My Madison

Charlotte's good buddy, Madison, started at Charlotte's early learning program with her today!  Charlotte showed Madison the ropes and apparently kept hugging her and saying, "my Madison" every so often.  Madison doesn't look so sure about all of this in the photos, but the teachers assured us that Madison had a fabulous time once Melissa (Madison's mom) and I left.

"Hey kid - stick with me.  We'll rule this school!"

"My Madison!"

Get your motor running...

... head out on the highway!

MOMMY FAIL

Funny story -- when you ask Charlotte "what does Auntie Ernie say?", she replies "MOMMY FAIL!"  While we stayed up at Auntie Ernie's house over Christmas, that phrase was so often heard that even Charlotte caught on and would announce "MOMMY FAIL" whenever Erin or I goofed up.

Today, Petey Pie was goofing off on the couch and I took a few shots of him dancing with his snack cup.  I saw him bouncing a little close to the edge, but did I stop shooting and move him back to safety?  NO.  So, not only did poor Petey fall off and smack his head hard on the floor, but I caught it on camera.  MOMMY FAIL.

OH NO, MR. BILL!!!

And now, he looks like this:

The little red mark on his eyebrow is from a few weeks ago when he cut it on the edge of the coffee table after, you guessed it, falling off of the couch.  Would it be too overprotective to buy him a crash helmet?

The Day After Christmas in Franklin

When Charlie Jo and Peter arrived in Franklin on December 26 in their Big Red Van, they discovered that Santa Claus had stopped by Cannonwood in his Big Red Sleigh!

"Look, Daddy! Santa brought me a playground!"

Stephanie and Don sent this inflatable car for Peter for Christmas. As you can see, both Daddy and Peter like playing in it. Charlie wishes there was room for her, too!

CJS

Charlie the Animal Rescuer

Charlie the Animal Rescuer wants to wish you a . . .

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year (a little early, since we're lame and are going to bed) from Corey, Niki, Charlotte, and Peter!  Hope your year was as fun-filled as ours.

Our New Year's resolutions include potty training (Charlie), getting completely rid of the bottle (Petey), and getting a babysitter once in a while so we can get out and have some adult fun (Corey/Niki).  

When cousin love goes bad...

I forgot!  We do have at least one shot of Sonia just about loving poor Peter to death.

Usually she had her arms flung right across his face, which really ticked him off.  Better too much love than too little though, right?

Cousin love

I've mentioned before that my sister, Erin, and I consider our kids to be like half-siblings, since their mothers have identical DNA.  Yeah, it's kind of a stretch, but it amuses us.  When we visited last week for Christmas, the kids were super cuddly with each other (when they weren't stealing toys and screeching about it).  Was it because of their shared DNA?  Yeah, probably not, but we caught some of these lovable antics with the camera anyway.  First, here are the girls . . .

At library craft time:

On Christmas Eve in the toy box:

On Christmas morning on my lap:

In Sonia's new easy chair:

While dancing to Christmas music:

It wasn't just the girls -- Sonia and Peter were always palling around together, too.  Sonia actually loved Peter a little TOO enthusiastically, and she had to be stopped quite often from hugging his head right off his body.  We didn't get any shots of that because we were too busy sprinting over to break up the affection.

There was lots of rolling around together on the couch:

 At Little Monkey Business:

On Uncle Jordan's air mattress:

And in big boxes.  There was a lot of time spent in boxes, of course.

Such cuties!

Growing big and strong

Petey did great at his 12-month checkup!  He measured in at 30 inches long (50th percentile) and weighed 22 pounds (30th percentile).  The doctor and the nurse were highly impressed with Petey's boisterous, happy nature and his inability to sit still for a millisecond.  I argued a little with them because I was SURE Petey must weigh at least 50 pounds, but they said that squirmy babies always feel heavier. I'm mad at myself for forgetting my camera, but at least I got some shots on my cell phone of Petey playing in the famous mirror next to the exam table.

It's Been an Interesting Fall Around Here

Since Charlie has started speaking, things have been interesting around here.

December 5, 2010:

Corey: Did you just drop an allen wrench into the subwoofer?



Charlotte: Yep. I did it.

Corey: *&^%$!!

December 4, 2010:

Charlotte: See Mommy? My tongue can be a tissue!


Niki: Sigh.

November 17, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte! Don't touch your brother!


Charlotte: It's called "pushing", Mommy.


Niki: DON'T DO THAT EITHER!!!

November 4, 2010:

CJ was walking around with an outlet cover in her mouth (with the two plastic prongs sticking out. She took it out and told me she was a vampire and laughed an evil laugh.

November 3, 2010:

Charlotte: MOMMY!!!!


Niki: Can you think of a better way to say my name?


Charlotte: NIKI!!!!

November 1, 2010:

Perhaps it was a bad idea to teach Charlie Jo to say "you're welcome" after she burps.

October 31, 2010:

When Charlotte woke up, she demanded to know where the feather was that the duck gave her. She was very insistent.

October 27, 2010:

Charlotte: (picks her nose)

NanaB: Charlotte, do you need a tissue?

Charlotte: No, I'll just put it in my belly button. (proceeds to stick booger in her belly button)

NanaB: (horrified silence)

September 27, 2010:

Charlotte just provided an excellent dramatic reenactment of the time a bug "chewed" on her. I hope she will repeat the performance when Daddy comes home.

September 25, 2010:

My favorite Charlotte quote of the night: "Good golly tamale!" (over and over and over and over and over and over...)

September 23, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte, why did you throw Cookie Monster off the balcony?

Charlotte: It's my job.

September 16, 2010:

FYI - Charlotte has announced she is going to grow up to be a giraffe.

August 28, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte, are noodles your best friend?"

Charlotte: No, noodles don't have a face like me.

Niki: You need a face to have friends?

Charlotte: (nods solemnly)

August 25, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte, what made you spit the apple out?

Charlotte: My mouth. My mouth do it.

Niki: SIGH

Just what Charlotte needs -- a pair of high heels

I am not sure when the last time I wore heels was, or if Charlotte even saw me in them.  As soon as I came downstairs in my heels tonight before going to a Christmas party, Charlie Jo asked me to take them off so she could wear them.  She then told me, "I can show you how to wear these!"  Who is this child and where did she come from?

And yes, I would like a tutorial on how to wear them since I haven't done it since before Charlotte was born and I suspect I have lost the knack of ignoring foot pain for the sake of fashion.  Clearly, I'm going to need to get a pair of purple socks to wear with them.

Reason #498 why I love Charlotte's Early Learning Program

They send her home with Christmas gifts for the parents like this tile adorned with Santa made by Charlotte's own little hand: