News from the Homefront

Not much is going on in the Sharp household. We try to stick around the house and not waste money on gas that's nearly $4.00 per gallon. After a week at home with an almost two-year-old I tend to get cabin fever. Today I called Russell and we met him for lunch just to get out of the house. The rainy day didn't help my cabin fever either. At least when it's been hot I do not have the desire to leave my air conditioned dwelling!

I'm waiting the anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby #2. I don't know how much more of this I can take. There can't possibly be room for this baby to get any bigger and I'm not able to walk or bend over very well these days. Thankfully every other night or so I get a good night's sleep and most days I'm able to take about an hour nap. Those two things will end abruptly when the baby arrives! Honestly, I dread the sleepless nights but I'm ready to be done being pregnant. I just focus on when the baby will be 12 weeks/3 months and sleeping through the night. I got "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and have some new tricks to try.

Charles continues to be BUSY! What does that mean? Always doing something, sometimes good, sometimes ornery or dangerous. Today while I was putting on make-up he climbed on the bathroom counter via the toilet and licked the mirror. Of course earlier he opened the toothpaste, put some on Russell's toothbrush (nothing came out of the tube but he went through all the proper motions), and then proceeded to stick it in his mouth and turn it on. I was able to grab my toothbrush from him before he could get it turned on. It did get in his mouth, however. Maybe it's time to replace the heads on our toothbrushes.

The age of two is rapidly approaching and the "terrible twos" are already rearing their ugly heads. Charles is insistent on getting whatever he wants. We found some shoes in the hand-me-down boxes I was organizing last week and decided to try them on to see if they fit. Now he only wants to wear those shoes...despite the fact they are still a little too long and his feet are a little too chubby for the strap that goes over his foot. I tried hiding them but he looked all over for them when I told him to get his shoes! Most of the time I relent and let him wear them, but there are times they are not the right accessory for his outfit--like Sunday morning with his dress pants and button down shirt. Today I actually got him in his Stride Rite version of Crocs. After his bath last night I noticed a blister on his foot and decided he needed to wear a different pair of shoes. I told him to bring me his blue shoes and he brought me every other pair of shoes he owns!

Speaking of colors...when Charles is asked what color something is he always answers "black." He's not even two yet, so I don't really worry that he doesn't know his colors, but today I wondered if maybe everything looks black or grey to him. Thanks to the Hiebert women in my family the men have various levels of color blindness. Including his Uncle Brian. Even our more distant cousins have it too. Guess I need to have Dr. Yarrow test Charles sometime in the future.

Charles' speech is still developing. He can say words, but many times has to be prompted. He can't distinguish between the name of an animal and the sound it makes. For example, when pointing to a dog and asking "What's that?" Charles responds with "arf, arf." We went to Pet Co yesterday to look at some things for the dogs and took time to look at all the critters. We saw some type of domesticated rodent--gerbil, hamster, guenia pig--with brown and white coloring. I asked him what it was (he wouldn't know, he'd never seen one before) and he said "Bubba!" Yes, Brian & Heather's Jack Russell Terrier has the same coloring. I guess maybe he knows his colors after all....