Charlie's 18 Month Stats...

We just got back from the Dr for Charlie's 18 month and he is growing like a weed!  He was 26lbs 10 oz, (52%), 33 inches long (70%) and his head was 49 1/2 cm (90%).  He got 3 shots today, which is always so traumatic.  He is doing well in all areas, but we are going to check him in 2 months to reevaluate his speech.  He understands everything, but isn't talking many words consistently.  We are supposed to encourage him to speak by telling him what things are and asking him to tell us what he wants....and not giving him what he wants when he is just standing there yelling for it.... ( :

Fall Days...

Will is ready to get a pumpkin!

Charlie loves the bumpy ride...

Drumming is in Charlie's future...

Will is trying to show how strong he is!

Enjoying a ride to the check outs...

After pumpkins we went to the Canal to play around and see the pretty leaves...

The locks were closed which is always fun to see...

I have been wanting some pictures of the boys holding still, and I got these two...

Which I think turned out pretty good! 

A few days before we had stopped off at the petting farm...

We have no idea what Charlie was so thrilled with, but he is so cute here.  He does this face a lot, whenever he sees something fascinating...

Charlie was more interested in the animals this time, last time he seemed more scared...

William spent lots and lots of time feeding the goats and sheep...

Charlie was trying to learn the fine art of feeding food, but not your fingers...

Will and I caught the silky hen, who is very docile, and so, so soft....

I offered it to Charlie but he was very uncertain...All in all it was a fun day!

Cousins!

Laura at almost 7...

Tyler at almost 3...

Sophie is 5...

Sophie and William were good buddies...

We took a hike with the crew out to the Potomac...

Sunday, Solon and his crew came over so the kids out numbered the adults!  Tyler is missing from this picture, but we got almost all the cousins...L to R, Gabriela, Sophie, Will, Connor, Alessandra, Laura, and Charlie.

Connor at 8...

Patrick and Bridget came to visit us this past week.  They were heading to Atlanta for the Highland Games at Uncle Kerry's so they decided to make a side trip and come see us too!  We were very happy to see them and spend time with our all to quickly growing neices and nephews.  We are barely missing number 5 who will be showing up next month!    

Charlie at 18 Months...

I can't believe that Charlie will be 18 months tomorrow.  Time goes far too quickly.  While William seemed so old at this point though, Charlie is still a little baby in my eyes.  I am perfectly content to keep him my baby as long as possible.  He is not really talking much more than he was a few months ago, but you can't miss what he wants or needs.  He is very, very good at getting you to understand with few words.  He still adores William and follows him around much of the day and copies almost everything he does.  He loves to scribble, and reads lots of books each day.  He will just sit and page through them, which I find very endearing.  He loves his blanket and his kitty, and he is still VERY obsessed with the Octonauts on Disney Jr.  I was able to get the toys for him in England, so he has been hauling them around the house all the time.  He loves to eat, and is mainly still a carnivore.  He will eat two or more hotdogs at a time and ate about 1/2 a pound of strawberries last night.  He still has 3 bottles a day, and he still uses his binky at bedtime.  He knows lots of body parts, and makes lots of animals sounds.  He even has different growls for various bears, and lions and tigers, which I think is pretty funny.    He adores being outside and it's so nice now that the weather has cooled off again.  He is dancing a lot and loves listening to music, which is so cute.  He has the funniest "Evil" laugh that he does when he is being naughty, and we try our hardest not to laugh too.  He is a champion fit thrower, way, way worse than William has ever been.  He flings himself to the ground and can keep it going for a good 15 minutes and sometimes even longer.  It's terrible, but we do our best to ignore it.  He is still not sleeping through the night and I keep wondering if he ever will.  You would think at some point it would happen naturally, but he still wakes at least once every single night. Ugh.  Aside from that, he is just so sweet, and I am so happy we had him.  He is cute as can be, and a constant source of entertainment!  I can't wait to see his stats at the Dr this week...

Apple Pickin' Time...

Charlie seems to be checking out Will's take on all of this...

Charlie was fascinated with all these apples laying around...

William was a champion picker this time!

Charlie kept trying to put the apples back on the trees...he was so confused when they fell back down...

I love taking my boys out to the country where they can just be free to roam...

They always seem to have the same calf that gets no bigger...it's very odd.

Charlie checks out the hens...

The boys were watching the rooster, and then:

He crowed!  William isn't a fan of loud noises and yet Charlie seems unfazed. 

Adventure Park...

I love this picture, Will looks like he is a guru on a space ship!

This park is so great, and Charlie loves the musical instrument section...

Charlie stops for a quick fruit snack fix...

And decided to share his juice box with the dragon...

One for me, one for you!

Hair Disaster...

At some point, every mother thinks "I can cut their hair myself.  Think of all the money I'll save!" So, she goes to the store and buys a clipper set and then goes home and bravely has at it.  Then this results, or something similar, and suddenly the 15 bucks every other month or so seems like a really great deal!  Poor child!  At least it grew back enough before school pictures!