The Big News

With 10 of nearly 14 weeks to plan you would think I could come up with a more creative post to announce the big! news! - but until very recently my creativity along with most of my energy has been zapped by our new little peanut Russo, who is due to arrive March 24th, 2010.

Big thank yous to Charlie, my Mom, and Gina, who faced the brunt of my complaints regarding nausea, which seemed incessant to me, and therefore, I suspect, to them.

We will find out the week before CR's birthday whether he will have a little brother or a little sister. If I had to put money on it based on how I feel and look so far (completely identical to when I was pregnant with CR) I would say we are having a boy for sure, we'll see - either way would be just fine with me.

Maw-Maw sent this book for CR (I'm A Big Brother! - thank you!) and the intent was to take a pic of him holding it with the title facing forward, but of all the pics this one turned out the best.

Got to go, CR has pulled his chair out and is DEMANDING pizza - which, unfortunately for him, and probably for me, is not on the menu tonight.

Pool Time!

Here are some pics of Charlie in his pool in the backyard, as mentioned previously, I have taken to making big blocks of ice in Tupperware to put in the pool so it is not just bath water in the Texas sun - CR loves to play with both the ice and the Tupperware. In the middle of July these big blocks would melt so fast, hopefully in September we can use the pool like normal people (no ice).

[I successfully resisted the urge to title this post 'Ice Ice Baby'.]

Ziti (yummy)

Ziti is one of the few dinner options that will make CR come running and climb in his chair (the other is pizza, which he associates directly with apples, if you mention pizza he says 'pizza and apples'). Below is a series of pics of CR enjoying his favorite meal...

Pics

Just a post to add some pictures from when Grammy and Grandpa came to visit - great shots Dad!

(when CR saw these pictures on the computer he said, 'yummy.' )

So much to say...

So much has happened since the last post, I hardly know where to begin.

Swimming lessons went well, particularly the last week when the indoor pool heater was broken (we suspected that in week one when CR shivered in the pool the whole time), he really enjoyed it in the outside pool and got some good skills like being able to hold his breath when he goes under. He is a long way from swimming laps, but enjoys the pool now very much.

After that came 4th of July weekend, the family trip to Canyon Lake for Charlie's parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We had a great time, we stopped at two wineries on the way there, we were between San Antonio and Austin, it was a part of Texas I had never seen before and it was beautiful! Charlie Ross loved spending time with his cousin Katie. The house we stayed in was the perfect size and layout for all of us, and it had abundant deer in the backyard that came nearly right up to the sliding glass doors. We went to Sea World one day, and it was a hot day, a little while after CR's nap we let him get his fill of Shamu's splash town which he loved(!) -and we loved watching him - and he was in an incredible mood for the rest of the day (including a long ride home full of laughs with cousin David, and a 2 hour dinner out after that).

Two weekends after my parents came to visit, it was my Mom's 70th Birthday, and I was really happy we could spend it together. One of Charlie's favorite teachers from daycare babysat (he was stunned to see her at the house), and we went out to dinner at Carmelo's (yum!) for Mom's birthday.

Last week Laurie and Bess came to town, Gina organized for us girls to go see a Sherlock Holmes play at the Alley (it was great), and they came over with the Diluzio's and Orgeron's Saturday night and we had dinner and played Mexican Train Dominoes (which has become a quick family favorite over the past several months, very fun).

In between we have been splashing in the blow up pool in the backyard quite a bit, which I got not too long after the water table as it proved to be an exceptionally hot June and July. Besides swimming, or splashing with his favorite pools toys (Tupperware, which he endlessly enjoys filling, and pouring out or into the other containers), his next favorite activity is coloring, it is pretty much the toddler scribble you would expect but he loves it and approaches his coloring with GUSTO! He still will remain completely engrossed in either Dora or Diego, and we are amassing quite a Dora collection of books (he got some new ones from Mom that he cannot get enough of).

And finally on to this week when we had a very big scare, in (way) brief form: CR went to the ER with croup on Monday and we had to stay overnight at the hospital. It was a pretty scary experience for him, lots of breathing treatments, but he handled it like a champ overall. He has recovered significantly this week, but Charlie and I (and Gina who he stayed with later in the week - big thank you!!) are still analyzing everything about every cough he makes.

So that has been our summer so far, hopefully by next weekend we can start finishing up the summer with more fun times, CR seems like he is ready to get back in the action, and it is hard to hold him back.

Just a few pics, because we got a new video camera for Father's Day and a number of summer pics are still on there.

Best Toy Ever

This simple toy has brought literally hours of CR fun to our house since getting it 3 weeks ago - whether it is rearranging the penguin, walrus and bear toy that came with it, splashing in it to squeals of 'Agua!', or sliding the ice down the waterslide contraption - he is having a blast with this water table. Putting the ice in it brought it to a whole other level, as the heat here is rising and it is a great way to stay cool outside.

Our little piece of the Arctic in the Texas heat...

Every day seems like a new adventure with Charlie Ross, and he is certainly ready to embrace his 'twos' both the terrific and terrible sides. He frequently comes up with some new word or gesture that he never did before - from picking up a phone and saying 'Hello! [babble, babble, babble]', to perfecting what I can only term the toddler squeal of frustration at a pitch I did not know was possible.

One funny play event from a few weeks ago - these toys started out at the other side of the room spread out in their train station, within minutes they are all as shown below - banished en masse to coffee table Siberia - this was every figurine I had put out, no rhyme or reason behind it.

Crowded at the edge of nowhere, these toys wait for a train that can never arrive....

