When this cover came in the mail today, boy was Charlie excited. Funny dogs! Wearing coats! Upstairs, he wanted to take the magazine into the bathroom while he pooped.
He never reads while he poops!
Nice that his first potty read was oh-so-sophisticated.
As we flipped through the on-demand channels tonight looking for Blue’s Clues, the remote got stuck on WWE.
Charlie sat upright and yelled, “What are those NUDEY mens doing on the hockey station?!”
“Wrestling?”
No wonder the world makes no sense when you’re three.
I love Mohonk, even though I’ve only been there three times now. They had a special over MLK day, and all of us happened to have the holiday off this year. So, convincing ourselves this was an early anniversary present (when we usually don’t celebrate our anniversary), we went to Mohonk.
It snowed while we were there, and we saw a “winter deer” eating in the forest. We swam in the indoor pool, twice. And tried ice skating, snow shoeing and cross-country skiing. Charlie tried them all, too, having the most success with the shoeing.
When he first put on the ice skates, he couldn’t even stand on them without his ankles turning over. By the time we were done (about twenty minutes?) he could at least walk on the blades across the floor. He never did master standing on the ice. The poor kid had legs splayed out in all directions, arms hanging on to us and the wall, knees scraping the ice, saying, “I want to ICE SKATE!” As if we were somehow keeping him from gliding away. Maybe we’ll look for mommy and me lessons; I wouldn’t mind knowing how to go all the way around the rink without falling down.
I will try to add photos when I can. Jesse took quite a few beautiful shots. He’s got the skills when it comes to capturing things on (digital) film. We’re supposed to be getting a new desktop computer soon, which will allow us to store photos, network up this little laptop and share photos more easily. I hope.
When Charlie gave me a hug tonight and said, unprompted, “You are the most best Mama in the whole wide world,” it was almost enough to make me forget my aggravation this morning when he rolled on the floor screaming instead of putting on his clothes.
One day he’ll understand that putting clothes on now means getting to work on time 40 minutes from now. But probably by that time, he won’t think of me as the most, best Mama any more.
So, I will focus on the positive and be happy that I can sometimes walk fast enough to make up the lost time.
We went to the Big Apple Circus tonight, our second annual visit with Grandma the Clown. We ate popcorn and ooh’d and aah’d. They have an amazing group of performers, and this time Bello the clown was the star of the show.
The wheel of wonder nearly made my heart stop! It takes some talent to make death-defying stunts look like they are done accidentally, by a clown.
Charlie loved the horses, of course, and the dogs. And Grandma the clown. See how she wears a red dress and yellow stockings?
After the show, we had to stop by the grocery store and the woman in line in front of us was wearing a yellow dress with red stockings.
Charlie said, “Hey, Granny.”
The woman was probably 40.
I don’t think she heard him, thank goodness. But I got my tickle-box turned over anyway.
Check out Jenna’s new wedding blog:
Charlie’s version of “O Christmas Tree:”
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
You are so brightly
I love you.
Charlie’s impression of the Catholic church’s holiday display:
When the dozens and dozens of trees and angels in the church’s yard were lit for the first time, Charlie said it looked like his “imagination.”
And when they put up the manger scene, minus Baby Jesus since he doesn’t arrive until Christmas, Charlie said it was the “mystery of the missing Baby Jesus!”
Merry Christmas, everyone!
When I picked up Charlie this afternoon for his flu shot, the first thing he said was, “Mama, today we played Santa!”
“Who played with you?”
“NoahCheng and Jonathan.”
“How do you play?” I asked.
“You say, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas, everyone!’”
Oh, of course.
So we did a lot more than just Macy’s Santaland when Kylie and Kathryn came to visit last week, but that was definitely a highlight. (Charlie had to go back the next day–hence the two Santa photos–and see if the Penguin and the Moose, who were there last year, were anywhere to be found. They stayed at the North Pole this year. Charlie said that made him sad and he wanted to go tell Santa Claus about it.)
On the first day, we saw Times Square, Toys R Us, the M&M store, Rockefeller Center, the NBC store, a Japanese bakery where we ordered things we didn’t recognize (but that were delicious) and the Rockettes! Somehow Kylie was unaware that Thanksgiving weekend is the biggest tourist weekend in the city, so she was willing to brave the insane crowds–at least until we all got hungry.
On Saturday, we stayed closer to home. Kylie said our neighborhood looks kind of like Sesame Street, and I have to agree. It’s a great little area, quiet, tree-lined and residential. I’ll take that over Times Square any day! We bounced at Bounce U, ate phenomenal pizza, and saw the winter boardwalk of Coney Island. Then Kylie and I caught a late show of New Moon. (I enjoyed it, but still couldn’t help laughing at the cheesy parts.)
On Monday, we braved the city once again, getting as close as we could while remaining on land to the Statue of Liberty; exploring Macy’s Santaland, including the Miracle on 34th Street puppet show; having tea and scones at Alice’s Tea Cup, after we’d been sprinkled with fairy dust and provided with Wikki Stix.
The girls had an early flight on Tuesday, and we miss them a lot. Luckily, there are only three weeks exactly until we see them again. Thanks for coming up, ladies!
