Say what?!

Beau:  "No, you first." 

This morning Beau rushed to the door as we were about to leave, opened it for Billy and I and ushered us out the house like a little gentleman.  We are obviously doing something right. 

Feet don't fail me now!

Now that the jig is up, Charlie is a walking machine.  He's a maniac walking all over the house from room to room.  The video above was actually cut short as I had to be near him as he crawled up the stairs.  He's EVERYWHERE!

He's usually pretty noisy, often carrying a bat so that he can hit everything in his path.  (If you listen closely you can hear him saying, "Bam!  Bam!" in the video.)  But sometimes, he's pretty stealthy - sneaking up on you when you least expect it.  I love that he's walking now.  He loves that he is walking now.  All in all, the Brian residence is much happier these days. 

Odds and Ends

We are tired at the Brian residence...

It's summer time and we are just blowing and going.  Here's some highlights from the last month or so. 

Yep, this about sums up the trip.

The boys had off for Memorial Day (and the Friday before...weird, no?) and so did I. Since Billy was stuck in the office I called up good ole Paw Paw and asked if he wanted to tag along to the Aquarium.  He agreed and the trip went as expected. 

One thing Beau loved - BIRDIES.  He even fed them by himself without freaking out. 

Charlie was everywhere, wanting to see and touch - and if we would have let him - eat everything he saw.  Beau panicked and screamed and decided maybe he didn't care for fishes so much afterall. 

Yes, I do think I'll have a bite of that dressed cheeseburger.  This kid eats EVERYTHING.

But, hamburgers and ice cream cones make everything better.  And the day was a success. 

Birdie watching.

By the way, Beau is obessesed with birds.  He can name about five different species and can spot them from 100 yards away.  It's quite impressive.  The other morning I saw him standing by our window with his toy shotgun.  He yelled out, "Pale!  Pale!"  (Yes, I know.  Weird.  But that's his "gun" noise.  We've tried to teach him better to no avail.)  I asked what he was doing.  And he very calmly told me, shooting birdies.  Billy was so proud.  (PS - the below video may have been recorded over a month ago.  I'm admittedly a bit behind.) 

Charlie is a walking machine.  I am so relieved.  It's not that I thought he was developmentally delayed, it's just that...well, he's heavy. I was tired of carrying him around.

As some of you know, Beau called Cheerios reindeer food.  It's my fault really.  But now, he calls Honey Nut Cheerios "Daddios".  I don't know where that came from but it makes me smile everytime he says it. 

He's getting better at it - honest. 

Charlie now eats with a spoon.  He hasn't quite mastered the skill yet.  But he demands a spoon 100% of the time and he tries his darnedest...with much success...at every meal. 

In September we are taking Beau to Billy's cousin's wedding in Austin, Texas.  Actually, Beau is IN the wedding.  He's the ring bearer.  We'll be flying to the event and I've already started preparing him for the occasion.  Dee Dee bought Beau a toy airplane to make flying seem fun.  But as of now our conversations go like this: 

Mommy:  "Beau, do you want to fly in an airplane?" 

Beau:  "No.  I don't think so.  Thanks." 

Hmmm...we'll have to keep working on that one. 

Billy got a Big "Fake" Green Egg last month.  He loves it.  I swear he would leave me for the thing.  Honestly, this does not worry me except I don't think he'd be willing to take at least one of the boys with him.  I cannot be a single mom.  But still, I am enjoying his products...



Say What?!

A little conversation I had with Charlie's teacher just before we left for vacation...

Me:  "Ms. Terri!  Charlie walked about eight feet all by himself this morning!"

Ms. Terri:  Blank stare.

Me:  "He's been walking at school already, hasn't he?"

Ms. Terri:  "I'm sorry, honey.  He's been walking here for over a week.  We just assumed he was walking at home too." 

That little turkey, Charlie, apparently has been walking since late-May.  He only recently decided to walk at home.  Or maybe I should say, he only recently got caught walking at home. 

A family vacation (Lapoon style)

We recently took the boys to the beach for the first time.  We've been looking forward to this for quite some time.  Beau, quite frankly, has not stopped talking about the trip for months.  Usually his conversations went a little like this: 

Mommy:  "Beau, want to go to the beach?"

