Charlie the Photographer

It has been 2 weeks since our last posting! Time is flying! We've been having lots of fun now that the weather is nice, but the bugs are not too bad. It makes me remember how much I can't stand cold weather. My favorite part of good weather is using the BBQ as often as possible. And Charlie's favorite activity seems to be taking pictures. He aims the camera, but by the time he takes the picture he usually only captures the bottom half of his target. Here are some of his masterpieces....thank goodness for digital cameras!

Last weekend we went to Philly to see my mom for mother's day. Charlie loved seeing grandma and as always he loved her toys. It's sad that she has better toys than we have here. Here he is mowing the lawn and waiting at the train station. He waited patiently to see the trains go by.

And speaking of trains we also went to National Train day which was more like National Train Wreck for me. WAY too many people. The only enjoyable part was an electric train display at which Charlie kept screaming "The caboose that loose" (he forgets the full title: The Caboose that got loose"). In fact 'the caboose that loose' is one of signature sayings these days.

This weekend we went to farm day to see animals, aunt Mary and play with Isabel. Here he is feeding chickens and playing at Isabel's house. I'm not a big fan of moving outside of a city, but having spent the evening at a barn with hills as far as you can see I am about ready to move. It was unbelievable.

Charlie still hasn't taken to baby #2 in the belly and gets mad when I bring him up. For his part, Baby #2 seems to be asserting himself by breakdancing 24 hours a day. I don't remember Charlie moving around this much. Here is BB2 at 27 weeks:

In terms of the house we re-seeded our grass patch in the back in hopes that we'll have something usable for summer. And we finally got a table for the porch so we enjoyed our first real outdoor meal

Trucks, Trucks and More Trucks

It turns out the lost camera was my fault! Fortunately Carlos found it and so I don't have to rely on my blackberry...until the next time I lose or break it.

Charlie is talking much more these days- repeating words and sentences. My favorite is that he started saying "I love you." He is also working hard on his ABCs. It's so much fun to listen to him. Sometimes I think I can rationalize with him now that he can say more, but that really isn't the case. In fact he is starting to have temper tantrums. If he doesn't get something he wants he goes boneless and flops on the ground crying. I usually let him be and it seems to pass in a couple of minutes, but I don't think that is a good sign given that he isn't even two yet!

This weekend we met up with some of his buddies at the "Truck Touch" where trucks, buses, police cars -basically everything that little boys seem obsessed with - were open to toddler fondling. It was hysterical. Unfortunately, despite his obsession Charlie got nervous when I put him in the driver seat of the trucks. He did however like riding on a toy train train and listening to the music.

He also had fun hanging out with Ellie who was in town from Boston. Here they are enjoying appetizers on the deck. Charlie really likes hummus and is starting to take to guacamole too. He needs to work on his manners though as he usually dips the same chip into the hummus 5 times.

And a quiet moment alone...

Sunday we went to see the drum circle in Meridian Park. Charlie and I had fun, but there were too many hippies for Carlos. Here he is enjoying the beat with Ehrin.

And baby #2 is really coming - here I am at 25 weeks