random scenes

At one of our favorite haunts, though we had not been in a long time. Charlie was in great form, wooing the wait staff!

Our good friends Brad and Christy from High Point stopped by for a visit. I'm not sure what kind of influence Brad had, but Charlie was enthralled with him the whole weekend. I think it was because Brad let him drive for the first time!!!



Later on, we all wanted to watch a movie, and the lad said he would like to pick one...
...or two, or three, or four.

Charlie has been MOVING! He is almost unstoppable, that is until the wall blocks his path. Otherwise, he'd be nonstop. He has learned how to push things, and pull things (furniture) to get it OUT OF HIS WAY! More video is on the way of this.

Amazing so it is, to watch him learn how to move properly and wish that adults could learn this quickly.

Back to work...

Just some awesome picture of the boy

In his Easter shirt, sitting in one of his favorite spots to NOT lie down, his changing table.

In his TRULY favorite spot, the high chair.

Thanks, Susan for my Charlie stool!!!


Nighty night..........a peaceful sleep.

Down goes bunny, down goes bunny...(or Frazier)

"The look of determination, to destroy the opponent..."

"He grabs the bunny by its head, oh no..."

"He shoves the bunny around into the corner!"

"OH, the bunny goes DOWN with a body slam!"

"And Hurricane Charlie sits over his victim like the mighty mite he is..."

Winner by knockout!!!

Easter!!

Yep, this is later than I'd hoped it would be, but Charlie's first Easter was a blast. Grandma had him a basket waiting on Easter Sunday morn. Complete with bouncing bunny rabbit singing "Peter Cottontail."

Enjoy his shirt...the ladies at daycare made it! It was an awesome thing to do. They are wonderful and we couldn't ask for better caregivers for the lad.




He even got to go to his first high school baseball game, back home watching the ole Mustangs beat some team 10-0. He had fun...hopefully the first of many more ballgames.

naked boy!!

That's the call in the house right now. As Mom gets Charlie ready for a bath, the ritual is for her to yell "naked boy!" as she runs from the changing table into the bathroom, to drop him in the tub. As she does this, he laughs so much it's unreal. (I'll not post a picture of this though, maybe a video later!)

Lots has been happening. Charlie was 9 months old on April 1st. He can clap, he can pull himself up WELL, and walk around things (including the bench at the gym!) He knows the word 'no,' used appropriately as he gets close to the fireplace. AND he's becoming more mobile in his crawling, as we actually have to watch what he is doing all the time now!

This is his favorite pastime. Mainly going clockwise...if we lived in the Southern hemisphere, would he go the other way???

Grandma and Grandpa Lefler came to visit last weekend. Of course, Charlie enjoys the times when Grandpa makes use of the hammock swing on the front porch.


Here, Charlie didn't know quite what to think of the Frenchman at the Ren Festival last Sunday. Clearly the man was trying to draw attention to his eyelashes by use of the eyeliner...I still think Charlie wins the 'eyelash length' contest.

Charlie is having a laugh with Philip. While in Duke divinity school, Philip was instrumental in my and Katt's marriage, as he was one of the officiants of the ceremony. A good friend, who had not met our son yet...that's how hectic our schedule has been in the last 9 months.
We hope you all are doing well, and having a good time with your families, because "any man that doesn't spend time with his family, can never be a real man..." (Don Corleone)

Peace.

Birthday in the Mountains

It was Katt's 29th birthday again, so we treated ourselves to a visit with friends up on Beech Mtn. It was tremendous weather, and we were able to hike to nearby Elk River Falls. Off the beaten path, these falls aren't near any of the other ones, but it was a nice semi-hike and the sound of the crushing water below was breathtaking. Charlie seemed to enjoy himself as well!

Little man was packed up in a hike-pack that our good friend Rick gave us to use with the lad. Really, he LOVED it! More hikes are in the near future.



These are Charlie's girlfriends from near Hickory. Meghan with the ball cap on, and Ashley is the older sister of the two. Charlie was on his best behavior with them around...go figure.
Good times with good friends. What else can a birthday have?? To my lovely wife,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

ST PATRICK'S DAY!

We hope everyone had a blast, as Charlie had a great one...it was the first day that his mom had seen him crawl!! He had gone a couple of feet once or twice before, but today was the day!! He officially started crawling!

Grandma likes to see he is starting to be more musical!

This is his first love, Miss Safi at daycare...he's a sucker for a pretty face already.

Just the boys in our jerseys. Oh, by the way, the Irish Rugby team is on the verge of sweeping the 6 Nations tournament...we'll see how it goes against Wales on Saturday.


Post feeding of the animals, er uh, babies.

Slainte!!!!!
Hope all of you had a great day yesterday.

fitness meets the Charlie blog

Below is my great Aunt Blanche, my grandma Hazel's sister. She is 92, and still sharp as a tack, and just as feisty. Since my Grandma can't be here to join in the CHarlie adventure, her sister, and brother Rayvon, who was there is as well, will just have to help teach Charlie the Curran way.
Oh, did I mention 92? Yep, that's her underneath the kitchen table, putting in the leaf to accommodate for the guests...she certainly doesn't think she's 92. Maybe that's what fitness is all about?

sweet emotion

Charlie is beginning to show lots of emotions, from temper, to this fake shy thing he does. Becoming more and more like a little boy. It's hard for us to take a step back and just watch what he does, but we try. Watching him learn motor skills, for me, is like watching someone learn how to climb a tree again. This is gonna be fun!

"What kind of walking stick is this?

"What do you mean we can't play out in the rain?"

"Change the channel, the Heels are losing."
and after a long weekend visiting with family...

Happy Birthday!!

Our last snow of the year, and he wanted to leave his mark...

Yes he likes his bottle!



No, not for Charlie, but our good friend Donna. She's 39 this year (again). ;-)
Charlie had a good time with her even though it wasn't quite her birthday yet. Though, it was such a good time, that all of us (Katt, me, Donna, Michele, and Charlie) were all sick this week!!

I've never longed for Spring as I do this year. This weekend it will be in the 70's, and the WINDOWS WILL BE OPEN!!!!

Slainte, to our good friend Donna and her birthday...may there be many more.