Grateful

Today, Charlie fell 10 feet from the top of a playground structure to the ground below.

Thankfully, he seems fine.

We were playing at the park, getting ready to go home. Charlie, George and I were at the top of the structure. I held George in my arms. Charlie was excitedly showing me something- he had stuck a stick into the stairs' grating and he called it his tower. He was watching my reaction to his creation and he stepped away from me and into the opening to a ladder behind him, falling to the ground.

It was like a nightmare in slow motion. I couldn't get to him in time, couldn't reach for him because George was in my arms. The look on his face as he realized he was falling was horrible. I screamed his name as I watched him fall. All I could do was try to see what he hit on the way down. I screamed Catherine's name- my sister was there at the park, too, but had already begun loading her kids in the car in the nearby parking lot.

Another mom raced over toward Charlie as I slid down the slide with George, frantically trying to get to Charlie.

I put George down and ran to Charlie, afraid to move him. He was crying loudly, but not screaming. He cried, "Hold me!" I picked him up and moved him a few feet away from the ladder so that I could try to assess his injuries. I must have asked him if he was okay, because he kept saying, "I okay. I okay."

He was holding his arm and crying, "I got a big owie." Catherine had reached me by now and was with George. I think I remember her asking me if he was okay. Based on his crying, I could tell he was just upset and scared but not injured badly. He didn't want me to hold him, he just wanted to lay on my legs. After a minute or two of crying, he was able to calm down and I was able to look in his eyes and see they weren't dilated or unequal and touch his arm and see it wasn't tender or sore.

Catherine took George to the car and I tried to pick up Charlie to take him to the car, but he wanted to go back up the play structure and get his stick! So we traipsed up again, this time, my heart racing and my palms sweaty. We both were more skittish this time!

Once he was safely buckled into his car seat, the gravity of the situation (no pun intended) hit me. That was a big fall. He was wearing his puffy coat and fell into wood chips, so those may have cushioned the impact. But in my heart, I knew that he was protected by unseen forces. I said a prayer of humble gratitude that my precious boy was still with me, uninjured.

On our way home, Charlie recounted what had happened and how he planned to make sure it didn't happen again!
"I fell down. I got a big owie. The park tower broken, I fall down. Need to fix that park. Make a big blue square to catch me, I won't fall down!"

He is so special to me, I love him so much.

George is ONE!

He's just started to scream- when he's mad, for attention, or to "converse" with Charlie in the car. It's pretty loud (and annoying).

He's got the cutest little curls at the ends of his hair that make a cute little flip. It's so different than Charlie's curls! But still so fun to have two curly ones.

He still just has 7 teeth, four on top and three on bottom.

Still going strong on nursing and is a great eater- he loves to eat and will eat just about anything!

He loves when we see a dog and just about leaps out of my arms to try to get to it. If you ask him what a dog says, he tries to say "woof woof".

He loves to practice his walking and uses the little trikes to help him 

How big is Georgie? Soooo big! (The ceilings at Steve and Kerry's 100 year old house are very tall!)

Mmm, cream cheese

Sweet little man hanging in the backyard

Grandma Sue's little hand-me-down car is George's favorite possession in the world

All the grandparents at church to hear Sam and Meg speak turned out to be a fun time for Georgie!

We got to visit Charlie's preschool and George loved all the baby dolls

George loves hats!

Family portraits 2012

Millcreek Canyon

September 2012

photographed by the fabulous Jeanette Soffe

George 11 months

Loves to get in the bathroom and play in the toilet or Charlie's potty seat. GROSS.

Has 7 teeth- 4 on top and three on bottom. Hasn't seemed too bothered by any of them coming in!

He's trying to talk a lot more- I swear I've heard him repeat "juice", "this", ...

Is tall enough to reach door handles and open doors!!

He's getting really stable while standing up and can stand unassisted for a second or two.

Is a really fast crawler and can cruise along furniture. He's fast on stairs, too!

Has started to scream for attention in the car (a tip he picked up from Charlie, much to my chagrin).

Calls me "Dada". He calls John that, too, but more often just "Dah". And Grandma and Grandpa are Dada, too. :) Aunt Meg, the linguist, told me that in almost every language the words for Mom and Dad start with a "mm" and a "da" sound and that in lots of them the Mom words are the ones that start with "da". :)

His "computer"- he still isn't fooled, he only wants our laptops

Still LOVES to eat. Loves green smoothies in the morning. Uses his teeth to eat just about anything and hardly ever chokes or gags. If he gets a bite that's too big, he just spits it out (pa-tooey style). (So different than our Charlie!)

Loves brushing his hair- with combs, brushes, bottle brushes, a brand new toilet brush at the store, a measuring spoon...

Has learned to drink from a bottle and loves it! Has mastered his sippies, too, usually with one hand.

Loving the bathtub and being naughty and standing up

A couple of dudes cruising at The Home Depot

Playing the piano with Daddy at Grandma and Grandpa S's house. 

Playing with all the amazing toys at Grandma T's house

Finally got him to go swimming without crying! He went swimming with Grandpa Mark, Sam and Lily  at a hotel and loved it. And then we went to Seven Peaks water park with Aunt Kate, Jude and Breea and was a good sport as long as I was holding him or completely out of sight.

Baby cousins at Seven Peaks 

His separation anxiety is FINALLY starting to subside. He'll give the biggest snuggles and hugs to me and John and occasionally other loved ones, too!

Climbing on Grandpa Mark

Eating pickles with Aunt Meg and Uncle Sam

You love to look at books and will stop everything to look through them. I hope you always have a love of reading.

Still gets lots of compliments on all of his curly hair!

Love those little mischievous eyes

We bought a minivan on your 11 month birthday! It is so wonderful to not only have another car but to have a nice big one that holds the car seats and extra people with ease.