I worked in the child development field, but witnessing Charlie go through the first stages of life continues to leave me in awe. We are entering a few new stages. Some that Mike and I are trying to find our footing to get through. And some that we just sit back, observe and enjoy. The stage we least enjoy, but still find humor in, is the one where Charlie automatically turns on the waterworks, throwing his arms and head around (like a well trained theatre actor) when he doesn't get his way. Fortunately, this stage is developing right alongside of one of our favorite stages: the communication stage. Charlie has, in my humble opinion, incredible language comprehension and fantastic verbal skills. So when he is having a dramatic scene, we can have a mini dialogue with him about it. This doesn't have a 100% success rate in squelching the scene, but we think it shortens the duration....we'll take it!
It is endlessly interesting to watch Charlie's communication skills build. It seemed to happen over the course of one week that he went from babbling and pointing to labeling and putting together 2 or 3 word sentences. And sometimes he can string together more when the words are part of a song (ie. "no monkeys jumping on bed.").
The stage we find most endearing deals with his developing pretend play skills.
He loves all of his little animals, friends and trains.
He can be seen carrying around at least one of these special companions at any given time in the day. And when he awakens, he asks for them all immediately.
A day in the life of Charlie includes playing with his friends by making them meals, scooping them gelato, and sharing post-nap chats.
He loves singing and dancing!
He enjoys a good cozy moment.
He loves to play with toys, as well as dump them out.
He LOVES to read!
He often looks at pictures throughout the house and names everyone in them.
Charlie loves to eat! He always has.
Right now our biggest struggle is getting him to pace his bites and not over stuff his mouth.
Charlie has a great sense of humor. He likes to perform magic tricks (like his daddy) by pulling this sleeve over his hand and saying, "Uh oh! Hand is?" When he has us very concerned and looking for his hand, he pushes it out of his sleeve and says, "Tada!" We all laugh, and he does it 20 more times (he does overkill like his daddy, too).
He loves pretending to talk on the phone, but put him on an actual phone with a live person and he clams up. This particular phone is his direct link to Nonna. He calls her often.
We end our evenings with prayers. I have to say that one of the sweetest moments for me is watching him fold those little hands so tightly.
We know we are blessed to have Charlie in our lives. He livens things up. He amazes us. He tests us. He exhausts us (literally....he's not a great sleeper). He makes us better people by showing us what is truly important.
He reminds us to slow down and enjoy every moment. After all, he went from baby
