Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend we spent a nice Saturday in Richmond then traveled to Cary on Sunday for the rest of the weekend.  James ran a 5K on Saturday and then headed out East to play a gig with his old band Kind Edward and the B.D.'s.  On Saturday in Cary, the Lanes made a nice Memorial Day feast.  Great Grandma, Todd and Allison were all there and Allison brought her new puppy Louie.  Charlie and Louie LOVED each other.  Charlie seemed a little unsure at first but very quickly mashed his hands into Louie's soft fur and even picked him up.  Of course I took a ton of pictures of them playing :)

A baby and a puppy... nothing is cuter so I'll post a few more :)

"Mom, are you seeing this thing?"

"He is nibbling on my fingers!"

"Can I get on of these?!?"

Playing with Grandpa Lane (note his "Team Grandpa" shirt)

"Walking" with Allison

More tongue-sticking-out with Allison

Hanging with Great Grandma

Hanging with Todd

Early on Monday, we went over to the Tweedys to hang out with Aunt Katie and cousins Jake and Sam.  Charlie and Sam interacted more than in the past but mostly in the form of taking toys from each other and getting mad about that (or at least Charlie getting mad about it, Sam was pretty fine with it).  I didn't get many good pictures... getting two little ones to smile is much harder than just one.

Making funny faces on the table

Charlie getting mad because he wants the remote Sam has

Happy now that he got it

Back at the Lane's we played in the grass a little before heading home.  We don't have much grass around our house that is trustworthy (meaning random dogs don't use it as their toilet) so it was fun to see him react to it again.  At Easter in Atlanta, he was not a fan but he seemed to at least be interested in it this time.

"Hmm, not so sure about this"

Our little family

Cutie pie

Saying good-bye to the Lanes!

10-month Fun!

Today, Charlie is 10 months old and he continues to change before our eyes.  Below are some of the fun new things he is into this month...

Standing up in his crib!  He is standing up easily now on tables, couches, etc.  He loves to stand up in his crib but hasn't yet figured out how to get down so once he is up it is just a matter of moments before Meltdown City commences.

Checking out Dad's new iPad... it's like TV but on your lap!  

Wearing hats!  Ever since he saw Dad in a hat, Charlie loves wearing his hats.  He of course hasn't shared that sentiment verbally, but when he wears it, he touches his head a smiles and kicks his legs (which I think is the equivalent of a dog's tail wag).

This doesn't signify anything new... I just think it is a cute picture :)

Fun with Pup!

Charlie has taken a great interest lately in Marley.  She is so patient around him... just letting him poke her and tug on her ears.  We keep telling her that it will be worth the torture someday when he can throw tennis balls for her.  Below are some cute shots of them "playing" together.

"Ohh, I love her shiny tag"

"If only I could get it in my mouth"

The stare down

"Ahh, I love you!"

This is usually how it ends

9 Months and still growing!

We had Charlie's 9-month check-up this week and he continues to be his tall skinny self.  The latest stats are 18lbs and 14oz (25th percentile, though I swear he was higher than that before we all got sick), 29.25 inches tall (90th percentile) and 18 inch head.  The doctor thought he was doing great and encouraged us to continue trying  more and more finger foods.  Up until now, we've been a little slow to introduce more than soft fruits and veggies but he said to add some yogurt and even meat so we'll see how that goes.

Today, we also went to get his 9-months pictures done.  As usual, we are a little late so they are more like 9-and-a-half-month pictures :)  Portrait Innovations did a great job again!  And their price is right too but perhaps for his one-year birthday we'll get some fancier ones done.  Below are some of my favorite ones (as usual there are a lot :) )...

Bright eyes!

This one looks like a school picture to me

So happy!

The beauty shot

Standing up!

Little coy face

"Check out my teeth" (there are still just two)

Naked boy in a tie

With some cheesy props

The basketball rolled away

Another "c" block

Silly face :)

Another Month, Another 10K

James is doing a great job continuing his quest to get healthy so this morning completed another 10K.  He has races scheduled every month for a few more months too so I image I'll continue to have new pictures for each race!  This one was in Carytown, just a short walk from our house.  Mitch came up again from North Carolina (he did the Monument Ave. one too).  They said that the route was really cool... down River Road to Libbie and then back down Grove into Carytown.  Charlie and I met him at the finish line and then we all went out to a nice breakfast.  Below are some pics of the still-shrinking Daddy... we are so proud!

Mitch and James at the finish line

Charlie and Daddy

Schools to Watch Celebration

James' school was recently designated as a National School to Watch!  They had a wonderful celebration at the school this week and I was lucky to be able to take the day off to attend.  James gave a great speech and they were joined by the US Congressman Rob Whitman and a representative from the Schools to Watch committee.  It was a great celebration for the students and staff who have all worked so hard to create such a wonderful school!  Below are some pictures from the day...

James receiving the award from the School to Watch representative

Giving his speech

Photo for the newspaper

Superintendent Rusty Fairheart, Representative Rob Whitman and James

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend James and I started to feel a little better but Charlie woke up Saturday again with a fever and with a rash all over.  The pediatrician said this is a common end-of-virus phenomena but you can imagine I was pretty freaked out upon seeing little red bumps all over his body!  He took some really long naps (just as he did all week) and on Sunday he was finally feeling better.  With all the "free time" provided by his naps James and I got a lot of work done around the house.  James attempted to grow grass in the backyard for the 4th year in a row while I did our annual Spring-time re-do of the front garden.

The front with a good trim and new flowers (or soon-to-be-flowers hopefully)

The front planters

James mentioned to our neighbor Mark that we are trying to buy and eat organic vegetables and that we wished we had room to start a garden.  He is really into gardening and told us that our upstairs porch would be ideal for growing a few things in pots.  To our surprise he gave us a bunch of stuff for us to plant so we got  some planters and set it all up upstairs... tomatoes, peppers, basil, rosemary, cucumbers, etc.  Because they were given to us, I feel a little more pressure to not let them die so we'll see :)

Our vegetable "garden"

Finally, on Mother's Day James and Charlie treated me to a nice late morning of sleep, shopping trip out, fancy Quinoa dinner and as well as with lots of fun gifts.  You can see my loot below.  Included is a sushi set (I always say how I'm going to eat sushi for a month straight when done breastfeeding) and two types of homemade cookies to fatten me up :)

The loot

Mom and the boy

Still on the move!

The whole family was hit hard last week with a little virus (or two) so I'm behind on taking/posting pictures.  We don't have much new news but Charlie continues to stretch the bounds of his mobility.  He is now pulling himself up on the coffee table and couch and can crawl up and down the step between our kitchen and living room.  Below are some pictures of these new tricks.

Standing up!

Standing and thinking very hard (by the look on his face)

Taking the stair

Super-duper-close up