Memorial Day Weekend

We were so glad to have a holiday weekend. Our first without homework or tests in a LONG time! We decided to move Charles to his "big boy" room this weekend. When we tried the toddler bed Charles woke up in the middle of the night crying, so we were preparing for the worst. But...he surprised us. Friday night he cried when Russ left the room...not just an upset cry but a cry that said he was terrified. Russell tried going in to comfort him but the crying began again as soon as he left the room. I finally went and got him and rocked him. I thought to sleep...but he wasn't. Russ took him back to bed and laid there with him 'til he fell asleep. Once asleep Charles slept all night, even through thunder, lightening,wind, and hail. Sometime before 7am we heard knocking on his bedroom door. He was awake.

Since then he's done better every night. We laid in bed with him for a nap on Saturday and at bedtime that night. Since then we've just put him in his room and he's cried a little bit, but it's not long and he's asleep. Sadly, he's been up before 7am each morning. This morning I hadn't heard him by 8:30 so I went to check on him. He was still sound asleep. He did cry a little in the night, but fell back asleep without us having to go in to check on him. We've been curious about his sleeping habits so I snapped this picture of him this morning.

He still doesn't like to sleep under covers or use a pillow!

We had a BBQ at Grandpa & Grandma Goentzel's house Sunday evening. Grandma got a pool for her back patio so Broookely, PJ, and Elena had fun playing and splashing. We were the last to arrive and Charles wasn't too sure about the pool. He liked standing in the bucket and getting his feet wet. While the others were swimming he watched and played in the bucket. At one point he stole Grandpa's straw Indiana Jones-esque hat. With Charles' blond bowl haircut he looked like he could've just walked off an Amish farm. Sadly, the camera wasn't out. But, we did snap a few photos of him playing in the bucket AND, once all the other kids were inside drying off for dinner he got interested in the pool and climbed in. He loved it. He just rolled around squealing "wee wee wee!"

You can see the other kids' heads while Charles is trying out the bucket.

It was HOT, so Charles needed a little refreshment...he got hold of this before we could get it. I guess it's good he'll drink diet instead of regular!

Enjoying alone time in the pool.

Splashing in the pool while Grandpa grills the burgers and the dogs.

Just trying it out.

Splashing & blowing bubbles is fun!

Monday morning we were up early...thanks to Charles' new schedule...so we headed to the Zoo around 9:30. It was nice and cool so we enjoyed being outside and the animals were more active than usual. We actually saw the male lion sunning himself on the big rock. On most of our visits we can't see him or the female very well because they are hiding in the shade.

Charles got to feed the sheep and the giraffes. He loved the barnyard. He wasn't scared of the sheep or goats even though some of them were bigger than him. We had a little trouble getting food out of the machine because there was a rather large and determined sheep who pushed us out of the way before we could get the food out of the machine. We ended up spending 50 cents on sheep food instead of just one quarter, but we finally were able to out fox the bully. There was another little one, maybe a goat because it had little horns, that was pushy about getting fed too. He kept butting Russell in the back of the leg trying to get some food.

Charles' interest in this faded quickly. We think it's because a bunch of people came up to the feeding area just after we arrived. We think he may be an introvert like both his mom & dad!

Many Updates...

I've got tons of excuses for not posting more frequently...most of which are pregnancy-related exhaustion! Scroll down for several new posts.

We had our 4-D sonogram last week and I'll try to post those photos in the near future. I've got to get the disk from the kitchen to the basement. If you can't wait, you can see the pictures on Facebook.

Pomp & Circumstance

Russell is officially done with his Master's Degree! Saturday was the big ceremony followed by a final exam on Monday afternoon. We're all relieved to have it behind us. He says he's done for good. I, on the other hand, think I've got one more degree to go. We'll see...it certainly won't be for quite a while--not with little kids and no PhD program within the city limits.

Being hooded on the Jumbo Tron!

Shaking President Beggs' hand.

The graduate!

Charles was terrified of Russell in his regalia.

He was also sick of sitting still and wanted to run!

Eating

Charles has always loved to eat but has recently gone through a phase where he's not hungry or not interested in the food that he normally eats. Of course fruit is always a favorite. We have to be careful to monitor how much he eats or we'll regret it later! He could eat grapes and watermelon until he makes himself sick! Not that I'm complaining, I'm glad he likes healthy snacks...of course he likes anything sweet. Yesterday I had a craving for Twizzlers so he got to try them for the first time. He kept asking for more, which is high pitched and sounds like "moe!"

On May 15th McDonald's was giving away free chicken sandwiches. I'm always up for a freebie and deduced from the commercials that the sandwich was tyring to compete with a Chick-fil-A sandwich (my favorite). I loaded Charles up in the car and we went out for lunch. We had to buy drinks to get the free sandwich so I got two larges for $1.00 each (they were on sale too!). My mom is always gathering coupons and had given me some WSU baseball ticket stubs that had a coupon for free large fry on the back. Charles and I both got drinks, sandwiches, and shared a large fry for $2.13.

I can't believe he ate the WHOLE thing! Except for the pickles!

Charles wants to walk BY HIMSELF. This causes numerous temper tantrums in parking lots. He actually got away from me in McDonald's while I was refilling my drink. He got between the inside door and the outside door and thew a fit when I picked him up and carried him to the car. I was grateful he didn't get out in the parking lot and was furious with him for kicking and screaming all the way to the car. Of course I wasn't just carrying him, but also two drinks along with my growing pregnant belly.

I tried a recipe I saw on the Food Network while in Oregon. The minute I start something in the kitchen Charles runs to the dining room and grabs a chair. He wants to be at the counter "helping." This translates into getting in the way and sticking his hands into the mixing bowl for a taste of the batter. This was a Mexican recipe that called for fresh lime juice. He likes fruit so he decided to try the lime!

Here are two video clips of Charles sampling a lime. Of course the sour faces were made when the camera wasn't rolling!

Mother's Day

We had a low-key Mother's Day. We made my mom dinner on Friday night. She was tired after a long week and was glad to have someone make the dinner plans. We were disappointed not to get to celebrate with her on the actual day, but she decided Monday would be a day for a colonoscopy, so Sunday she was limited to clear liquids.

Russell and Charles took me out for Mexican food for lunch. Charles was surprisingly good considering how tired he gets after a morning in the nursery. He actually ate chips and salsa (and had the evidence on his Sunday outfit) as well as beans and a quesadilla. We were even able to make a quick stop at Sam's where his good mood continued. He did fall asleep the minute we got in the car.

That afternoon after naps for Charles and I and studying for Russell, we went to Dairy Queen for a frozen treat. We got Charles a Dilly Bar. He ate the WHOLE thing! Then we tried to take a trip to the park, but were disappointed to find everything but the swings sitting in huge puddles. We were on the swings for a little while and headed home. He was not very happy that he did not get to go down the slide. We felt guilty that we'd gotten his hopes up, but we had no idea the park was such a mess. We couldn't even tell when we drove by.