Leland's Third!

Three balloons equals it's been three years today since Leland was born!

We miss you Leland and we love you! Hope you're calling in some favors for us up there! :)

12 Months

Another one of the many, many hazzards of having your birthday in the middle of the holidays is not getting your proper birthday tribute on time. Shame shame! I know Charlie, nor my faithful faithful readers are all that concerned. But, like I've said before, I don't journal, so....

One year! One year and it feels like one week and 10 years all at the same time. I think pretty much every parent looks back over their pictures at this point and wonders, 'how did this tiny baby get from looking like this...'

'To looking so big, like this..."Fortunately, my mom asked me to take this series of pictures for her, since she's on a mission far away so she could see his growth, and so now I can see how it all happened. (I took an 8 month picture, but alas, can't find it anywhere, it must have been deleted inadvertently. I'm so sad, cuz now that it's all done, I think it's kinda cool. I sorta wish I'd spent more time on the pics, and shot them all exactly the same and stuff. But you can't imagine when you're staring at your kid all day that you'll ever have a hard time remembering them how they are!)

Seriously? 12 Months!

• Waves hi! He learned this about 10 months or so and absolutely LOVED it. As soon as he figured it out and figured out how much of a reaction he could get from total strangers he was just obsessed with waving. He had the one handed version and the two handed version, and it was such a crack up. He would wave at EVERYONE when we were at the store or anywhere. He was always so pleased with himself when they waved back.
• Started saying 'Hi'. It was a "Hi" wave combo for awhile. Lately he has dropped the wave a lot, but he says "Hi" a lot to people. When he sees grandma on Skype, "Hi". When he sees you in the morning, "Hi". He doesn't understand "Bye" however, he just wants to do "Hi" again, especially if people are waving.

• Learned at thanksgiving that he looooooves pizza. Ate almost a whole slice himself. Also loves Chili, fruit, cottage cheese, and anything sweet!
  
• Sometimes we call him our German baby, because Charlie has this fluent babble that has all these really harsh consonants in it, that sounds like he's going off in German. "Ideekanaofkpt!"
• Sleeps through the night again, phew! Charlie had been a pretty darn good sleeper, all things considered right from the very beginning. However, at about 9 mths he went through a phase where he woke up, ALL THE TIME... By about 11 months he was waking up 6+ times a night at points. Finally we worked out something to help him sleep (or maybe the phase just passed, haha, who knows?). Now he's back to 11-12 hour nights, and typically doesn't wake up. Niiice.
• Got his 6th tooth just a week or so before his first birthday!

• Became my picky little eater, BOO! Hoping this one's a phase.
  
• Learned to walk! After about 11 months we were interested to see if he would walk, so we'd put him between us and try to get him to take steps, he'd take about one. Only as long as it took to get to his hands and knees to crawl away from us and whatever nonsense we were up to. So we figured he was really uninterested. But about two weeks before his first birthday he took a few steps, about a week later he was very wabbley walking, and by his first birthday he was doing pretty well and was walking almost all the time!

• Charlie is king of the courtesy laugh. If other people are laughing he'll join in as if he's in on the joke. Including if people are laughing on TV, or if mom and dad are laughing AT the TV.
• Growls like a monster.
• Loves to play "monster chase", he crawls as fast as he can, but just falls on his face laughing after a few feet.
• When you ask Charlie where his nose is, he will grab YOUR finger and use it to point to his nose. Something's not totally computing there. Haha.
• Loves to sing songs. Well he likes you to sing to him. It will keep him calm in the car or during a diaper change if you'll sing him some of his favorite songs.
• Has the funniest dance moves. Looks like a little traditional indian war dance.
• Loves to rock on his rocker. Crazy style.
• Likes to empty cupboards and really wants to play with the plunger.
  

WE LOVE YOU CHARLIE! BEST YEAR EVER, HANDS DOWN!!!

You're Only 1 Once.

Yeah, December 28th is a lousy day for a party. But the Saturday before was Christmas, and the Saturday after was New Years. So we decided there was going to be no good day to have Charlie's first birthday party, so we would just have it on his actual birthday. We invited a couple close friends and family. Even so you know me, I like to throw a party, cheesy themes and everything. I couldn't rein myself in too much, even though we all know Charlie could care less at this point.

We had two cakes. One miniature one that Charlie could destroy in the traditional 'eat cake with your hands' first birthday tradition. (Ignore the horrible icing job, maybe because it was cut out and not a mold, this thing was impossible to crumb coat, even entirely frozen.)

And one that the rest of us could eat without getting the drooley, mangled remains from whatever Charlie left over.

