Happy BDay Alec

(On the first day of school last week)
Hard to believe it, but our first baby boy turned 4 years old today! We had a fun b-day weekend, which started off with picking Grammy up at the airport! Then we had a small party with a few friends and neighbors on Saturday evening. Alec had a ball playing with the kids and we had a pinata in the yard, which was a big hit. Today he celebrated his actual b-day today at school. I had called a few weeks ago to see if Veolia (our trash and recycle company) did any sort of tours or anything, which they don't, but the plant manager was super nice and said he would do a private tour of the facility for Alec, so my mom and I surprised him with a trip to Veolia for his own private tour of the trash facility after school. It was quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. Alec got to tour the dumping zone, he got to climb up in an actual truck, and check out the whole facility. It's funny b/c as he was telling the manager Jim about how he was a recycle can for Halloween last year we realized that Jim was actually the same guy we ran into last year who gave Alec his vest. Anyway, he ended up totally remembering Alec, which was cool and a very strange coincidence. It was a really fun thing to do and Alec really enjoyed it. He also had his first t-ball practice this afternoon and we ended the day with a quiet dinner at home where Alec got to open presents and play. All in all a great day!

Some stuff about Alec at 4:
* He has more energy than any other kid his age that I know. He is literally running circles around the house, climbing things, and jumping off of things w/i minutes of waking up every day and he never stops. He is SO physical and athletic. We struggle with ways to burn all of his energy and he is only 4. He learned to swim and ride a bike without training wheels this summer, he now rides his bike 3-4 miles with me each time I go for a run, and he has just started to run with me. Yes, run with me. We are signing him up for a little 1K race over Thanksgiving when we go to Savannah and I have been telling him about it and about how it is a long race and that the point of it is to run it all and not to win, which is a little hard for Alec to fathom b/c he is also very competitive. Anyway, it's a 3/4 mile run, so we decided we would do a little training. I took him out for the first time a few days ago and thought we would go 1/4-1/2 mile, but of course Alec never stopped and made it .8 miles on his first trip out. He was drenched in sweat and huffing and puffing, but he is so tough and determined. Matt laughed when I told him and said, "Great Erin, just what we need, Alec to be in even better shape." We know it will be really hard for him come the winter in Illinois b/c he does not do well with being couped up, but we are prepared and have him signed up for soccer, t-ball, indoor hockey, gymnastics and swimming. Wow, seems like a lot when I write it down, but believe me, even that won't tire out our little maniac.
* He loves his dad more than anyone in the world, he loves Charlie (although sometimes a little too much, we certainly have to work with him on being gentle with the baby,) he loves to mow the lawn and take out the trash, he loves to play with friends, he loves his toys (preferably his lego planes, his trash trucks, building track, and his doctor kit,) he loves to read stories before nap and bed (the only time of the day he sits still,) he loves to play games, he loves school and he loves the song "Urgent" by Foreigner.
* He sleeps 12 hours at night and about 70% of the time he takes a 2-3 hr nap (there are some perks to his craziness.)
* He is incredibly brave and adventurous - he is not afraid to do or try anything new, thus his diving this summer.
* He is very tough - we discover cuts, bumps and bruises on him all of the time and never know where they come from. He has taken a few really bad falls off his bike, one just last week where he went over the handle bars, and he always gets up, gets back on, and keeps going.
* He is very strong willed, opinionated and stubborn (unfortunately he got these traits from both of his parents) and this makes parenting him very challenging at times. He does not like to be wrong, he doesn't like to say he is sorry, and he will battle wills with us often, especially when a time-out is involved.
* He got a clean bill of health at his 4 year appt. He weighs 39 lbs and is 3 ft 5" tall. 75%. The doc said he looked great, and actually told me he was advanced, which may be a nice way to say a fearless lunatic, but he called it advanced:)
* He is very chatty and has a really deep voice for a 4 year old.
* He is very intuitive and perceptive and surprises us with a lot of the things he says, remembers and figures out.
* Like his dad, he has a great memory.
* He is wild, crazy and adorable and we love him so much.

Happy birthday Alec Randall aka Beanie Stout, Chonie Lonus, Chonie Bop, Bop and Bopster. You are exhausting and irresistibly lovable all at the same time:)

With his buddy Morgan at his party on Sat

My pics of the pinata didn't come out well

He got to open one present this morning before school, his own running/biking watch

Headed to school, Grammy has b-day treats for his classmates in her bag

With Jim at the trash center


I didn't get his first name, but this trash man's real last name is Dumper.




He got to keep all this stuff, plus a few Veolia baseball hats and a real pair of trash gloves.

Opening presents this evening

He got his own digital camera

and Operation

and lots of legos, Daddy is in heaven!

