be with twins:

Also this morning, Charles has had his first bit of birthday cupcake at the photography studio; those photos are bound to be amazing. When Charles was finally allowed to dive into the cupcake after it had served its purpose as a photography prop, he was delighted to find that it tasted good, contrary to most things he shoves two-fisted into his mouth (see: everything else he can get his grubby hands on). He first grabbed the "1" candle and dipped it in the frosting repeatedly. I took it away when he started gnawing on the wax ("gee, if the coating tastes so good, what does the middle taste like?") and that's when he burst into tears. Kid can throw a tantrum. The photographer was clicking the whole time, so I can't wait to see those pictures.

We have already had a big day, and the grandparents aren't even here yet! My folks roll into town tonight, and Tony's will get here tomorrow. This evening we plan on dinner and then a trip to the local ice cream parlor for Charles' first cone. Chocolate or vanilla, I wonder? I kinda think he would prefer a berry of some sort, so we'll see. Tomorrow is the official party with cake galore and friends all over the place. Photos to follow, of course. On Wednesday, we'll have the doctor visit, complete with weigh-in and immunizations. Wheee!

It's hard to believe it has been a year (allow me to be cliche for a bit). I was telling my friend DeAnna (Ethan's mom) that Charles' turning one feels like I am truly leaving my pregnancy behind. After all, up until 9:46 tonight, I will be able to say "one year ago, when I was X months pregnant..." But no more. In fact, at this time (3:10) last year, I was probably at the bank, having been resoundingly sent home by my coworkers for having swollen feet and a very flushed face. I stopped by the bank to deposit a check and heard horror stories about labor and delivery from two friends who worked there. I had probably been having contractions all day, but I only felt a few, about an hour or more apart, and they didn't hurt much - they just felt like menstrual cramps which, pleasedonthateme, I don't really get very often. It wasn't until I went home and put up my feet for awhile that I had noticeable contractions, and then those didn't even hurt until about 8 pm. Well, you know the rest of the story, my water broke at 8:45, we went to the hospital, they couldn't find a vein for an IV even, I was complete and yelling at the nurses that I had to push, I pushed for less than ten minutes, and out popped our adorable son.

I suppose every parent loves watching their child's personality develop. It is especially apparent that Charles is outgoing and has a happy temperament when he is around other children. He's not introspective and he is LOUD. He wants to move and be a part of things. He is not inquisitive in a passive way - while many of his baby/toddler friends study things, Charles wants to grab things and see what they do. I have no doubt that he will make himself the center of attention his whole life, and Tony and I will have our work cut out for us keeping up with him.

Happy birthday, Charles! Here's to many, many, many more...

Zombies, So Hot Right Now

So, what do a couple of zombies and a sexy sailor do on a Friday night? Party so hard the power goes out, that's what.

On Friday, we put our little monster to bed, gave the babysitter some ice cream and a PG-13 movie (which I'm not sure was okay, since she's only 14 and a real nice girl and her dad's a sheriff and her mom is in charge of the neighborhood watch program, but whatever, I think maybe I was meant to corrupt the youth. It's my calling, you know?) and headed out to the Skagit Casino, where we were the last three people to get into a packed costume party. The band was a pretty decent 80s cover band, and there were VERY FEW store-bought costumes in sight. Tony and I were zombies. Leland had such a good time he even danced with us. The winner of the costume contest dressed himself as one of those quarter-slot claw games where you maneuver a claw in the glass cage down to grab a toy so you can "win" it after spending at least four times the value of the toy. He had probably 70 stuffed animals stuck to him, a claw on top of his head, and a full joystick setup. My friend Sheran even asked him if she could touch his joystick. Which was strategically placed, if you catch my drift. The highlight of my night was having a seven-foot-tall transvestite want to take a photo with me.

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Tony and Charles like to play this game in which they lean waaaay over to the side of the table. Then, they both try to disappear under the table, except Charles can't get under his tray, so he just closes his eyes and then Voila! Gone!

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The following photos were taken to show how much fun we had carving pumpkins, but I think they do a better job of illustrating how much Charles likes to climb things. Anything he can climb, really. Including me.

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This is a cake I baked for our church's Halloween party cake walk:

Pretty sweet, eh?

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Charles took the dog for a walk:

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Charles and I were farmers for Halloween:

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I think Charles likes Halloween candy. *No, we did not let him actually eat any. Just play in the bag*

That's all for now, folks! Countdown to Charles birthday: 5 days!!! Big gifts he doesn't know about yet: getting his car seat turned around and an ice cream party with Mom, Dad, and whatever grandparents have blown into town by then. The big party with cake comes Saturday!

Carole: This One's for You

After several failed attempts to feed Charles some cheese chunks, and several dissected grilled cheese sandwiches, I finally deduced that the kid prefers melted cheese. So guess what I did?

Oh no, you didn't!

Yes, yes I did. I melted some cheese on a plate and fed it to him with his lunch. He loved it. He didn't even share with Buster. I guess it's a guy thing...