Lots of blue for my boy. Blue candy, blue plates, etc.

The Birthday Boy!

Didn't take any pictures but we all made our own french bread pizzas, because Charlie looooves pizza. He's become a really picky eater, but he will go to town on a pizza he can now eat more than a slice himself.

Singing Happy Birthday!


How many pictures can you possibly look at of a kid eating birthday cake? Well you're about to find out. I'll spare you the video, because it's actually about 7 minutes. Charlie started out strainning to get to the cake when we were singing and not giving it to him. But after the candle came out and John handed it over he thought we were tricking him or something. He kept looking at the cake, then looking at us, and then looking at the cake. He put his hand up to it, then pulled it away again like, 'no I'll get in trouble'. Finally he started tasting the frosting, but he actually was quite dainty about if for awhile, just enjoying a little frosting on his hand. John helped him get into it a little by opening it up, and then sticking his hand in. By about the 6th minute of the video he's just really getting into it!

Now we're getting it!

Had to show you the cool layers in this cake. I got the idea from a rainbow cake which maybe I'll make some day, but thought, 4 shades of blue, that could be cool!

The layers aren't really even whatsoever though because I didn't use the cooling strips on the pan, I don't have any here, and wasn't going to go to Logan to dig through at my moms to find mine which are still residing there!

Surprisingly his face didn't look as bad as it probably could have, but his hands were coated, and actually his jeans were the worst part. He kept putting his hands down on them, probably even wiping his cakey, icingy hands on them, and when we pulled him out here we just had to take the pants off. But hey what kind of a party would it be if you still had your pants on by the end. (I kid, I kid.)

The wreckage. See what I mean? Would you wanna eat that now?

What'd I get, what'd I get!

An airplane!?!!!

He started out just sitting on it, but he has this figured out a little too well now. So well that the other day he got rocking so hard he darn near went OVER the front. Not just him, he almost rocked the whole plane over the front. It also has little music that plays in the buttons, and he loves the songs, and wants them played over and over and over again.

Overall, a success. Thanks to everyone who came, and Charlie of course, for being one and cute!

Oh Christmas Day in the Moooooorrrrning!

Charlie's first Christmas, outside the womb, is over. And no he didn't care about it yet, he didn't even really care about ripping or playing in the wrapping paper, but I'm sure he'll love that part next year! He didn't care, but as mom I think I'm required to. :) So here we go:

It is Heywood family tradition that you must line up in the hall (they used this hall their whole lives in fact!) and have your picture taken before you go in to see what you got. Emily and Andrew even had to get into the line up, although that was more coincidental than anything.

Our little family, all lined up and ready to go!

Christmas morning magic right here, haha.
Ironically, Charlie did end up waking up an hour earlier than normal, but it was probably just his restless dad who wanted to get in and see what he got, that somehow floated in to his room and woke him. At least we got to sleep till just after seven. But I would have preferred the usual eight. It's not that I'm a bah-humbug, I just reeeaaallly like to sleep!

Charlie's present from Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Andrew.

Aunt Emily is suuuuper excited about this package.
I'm guessing it's a million dollars.

Aunt Emily put a bow on Charlie's head and we stuck him under the tree. She told us that he was the best gift we got this year... even though technically it was last year....

Wearing his pirate eye patch. Arrr!

"Ooo, what's this mom? And can I take it somewhere and hide it from you?"

The older "kids" with the toys I bought them. Aunt Em is a pirate, Uncle Andrew is in the FBI, and John is a fireman. These toys were a hit, but they were being used for about the 5th minute when John tried to cut off Andrew's legs with his toy axe and it broke. Dollar store quality is just not what it used to be. I remember back in the day when you could EASILY dismember someone with those things...

White eating breakfast Emily pierced Charlie's ear and Andrew gave him a gun to play with.... so they pretty much win for worst Aunt and Uncle ever. I kid, I kid...

And at last we're just happily playing with our new toys in the wreckage.
(I promise the kid had clothes on at one point.
I'm starting to have a little ragamuffin on my
hands, he's always running around and
caught on film in a dirty onesie!)

Christmas Eve

In the Haslem house we do the big meal Christmas Eve, and then just relax more or less Christmas day. So with the parents away, I offered to host this year. Last year no one had the energy. So we came back with a vengeance this year.

And I apologize in advance for the pictures. When you're the one cooking and serving there really isn't time to take good pictures with a nice camera.... someone just gets handed the point and shoot. And yes, it bugs me, and maybe that makes me a picture snob, haha, but it does.

(It does crack me up that Tate is lurking in this picture. Haha.)