80th

 On Thursday we got to celebrate this amazing woman's 80th birthday. My red Grandma! She is probably one of the coolest 80 year-olds around mostly because she owns pretty much every nintendo and the like in her home so her grand kids could always have a party there. Even as teenagers we loved hanging out at our grandma's house more than our own home. She would always have homemade cookies and popcorn for us. She is also the amazing lady who patiently taught me piano throughout my life. She is incredibly talented and intelligent and we are so lucky that she is our grandma (and Charlie's great grandma)!

We celebrated with her by going to Reinlander German restaurant where we indulged in fondue and bratwursts and were serenaded by a talented accordion player and vocalist!

And Charlie also got some grandma time 

PS. The accordian player reminded me of the birthday where I was serenaded by one of the best accordianists around....Leah, oh how we miss you!

Spaghetti

Every young child needs some good messy spaghetti pictures! I don't make spaghetti very often so I'm pretty sure this was Charlie's first time trying it...He loved it, and the mess was something to be proud of!

This kid cracks me up!!

And he's done!

That's all, just thought I would share!

Cupid, draw back your bow...

I have come to love it when holidays fall on week-days, I've somehow convinced Max that we get to have a week-day celebration and a weekend celebration, this also rings true for our anniversary and birthdays! This way, we can celebrate twice, as a family of three and as a couple. It's the perfect plan. That is just what happened this year for Valentine's day! On Thursday (day of) Max had to work all day and I was home with my fevery son. Lucky for me, Charlie is a strong boy that doesn't let a fever get in the way of his joy. For the most part he was just as pleasant as usual with only a slight decrease in sleeping and appetite. During the day Charlie and I made a valentine for Daddy! He was also content enough to allow me to make our valentine's ham dinner. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the way to Max's heart is HAM!!  

This year we even made it heart-shaped. The asparagus was supposed to be heart shaped too, I don't know what happened. 

And I just want to throw out a plug for those fudgey delicious cookies right there. Max and I have been trying to eat healthy and since I love to bake it has occasionally made this goal difficult. These cookies however, are "healthy." They are made with black beans and are still amazingly delicious. Try them! I dare you! Here's the recipe...Delicious Cookies!!

As it turns out, Charlie is a ham pig too!

That evening Max and I were able to spend some enjoyable home time together. 

On Saturday, We arranged a Valentine's date for Charlie and my mom. That way, Max and I could leave and not disturb their date. Clever right? Charlie and his grandma enjoyed a candle-lit dinner and some playtime. while Max and I got to hit the town. We haven't been able to go on very many dates in the evening when Charlie has to go to bed so this one was extra special.

We decided to make our date have the whole Valentine theme so we started by playing cupid at Archer's Afield. Max has been wanting to do this for awhile. This archery place was near where we grew up and has a lot of good childhood memories. I was a little intimidated at first when I couldn't get my arrows near the target but I figured it out and we ended up having so much fun.

The awkward pose of the night.

My best shot. 

When our arms got tired we finished and the night was still young. We then went to the mall for a Jamba dinner and in search for a Valentinesy item. We didn't come home with the item we were searching for but we did find an amazing deal on a wonderful king-size comforter which we have needed for our bed. That's kind of Valentinesish right? Anyway, it felt so good to be out on a wonderful date and not feel like we needed to rush home to get the baby in bed. We knew he was well taken care of so we could have a stress-free night.

And seriously, how does a girl get so lucky to have these two incredibly handsome valentines?

Tender moments

There are so many moments that I share with my son that just melt my heart. They may not seem like much but they become the reasons I feel so privileged to be a mother. I feel that I need to document these in order to always remember them because, I know, as he grows they will just become memories.

Holding my sleeping boy: A week or so ago, Charlie had a low fever and it caused him to have trouble sleeping. He was waking up about every hour after we put him down. He was completely exhausted and once I picked him up, he would quickly fall asleep in my arms. As he gets older, I don't get to hold him while he sleeps much, so this felt so good to me. I contemplated how much he had grown and how there is no more room on my lap for his long legs. I felt his unconditional love he has for me and the safety he must feel in my arms.
      That same night, we decided to bring Charlie into our bed so he could be comforted by us all night. I have never really enjoyed having him in our bed because I usually can't sleep, Max held Charlie over by him and cuddled him until the morning. This was Max's tender moment. Especially now that he is working and doesn't see the little guy as often, he keeps commenting on how holding his still and sleeping son was truly special to him.

Books: Charlie has recently been more interested in books than toys. I have been trying to teach him respect for books and how to turn the pages carefully. We have read together nearly every night ever since he was about 3 months. When he was about 7 months he started to get extra wiggly so we read together but he usually wasn't in my lap. Some days, I wondered why I tried so hard when it seemed that we wasn't getting much from this routine. Now that he is showing an interest in books, I feel that we have had a little victory. At the end of the day there are usually several piles of books throughout our living room. Here are some pictures I was lucky enough to catch.

                                             
This one was extra special to me because he picked out one of my Armenian children's books. When I picked out 2 children's books at the end of my mission, I envisioned my future children enjoying them but it seemed like something in the very distant future. But this day, my son plopped down right by my feet and started looking through it.

He's also interested in the thesaurus!?!

I handed him a book to hold while I changed his diaper. Usually when I pull up his pants, he rolls over and wants to play but this time he was so enthralled by this book, he stayed there and continued to "read" it. 

Prayers: Charlie showed us that he knows he needs to fold his arms when we pray. We have prayed with him at meals and together at night for quite some time and we always emphasize that we fold our arms. Last night was the first time that we said "we're going to pray Charlie" and he willingly folded his arms by himself. I got a little choked up because I was so proud of him. Of course, he didn't keep his arms folded the whole prayer, but we felt that he is starting to get the idea.

Understanding: Charlie hasn't been too big on speaking but everyday he has shown us something new he understands. When we say "let's go outside" he will go to the door and wiggle the knob. When we ask "Where's the piano?" he will point or go to it and play a bit. He knows nose, eye, ear, and teeth and will point to them on me. He smacks his lips when we say "Can you give mama a kiss?" He sometimes puts his head on the ground when we ask him to do a somersault.and I'm sure there are a ton more! It is so fun to be able to communicate with my little boy.

 These are just some pictures from a sunny day at the park last week.

 Hide and Seek: All on his own, Charlie decided to hide in his changing table cupboard, at this moment I realized he isn't much of a baby anymore. Just like any kid, he likes to get himself into small places. He even tried to close the door.

That's all I can think of right now but we are incredibly impressed with this boy everyday and feel so blessed to have the opportunity of raising him.