Christmas with the Lanes!

On the way down to Atlanta we spent two days with Grandpa and Granny Lane in Raleigh then on the way back we stopped there again to celebrate Christmas!  We had a nice gift exchange with them and Uncle Todd and Aunt Allison.

Grandpa, Charlie and Snoopy

Granny and Charlie

Allison and Charlie opening gifts

Uncle Todd

Charlie is sad that present-time is over

Humpty Dumpty with Dad

Christmas in Atlanta

Charlie spent his first Christmas in Atlanta with Grandma and Grandpa Grover, the Tweedys and his great-grandma "GiGi" from Omaha.  We had a great time playing with Sam and Jake, eating, shopping, eating, wrapping presents, eating, playing cards and eating.  Santa was good to Charlie because he has been such a good boy this year!  We now have more than enough toys to keep him busy for months to come. Below are some cute shots from our time there.

On the way back from Atlanta we celebrated with the Lanes. Those picture are still on my camera but will be coming soon too!

Having fun in the walker with some oh-so-entertaining links

The Tweedys brought a Bumbo for us to take home!

Very interested in "The Night Before Christmas"

Chillin' on the kitchen counter

Fun with Gigi

Jake and Sam

Christmas excitement

Charlie and his monkey

"Grandma, why am I wearing this silly hat and why are all these boxes all over the living room"

Checking things out

Marley was a good girl too

Helping Dad open some presents

Snoozing in his favorite spot after a busy Christmas morning

Charlie and Big Sam

Showing each other their toe-touching skills

Trying out the new portable high chair

Fun with Aunt Katie

Fun with Grandpa

Watching the Carolina game with Dad

The obligatory family Christmas shot

The Tweedys and Lanes

Our family shot.  Too bad Marl felt the need to escape :(

Ahh, that is better :)

Visit to Santa

Who takes their kid to see Santa on Christmas Eve?  We do!  Strangely enough, hundreds of other parents in Atlanta do too unfortunately... you'd think bigger kids might question the logistics of Santa making his rounds on Christmas Eve and still stopping at the mall but oh well.  We considered taking Charlie back in Richmond weeks ago but figured that Santa's lap would be a breeding ground for germs so it wasn't a good idea.  After getting more into the Christmas spirit though we decided that it was a rite of passage that he should do even if this year he had no clue what was going on.  So we headed over to North Point mall on the 23rd only to find that Santa neded to take a one hour break just as it was our turn.  Knowing better how it worked, we then planned better so that we could see him today.  After an hour or so in line, we finally got to see the big guy.  He was a very "good" Santa, very authenic and sweet.  Charlie didn't crack a smile for him but he made my favorite "what is going on" face so I think it is sweet and appropriate for his first time :)

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

As referenced in the post below, I had a grand plan for our Christmas card photo shoot.  It involved Charlie as Santa and Marley as his little reindeer (you would not beleive how hard it is to find dog antlers).  I was hoping to create a sleigh ride but those shots didn't really work out so instead we just have some random shots of them in their outfits.  Below are some cute outakes.

Not so sure about this.

"Marl, you look so lovely"

Changing positions

Are we done yet?

The best one of the two of them.

"Thanks for the help Dad"

Touching His Toes

So Charlie found his toes a few days ago and has now every moment on his back is spent with his rear end in the air pulling his feet up to his hands.  Below are some cute pictures of him doing his new trick...

... and even while sleeping :)

Day of Firsts

Charlie has been such a great sleeper (10-11 hours now for months) that I've been hesitant to change anything to do with his bedtime routine for fear of losing our luxury of full night's sleep.  One such thing has been the swaddle wrap that he has worn from the very beginning.  Lately they had been getting pretty tight and he seemed less and less happy to be all wrapped up at night so I decided it was time to go.  We waited until a weekend night with nothing else going on in case it didn't go well but to our delight he slept 12 hours for the first time!  When we went to check on him in the morning though he had turned himself completely around in his crib and seemed incredibly proud about it as you can see in the picture below.  Crossing our fingers tonight goes as well...

Since we were trying new things, we figured it was time to break out Charlie's stationary-jumper-thing and the door-hanging-jumper-thing (do these things have real names?).  He holds his head very steady and likes to bear weight on his legs so thought it was probably time.  Being his little skinny self though, he didn't quite fill out the seats for either but with a blanket helping to prop him up he seemed content to check out the new toys.  He is too short still for the stationary thing so we'll leave that in storage for now but seemed to fit fine in the door hanging one.  He didn't quite get the hang of jumping but we have plenty of time to practice.

We ended the day by decorating Charlie's first Christmas tree.  We've had the tree up now for a week and he has been really interested in the lights so enjoyed hanging out in the front room while we listened and danced to James' famous Christmas music mix.  Little does he know what excitement is headed his way later in the week when Marley's "outfit" arrives for our Christmas card photo shoot... stay tuned ;)