As I sit in my living room listening to the rain falling outside, it is hard to believe that just over a week ago we were stranded in the house for FOUR days in what the news channels in Seattle called “Snowmageddon 2012″. I would estimate that we had only about six inches of snow, but in Seattle standards this is more than the city can handle! So schools were cancelled for the week and Pete was lucky enough to be able to work from home! Being “stuck” at home turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone, especially with our own private sledding hill across the street!
The view of our sledding park at the end of day one. It was a beautiful sunset.
Mr. Snowman!
Caroline continued to be a daredevil attempting to sled off of little jumps made by older kids, or sledding down backwards, etc. However, Charlie always preferred the smaller hills. This is a video of their last ride on the longer, steeper hill at the park. Charlie was crying when I got down the hill to get them, then on the next ride on a smaller hill I inadvertently pushed them off of a jump (that they landed!)… but that was the last ride for Charlie. He requested to stay home the next day even though DADDY was going to take him sledding! We’re pretty sure we will not be fitting in skiing lessons for them this year!
The kids and I had a little karaoke session tonight before bedtime and this is the video that resulted. Please note the following:
1) I have NO idea where Charlie learned to hold a mic the way he does
2) I have NO idea where Caroline learned to emcee! Seriously, it’s not like we sit around watching American Idol!
3) Pay special attention to Charlie’s face after he finishes his song… it’s like he exerted every ounce of energy in his entire body.
4) Caroline was under strict orders to not sing with Charlie. She loves to correct him, so I told her she could give him hints along the way but not to take over. Well, she decided instead to do some interpretive dancing before stepping up as the emcee.
All I can say is, look out American Idol and Ryan Seacrest!
Is it appropriate to still be listening to Christmas carols in January? I spent the morning putting away all of our Christmas decorations and was in disbelief of how fast the season flew by this year. Charlie is also in denial as he spends most of the days singing “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. I keep meaning to get a video of his cute high-pitched voice butchering the lyrics but I can’t get myself to interrupt the moment, especially since he stops singing as soon as he realizes you are listening! I can’t imagine the Holidays getting much better than it was this year when the Christmas magic is probably at it’s peak with a two and four year old, but I will try to remain hopeful!
Here is a brief summary of our December 2011:
Nervous smiles before meeting Santa.
One of these kids REFUSED to sit on Santa's lap!
First Annual Father/Daughter Outing to see the "Nutcracker"!
The "kids" at the Ridgewood, NJ Santa.
Setting out food for Santa and his reindeer.
Heading to bed on Christmas Eve in their Christmas jammies.
Santa actually gave him the "tuptakes" he asked for!
Same, same!
Christmas Night Scavenger Hunt with Cousin Sophia.
Caroline and Aunt Sally
Central Park Zoo (Charlie couldn't take his eyes off of the polar bear!)
Central Park Zoo - in front of the sea lions.
At the 4D showing of the "Polar Express" - It was SOOO fun!
Rockefeller Center
Coffee Break before getting on the Subway (Charlie's favorite part of the NYC trip)
New York Botanical Garden (brr....)
"Gingerbread Adventures" at NYBG
The amazing train show at the NYBG (yes, this one is Thomas!)
Charlie posing next to a replica of Yankee Stadium.
The flight back to Seattle turned out to be the highlight of my year (when will I ever get to watch both of them sleeping on my lap!)
New Year's Eve/Christmas celebration with the Cha Family!
So happy!
Charlie's New Year bow to Hami and Habi (got a little carried away and did a full somersault!)
These pictures do not even come close to expressing what an amazing month we had! I wish I had captured more moments that we will remember from the season and our trip to NJ. Decorating cookies with Alyssa and Meaghan, Caroline playing countless rounds of “go fish” with Nana and all of her favorite Great-Aunts, gingerbread house decorating with Steven (who I’m pretty sure Caroline would tell you is the funniest person in the ENTIRE world), etc. etc. We really are so lucky to have such an amazing family! Happy New Year!
I can’t believe that there are only three more weeks until Christmas! Before I get even more carried away with holiday preparations, I thought I would post our November updates. It was a WONDERFUL month filled with family gatherings! Caroline summed it up best when her teachers asked her what she was thankful for and she responded, “Love” and “Charlie”… nothing more amazing in life than love and family!
In addition to Caroline’s first violin recital, here are some other memorable pictures from the month!
This post is VERY late, but here are some pictures from a very fun Halloween! Our Eli Manning and Flower Princess Fairy had a wonderful time trick-or-treating around the neighborhood!
Getting lined up for the preschool Halloween parade.
We went apple picking with some friends a few weeks ago to the same place we went two years ago right before Charlie was born! The apples weren’t that great this year, but it turned out to be a fun little road trip just to see some sun! I should also note that all of these pictures were taken by my friend Emily!
