Sorry...

...blame it on our SUPER LAME GHETTO TRASH internet connection. We haven't been able to get online for over a week now...but, we're back on now, so on with the blogging.
Now...if I could just think of something interesting to blog about...

Nacho Libre!

YaYa Carol went down to Mexico and brought these great "Nacho Libre" masks back for Charlie and Blake. At first, Charlie wouldn't put his on, but then he didn't want to take it off. He even wanted to go to bed with it on last night - but, I thought to myself, "That's gotta be some sort of choking/suffocating hazard". So the very disappointing answer was "no" (I know, I am NO FUN at all).

Playing in the big tunnel with Ellie and Mia.

Out in the heat with Ellie and Blake, splashin' around in the white trash pool** filled with random kitchen utensils:

(**white trash pool not pictured - apparently I was too busy focusing on the kids and forgot to get a shot of it...but you get the point - just think $9.99 at Fred Meyers, can also double as a sand box/cat litter box)

Rhododendron Gardens with Bryan and April:

That's April in the background:

Feeding the ducks/geese with Shawn:

This was a really cool duck - it had a bright blue beak, and it would dive way down into the water looking for food:

This little duck was pretty fun, too:

Look at ALL that POO on the ground! :)

Kinda blurry, but I LOVE that smile:

Reading letters off of a sign:

A fun day!

Poop problem solved

Thanks to all of your helpful suggestions (christi, jen, tiffany, & leah) regarding Charlie's tub-pooping issues, I think I've come up with a good solution. I have come to realize that the problem was all in my timing, which always seemed to coincide with the timing of Charlie's, uh, #2 potty needs. So, the solution for now is: time the baths for immediately AFTER he does his duty. So far, it has been successful! And, according to my favorite, live-in Behavior Specialist, it's a great "antecedent intervention"...whatever that means.
(It's also helpful to play movies on the ipod while he's sitting on the pot - keeps the wiggles at bay.)

And, they say lightning never strikes twice, but Charlie once again fell asleep in the car and STAYED asleep as I carried him into the house. Is this some great new stage? I could stare at this child for hours while he's asleep - I love it!

Muddy shoe prints

Lately, Charlie has had this obsession with walking only on the dirt parts of the path along the way to our front door - rather than on the paved sidewalk part. I could take up a battle over this, and tell him he needs to walk on the sidewalk part so he doesn't track dirt into the house (goodness knows, it would make my floor-cleaning job a lot easier). But, you know what? There's nothing in the world I would trade for the blessing of having muddy little shoe prints on our kitchen floor. :)

Charlie had his first swim "class" tonight. We went with my friend from college, Amy, and 3 of her sweet children. It was so much fun! After about 20 minutes of clinging tightly to me and feeling things out, he finally got in the pool and hung out on the top step in the water for most of the time - just watching the other kids. He beats to his own drum sometimes. But I sure enjoyed watching my shy little boy dip his toes in - he's growing up so fast.
(Thanks, Amy, what a great idea!)

Oh yeah, and PS: he did NOT go poo-poo in the pool...but I was worried. Guess he just saves his number 2 duties for the bathtub.

Here's a rare sighting - a sleeping Charlie NOT in his crib. This boy hardly ever falls asleep in the car, on our laps, or anywhere other than in his own bed.

The other day, another "no-nap" day, we were driving home from my mom and dad's house, it was about 4:00 pm, and he fell asleep in the car. The crazy part is that he actually stayed asleep after I carried him into the house. I laid him down on our bed, and he just slept there for a couple of hours. I probably took 40 pictures of him. Such an angel. :)

You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now that if Charlie's in his room and it's real quiet for a long time, it's probably not a good thing. I guess I'm a slow learner. Pictured below are the entire contents of a jumbo-sized box of goldfish and a family-sized box of cheez-its, arranged into 2 neat little piles on the white blankie.

Charlie wanted to wear "bofe hats".

Our April hail storm - bizarre. Charlie just had to get out there and "walk in it, dad".