Vampire/Zombie? Camera 1/Camera 2? Plus Some Random...

Vampires... Zombies... so hot right now.

Which is good, because Charles seems to alternate between personification of one of the other. He bites, and it hurts. But we've mostly broken him of that. He walks like the undead, arms out, with a wobbly gait that doesn't look all that stable (though the girls at daycare keep saying he is one of the most stable early-walkers they've seen). He also moves quickly, much like vampires supposedly do. Why, in a flash! he is down the hall and hanging on the gate trying to get down the stairs (thank goodness for the gates). He comes at you with mouth open, trying his level best to get some body part of yours in his mouth. So, is he one of the undead? Only time will tell. Personally, I am hoping he settles on zombie, as modern vampires are a bit too effeminate for my tastes. How did Vampires go from Vlad the Impaler to Twilight?

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Charles tried peanut butter for the first time this week... I think he likes it:

"Yum! PBJ!"

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He spends much of his time walking and crawling between various items of interest on the floor, including two music tables, a wooden spoon, a tambourine, a metal bowl, and the dog. Buster tolerates Charles crawling all over him. Probably because Charles lets Buster eat out of his hand at the dinner table. When we're not looking. They both know better, but Charles thinks is the best game ever.
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My mom is one clever lady. Evidence: she sent up a pie with my dad, but included a note that reads: "Love is not enough. Add sugar."

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I heard uproarious laughter coming from the bathtub last night, so I snuck over with the camera and captured it... Charles was laughing like this, harder even, for a solid three minutes. I think Tony's arms got tired of flapping the towel.

And Then This Happened...

Yeah, so now he's a walker. No more than a few steps at a time, but he's making progress every time he does it.

Also, we went to the pumpkin patch for the Festival of Family Farms and had fun. Well, Tony and I had fun. Charles was tired and couldn't figure out what the hubbub was all about. I've helpfully narrated the following photos for your edification.

"Yay! Where are we?"
"Ooof. You guys made me walk a loooong way from the car. I'm tired."

"Ooh! Camera!"

"What is this thing?"

"Geez, pumpkins, big orange gourds, I get it already. Can we go home and nap now?"

"I don't like this wagon thing one bit. Take me out."

"These are scary. They're too big and they look old and they're the wrong color."

"Don't put me down, mama!"

"Seriously, can we go home now? I think I hear Buster whining in the car."

So then we went home and Charles and I both had a nap and Tony did Leland's taxes and then we had dinner and put up Halloween lights and practiced walking and then went to bed. The end.

"Wheee! That was fun! Let's do it again..."

Hello October!

Some belated Whitman photos:

Charles and Stephanie hanging out. I think he likes her!

Playing on Ankeny

Well, well, what have you been up to? 'Round here, we're busy ushering in Autumn in all her glory. My, how I love the changing of the seasons. As George Santayana said, "To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” So true, and it fits with how I feel about most things: no favorite food, movie, music, time of day, or time of year here. I love them all!

Tony with Baby Jack (he looks like Claire, doesn't he?)

I'm feeling a bit reflective today, in part because I feel like politicians and movie stars and everyone else Americans look up to these days are being huge buttholes. People in DC and Olympia seem more money-hungry and power-nabbing than ever, and each time I hear a politician, even local ones, speak, it's almost like you can feel the slime in the air. I think it's at least partly true that if you actually WANT a political position, you shouldn't be allowed to have one.

Also, this whole Roman Polanski thing? Creeps me out and pisses me off. I CANNOT BELIEVE that some people think that he shouldn't have to answer for his actions, that what he did wasn't even wrong, just because he is an "artist." Rape is rape, Whoopi, get it straight. A blogger I admire said it best in this post. Disgusting. Even more disgusting that celebrities get to be the "authorities" on everything from rape to the economy to the climate. Since when do millions of dollars and a succesful acting career make you a judge/economist/scientist?

Gah, enough of the heaviness. Did you notice how I tried to tone it down by distracting you with photos? Crafty, eh? I haven't been getting enough sleep lately (what else is new), though it appears that Charles' new teeth have receded for the time being. I could see them through the gums for a couple of days and then - poof! - gone. Hooray. We'll just have to go through all that screaming all over again.

What, don't you vacuum your children?

Anyhow, the sleep thing is the normal nonsense. He goes down without a fight every night at about 8 pm. Then, sometime later, say midnight or one am, he wakes up screaming. Tony goes in after 5 or 10 or even 15 minutes of wailing to let him know he is not alone, gets him laying down again, and Charles returns to sleep. Then, he wakes at 4 or 5, sopping wet and ready for food, goes immediately back to sleep after changing and nursing, and is up by 6 am, ready to take on the world. I don't usually get to bed before 11. This timeline sucks.

Also, eleven months. He's eleven months old. Yeesh.

That's all for now, stayed tuned for something more interesting next time, I swear.