Adolescence arrives early

Charlie is growing so fast and learning so much. Unfortunately, he's also developed a bit of an attitude. The terrible twos have arrived early! After a break of several months, he recently got a new pair of orthotics to continue to correct his crazy pronating left foot. He had gotten used to walking without them, and was not enthused to walk with his little boots on again. Thursday he had a tough appointment with the therapist (Pamela said he HIT her, which is embarrassing) and I guess he was not in the mood to tolerate me putting the orthotics on when I got home. I had just picked up his new specially ordered shoes, though, and I wanted to make sure they fit. I put them on and he just lost his mind. Crying, yelling, turning red, just your perfect miserable tantrum. When he figured out I wasn't going to give in and take them off, he got angry at me. I tried to comfort and calm him, but he took off racing as fast as he could crawl down the hall and slammed his bedroom door in my face. I thought maybe he didn't actually realize what he was doing, so I opened the door a crack to try to talk to him... and SLAM again. It's really amazing that while he still isn't talking much at all, he can express himself SO clearly. We're really trying to focus on discipline as this side is emerging; hopefully we'll be successful.

Most of the time, though, he's still our wonderful sweet tempered boy. He's started saying "hi" in the past few days - his first real (intentional) word! While it would have been nice for his first word to be mama or daddy, hi is appropriate for his outgoing personality. Tonight I had to run to the grocery store with him, to pick up some milk. He kept saying hi, hi, hi to everyone we walked past. People laugh when he greets them with his big smile. It's hard to resist that toothy grin!

We spent a fun weekend this past weekend in Philadelphia with Nana. Charlie loves his Nana, and we had a great time seeing Amish country with her. Our first stop was a dairy where we saw peacocks, a puppy, and COWS! The cows were so friendly - as we approached, they all lurched through their gate to say hello. Charlie wasn't so sure what to expect. We wanted to get a photo of him with the cows, but he was having none of it without me there, so I sat down in front of them with Charlie to pose. As it turns out, he was smart to use me as protective barrier. As soon as I sat down, the cows started licking my back. Lovely. At least they were friendly!

I loved seeing Amish country - it's so interesting to see how they live with their old-fashioned customs amidst the real world. It's wild to be driving along a busy road behind a horse and buggy, and to see all the clothes hanging on wires behind what look like normal, modern houses.

Sat night we got to see Caleb in action in his school's musical while Nana and Charlie had a night together, including special cookies and ice cream. Nana knows the quickest way to Charlie's heart! And on Sun, Aunt Patti and Uncle Tom hosted us for brunch. We had a great time with the family.

Charlie will be two in just a couple of weeks. How time flies! I know I say it all the time, but it's because I think it all the time - we are so lucky! In the last two years, we've lived through some of the hardest times of our life, but also the very best times. Charlie brings us joy every day. I can hardly remember what my life was like before I knew this smile!