California!

My cousin Amanda got married in California so Charlie and I hopped on a plane and flew down for the festivities.

Charlie had a grand time in the airport running around wanting me to catch him.  We sure amused our soon-to-be fellow passengers for an hour.  On the plane we sat next to a BYU engineering professor and his wife.  There were a lot of other little kids around us in the back of the airplane which was great for Charlie to watch and play with.  He was probably one of the best behaved children on the plane since he didn't fuss once.

He did quite well on the way home as well.  He didn't get fussy until the end since he was ready for his nap and they took forever attaching the walkway to the plane and then had to stop us to redo it.  My Grandma took this photo of me with Charlie and all of my stuff.  I got a few compliments from strangers about how impressed they were that I found a way to transport everything without help.

 Charlie had a lot of fun exploring and running around!

 Eating some yummy new foods that my Grandma makes.

Charlie had a great time playing with his car at the dinner the night before the wedding.

 When we drove to the temple for the wedding Evan, David, and I had to squish into the back of my Grandma's car.  Even though I was pregnant I was still the smallest and had to sit in the middle.  Good thing my pregnant belly only goes forward and not sideways.

 I didn't get many photos of the cute couple, Amanda & Karl, because I was either taking care of Charlie in the blistering heat or too tired to even think about taking photos.  But by the end our trip we were both tired and ready to go home.

Charlie's Cute Little Words, Bye Bye Bottle, and Big Boy Bed

Charlie has begun saying real words with real meaning.  His first word was "kitty" because that is what we call our cat that he loves to play with.  Charlie's second word is "thank you."  I know that is technically two words, but for him it is one word.  We always have said thank you whenever he hands us a toy or we hand him a toy.  He doesn't understand the full meaning of the word, but it is generally a word for sharing.

On Sunday we saw Charlie sharing his blocks with the cat and saying "Thank you."  It was so cute!!!  He didn't even have to be prompted to use his words.  I ran and got the camera, but the moment was over.  I did get the video below.  You can skip to the end where I finally get him to say, "thank you."

Charlie is strictly on a cup now.  He has been using one quite well for some time, but I decided that it was finally time to give up the bottle.  He has been doing great.  I never let him get attached to it in the first place so that was helpful.  I decided to go straight to a cup since I kind of view sippy cups as a toddler version of the bottle and I didn't want to have to break him of that down the road.

Charlie, as well, has upgraded to a toddler bed that I got from my aunt.  I wanted him fully adjusted to his new bed before the next baby came.  I am also hoping that it will help with waking up time.  He has gotten into a habit of being cranky in the morning so I am hoping he will learn to get off his bed and play with his toys instead.  Even though he can get off the couch and our bed fine, he doesn't seem to want to get off of his bed by himself.  It has a little edge, which I think he is making into a mental block more than a physical block.

Charlie is sure growing up and doing so many great and cute things.  We love him so much!