Ammendment!

Last night at dinner, Charlie and I (Mom) were eating dinner, and all of a sudden Charlie started counting.  1,2,3,4.....5,6,7,8,9,10.  Hahaha - he has been counting for a bit now, but never 1-10 without stopping and he usually skips over 4. 

Charlie also loves Barney.  He discovered him probably a month ago and is always asking to 'watch Barney.'  He usually watches it while I'm getting ready in the morning - which just makes things easier, and sometimes in the late afternoon while I'm cooking or not doing too much! 

All this to say, that he started saying a portion of a song from Barney today.  'Hurry, hurry, get the water, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.'  He watches an episode about fire trucks every morning on the ipad and obviously this song has stuck!

Be careful what you say....

Charlie is talking up a storm and now starting to talk in sentences.  Its adorable.  Over the past few weeks, he has been saying things like:
Mommy, get it out
Mommy, put it down.
Mommy (or) Daddy, wake up!
Daddy sit here

The best ones are from songs we sing while reading books.  Last week as I was driving home from my parents house, Charlie said "hush a bye, don't you cry.  Go to sleep little baby" - OUT OF THE BLUE.  I didn't say anything because I was in shock, and then he said it again.  And now over the past week he's been saying it more.

He can also share lines in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - I'll say one line and he'll say the other.  And can mumble the abc song with us too.  Yesterday we were grocery shopping and he started saying "rattle boom bang.  Gonna make my noise all day."  At first I couldn't understand what he was saying, cause it is kinda hard to say, but then I realized he was talking out the lines in one of Robert Munsch's book.

Charlie has also been having fun at the hotel lately.  He LOVES the laundry room and is proud to say that he helps all the time.  He'll also tell me if a machine is 'broke.'  Lately, he's been going up to some rooms with our head housekeeper and 'help' her strip the rooms.  She'll knock on the door and he'll say "HOUSEKEEPING'.  I haven't seen it, but I"m guessing its adorable.  Once inside the room, he'll go to the mini-fridge, open it and say that he is cooking noodles.  Once they have enough laundry to send downstairs, they open the shoot (hole that all the laundry falls down), Charlie yells for Grandpa, and then sends it down.

So needless to say, at 21 months, I have a good communicator on my hands - which I am very thankful for considering baby #2 will be making his/her appearance in a few months!

Oh and one other thing - he loves the Dr. Seuss book - Cat in the Hat.  Have you read it?  61 pages long and he will sit and listen to the WHOLE thing and has been doing so for probably a month now.  And what tops the cake - he says "AGAIN" when it is over.  I have always said "no."

Thanks for reading today - total brag session, but mostly for my own memories.  These are the kinds of things I don't want to forget.

Charlie's First Golf Lesson

Zoo Fun!

Hello - we have a zoo pass and I have faithfully taken Charlie this late spring with a guest of course.  Auntie Crystal came with us the first time - we had lots of fun.  Since then Charlie can tell us which animals he gets to see at the zoo and he is really starting to understand more of what he is seeing.  Zebras tend to be his favorite - maybe because they look like horses??  There is also an awesome and brand new penguin exhibit, so even though we usually have to wait 15-25 minutes to get in, we still go every time.  Partly because our guest hasn't seen it yet and also because it is pretty cool to be so close to the penguins.  Charlie loves them!!!!

So above and below are a few pics - nothing outstanding....  I was so excited to see the kangaroo and go to the Australia exhibit (as I traveled down under in 2000 and have loved the country ever since).  Unfortunately, they closed the exhibit after 30 years.  I was really disappointed!  So, I had to take a picture with Charlie and the kangaroo - even if there weren't any real kangaroos or koalas!

Food and Kite Fun

Before I show my pictures - I wanted to make sure that I remembered that Charlie has pushed out two of his 2 year molars!  I was doing the bed time routine last week as Daddy wasn't home and sure enough, his two top molars were pushing through and his gums looked a little puffy and sore.  Poor boy - I had no idea again.  The boy is TOUGH!  He'd been a little more cranky for the past few days, but nothing to indicate teeth.  So - that's one update.  The other is I finally gave him a real hair cut!  On Father's day :)  We gave Charlie a sucker and with Daddy's little distractions, I was able to take quite a bit off - so these pictures below are pre-hair cut.  Dad kept on encouraging me to take more off!!!!

On to the pictures - we hadn't had spaghetti in quite a while, so when we did I forgot how colourful Charlie's cheeks become!!!  Hahaha - I couldn't help but break out the camera.  

This is yummy!!!!

Yah Mom, my face is messy!!!!

Grandpa and Grandma M, plus Auntie Crystal bought a kite for Charlie when they were in New Orleans, so when we were visiting G and G, we got it out.  His name is Leo the Lion.  Charlie loved it.  He loved it even more when he got to see planes flying by.  Charlie LOVES planes.  He can spot them from the car and will follow them until he can't see them anymore.  He always says, PLANES, then GAS, GAS.  We have a fisher price airport set and he always fills them up with gas, so he thinks the real planes need gas too.  Super cute.

Backward shot - couldn't get the angle for the kite too

Baby Sholter is Looking Healthy

We had our 19 week ultrasound on Friday.  Here the Dad's aren't allowed to come in until the end, so I had to make small talk with the technician without being able to see the screen.  But once we were allowed to see our little baby, we had such a better explanation than last time with Charlie.  It still is such a miracle seeing our baby for the first time.

Little boy or girl wanted to hide his/her face with their hand - so not the best profile, but pretty good.  Baby Sholter is measuring roughly 13 ounces, which puts my due date earlier than originally planned (which I thought all along), but we'll see if the Doctor changes the date.  I'm still hoping for an early (but healthy) delivery like last time!

So there you have it - our new little precious one.  Picture of me to be coming soon b/c I know people want to see my belly.  I just popped over the past week, so I look very different than what I did two weeks ago!!!

Farm Life

Charlie has finally gotten down to the farm to visit the horses and ride on the tractors.  We didn't take him last summer b/c it is a good 2 hours away and I didn't think he would understand much!  He loved riding the tractors and also the horses...even though he rarely cracked a smile the whole time.  Maybe a little too serious?

We've been down twice in the past two months and the second time he liked it even better.  He got right on the horse and barely had to be asked if he wanted to ride in the tractor with Grandpa.  These pictures are from his first time down.

He gets to sit on his own seat in the bigger tractors and he even got to see the big, big truck.  He talks about tractors and combines, and Grandpa drive.  He saw Berkeley do the unmentionable, which made me leave the barn due to my increased sense of smell - and now he'll say, Berkeley...Pee.....NASTY.  It is hilarious.

We'll be back again soon - definitely for combining season so Charlie can ride with Grandpa.  In the meantime, we'll head to the Calgary Stampede - yup, Charlie can say that too.  Did I mention he is talking all the time - and so, so clearly.

That's the REAL Berkeley!!!

See Mom - Look!

Cracking the smallest of smiles with Auntie Crystal

Checking out Berkeley in his stall

First time in the tractor.

Let's drive, Grandpa!!!

Hey, look at Mom!

Mom - look how big this wheel is - its huge and bigger than me!