Charlie Franklin

Dad and Charlie, tickle time

What a fun two months!

A lot has been going on over the past few weeks. The most recent being we are losing our nanny and moving into daycare territory. Or, "school", as Kevin likes to call it. That makes us feel better about it. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of benefits and many successful people have come out of the depths of the chaos and dirtiness of daycare. But I will really miss the convenience of our nanny.

I visited 6 different centers and was really getting discouraged. They were all just as I remembered them: Dirty, loud, and full of weird adults who I wouldn't trust to get my mail, let alone watch my baby. But, eventually I did find a couple that I felt ok with. I guess that's part of the sacrifice you have to make when you want it all. Maybe when he's a little older, I'll convince my boss to let me bring him to work with me every day. Then I will really have it all!

But seriously, my career situation is crazy awesome. I am in a position I never thought I'd be and actually really, REALLY enjoy what I do. That has made it difficult to try and balance the priorities of home and work life. I would love to stay home with Charlie. But I would miss out on so much of the satisfaction and pride I take in my work. I suppose that's my way of rationalizing my decision, but I do feel it's what's best for our family right now.

As we were going around looking at the daycare facilities, there seemed to be a recurring conversation:

"Hi, how are you?"
"Fine, thanks. Can we please take a tour?"
"Of course. Let me have you fill out this paper first. Is this your child?"
"Yes, this is Charlie."
"Oh, what a cutie! Is it a boy or a girl?"

Seriously. I mean, I know Charlie is kind of a unisex name, and I know with babies it's often difficult to know for sure, but he is dressed in black jeans and a t shirt with a black motorcycle on it. So it made me finally come to grips with the fact that Charlie needs a hair cut. Desperately. The mullet this kid is growing would put Joe Dirt to shame.

But the first hair cut is a big deal. It's the first time that I have control over changing the appearance of my baby. He's had that same hair since he was inside my belly. I've washed it countless times, rubbed my cheek against it when giving hugs, and stroked it while helping him go back to sleep. So what is the best way to capture the moment before changing the face you've known since birth? Well, for some it's with keeping the locks tucked away in an envelope. For others, maybe it's my snapping a few before and after photos. But in this house, we do photo shoots.

I decided to go for a Benjamin Franklin theme. I made him a little puffy shirt with some wool pants, bought some tights and away we went. His hair was the perfect length for a little baby ponytail. It was difficult to capture the full view, but you can get the idea. I'm glad Charlie is such a good sport about it all. What choice does he have, really?

Although Charlie has been walking for a few months now, he has really picked up the pace. He is better at balancing himself but he still has difficulty sometimes. He knows how to click his tongue and likes to babble on and on. He can take direction pretty well, he knows how to find his bottle, come here, no (of course) and find kitty. He waves his hands back and forth when he's all done and has learned the actions for Itsy Bitsy Spider (still his favorite song).

We went to the aquarium again a couple of weeks ago. He liked it much better this time than he did the last time we went. His favorite were the jellyfish and the turtle.

Ugly sweater. We do the holidays right.

He also had a pretty interesting Christmas. I'm sure he'll be more into it next year, but he seemed a little overwhelmed at all the noise, wrapping paper and new toys.

In other news, Charlie is already going to be an uncle. His older sister is expecting a baby girl who will be born around the end of March. Pretty weird, but it will be good for him to have a playmate about his age. He's also getting a new cousin about a month later, as my sister-in-law is pregnant, too!

One of Charlie's many musical toys from Christmas

We took the kids to see the lights downtown on Christmas
Eve. Charlie was frozen, but so amazed.