1/2 Year

I can hardly believe that little Charlie is half a year old today:( He is such a sweet and lovable little boy and he truly brings nothing but joy to our lives. We, and mama in particular, love him to pieces. We couldn't have asked for a better fit. In addition to my sap, here's some info about Charlie at 6 months:
* Still not crawling correctly, but he has the lunge from all fours down, and he can move across the floor.
* He sits up on his own, but not usually for long b/c his preferred position is on his belly. He also just figured out how to go from all fours back into a sit by himself.
* He started solids about 2 weeks ago and you would think he has been starving. He has inhaled everything I have given him (applesauce, banana, carrots, avocado, pear and oatmeal) and often cries when I am done feeding him b/c if it was up to Charlie he would never stop eating.
* He takes 2 - 3 naps a day and they vary in length. We usually get one long one, and he is super easy to put to bed - we just lay him in his crib and that's that.
* He slept through the night once, but has yet to since. He goes to bed about 7:30 and sleeps until about 7:30. I dream feed him before I go to bed around 10, and then he wakes up once a night to nurse. He is so fast and easy when he does wake up, that it doesn't bother me at all.
* He has gotten much more opinionated and will tell you, loudly, when he is bored with something, or when he wants something out of his reach, or when he wants to be picked up.
* Everything goes in his mouth.
* He has a huge, open mouthed smile and smiles all the time. He also has a great belly laugh.
* He loves to watch Alec and Brody, and Alec is probably the most successful at getting him to smile and laugh.
* He is super happy and he loves to be held, although he doesn't care who holds him. He is also such a people pleaser. I have been taking him to the gym with me for a few months and you would think he's famous there. They all LOVE him! Literally every time we go in people swarm him and there are always 3-4 people telling me how much he smiles or laughs at them. One girl told me that she thinks he likes her face b/c literally every time she looks at him he laughs.
* He had his 6 month appt yesterday. He weighed 19lbs 6 oz and was 27.25 inches tall. Only the 85%, which is crazy to us b/c he seems so huge. He did get two vaccines and a flu shot and he has been a little out of it since; just really sleepy and much more fussy than we are used to. Hopefully he will be back to himself by tomorrow.
* He is still a spitter, but he goes through phases, and sometimes has entire days when he doesn't spit up all (which is really amazing for my kids.)
* He is a trooper and has done great with all our adventures this summer. He loves to be in the jogging stroller, the baby hawk and the bike carrier, he did wonderfully at the pool, and he has been an easy and adaptable traveler. We are off to Kat's wedding in FL next week and then up to Savannah after that, so hopefully his easy going travel behavior continues.
Happy half year Charlie, aka Ruchie, Ruchie Pip, Pip, Beefcake Johnson, Beefcake Jones, Beefcake. Thanks for being such a perfect baby. We LOVE you!!




Some of his bizarre crawling antics







Another firework display after a minor league baseball game we went to - he loved every minute of it.

Wisconsin

We took our first family trip to Wisconsin last weekend for a 3 day camping trip. In hindsight, we should have paid more attention to the forecast, which called for thunderstorms on Friday night and all day Saturday. At about 2 am on Friday night we woke up to the sounds of thunder in the distance and crazy lightning and it came right to us. Imagine the craziest thunderstorm you have ever seen, and then imagine being outside in it inside a tent with your kids. It was nuts, and I was definitely a little scared. The boys, however, were un-phased. Charlie slept through the whole thing and it woke Alec up, but after laying with us to watch it for about 2 minutes, he asked when he could go back to bed, and then passed right back out. Anyway, it ended up raining ALL day on Saturday and we had to move campsites b/c our first site was submerged in mud, but the sun finally showed up on Sunday and we made the most of it. Alec had a ball playing with Hayden (they didn't mind the rain at all), he learned to ride a bike, and Charlie was a trooper as always. On Sunday night Charlie slept through the night for the first time, 9:30pm-7am. Of course it was in a pack n play inside a tent in the cold, and of course he has yet to repeat the performance since we've been home and in his bed, but he did it nonetheless. Here are some pics from the weekend, and hopefully I'll get around to another post this afternoon since it sweet Charlie's 1/2 year birthday!

tent olympics - otherwise known as trying to entertain ourselves while staying dry.

Brody somehow found a bush full of burs on Sat morning and was covered in them from head to toe. We couldn't do anything to get them out, and he was fairly uncomfortable until Monday when we took him to the groomer, who had to completely shave him, to get them off. Charlie's face sums up how we all felt about the dirty dweezle all weekend.

After hours of playing with Hayden in the rain

Smore sticks

Piper and Charlie

Bike riding buddies

Piper was hilarious, she would b-line for Charlie every time we put them close together and completely tackle him. He knows she's coming.

Swimming in the lake, it was a little chilly.


The boys did tons of bike riding - we hardly saw them all weekend.

Seriously, could this baby be any cuter?



Conclusion, Wisconsin is gorgeous and a great place to camp, but, any rain the forecast next time and we are out.

No training wheels!

It's official, Alec can ride a bike. We went camping with the Hoeltings over Labor Day weekend and we let Alec ride on Hayden's bike (which is a few inches smaller than his own) and he took off, sans the training wheels. No falls, no nerves, he just rode. Awesome way to end his 3rd year!

Jump!

My brother-in-law Ross rocks and made this awesome video for us. I sent him about 30 clips of Alec going off the diving board and asked for his help, and this is what he put together. We LOVE it. As you can see, Alec completely mastered the diving board by the end of the season. Nice work Alec, and thanks a million Ross!

Oh Charlie

Sweet little Charlie has decided that he is no longer happy with sitting still:) In the last 2 days, against all of Mommy and Daddy's attempts to stop him, he has started crawling. 5 1/2 months seems insanely early to me for a baby to crawl, but he has always spent so much time on his tummy that I suppose it was inevitable. His crawl isn't pretty, he gets up on all fours and then lunges himself forward (he kind of hops) and then does it again, but it is a crawl nonetheless, and he can move pretty far pretty fast. I think within a week or two he will have really mastered it and have it down. I've tried to get a few videos, but he of course won't cooperate when I get out the camera, so for now here are some pics. He was loving crawling around in the freshly cut lawn last night. While I'm proud of his new accomplishment, I'm also really sad about it. Why is my baby growing up so fast?

I think this one is hilarious, can you tell how proud of himself he is?



Excuse the grass on his face that is in all of these pics




He's also figuring out how to go from all fours to a sitting position



and sampling some of the lawn in the meantime.