Charlie's first baseball game

We finally made it to our first minor league baseball game this season!  The weather was perfect, although maybe just a little warm in the sun. And it's not even the summer yet!  In any case, Charlie was definitely dressed for the occasion:

Here's the "paparazzi" photo, according to Bobby :-)

We had a slight detour before heading into the ballpark as there was a fire truck by the entrance.  The firemen were nice enough to take some time to show Graham a few things.  Surprisingly, Graham was too shy to get on the big truck:

He didn't mind trying on the big fire fighter hat on though!

And in the meantime, while Mommy was getting some eye-candy, I mean putting on some sunscreen for Charlie, Charlie actually still had his hat on:

A-ha! Just as I figured... not for long.  When I had my back turned and was getting some sunscreen on Graham, Charlie's hat eventually became a good chew toy:

And Charlie was obviously very happy about it!

At the game, we sat for a while (and ate):

And ate:

By the way, Thorlo socks are the BEST!
And we played:

And ate some more:

And then, it was finally time to run the bases at the end of the game.  Graham was not interested in participating:

But finally at the very end of it, Daddy was able to go out on the field with Graham and off they went!

Rounding up 2nd base and heading to 3rd:

A high-five at 3rd base:

And off to home plate where the mascot - Hornsby was at.  Unfortunately, my camera ran out of sufficient space to take any more pictures!  Oh well... I'm sure there will be more base running in the future.  I can't wait till Charlie can walk so he can go too! :-)
I was able to delete a couple old photos to take this next one.  As we were walking back to the car, the train was going by.  That made Graham's day to see the train up close!

It was a fun day at the game, especially with our team winning at the bottom of the 9th as well!

Road trip to Phoenix / Mommy's first golf tournament

Yet another road trip to Phoenix!  This time, we took the VW minivan and it worked out great as it had not one, but two DVD players!  Although, I really didn't get to watch my own movie in the 3rd row.  Nonetheless, it kept you-know-who very occupied throughout the entire trip.

During this trip, we discovered a few new things. Firstly, it's never a good idea to drive when it's really windy on I-40.  Talk about dusty! We also had to dodge a few tumbleweeds!

Part of the freeway was actually shut down and so we ended up taking a different route to our "Phoenix" house. And funny enough, the Beeline highway reduced our route by 50 miles! I wonder why we never went this way before. Plus, it's also so much prettier although there is a part of it that was quite desolate.  I'm glad our minivan didn't break down!  Speaking of which, we brought our minivan in for a wheel re-alignment and ended up installing another brand new axle! Thankfully that was all under warranty.

Anyhow, once in Phoenix, we learned that Charlie likes to gnaw on toys rather than play with them:

And that Charlie did not enjoy the new jumper hanging from the door frame, so back to the store it went:

Charlie loves the fruit & veggie pouches!

Graham, on the other hand, still loves playing with all of his tractors on the gravel in the backyard:

And loves to dig with the new shovel as you can clearly see in this pic.  Cheeky little fella!

And he is finally sleeping in his own room (or the guestroom). Not quite a real bed, but it will do for now. It's actually our travel crib.  Who knew it would come in handy again!

We discovered that we love having breakfast in the backyard on Graham's new bench.  I guess I should really say Graham and Charlie's new bench:

By the way, some new things in the backyard... some fancy stepping stones!

One for Graham with his hand prints.  He really wanted to have his cement mixer back!

One for Charlie with his little footprints. We never really used the rattle so I figured no one would really miss it.

And one for Mommy.  Bobby said to make a design that relates to sunny Arizona, so I came up with (somewhat of) a sun with (somewhat of) a heart-shape in the middle.

More discoveries... Graham learned how to to pick up an pea-pod with a pair of kid-friendly chopsticks. Very talented!

Charlie, on the other hand, will just stick to his spoon:

The boys continued to share their toys together:

And also shared their meal times together (whenever possible that is):

As usual, big brother Graham isn't always eating all the time. In this instance, he has his "Umi-goggles" on. Without a doubt, I'm sure Charlie will catch on too.

And oh! We re-discovered that the kitchen sink is the best place when babies have a malfunctioned diaper:

If you can re-call, big brother Graham was also in a kitchen sink once:

Ha! They almost have that same look on their faces! :-)

We also discovered that Charlie is no longer afraid of his baths.  Actually, he loves the water! On our drive back to Tulsa, Bobby and the boys were able to play in the pool at the hotel on one of our stopovers.  Charlie was having a blast splashing around and not fussing about getting water on his face.

Who is so cute! Ok, ok... it's no longer Mommy :-P

Last but not least, we discovered that Mommy needs to play a lot of good golf and I mean, a LOT of GOOD golf - to compensate for the babysitting fees that Charlie and Graham are raking up!  I did finish in the money: 12th position (out of 40 girls) in the most recent Cactus Tour event at Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale.  My scores were 73, 74, and 78 - not too bad considering I haven't really practiced a lot and I was also using a brand new putter!
After the first round, I was explaining to Graham how I hit the ball into the water on the 18th hole.  He put his hand to his mouth and gasp! And then he later said... "It's ok, Mommy. It's just an accident."  I thought that was so cute.  Of course, he also refers to wetting his underwear as an accident!  I did manage to redeem myself with a great birdie on the final day on the 18th hole. Sometimes, I can still play :-D

Another year, another Sesame Street Live show!

Graham had another opportunity to catch Sesame Street Live this year.  Somehow I thought the show was going to be in town while we were away in Phoenix, but coincidentally while I was recycling the newspapers, I ran across the headlines.  Of course, Graham had to see what it was all about as well:

But this year, it was just Daddy and Graham since Mommy had to stay home with Charlie. They arrived early again to participate in the play area, but before that - check out this picture from last year!

And this year - who is our big boy now!

It didn't take long for Daddy to buy Graham another new toy:

Say "cheeeese!".  He still shuts his eyes when he does that :-)

Time to pick out their seats.  It was rather empty so they could sit almost anywhere.  Well, except for those on the main floor. Those seats were all full!

And during intermission, Graham got bored so they ended back up in the play area:

I can't help but to post another pic from last year. Wow... amazing how quickly they grow up in a year!

Graham looked so much like a baby then and now, he's a real toddler! And here he is posing for a pic.

And instead of going back in for the rest of the show, Graham and Daddy eventually ended up just leaving!

Can't wait for Charlie to grow up a little more so both boys can enjoy the show next time!

Charlie is 8 months old

Or more like 8 3/4 months old now.  I'm doing a terrible job now updating this blog since having two boys instead of one!
Let's see... what going on with Charlie these days.  He is crawling and sitting up a lot better now.  And somehow, he loves putting holes into his little footsie onesies. I think he has about 5 footsies with holes now and if you look closely, there are little toes sticking out of both footsies here!

And of course, more teeth!

Actually, his upper lateral incisors are also out now.  Gosh, talk about cranky!  Although, poor fella - he hasn't been feeling all that great with his occasional fever.  And not feeling great with separation anxiety either!

... even while being in his favorite jumperoo!  I did just have to raise the jumperoo up by one notch yesterday after being away in Phoenix for 2 weeks.  Charlie has definitely grown!
Despite all that fussiness, at least Charlie loves being around his big brother Graham and doesn't mind big hugs from him :-)