My little monkey

Sooo....there were quite a few little monkeys I saw yesterday as we went Trick or Treating - but Charlie was the cutest ;)  I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween.....maybe I don't like the scary costumes and the haunted houses, or maybe I just love the other holidays more!  As children, we always went to a festival in our small town (which we loved) and I lived on a farm, so we never had trick or treaters, nor did I go trick or treating.

Taking Charlie was a first - he was a little small, but he was walking (for the first two homes) and having fun.  My arm was sore by the end from carrying him most of the time.  But - we had a great time!!!!  Our neighborhood goes big for this holiday, so it was fun to see everyone out and having fun.

Sitting next to our happy pumpkin

Waving at a car driving by and standing up to see it drive away (tried to capture him quickly while telling doug to stop him from falling!!!)

Walking like a little monkey!

Love the tail!

Playing at the mailbox - which is right beside our house.  He LOVES touching it!

Treats

Charlie has been a very good eater once I realized that he didn't really want to eat mushy food - he wanted to chew and feed himself!!!  Because he is usually willing to eat whatever we give him, I have been more relaxed than I thought I would be when giving him sweets.  He starts with eating what I want him to eat - and I never show him what he might get b/c he is way too smart and won't eat what I give him if he sees something better!

So once he is done eating his main meal, I usually finish with something sweet.  It is often fruit, raisins, etc., and sometimes it is dessert - rice crispy squares, cookie, etc.  Well, we were at my parent's house last week and my mom got out a pumpkin pie - YUM.  Once she was done whipping the cream, she gave Charlie a beater.  He didn't really know what to do with it and only kept it for a minute or two, but Doug took a picture with him iphone (4 not 4S - which obviously doesn't take as good of pictures!), and I thought it was really funny!

 

Even though he didn't even suck on it, he has the look of "don't touch my beater - its mine!"  And if you look really close, you'll see evidence of dinner on his cheeks!

Oh - and in case you were wondering, he weighs 22 pounds :)  I thought he may weigh more than that, but I think since he is walking now, he is burning more calories.  From 7 months to now, he has really thinned out and not grown too much.  We've only just put him in 12 month jeans and shirts.....he had been wearing the same clothes all spring and summer and just into the fall.  So nice to get some good wear out of his clothes.  The first six months he went through newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and was wearing 9-12 month clothes.

And yes, he still has some cute pudge around his legs, fingers/arms, and cheeks.  He may be thinner, but he definitely still has some cute baby chub!

Proof is in the pictures!!!

Here are some pictures we took over the Thanksgiving weekend.  I'm glad we took them when we did, b/c shortly after both Charlie and I were sick.  Charlie's nose was a constant faucet for a week :(  First cold though, so I definitely can't complain!!!!!

He loves walking.  Now that he is getting more confident, I rarely see him crawl.  He uses furniture and walls to get up and has been seen getting up without any help, but I think that is still to come.  I love Charlie's smiles!  Obviously, walking = freedom!!!!

Practicing with Daddy in the grass

Gaining confidence ;)

Driveway pictures were a guarantee for Charlie walking

And he falls - but did get up again!

Birthday pictures continued....

Ok - I have to say that I bought a cute little onzie that said - My first birthday - but it was long sleeved and the temperature was 30 degrees.  So - no birthday shirt, but I loved this outfit!

"How big are you??"  "I"M SOOOOO BIG!!!!!"

Cruisin....

Oh Momma - do I have to wear this silly hat?

I guess its not that bad!

Its falling off!

I'm going to take it off!

Give me a kiss Auntie!

Hey everybody - I'm one!

Who wants CAKE???  I DO!!!!!!

Clearly not a messy eater - thanks to Momma!

Digging in a little

Walking!!!

Hey everyone - we now have a walker on our hands!!!!  He has been cruising around furniture for quite some time, and he has been taking 3 or 4 steps between furniture, etc for the past couple weeks, but we now have an official walker!  It is the cutest thing ever.  He was brave enough on Friday to walk some good distances and since then he has started walking everywhere. 

I've been looking forward to him walking so that when we are out and about, I don't have to keep him in the stroller the entire time.  Its a 50 minute drive to anywhere in the city, plus walking around the mall in a stroller would get a little boring for a toddler - so having the ability to walk will hopefully bring a little more play time!

One last update - we all have unfortunately come down with colds.  This is Charlie's first cold - so I'm pretty glad that we lasted just over a year without a cold.  He has had a few runny noses which I always thought was the start of a cold, but that just led to teething.  Its not fun being sick and having to look after a sick one either......  Oh well, this is just the first of many!!!!!!

1 year old!

Charlie turned 1 year old this past week and we had a party on Saturday celebrating his life with the nicest weather possible!!!!  31 degrees outside :)  But onto Charlie.  He celebrated in style with balloons, bubbles, yummy food, and a great looking and very yummy tasting birthday cake (made courtesy of his Auntie Pookie).  He tried to open his presents (well, he played with the paper and boxes) and delicately picked at his cake until he realized that Momma wasn't going to stop him from digging in!

We had a great day!  Doug and I can't believe he is already one!  He's turned into such a big boy right in front of our eyes!!!!  He LOVES to listen to books, and he is starting to understand things :)  He sticks out his tongue during the part of the book that talks about tongues, and he also blows air on a different page.  He crawls through his new birthday tunnel and loves to climb up and down the stairs.  He's sooo close to walking - just a little bit longer.  He is also a great eater - he chows down on almost anything we give him.  And he eats LOTS - I don't want to know what he'll be eating in a few years!

This year absolutely flew past, but we have enjoyed all of the 365 days that we have shared with Charlie.  He is such a joy and we love him sooooo much! 

News Flash

Charlie has another milestone he would like to share......... Four and a half months after pushing through 8 teeth in three months, we finally have another tooth and another one not far behind.  That's right - Momma spotted it during cuddle time - a molar has poked its way through and the pointy tooth that probably should have come before it, is starting to make an appearance.

No big deal, right???  Another tooth - nothing new for Charlie.  Well - lets just say, we didn't know it was coming :)  He's been drooling consistently for 2 months again, so that is nothing new.  He is my teething angel - no fussing or whining :)  Sorry to all moms I know that are up all night and dealing with crankiness - maybe the next child will be pay back!

Charlie is a tough boy - but that's for another post!!!!