Charlie goes to craft night

My friend Emily from church hosted a craft party to make Christmas presents on Black Friday after Thanksgiving.
As you can see, Charlie and I had a great time exploring all the tids and tads around from all the different craft projects happening.

Because Charlie was so intent on exploring everything, I only had time to knit two rounds on the hat that I currently have on the needles.
However, these projects have made their way off the needles in the past month or so.
Christmas hat and booties for a Christmas baby coming soon...

The Charlie modeling the almost finished Charlie sweater. It just needs buttons now...

and slippers for my boy's cold feet...

the fort

It's all about the wonders of grass at the St. Louis Zoo

This Saturday we had planned to take Charlie to the St. Louis Zoo. It is free, but we hadn't managed to find a time to go until now. I had Saturday morning off from teaching piano lessons because of Thanksgiving, so we decided to go. It was a wonderful day. Charlie let us sleep in... until 7:45! After breakfast, we went for a family walk. Charlie was still in his pj's and with his coat managed to put us all into the Christmas spirit!

After his nap we headed out to the zoo. It was a beautiful day for animal watching and lots of the animals were out. Charlie was very interested the whole time. Still, we determined that Charlie might be a little young for the zoo.
The clues that led us to this decision were as follows:
When we saw the cheetah, Charlie was more excited by trying to eat some tall grass heads he could almost reach.

At the orangutan exhibit, Charlie was more interested in plucking a little girl's ponytail off her head. (That's us on the right side of the middle window...and the little girl is right next to us)

We had an amazing view of the elephants, but Charlie wanted to know why you should look at huge animals with trunks when you can examine a fence!

We saw sea lions catching thrown fish, but Charlie wanted to steal the watch off of a elderly Italian gentleman next to us instead.

In fact, just about the only thing Charlie did watch that we wanted him to watch was the little train that made its way through the zoo!

Still, Jonathan and I had a great time discovering the wonders of the mundane through Charlie's eyes!

Happy Thanksgiving...

We had a potluck Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with our seminary friends the Tamms.
That morning Charlie played in a newly improvised playpen, while we got some things done in the kitchen. He is into everything these days and likes to get hurt the minute you turn your back on him. I finally barricaded him into the corner with our dining room chairs so I could get breakfast cooked. Not sure how we are going to handle this new mobility, but it sure is making our apartment seem tiny!

After his morning nap, Charlie had some lunch to hold him over until Thanksgiving dinner which was scheduled for around 2:30.

Then he got dressed up.

And I told him all about Thanksgiving dinner.

"hmmmm....food !"

"And pie? Will I get pie?"

"What do you mean, I'm too young for pie?"

It was a great afternoon and there was more than enough food to stuff 15 adults, three babies, one toddler and one pug dog!

Dinner started right at Charlie's nap time, so he was fussy through it, but did still manage to enjoy some turkey, some mashed potatoes and of course the traditional Marzinke sweet potatoes, which was part of our contribution to the meal. He was not, however, a fan of green bean casserole.

The highlight of the day came for me at about 5:30, when everyone was enjoying pie. Charlie decided to nod off in my arms and take a cat nap right there in the middle of the living room conversation. It was a sweet treat for his Momma, especially since Charlie doesn't usually snuggle.
After we got home there was time for....superbaby!!!! to fly around the apartment once before bed.

(This is what happens when Daddy takes care of bath time. Dads really are always so much more fun than Moms!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

more not about knitting...

Here's some more eye candy for all those Charlie addicts out there! (I must confess I seem to be addicted myself!)

Charlie got his first toothbrush this week. He likes it a lot. (So much so that he cries when tooth brushing time is over. )

We figured since he has four teeth now, he should probably start learning about how to take care of them!

He also got an early Christmas present, because Grandma M couldn't wait. It is a walker that has alligators on the front who snap their jaws when you push it. It is perfect since walking is all Charlie wants to do these days. Thank you Grandma!


Here he is showing off his stuff. He really has got the hang of it now. (Please pardon my annoying "baby talk" in this video. It turns out that sort of speech, though easy to slip into when you have a baby, should just not be captured on video!)



Charlie also tried out the tube slide. But since Dada didn't really fit it as nicely as Charlie did, we're going to hold off on more such slides until Charlie can do it on his own.


Here's some shots of everyday life. Helping with the dishwasher....

Reading about people who are far away...

And juggling with Dad...

...stay tuned for more not about knitting!

a little heavy on the Charlie

My friend Calia posted a wordle on her blog to show how it has been repossessed by her daughter and it got me curious. I know the last nine months of my blog have been much more 'baby' than 'artsy' or 'crafty'. Here's my wordle from my most recent blog entries.

I guess I need to make a post about my knitting soon to balance things out... All I could find that was even remotely crafty in there was the word 'fluffy'.

Still, it does accurately represent. We are a little heavy on the Charlie around here and wouldn't have it another way!

Then and Now

Here's a little trip down memory lane.
Then...

Now...

Then...


Now...

a few thoughts from the doctor's office...

Charlie had his nine-month check up today. In this broken world not many things are they way they were meant to be. There are car accidents and pollution. Children are born with cancer and clubbed feet. We get the flu. There is death. We rarely if ever experience this world the way God created it to be. That is why we long for heaven and His final restoration.

