It's Finally Friday

Charlie and I had a great Friday. I felt the urge to get out, but we had missed Dave’s lunch time, so I decided to take Charlie to the mall where we could eat and play. Charlie shared a chicken salad sandwich with me and then we were off to play. The mall has a great play area for toddlers and young kids. It’s semi-enclosed by long padded booth-type seats and the floor is 4-5 inches of springy rubber. There are several fiberglass animals, including a fish, frog, butterfly, bunny, etc, that are low to the ground so that kids can climb on and jump off. There’s also a boat in the middle that kids can climb in and out of.

Charlie had a great time running (actually running with the help of the springy floor!) and watching the other kiddos. Now I’m going to say something here that may be hard to believe: Charlie is a ham. He’s not just a ham—he’s a ham with a side of cheeseballs. He loves to get people’s attention and even play games with them. He enticed a grandfatherly-type man into playing a game of point to the sky and slap the seat. He kept waving at one little girl’s mom and finally walked over to charm a hug from her. If his usual methods of garnering attention don’t work, he pulls out the big guns, including fake sneezing, doing his “Wheels on the Bus” arm-flailing dance, and showing his belly.

He was also surprisingly good with other kids. There was no hitting, pulling, or gross invasions of privacy. He interacted in toddler-speak with several kids around his age. After over an hour of playing, I noticed he was slowing down, and he eventually came over to me and raised his arms as a sign to pick him up. So, we loaded up and came back home where Charlie enjoyed a good nap and Mama enjoyed a Dr. Pepper float. A good afternoon was had by everyone!

Also, a few new developments this week... Granny taught Charlie how to squat and stand up when you say "up" and "down." He also now says "window" which sounds like ñoy-ño (“ñ” sounds like the first “n” in “onion”). I also have some cute videos of him blowing bubbles, which I'll try to upload to Flickr soon.