Christmas Traditions: Charlie the Elf

In 2009, Dawson's first Christmas, Charlie the Elf came to our house!  Every year he comes back at Christmastime.  Each day he watches us, and at night when we're sleeping he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa if we've been good or bad.  Then he flies back to our house and finds a new spot to watch us from for the day.  Each morning when we wake up we have to find Charlie the Elf.  Last year Dawson had fun looking for and finding Charlie the Elf each day, but this year he absolutely LOVED it...which made it a lot of fun for all of us!  Every morning Dawson would remember on his own that we had to find Charlie the Elf, and he would look everywhere until he found him-even when Charlie the Elf was in some hard to find locations!  Every night Dawson would try to guess where Charlie was going to be the next day.  One of the rules of Charlie the Elf is that we cannot touch him or he might loose his magic, and Dawson wanted to make sure that everyone who entered our house while Charlie was here followed these rules.  If we had friends or family coming over Dawson would ask me to tell them not to touch Charlie!  :)  When Santa came Charlie the Elf left to go back to the North Pole with him, but we'll see him again next year!

 

On December 1st, Charlie the Elf ziplined into

our kitchen on a strand of Christmas lights.

AND he brought us a breakfast of red and green

pancakes, red and green eggs, elf-sized donuts,

and elf-sized pop tarts.

 

Here are the rest of the adventures of Charlie the Elf this year...

Charlie the Elf builds a snowman.

Charlie the Elf rides a John Deere Gator.

Charlie the Elf sails.

Charlie the Elf rides piggy back on

a T-Rex.

Charlie the Elf hangs out in this vase.

Charlie the elf builds an ice castle.

(it's hard to tell because of the camera's

flash, but...) Charlie is in the dark bathroom

wrapped up in glow sticks!

Charlie the Elf all clean after a shower!

Charlie the Elf roasts marshmallows on a candle.

Charlie the Elf fishes for goldfish crackers.

Charlie the Elf is interested in Dawson's

piggy bank.

Charlie the Elf draws a self-portrait on

his magnadoodle.

Charlie the Elf dives into the

display of Christmas ornaments.

Charlie the Elf climbs a little.

Dawson got up at 5:15 everyday for a week,

finally one morning Dawson got up so early

that Charlie didn't make it back inside.

Here's Charlie outside of the dining room window

with a note telling Dawson to sleep until morning and

not get up in the night or else Charlie won't have time to

get back inside the house!  Poor Charlie had to stay outside

all day!  (From then on Dawson started sleeping until at

lease 6:15!)  :)

Charlie the Elf put toilet paper on

our tree and climbed up in it!

Covering the eyes of a Nutcracker.

One night at bedtime Dawson

insisted that he knew Charlie

the Elf would be above the fridge

the next morning, and look!  There

was Charlie...above the fridge the next

day!

Charlie the Elf hanging with Carter's

diapers to dry in the laundry room...

this was VERY hard for Dawson to find!

Charlie the Elf does a little flying through the

playroom.

Charlie the Elf on the curtain rod

in mine and John's room.

Charlie the Elf visits Santa's Toy

Shop that Dawson made!

On the last day Charlie sat on the shelf with a

note that read: 

Today's my last day,

I must say goodbye.

Tonight I must go,

to the North Pole I'll fly!

But Santa will be here,

with gifts and good cheer,

And I will be back,

The same time next year!

So be good boys,

And take care of yourselves!

And remember the fun times,

With Charlie the Elf!

I will miss you!

Love,

Charlie

 

Carter: 8 Month Update

Our little baby is 8 months old today!  Unbelievable!  His little personality is definitely starting to shine even more than before.  At eight months old one of his newest developments is dancing!  If he hears a repetitive sound like Dawson tapping on the table, if we sing, or if there is music playing Carter starts moving side to side doing his little dance moves.  It's adorable, and we can't get enough of it!  Dawson was/is a dancer too, and I remember him dancing to the dishwasher and the washing machine!  :) 

At eight months Carter is SO close to crawling!  He gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth wanting to go somewhere but not quiet knowing what to do next.  He's good at getting where he wants to go by lunging from his all fours position and rolling and stretching, but he's not officially crawling yet.  (I told Carter he could wait until we took the Christmas decorations down to begin crawling, and so far he's obeying my wish.)

