Rockin out with the Boys

On Thursday, Charley got a visit from his cousin Braden and we all had so much fun! Charley couldn't get enough of his cool, older cousin and tried to climb all over him. Braden thought Charley's toys were pretty fun and he can't wait until Charley gets older and can keep up with him. John-Paul got his guitar out, and Braden and Charley loved rocking out to the classics like "twinkle twinkle little star" and "itsy bitsy spider." They both tried out strumming the guitar a little too (well Charley mostly hit it). I'm thinking maybe a family band is in their future?? :)
B. and C. checking out the guitar.

Braden's favs were "the wheels on the bus" and the ABC's. He was rocking out!

Jennie and I told John-Paul he should start a career as the next Raffi :)

Charley and Uncle Matt, or "Hunkle Matt" as Matt likes to call himself

Braden tore himself away from singing long enough to give Angela a kiss good-bye.

Hanging out with the girls

Charley loved hanging out with Sofia and Ava at Sofia's 5th birthday party. Ava couldn't get enough of "baby charley" and was very excited to hold him :) We want Sofia and Ava to get a blog soon, so we can see all the exciting things they are up to in Shanghai.

We also loved getting a visit from cousins Ari and Maddie a few weeks ago. Charley was a big flirt, and he hopes they can come back for a visit soon, now that Ari has her license and a car! woo hoo!

Charley "Danger" Nelson

In most cases, the sight of a fire truck conjures up feelings of safety and security...in our house, it represents risky, dangerous, unacceptable behavior, courtesy of Charley James.

How unsafe can a brightly colored playpen be anyway? After all, we use this area to contain the C-Man so he doesn't hurt himself in other areas of our home. Well, thanks to his wonderful Aunt Maria & Uncle Billy, and the addition of a toy fire truck that he loves (and his parents want to throw out of the window due to the cacophony of sounds it produces), Charley discovered a way to use his new toy as a step stool to climb out of his enclosure.

As displayed by the incriminating photos below, our barely 7 month old stuntman figured out a way to climb on the seat of his truck, stand up, and reach for the adjacent desk as a means of escape or other form of mischief. This was accomplished in literally under one minute of silent determination while both of his attentive parents sat oblivious approximately 5 feet away.

Part of me was overflowing with pride as I witnessed my son's ingenuity, while the other part of me was simply horrified...

Beach Day in January!?!

It has been beautiful, warm, and sunny here in Seal Beach for the past few days...perfect beach weather. It's kinda weird weather for January, but we're not complaining :) We decided to take advantage of this crazy winter weather, so we walked across the street and had a Mommy and Charley beach day (well it was more like a beach 20 minutes until C. started trying to eat the sand and the trip ended). Charley seemed to like putting his toes in the sand and the ocean, and he also loved watching seagulls and pelicans.


Sandy Feet!!

Just hanging out :)

Hello 2009!

We took a little blog break over the holidays, and are back to report that we had a great time and that Charley loved every minute of his first Christmas and got super spoiled with presents :) Lately, he has been crawling everywhere and pulling himself up on all the furniture. We can't keep up with him! Here are some pictures of Charley enjoying his first holiday season:
Visiting Nana on Christmas with Aunt Maria. Charley had fun showing off and crawling for Nana. Charley also loves the firetruck he got from Aunt Maria and Uncle Billy :)

















Charley modeling his new beanie from Grammie











Charley loved his new rocking horse from Auntie Jennie












C. and I loved getting a visit from my old roomies from college Jessie and Jen. Charley can't take his eyes off Jessie in this pic, what a flirt!













Charley out with Grammie on January 1st wishing all the neighbors Happy New Years!