Charlie has changed so much since the last time we were at the doctor. I had to work hard to keep him occupied in the little waiting room. As I wrestled to hold onto his naked-but-for-a-diaper body while talking to his doctor I felt this joy bubbling up in me. My joy was for his health, for his fat body, for his strong muscles, and for his alert mind that never stops exploring while he is awake. And though the doctor checked him out thoroughly, I didn't need him to tell me that Charlie is glowing with good health. He actually weighs 24.5lbs and is 31 inches long!

On the drive home, with Charlie happily babbling in the back seat, I wondered why this made me so joyful, and I have concluded that this might be a little glimpse of the way God meant it to be. Children are meant to be healthy, to burst into their adults' lives with such vivacious energy that awe-filled joy can be our only response. What a gift I, we all, have been given!

Charlie at Nine Months

Charlie turned nine months old today.

This has been a big month for him developmentally. He seems just huge to me. He is growing out of his 12mo clothes and weighs more that 23lbs.

He has learned the words Dada and Mama and light. Not that he can always say them appropriately, but he know who and what they mean and sometimes says Dada to his Dada. If you ask him "Where's Dada" or "Where's Mama," he looks right away to the correct person.

He has learned to sit up on his own when he is lying down, to pull himself into a standing position without any assistance, to scoot on his bum and is now starting to make his first frustrated and slow attempts at crawling.





He has started dancing to music, and is very sensitive about hearing and responding to any kind or rhythm or beat. My favorite instances of him dancing are the way he grooves out to the little interlude pieces they play between segments on NPR. Yesterday he was banging his plastic cups together and then started dancing to his own rhythm! Here he is enjoying the classical station:



We have been showing him hand signs for "food" and "all done" and "more" and "light". Today he made his first sign. When I turned on the night light next to his bed, he looked at the light and slowly opened and closed his fingers. Later when I asked him where the light was he did this:



I feel like I'm falling in love with Charlie all over again because he has started reciprocating. He has also gotten really good at expressing how much he likes his parents. When either of us returns after being gone, he scrunches up his nose, breathes hard, flaps his arms and sometimes even squeals in excitement. It is very cute.

He also likes to kiss me, which we're working on finessing. Unfortunately, right now it usually involves him grabbing my hair at the really sensitive areas behind my ears and pulling my face into aggressive contact with all four of his teeth! Still, it is sweet to be SO loved.

Eben Booties

The girl next door had her baby...Eben is his name.

Doesn't his sweet charm perfect these fluffy booties I knit him?

Morning Walk

This morning I'm praising God for Fall,

for 70 degree weather,

and for the shape of my son's feet kicking in front of me as I walk.

A Few Observations From This 78 Degree Sunday

Wearing summer clothes after having sweaters on is very nice.

Hearing most of a sermon at church can be very refreshing.

Charlie loves having avocado pieces for lunch.

Leaves actually crunch (the way you read about in books) when you step on them here in the fall.

Spending an hour knitting with your son happily playing at your feet is fabulous.

It becomes even more fabulous when you realize he is so happy because he has finally figured out crawling!

A day in November

These pictures are from a bunch of different days the last week, but I wanted to give you a little picture of what a typical day for Charlie is now that he is going on nine months.
At about 6:45 am, Charlie usually decides the first agenda of the day is to sit up. He's getting pretty good at it, and it makes him really happy. That's when we hear " da da ma daaa da" in the monitor. But, when the blankets are in the way and his attempts at sitting up are unsuccessful, we hear grunting that quickly turns to frustrated crying, and then it's time to rescue him! Here's the blow-by-blow of a successful attempt.





Ta DA!

Then he nurses and comes out to sit on the mat and play with his toys while I make breakfast. This morning Dad joined him to re-string his violin.

Charlie was fascinated. Especially with the paper envelopes the strings came in. He eats paper and cries when you take it away so he can't ingest it. It is his latest love.

Then we eat breakfast. Charlie usually has a scrambled egg yolk, pureed pears and prunes with oatmeal and maybe some yogurt. Also some cheerios. He eats a lot!

Then we go on a walk.

9:30 or so is nap time. We read three books and then Charlie usually sleeps for an hour and a half or so. Around 11 he wakes up, sits up or not, and we play until lunch time. He nurses and eats again. This time it's avocado and chicken pieces with more cheerios, pureed green veggies and rice. Then we do errands or house chores, like laundry.


Around 2 or 2:30 he's ready for another nap. We read stories and he sleeps for about an hour. When he wakes up he nurses and eats some cereal. Then we amuse ourselves until dinner. Today we are going to go listen to Dad practice with a bunch of guys who are playing at a coffee house this weekend.
Oh and somewhere in here I cook dinner, while Charlie tries to amuse himself. Some days this is more successful than others. One of the best ways to keep him occupied when he is super fussy is to give him a piece of frozen fruit in his mesh teether. He loves it.

For dinner Charlie has little bits of what we are eating, and pureed yellow veggies. With complimentary cheerios, of course. After dinner there's time for playing with dad, a walk or dancing to music in the living room.


Last night he played with the box his new bath toys came in.

And now it's bath time. Mom is tired, but Charlie is just getting going! Bath time is the most wild time of day and is a wonderful way to spend the last half hour before bed.

He loves his new squirt toys.

Then its time to put on pajamas, nurse and read at least three books before going to sleep so he can do it all again the next day! (At which point Mama does the dinner dishes and collapses on the couch. Whew!)