We finally have a good eater!

One of the fun things about having multiple children is watching how they are all different from (and similar to) one another. So far, Charlie has been similar in many ways to the others as far as personality goes. For example, they have all been very busy, energetic and social. We have yet to get  - and I'd be surprised if we ever do get - one of those toddlers who just sits there quietly for extended periods of time.


However, unlike our oldest two children, Charlie's list of foods he dislikes is much shorter than that of foods he likes.




In addition to eating every meat, fruit, vegetable and legume that he has been offered, he also likes things like: guacamole, kefir, hummus and clams. Way to go, Charlie!


Here is a list of things he refuses to eat: macaroni and cheese, apple sauce, whipped cream. That's pretty much it.


In contrast, Elena and Sam would probably be very happy to survive solely on Charlie's list of dislikes for the rest of their lives.

Who knew a weapon of mass destruction could be so dang cute?

I wrote this post back in January, but apparently I never posted it. Funny side-note about my comments at the end: I was actually pregnant when I wrote this. While I knew there was a possibility of it, I didn't really suspect anything yet.

Charlie has reached the age where if he is not creating a mess and then dragging it around the house in order to spread his destruction across as much territory as possible, he is pulling some sort of Baby Evil Knievel stunt. He's already figured out how to climb my kitchen step stool - necessary for me because our kitchen was custom built for woman taller than I - so he can grab things off the kitchen counter. He seems especially attracted to knives and scissors. Luckily, there are 4 of us around to intercept him.

It's been a little tough on Elena and Sam, who don't fully comprehend the importance of remembering to shut the baby gates or to "Close the bathroom door!!!!!" Overall they do well, but if they (or more likely their friends) ever do forget the gate, Charlie heads up the stairs as fast as he can.

And the other day, after I had double checked that the bathroom door was closed, one of the older kids snuck in there to go to the bathroom and left not only the door open, but the toilet seat was up and the toilet was not flushed. When I found Charlie half a minute later, he had pulled a handful of the toilet paper out of the toilet and scattered it across most of the kitchen floor.

So if you call me anytime in the next year, chances are good I won't make it to the phone in time because I didn't make it over the 4 gates we have set up in an attempt to keep Charlie corralled. I love our house, but it was definitely, absolutely, positively not designed with small children in mind.

On second thought, make that ten to fifteen years because by the time Charlie has outgrown the gates, we'll probably have another one needing to be saved from his/her own curiosity. And No, that is not my way of announcing that we have another one of the way so just calm down. I'm simply referring to the obvious fact that I've got quite a few fertile years left.

All in all, though, Charlie adds WAY more fun than frustration around here.

Hello again

I blame Charlie for taking me away from the blog. And also the new baby. Every time I am on the computer when Charlie is awake, he spends the whole time trying to bang on the keys and chew on the screen and then crying when I won't let him.

And by the time Charlie is asleep I'm too exhausted to stay up and do anything.  It's pretty tiring growing a baby. I'm happy to report, however, that for the first time we have kids old enough to kind of watch the younger ones while I get other stuff done.  I was able to sneak in a 20 minute doze on the couch while Elena and Sam played with Charlie. They were in the same room so I could open my eyes every 5 minutes and make sure they were doing alright so it wasn't an ideal nap, but it was better than nothing. It's only happened once so far because normally Charlie comes over and bangs on my face, but I'm hoping for several repeats.

In other news, Sam was in the preschool wrestling program this year and loved it. We took him to a few nearby tournaments and he had a lot of fun. We are lucky that he has a good personality for it - he enjoys it whether he wins or loses. My favorite moment of the whole thing was the day after the last tournament, where Sam had gotten 3rd place (out of 4). The next day when he found out that his cousin hadn't gotten a medal at the tournament, Sam gave him his own medal. I sure hope he keeps that attitude in the future.

Here he is (in the gray) at another tournament.

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