2 weeks

Charlie

Okay, so technically you have been home for 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS!!!! Wow. So before leaving to get you, one of my friends (Denise) thought it would be funny to install a webcam in our home to see how your Dad and I did once you were here. Really, I think she wanted to be able to laugh at us, along with the rest of the special ed department, with whatever craziness we were doing at the time. Well, Denise didn't get her webcam, but hopefully she will be okay with these pictures since coming home.

So generally you are not a fan of stuffed toys. You seem to really like the ones that make noise. AWESOME. There has been an exception, Yoda. Yep. You are really into Yoda. I think it is the ears. Plus, how can you not like Yoda? He is full of wisdom. (Your Uncle Spencer had a Yoda that was like a Magic 8 ball when he was younger. Lots of good wisdom comes from a fortune-telling Yoda.) Your Grammie's friend Lynn game you Yoda. I think your favorite part of Yoda was when you realized you could throw him. After throwing him, you would then crawl to get him and throw him again. At the same time, maybe you were not throwing him. Maybe Yoda was using his Jedi-like moves to go from one place to another and his mind tricks to get you to follow. . . I am thinking you enjoyed throwing him.

  
You LOVE wearing hats. So like your Dad. Right now you are touching your head, when you want a hat and say something that sounds like "atz." Once you have one on, you like to pull it down really low over your eyes. You do not always like it when we say we want to see your eyes, but most of the time you seem okay with it. Here you are ready to cheer on Ohio State in the first round of the playoffs. Your Dad's friend and co-worker, Lynn, got you this super cute OSU sweatshirt to wear for the big event. (She thought it would be slightly cooler, but thanks you for bringing the warm Ethiopian weather home with you.) So we wanted to be sure to get a picture or two of you wearing it, while it fit. Did I say it was super cute on you? Post photo op, we put an OSU bib on you to wear until you went to bed.

 I don't think I can stress enough how super cute you are. One thing you love to do right now is say, "Ta-Da!" and throw your hands in the air. We change your diaper, "Ta-Da!" We put you in the carrier, "Ta-Da!" Dinner? Hat? Playing with a toy? Getting your picture taken? Listening to music? Yep, they are "Ta-Da!" moments. My favorite is when you pull yourself up to stand and tell us it is a "Ta-Da!" moment. Even when you sit back down and do it again, for another 5 minutes. It is okay, they are "Ta-Da!" moments. We so did not think you would be standing at this point. You can have all of the "Ta-Da!" moments you want.

You really like your food. You get so excited when you see your milk or some type of food. (Today, you ate one of those rice cookie things that dissolve in your mouth and liked it! You are not a fan all of the time of puffs and you DO NOT like the yogurt-like puffs. You have a great gag reflex with those. . .) You love to peek out behind items. Doorways. The sofa. Your Dad. Here you thought it would be fun to lean to peak out behind your Dad while he was feeding you in the living room to look at me.

 This picture is for your Uncle Al. Why you ask? The Batman shirt? Nope. It is for your Uncle Al because you are wearing camo pants. In this particular picture you can't really tell they are camo pants, but it was the best one from this session. These pants were a bit of a debate when your Dad and I were in Carter's. You know I am not a fan of camo, but I am sure there was some compromise between the camo pants and some other outfit. . . At the same time, I am sure there will be more camo in the future, as much as it hurts me to write that. You really liked your Batman shirt you are wearing in this picture. Throughout the day you would look down at the logo and pat it with both hands, smiling. I am foreseeing more comic book inspired shirts in the future. Wait, there are some in your closet, waiting for you to grow into them.

Okay, here your Uncle Al can see the camo pants. I am not sure why the Batman shirt is up on your belly so much. It does fit. So these are the shoes I bought you at Von Maur that were such a great deal that do not fit. You really liked playing with these shoes Charlie. Your Dad and I think it is because they were a bit "reflective" with the silver parts. You kept turning this shoe around in your hands, with a smile on your face and laughing now and then. So we need to get you shoes that fit and are reflective. Until then, you have these awesome shoes. . .

You have R2-D2 shoes! That's right, the droid who guards your library is also on your shoes! In addition to these great shoes, you love to play with caps. You enjoy them so much, we have to make sure you can't see them during or after a feeding. Otherwise you want to play with it instead of drink your milk. I know, a cap is a lot more fun than milk. You highly enjoy just turning it in your hands, playing the dropping game, and banging it on whatever is close by.

 So we have learned you love music! We knew this when we were in Ethiopia for our court date back in December, but it seems this love has grown! (BTW- I can't tell you how many songs we sang in country to keep you happy on both trips.) You have a favorite song, "Battu" on your African Playground CD. As soon as you hear the intro you start squealing, dancing, and clapping your hands, on beat. Your Dad and I know most of the words to this song, even though the words are in Yoruba. Here you and your Dad are celebrating St. Patty's Day by listening to the Dropkick Murphys. You highly enjoyed the bagpipes on this CD as well as pounding the rhythm on the coffee table. So you know, your Dad has promised to take you to Boston to eat McGreevy's. . .

Did we say you enjoy hats? You really enjoy hats. In addition to listening to the Dropkick Murphys on St. Patty's Day, you wore this hat. This hat your Dad and I searched all over. We had been searching for this type of hat since before our first trip to Ethiopia and we finally found it about two weeks before our Embassy date.

One of your favorite toys. . . Why? I can only assume because it makes noise. So there is a seat you can sit/stand in and it goes around the center round table. You highly enjoy the pressing down on the frog so the balls go around and around. The dragonfly is also a favorite. What I enjoy though is when you look at your reflection in the mirror and then try to look under the center table to see if the little boy in the mirror is still there. So you are walking around the center table, using the connected seat, but you only do this backwards. Yep, you walk backwards, never forwards.

So here you are with your car. . . The introduction of the car.

 Deciding it was pretty nice, especially when you get to ride around the house in it.

 You are still trying to figure out the wheel and horn aspect of the car.

Charlie, you love cuddling with your Dad or "DaDa" as you call him. You two are wearing matching shirts here.

Your favorite time of day? Bath time. I am not sure it shows up enough in this picture, but you love to splash in the tub. You can really see the water spot on the left shoulder of my shirt. Usually I have to change my shirt after bath time due to how wet it is. 

So we tend to take at least one walk a day. So far we have been to the park, the grocery store, and most importantly the bakery. This is right after your first taste of the best cookie in the world. It was a Mrs. Jone's sugar cookie. You loved it! You also seem to enjoy your BOB stroller.




Okay, so I think this shows pretty well what we have been up to your first two weeks home.

Love,
Mom