More videos

So here's the next wave of videos of Charlie that I had promised. There's nothing too groundbreaking here, but they show off a bit of Charlie's emerging personality. But here goes.

Charlie in the "hanging jumper thing" (Facebook):

Charlie getting rolled around the bed (and I'm not sure what kind of crazy noise I'm making) (Facebook):

Charlie in his favorite outfit (just a diaper) (Facebook):

Charlie giving Mom a kiss (Facebook):

Almost 3 Months

So it's been almost 3 months since Little Charlie joined the world, and even though it's been a LOT of work, it's been worth every minute of hard work and missed sleep.

A couple right by us just had their baby and it was eye opening to go see how little he was. Charlie is still pretty small and has a LOT of growing up for us to enjoy, but it was just shocking to see how much he's changed in less than 3 months. Jenni and I both had commented that we thought we'd never forgot how small he was and what the initial experience was like, but it definitely showed both of us how quickly everything goes by and how important it is to appreciate every day with the little guy. And it definitely helped me remember why they call it the "miracle of life".

But anyway, here's the mandatory set of recent pictures (Facebook, PWA). I'm also working on uploading the recent set of videos with Charlie showing of his "tricks"/Jenni and I messing with him, but those will just have to wait for another post.

Not quite nunchuk skills, but close

Charlie has started to develop some new "skills", and here are the videos for him to show them off to the world.

Charlie sitting up and showing off his smile (Facebook):

Giving his Mom a kiss (Facebook):

And swinging like a madman (Facebook):

Charlie and the Jumperoo

So while we were in LA, we noticed that Charlie was starting to want to stand up a little and he was definitely getting a lot better at holding his head up, so when we got back we stuck him in the Jumperoo and watched him go. He's still figuring it out a bit and can't completely support all of his weight for too long, but he really enjoys it. You can see the video below (or on Facebook).

Here's a video of him standing (Facebook).

And here's a video of him showing off his dance moves without my help (Facebook).

Happy Birthday to me

Ok, I know it's kind of dumb to wish myself Happy Birthday online (especially since it's late), but I mostly just wanted to say thanks to Jenni for getting everyone together to celebrate the beginning of the last year before I'm officially old (i.e 30).

Thanks a ton, Jenni, and of course it wouldn't be a real post from me if there weren't pictures (Facebook, PWA).

Living the high life

During the week of the 4th of July, we took a trip to LA to show off Charlie and check out some of the sites. We went to a Dodger game (Facebook, PWA, YouTube), saw Wicked (which I enjoyed finally being able to see after hearing about it for so long), introduced Charlie to his extended family on Jenni's side (Facebook, PWA), went swimming at Kenny's with Aunt Judy and Chad (Facebook, PWA), saw the Bodies exhibit at the California Science Center (Facebook, PWA), went wakeboarding at Lake Arrowhead (Facebook, PWA), and hung out at Jenni's old stomping grounds (Facebook, PWA).

We learned a few things (listed in no particular order):

• Always make sure you are getting on the right bus (we end running just over a mile and barely making it to Wicked just before it started)
• 2 months old don't love the beach as much as adults
  
• Strollers and sand don't really mix (carrying a stroller, diaper bag, beach bag, and fussy baby across the hot sand wasn't the ideal way we had imagined the time at the beach ending)
  
• Be sure to know all the rules on a private lake (like driving counter clockwise in Lake Arrowhead so the Police boat doesn't pull you over)

But we had TONS of fun and Jenni did a GREAT job of making sure we had lots of fun things to do and never wasted any of the precious vacation days. We also owe a HUGE thanks to Jenni's grandparents and Kenny and Kristy for the help with Charlie and for letting us crash at their place.