Beautiful Backdrop
Red Rover, Red Rover...
And these pictures below are my ABSOLUTE favorite of Charlie and his good friend Opal… I’m thinking about framing the last one!
After the last few days of opening presents we’re pretty sure that Charlie is now well prepared for Christmas morning! We stayed in all morning on his birthday because he and I were sick, but you couldn’t tell from how much fun he was having with all of his new toys. After a quick nap I decided that we needed to make things a little more exciting so Caroline, Charlie and I went to… a COFFEE SHOP! Yes, not that exciting for most people, but Charlie honestly thinks it is the biggest treat in the world to pick out a pastry and get to drink “coffee” (milk in a coffee cup). Pete took him to a coffee shop one Saturday morning a few months ago and since then EVERY time we drive by it he yells “COFFEE SHOP, MOMMY! GO THERE WITH DADDY!” Then we did our traditional birthday trip to a toy shop where he got to pick out one special toy… and this year he picked a playmobil police motorcycle (LOVES motorcycles). As we were leaving the coffee shop Charlie asked me, “Where going momma?” and when I said, “to a toy store for your birthday toy!” he yelled out in his most enthusiastic voice, “THIS FUN!” I love two year olds. You can make their entire year with a biscotti and a $12 motorcycle toy.
We also had a small family celebration over the weekend! It was a birthday/Halloween celebration full of food, candy and cupcakes!
Admiring his cupcakes.
When I told him he had to wait until AFTER dinner to eat a cupcake.
Cousins in Costumes... Caroline wore the dog costume two years ago!
Admiring his new leftie BIG BOY golf clubs from Hami and Habi!
GO GIANTS!
It was a wonderful celebration of the first two years of Charlie’s life! I don’t have a picture of Caroline’s gift to Charlie but it was a soccer ring she picked out from her preschool “treasure box” after she acquired 10 stickers for good deeds. We thought it was so sweet of her to think of Charlie! I told her that Pop Pop’s birthday was coming up so that maybe she could pick out a present for him next time she had ten stickers, but after some thought she turned to me and said “Well, I think that he would like a picture better”.
I’m pretty sure this past year will be the biggest year of change you’ll ever have! Walking, talking, kicking, jumping… you have learned so much! You are our little dare devil. Not in a reckless, crazy way but in a very planned and calculated fashion – jumping off stairs, jumping into pools, hanging from high monkey bars, climbing playground structures that are not designed for almost-two year olds… perhaps we’ll have to have a long talk about gravity and under-water breathing capabilities soon, as you don’t seem to quite understand the limits of your little toddler body.
Besides the mini heart attacks you give me with your fearless stunts, you are such a little joy! You have developed into such a HAPPY and thoughtful little boy with genuine gratitude for the simplest parts of the day (“Than too for breatfast mommy!”). You are full of hugs and kisses… even for the sad characters in your story books! You also have a funny little sense of humor! You think it is HYSTERICAL when I change the lyrics to songs (“twinkle twinkle litttle…whale”)and we often play a game in the car that we made up called, “THAT’S SILLY!” where I say things like “Do you see a monkey driving that truck?”.. you laugh hysterically and say “NO! That’s SIWWY!” You are also starting to develop a sense of imagination… “pretending” to have a boo-boo (last weekend you tricked Daddy by putting a sticker on your forehead and pretending to cry!), handing me an imaginary book and telling me to read it while naming the characters, and your favorite toys are these magna tiles that you have started building all on your own! From rocket ships, to houses, to tents I love just watching your mind work as you build your own little world.
Of course, not a single toy can compete with your love of all BALLS. You haven’t mastered your colors quite yet but you can classify a dozen different sport balls! You are quite a little soccer player and a couple of months ago you started hitting a pitched baseball! You don’t like to watch tv, but you will sit to watch a 5 minute clip of any sports game… little league baseball being your favorite. I wonder if you’ll be our little athlete? I’m sorry to say that you probably won’t have much height to work with (so the jump shots into your 3 foot basketball hoop may not be too impressive much longer), but perhaps golf? Soccer? Baseball?
Thank you for bringing us so many smiles and laughs throughout the day. We can’t wait to see what the next year holds for you and feel so lucky to have the privilege of being able to watch you grow… although, you will always be our little baby boy!
Love you always and forever, Mommy and Daddy
p.s. Here is a video of almost-two Charlie. You are a little sad because I had just told you that you could not eat the cupcakes on the kitchen table until AFTER dinner… and sadly, you were sick on your actual birthday so i couldn’t get a better video. I love your close-up face…
Caroline had the opportunity to model for an amazing clothing line a few months ago and in return, they gave us these amazing photos! You will be seeing her soon in the Spring 2012 section of their website – www.joahlove.com. I was pretty tempted to just take these sample clothes home… and the headbands!