Beau:  "Yea!  We can feed the lions yogurt on the beach?"

Mommy:  "Uh, sure."

But of course, this is the Brian family.  Things cannot go smoothly as planned.  Let's just say running into a pride of lions on the beach would have been more pleasant than some of what we encountered. 

We left Thursday afternoon.  We loaded up the Suburban with all our junk then me, Billy, Beau, Charlie, Maw Maw, Paw Paw and Nan jumped in.  The ride was pretty smooth.  That is until we got about thirty miles out from our destination.  Riding along Highway 59 Charlie got sick.  Very sick.  Know what I learned?  As a mother your first instinct when your child throws up is to catch it.  Yep.  Charlie started yaking and I held my hands out to try and protect him (and the upholstery too).  Alas, I was unsuccessful.  He and I were covered in vomit.  Awesome.  (I did manage to protect the car and all the blankets and pillows surrounding us.  So there's that...) 

We stopped at the nearest gas station and took out the poor, confused baby.  After some serious cleaning with baby wipes and napkins and one costume change (yea, I couldn't get to my clothes so I wasn't so lucky) off we went. 

When we arrived to the beach the weather was just nasty.  We stayed in for dinner, called it an early night and hit the hay praying for better weather the next day. 

Charlie threw up in the middle of the night.  Awesome.

We awoke the next morning to only slightly better weather.  However, Charlie was a significantly happier baby.  Hooray!  Something is going right. 

After a large breakfast (because that's what you do right before you put on your bikini), we ventured downstairs for some fun in the sun (that is tongue in check as we had partly cloudy weather all day long).  But, in the end we had a great time.  It never got too hot and it never rained on us.  Beau LOVED playing in the sand, making sandcastles and destroying other people's creations.  Charlie would have dove headfirst into the Gulf if I would have let him.  A little time in the pool and then we retired upstairs to clean up and go to dinner to celebrate Nan's birthday. 

After a only mildly eventful dinner we got back to the condo and relaxed.  Outstanding.  No rain and no vomit.  It was a successful day.

And then we woke up. 

Torrential downpours had hit the panhandle of Florida and there was no end in sight.  We needed something indoors to do with the boys.  Our best option was the Chuck E Cheese thirty miles away in Pensacola.  No worries - let's go! 

Did I mention there were torrential downpours?  Oh, and fun tidbit of information - on Saturday, Pensacola saw it's largest rainfall since 1887.  1887.  And we were there.  In a car.  With screaming kids.  Awesome.  It took us two hours to get there because all the roads were flooded.  Cars were stranded everywhere.  It was pretty scary.  But, we finally made it to Chuck E Cheese. 

The boys had a blast.  Who cares if the pizza was less than stellar?  We were relatively dry and they were unmistakably happy. 

Then we drove home.  We decided not to even try the back roads and instead took interstate all the way back.  It took us about 30 miles out of the way, but there was no worry about washing away.  Driving down Highway 59 I smelled something...then I heard something.  Like clockwork, out went my hands and Beau delivered - throwing up all over me.  What is it with Highway 59?!  Beau got very sick and was so upset.  Between the vomiting and tears I tried desperately to clean him up.  We stopped at the nearest gas station and performed the same routine.  Once again, I did not get a costume change because I had only brought a change of clothes for the boys.  Awesome. 

Back at the condo the weather had cleared.  Beau had taken some medicine and felt much better.  It was around 6:00 p.m. and the beach was full of people (presumably because everyone had been cooped up all day).  We decided to go for a family walk on the beach.  It was probably the most fun we had the entire time.  We were soaking wet and covered in sand by the time it was all said and done, but we had a blast.  We came home, showered up and put the boys to bed.  It was a good day. 

And then I woke up...at 3:00 a.m...hugging the toilet. The stomach bug had struck.  That little devil! 

The next morning we packed up.  We looked for an alternate route to Highway 59, because REALLY?  Did we want to tempt fate?  Against our better judgment we took Highway 59.  While we stopped for breakfast, Beau got sick again.  But, hey, at least it wasn't in the car. 

We arrived safely in Mandeville in time for a late lunch and a long afternoon nap.  We're all still reeling a bit from the trip.  But I think the good memories will probably outlive the bad...I think.