Say what?!

"Mommy, sit.  Rub my back." 

Beau has become quite demanding in his bedtime routine...

"Cars run fast." 

Run.  Drive.  It's all the same, right?

"No, Charlie.  My Mommy."  "No, Daddy.  My Mommy."  "No, Paw Paw.  My Mommy." 

And jealousy has reared its ugly head at the Brian residence. 

Dear Santa...

Beau's class wrote letters to Santa asking him for their hearts' desires.  Beau's requests were pretty predictable.  He has a new obessession with cars and yes, the whole horsie wish is still around. 

Well, turns out one of Beau's classmates has a very special desire. 

Yes, in case you didn't catch that...

Sheesh.  I thought I had more time to prepare myself for this! 

Reindeer food!

I needed a quick, inexpensive, and above all, adorable gift idea for Beau's classmates.  After searching the internet for about ten minutes I saw this.  Oh how sweet!  I think it came out just precious and Beau was OBESSESSED with making, "Reindeer food, Mommy!!"

It was super easy.  I just used items I already had around the house. We mixed Cheerio's with granola and then added the "magic" ingredient - green and red colored sugar! 

It's sure to be a hit among the other two year olds.  Merry Christmas!!

Morning sunshine!

And so it begins...THIS is how I found Charlie this morning when I went to get him out of bed.  Guess it's time to lower the crib. 

PS - Sorry for the poor quality photo; I took it with my phone...

He's making a list...

The boys, along with cousin Marc, took a visit to the North Pole (ok, maybe it was just Lakeside Mall) to visit Santa.  Beau was super excited and Charlie was just fascinated with Santa. I can't believe that we got a good picture of them both with Santa because Charlie seriously could not take his eyes off of the big man!  But, I think it came out pretty cute. 

And, if Santa was listening, Beau might just get those Elmo stickers and trucks he asked for.  And Charlie, well that sit and stand activity walker might be even more appropro given the recent week's events! 

Eight months!

So what is our favorite eight month old up to? 

*  We officially have a crawler on our hands.  Last Sunday Charlie decided to ditch his own method of transportation and opted for a more conventional crawl.  And, he's pretty good at it.  He can make it from one end of the room to the other in no time flat.  Guess it's time to get those gates back out.

*  Inspired by his recent mobility milestone he has decided not to stop there.  Oh no, he is now pulling himself to standing.  And Sunday he actually "cruised" a bit holding on to the sofa!  *GASP*  I'm excited for him, but not ready for two mobile little boys!

*  Maybe because his new activity has increased his metabolism Charlie is now eating some finger food. Mum mums, puffs, or as Beau calls them, "Baby treats!"  He loves them all.  And, don't bother feeding them to him, he wants to take control.  He even began feeding himself puffs last night, one little puff at a time.  He hasn't perfected his "pincher" grasp, but he's pretty good at "raking" them up and shoving them in. 

He takes what he wants

Allow me to introduce you to our own little Honey Badger.  Although Charlie has officially begun crawling (the real deal - belly off the ground and all) there was a time when he had developed a very efficient, albeit, unorthodox mode of transportation.  A combination of rolling, army crawling, scooting, and dragging, he could get around the floor faster than you might expect. 

Of course, video of the "real" crawling is forthcoming...that is, if I had time to video him before he gets into something!