I know he’s sweet, but really???

A couple of weeks ago, Charlie got bitten by some ants (or something) and his little legs were swollen and red where the bites were. So we’ve been dressing him in long pants even though it’s been 99 degrees (or something like that!) around here.

Yesterday we got a lovely reprieve from the heat, so Charlie and I took a walk after I got home from work, stopped by the park for some swinging and sand play, and then came home to water the flowers.  Something set him off while I was watering, and the next evening was one meltdown after another.  I was annoyed – nothing like working hard all day to come home to a whining, angry baby!  But as it turns out, I think we may have discovered the reason for the meltdowns…

That would be a very red, very swollen ear.  My baby got attacked by something mean while we were outside yesterday, and his ear is now shiny, puffy, and sticking right out of the side of his head like it wants to detach itself.  BOO.  I feel terrible for my lack of patience with his grumpiness – I’m pretty sure this was the cause. Poor little buddy.

It doesn’t seem to be bumming him out too much, though – he was his normal wild and crazy self tonight.

I was trying to get a good shot of the ear – you can KIND of see the redness here, on the left side.

This photo just makes me laugh, because it’s a perfect representation of how difficult it is to get a photo of an active 2 year old.  That’s his shoe, over on the very far right corner.  I think he actually fell over off the cushion while I was taking this photo.

 

George had to fly to Houston tonight for some oil spill coverage (you can check it out here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/) so I’m all alone with the beast tonight. Is it bad that his “fruit” with dinner was dark chocolate covered dried blueberries? He rejected the cantaloupe, and sometimes a girl’s got to improvise. 

 

We had such a great weekend – my good friend Sarah flew out from Seattle with her sweet bebe, 9 week old Gibson. He’s precious, and SO SO good. It was wonderful to be around such a laid back, mellow baby – made me think we might be able to give the parent thing another go!  At some point…

 

Charlie’s definitely showing aggression now and then (bit me tonight, little brat!) so I was admittedly nervous about how he’d be around the baby. To my great relief, he was very gentle and sweet around Gibson. Here he is on their first day together, leaning in to put his head on Gibson’s lap.

And giving Gibson a hug:

 

He had a great time checking Gibson out.

 

And showing Gibson what he knows! (Gibson, this is called a head.)

 

Gibson wasn’t sure at first, but he warmed up to Charlie too:

   

Laura was also in town, and one of Sarah’s sisters-in-law lives in DC with her family, so we decided to have a little get together at our house on Sat night. We had spent a wonderful couple hours at Beth’s pool during the day, and then Beth, Lauren, Michele and Berger, and their kids all came over to hang out and have a bite.

Here’s Charlie trying to steal chips from Emme:

  

And stealing smooches from Reece:

  

He loves the ladies!  

Unrelated but exciting note: Congrats to my cousin Allison and her family on their newest addition!