Charlie was 15 months old last weekend and is growing and changing before our eyes these days so for posterity’s sake here’s a little update on our sweet little guy.

Things of note-
*When you put Charlie to bed these days, for either naps or at bed time, he flips over, waits to be tucked into his blankets and then flashes you the biggest grin around. Every time I see it it makes me melt and a stay just a little bit longer than I normally would rubbing his back and telling him to have sweet dreams. I hope to never forget the sweet smile on his face or the way his hair flips around his ears a bit as he smiles at me.
*He has all kinds of tricks that he can do (when he wants to that is). He is waving (without being asked), blowing kisses, giving real kisses (they are wet and sloppy but SO cute), snuggling (he will put his head on your shoulder when you ask for a snuggle although Mommy is usually the only one he does this for, which I certainly don’t mind), Ta-Da (where he puts his hands in the air touchdown style).  He knows all the following animal sounds: horse, dog, kitty, lion and monkey  and says Daddy, Mommy (when he wants to) his form of Jay and Hi.
*Sign language. We weren’t as persistent with Charlie as we were with Jay but he has perfected “please” and is working on “more” and “finished”. He will say please without being prompted and also when asked “what do you say?”. Sometimes his answer is a pretty slow please although other times he rubs his little belly so determinedly, it just depends on how badly he wants what we have.
*Eating is hit or miss these days but mostly because he is cutting teeth. He currently has his top 4 center teeth, the bottom two and now 3 of his molars. It’s completely out of any normal order but it is what it is. As for foods he likes… he loves Baby Bel cheeses, ice cream, yogurt, bananas, pureed carrots and most beans (spicy ones too). He does drink from a sippy-cup now and loves milk and water with ice but isn’t too big on juices aside from pear juice.

*He has a temper.  If he doesn’t get what he wants, when he wants it look out! That temper will come out something fierce.  This is particularly hard these days when we are trying to share with our big brother and take turns.

Likes-
*His Blanket. This is nothing new of course but little one LOVES his blanket. If he’s sleepy- he wants it, if he’s happy- he wants it, if not feeling well- he wants it. Honestly, if I can’t find him I usually can head to his room and find him digging it out of his crib.
*Shape Sorters- one of his favorite toys to play with right now is the shape sorter. His favorite shapes are the circle and star but he can do most of them on his own. He will do one or two shapes over and over and over again without stopping.
*Books. We have been spending more specific time with Charlie reading lately (I am ashamed to say that it wasn’t focused on as early with Charlie as it was with Jay) and much to our joy he is really starting to love books and we have noticed a significant difference in his attention span. He won’t sit through just anything we read and he certainly won’t sit through something as long as Jay would at this age but he loves books and that’s all that matters. His current favorites include, but aren’t limited to, any of our “That’s Not My…” Books (Monster, Baby, Dragon), Baby’s 123, Baby Animals (one that talks about endangered animals around the world), The Foot Book and many books by Sandra Boynton.
*Being outside. Again this is nothing new but he still loves to be outside. Either walking around the backyard, playing in the water table, walking along the path out back, playing at the park- he doesn’t discriminate, if it’s outside he’s a fan.
*Water. Whether it be in the water table, hose or bath tub this little guy loves water. Most nights I can hear the squeals and excitement during bath time from across the house.

*Daddy.  He is a Daddy’s boy.  He prefers Jamie over me and is thrilled whenever he gets home. On the days Jamie works from home we have to put up the baby gates so Charlie will leave him alone and let him work.  If a door gets opened or a gate gets removed he makes a bee-line straight for Jamie.

*Brushes, Phones (old cell phones) and brooms.  He is pretty much obsessed with these objects lately.  He loves to walk around the house holding any of the above mentioned objects and that temper I mentioned earlier you can see it if you try to take said object away from him
Dislikes-
*Being hungry- Again, this is nothing new however, it can make getting supper ready nightly a tad bit difficult.
*Teething- this is pretty much a no brainer but kiddo doesn’t take to teething too well. Poor guy has been cutting his molars for the last few weeks and they can’t come through soon enough!

*Having to wait on anything.  Patience isn’t really his strong suit so when he wants something he wants it pretty immediately.  We are working on this and fingers crossed it will get better with time.

These aren’t “official” monthly photos (no blocks were used); however, I adore them and they really show my sweet lively Charlie so well!

the curls I can’t seem to part with just yet

and a few of Jay too since he was out riding his bike on the path with us