Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Birthday at Outback

On the 27th, the McDonald clan met in Conyers to celebrate one year with Charlie.  He gave Grandpa Kirby and Grandma Dot big birthday hugs.



And then he got some fun birthday presents from his cousins - some blocks, a Lego car and a train!




And when it was time for the birthday cupcakes, boy, were they excited!





**Thank you, Outback of Conyers, for putting up with us.  And for singing Happy Birthday to a one year old.  He didn't appreciate it, but the rest of us did.**

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Charlie's Birthday Cupcake

I had big plans for Charlie's birthday.  The LaMottes were coming to visit on Tuesday from Pensacola to be here when he turned one.  I was going to vacuum and dust and clean the kitchen floor.  I was going to make cupcakes Tuesday afternoon.  I was going to make my Mama's homemade chocolate icing.  I was going to get everything ready for his first birthday picture session on Wednesday morning.  I was going to cook a good dinner and celebrate the fact that we almost had a one-year old.  

I had plans.

Someone had other ideas.

Tuesday morning, about 3am, I awoke to a horrible feeling.  And then spent the next 12 hours hovering around a toilet.  Throwing up is the worst illness I can have (Marc even remarked that he had never seen me this whiny) and  I caught a doozy of a stomach bug.  So nothing got done. I barely even showered.

BUT. . .I woke up on Wednesday morning feeling a little better.  I made the birthday boy some cupcakes and at lunch I slapped some store-bought icing on one of them and let him have at it.

So it wasn't the grand photo op that I was planning.  But Charlie still turned one, we still had pictures made, and he still had a cupcake and I got some shots of it.  And it happened when he was one and won't remember, not when he is six and upset that his birthday wasn't a spectacular event.






Monday, August 29, 2011

Pictures from Charlie's Birthday

Happy Birthday To Me!

Aren't I just the cutest one-year old?

Now where's my cake?!?!?


Saturday, August 27, 2011

One Year, One Day

Charlie had his one-year check up on August 25.  He is still a tall boy - 31 and 5/8 inches - in the 95% on height.  His head is still on the smaller size at 17 3/4 inches, and he weighs 21.41 pounds.  He is now on the lower side of the weight percentile, which the doctor said often happens once they reach this age and begin walking. They start to eat a little less and move a whole lot more.  And that definitely defines Charlie.  He doesn't stay still.  Even when he sleeps at night, he is all over the crib.  He walks really well now, preferring that to crawling.  When he walks he still holds his hands up by his head, looking very much like Marc when does his impression of a monkey. 

For the past 5 weeks, we've been adding whole milk to Charlie's bottles and he has been tolerating it very well.  We will next week move from half and half to only one-quarter breast milk.  I am so lucky that breast feeding went so well for us, and I am very surprised that I'm a little sad to see it end.  Milk I didn't have to pay for was so much cheaper than the organic whole milk we are now getting by the gallon.  Charlie will very soon move up to the one-year class at school, where he has to be on the menu.  We've been working on that, but he hasn't been too interested in the lunches.  Charlie is all about the breakfast and the snacks, though.

Charlie has lots of new words in his vocabulary, although he may not understand all of them.  He will say Please and Thank You, and Marc got him to say Love You once.  (And has been trying to get him to say it again for a week, with no luck.)  Charlie can say Dog and Duck and knows what those words mean.

He is still a loving and happy boy, as long as he is well fed and rested.  He takes one nap at school and - for the most part - sleeps through the night.  Charlie still wakes up much earlier than we would like, but Marc usually plays with him for about 30 minutes and then gets Charlie to nap until I take him to school.

This past year has gone by so very fast, but it has been the best year of our lives.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

Ridin' Along in my Automobile


Hey Neighbor!

Checking with Lullabelle on the traffic

Taking driving very seriously


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Music Time With Daddy




Charlie decided they needed some percussion.