It is fun to play with him since he is so curious about everything - this is an awesome age even with the tantrums - some are pretty brutal, they can come in quick and leave just as quickly - but sometimes it as much fun just to watch him play alone, we really like trying to figure out what he is saying when he babbles to himself and his toys.

Storm on the horizon (this one blew over quickly with a hug, most are not so easily subdued)

We just discovered these mole movies on You Tube, and CR took to this particular one below - and requests 'Mole' nearly every time he is by the computer, he gets a big kick at the end when the season changes and the mole pops up from the hole ('Hi mole!', 'Hi Mole!'), and when winter comes back and the the snowman returns and hugs the mole (he pulls up his arms and giggles).

And he got a super kick out of this one the other day, with the water table we have been talking about the penguins alot, and pointing them out wherever we see them, so it should not have come as too much of a surprise that he would like this, but in the middle he just giggles at the penguin and seals' antics uncontrollably, which I had never seen him do before.

Charlie and I are having fun watching the birds and squirrels in the backyard get their fill from the new bird feeder Charlie put up (and keeps well stocked), we have seen a really impressive array of bird species (cardinals, blue jays, doves, and what we think are sparrows), a few of which we had to look up in our field guide (the Internet). We are going to get a hummingbird feeder too, as we had several our first summer here when we had flowering plants in the backyard - and that was a fun sight to see.

We start swimming lessons tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it - CR's first forays into the pool this summer were promising once he got acclimated to the water, and I will feel a bit more comfortable once he has some feel for water safety.

Below are some various pics since our last post....

CR's version of the 'Watermelon Crawl'

Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer!

Easter

Hello everyone, we had a great Easter here in Houston. My Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw came to visit, we had a big fish dinner Friday night, breakfast at the Cracker Barrel AND a crawfish boil at Aunt Gina and Uncle Dan's on Saturday, and a BBQ at our house on Sunday. We colored some eggs, went to the playground, and the Easter Bunny came too!

Enjoying some snacks while everyone else enjoys crawfish - Dad gave me a bit to taste - let's just say crawfish are not my thing yet (too spicy!)

Mom had not colored Easter eggs in many years - the stickers cover a bit of spottiness - all one color so not too much of a mees this year : )

I love my rocker!

CR Goes to CR (FL)

Last week Charlie Ross and I took our first plane trip together to visit Mom and Dad in Crystal River, FL. Charlie had to stay home and work - we missed him a bunch, and I have to admit I was nervous about flying by ourselves.

We had some trouble staying occupied in the airport it was really crowded and a bunch of planes including our flight were delayed due to fog - I wished we could have found a little corner for CR to run aroud in - that would have helped use up some energy. But I had a great surprise when we got on the plane - it was half empty - so we had a whole row to ourselves. Yea!
Mom and Aunt Evie met us at the airport, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the house with Dad and Grandpa. The weather in FL was beautiful and CR soaked it up with his unlimited stroller and wagon rides - thank you Grandma and Aunt Evie!

Aunt Evie, the neighbors (Mason, pulling the wagon is just 10 days older than CR), me, and CR in the wagon

We need more bars Great Grandpa - I have no coverage out here!

On Thursday we went to the beach, it was really chilly to me, but there were people in the water - you can guess who they were - Northerners! While I thought they were crazy to be swimming they probably thought we were crazy in our jackets. Regardless, CR enjoyed watching the big kids swim and build sandcastles, and getting his toes wet in the waves and sand.

On Friday we went to Homosassa Spring State Park where CR got to go on a boat tour, it was directed by - his Grandpa! We saw all kinds of wildlife on the boat (turtles, alligators, birds), and in the park/zoo we saw manatees, hippos, wolves, owls, more alligators, otters, the list goes on...

Charlie Ross, who's that? Your Grandpa!

This manatee was really big, we also saw her from the inside of the underwarter observatory, CR was pretty brave about it till she came face-up to the glass - even I was a bit nervous, seriously she was HUGE!

On Saturday we went to the Citrus County Fair, where we saw other kinds of animals (cows, pigs, rabbits, ducks, goats, etc.). CR got his first pony ride - he was a bit iffy about it, but I enjoyed the experience. When CR started to crank it up (he wanted to climb on the bleachers at the horse showing) Grandpa saved the day with what may be CR's favorite food yet - smoked turkey leg! He could not get enough!

Saturday night we went to dinner at Enricos (Osso Buco, my favorite!) with Uncle Mike, Aunt Nan and Mr. Tom - dinner was wonderful and the company was fantastic.

On Sunday we went home, it was the end of Spring Break so I knew we would not be so lucky with the plane situation. Sure enough it was packed full, and CR did ride on my lap. Luckily they let Mom come with me to the gate, and she helped while we scouted out a corner for CR to run around in - and for all my worrying he was a champ on the plane. We (quietly) sang some songs, read books, ate snacks, looked at the other passengers, then squirmed and protested a bit, then, 15 minutes before landing, went fast asleep. (...and when those wheels hit the ground I finally let out a sigh of relief...)

One lesson I learned the hard way from this trip - when the baby/toddler has a set routine, break it at your own peril. While it was bad enough he was recovering from an ear infection from earlier in the week, and breaking in some teeth (note all the paci's in these pics), by Friday the all new location and my cavalier attitude toward the change in regularly scheduled programming brought on (quite suddenly) the biggest cranky fit I ever saw from him. The rainclouds eventually passed and back came my sunny day CR, but it was enough to encourage me to to change plans to fit around his eat and particularly sleep schedule as much as possible from then out, even on the plane. You live you learn I guess.

This was actually pre-trip (post-packing and getting ready)...

We had such a good time - looking forward to visiting again - we are getting our swimming lessons all scheudled so next time when it is warmer we can swim in the pool!

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Spring!