He loves to play in the playroom with big brother!  He has a bin full of baby toys, but if Dawson gives him a tractor he pushes it back and forth and ignores the baby toys.  He does the same thing for a train.  He also loves it when he can get a piece of Dawson's train track to hold (much to his brother's dismay since it usually disrupts the railroad Dawson has built).

Carter continues to be a good eater!  He now eats breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a little cereal before bed.  Some of the foods he has tried so far include chicken, turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, avocado, banana, watermelon, apples, pears, green beans, carrots, peas, mangoes, papayas, cantaloupe, blueberries, kiwi, puffs, and Cheerios.  (I know there are a few I've forgotten, but this covers most of the things he's tried.)  I have prepped asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, and beef for him to try in the next couple of weeks.  So far so good with all the foods he's tried.  He will eat pretty much anything we give him!  He still nurses too, and, in fact, the last couple of times we have attempted giving him a bottle he has not been interested, much to our dismay since bottles allow for dates!  :)  Dawson stopped taking the bottle too, but thankfully Carter is getting better at drinking water out of a sippy cup.

He had a couple of run-ins with dairy (unfortunately twice within the same week!), and he's definitely still allergic!  :(  We're still hopeful that he will outgrow this before his first birthday though!  One of the items that he had a reaction to were puffs that said they were "processed in a facility where they also process milk"-not even on the same equipment, but he still had a reaction!  So we were a little surprised by that!

Carter, Carter, Carter...if only you would start sleeping a little better!  For about the 1st week and a half of your 8th month you were doing GREAT-only getting up about two times a night.  Then it all went downhill!  Last night, for example, Carter was up SIX times!  I have tried to let him cry it out, but he just cries, cries, and cries (I'm not used to hearing this happy baby cry!).  Usually, I just end up giving in and going in to feed him after which he will go back to sleep.

Even though Carter isn't a wonderful sleeper at night, I am so thankful that he still takes a nap at the same time as big brother in the afternoons!  He takes a morning nap too which gives me a little one on one time with Dawson, but that 1 hour that their naps overlap (sometimes more) in the afternoon allows me to get SO much done, and then I'm caught up and ready to play again! 

We're also thankful for what a happy baby Carter is!  He is laughing and grinning all the time!  No one can make him smile as much as Dawson can, but Carter loves to look around with a grin on his face waiting for attention (he doesn't have to wait long!)

Another very exciting development in his eight month is that Carter started signing his first sign!  We taught Dawson to sign a few baby basics like "more," "done," etc, and it was SO nice to know what he was wanting and crying for so we decided to do the same with Carter.  Dawson has loved showing Carter the signs.  On Nov. 20 (so when Carter was 7 months 7 days) he did his first sign!  He was sitting in his highchair and had finished all his puffs, and he started signing "more!"  We were all so excited and praised him!  He had a big grin like he knew he had done something great! 

In other communication developments, Carter has quickly learned what the phrase "no mouth" means as we say this any time he tries to put one of Dawson's toys or a non-toy in his mouth.  He isn't always happy to hear this (sometimes he makes a little whine and shakes his head "no," but he knows what it means and he takes the toy out!  He's getting better about not even trying to put Dawson's trains in his mouth because he has been told so many times!  :)  Carter will imitate a lot of sounds after we make them.  He regularly says Dada, Mama, Bubu (brother), Hiiii, and Byyyye and will sometimes to a little wave along with bye.  When Dawson talks Carter intently takes in every word, so we are interested to see what words he begins learning next.  John Deere?  Outside?  Gummies?  (probably Dawson's three most commonly spoken words! hah)

Carter did not have an 8 month check-up (we go back at 9 months), so I don't have any official stats this month.  I do know that he is getting more and more solid!  :)  He's getting much heavier to hold and to carry in the Moby. 

We continue to love our sweet baby Carter more and more each day!  Here are some pictures of our cuties!

 

Two sweet brothers!

Carter is so active it's hard to get all the legs

and arms still for a picture!

We love these two!  I think their expressions

look alike in this picture!

"Are we done yet, Mommy?!"

Cute expression watching brother sit in

the floor while I was taking pictures.

"I'm 8 MONTHS!"

Carter still loves to exersauce and

play in his Johnny Jumper, but just

this week he got a walker which

he enjoys too!!  So far he can

only go in reverse!  :)  When he is

in his walker, he always talks REALLY

LOUD for some reason!  It's as if he wants

to get everyone's attention to show off

that he's in a walker.  So here he is

standing straight up in his walker

yelling!  (He's happy, just yelling!)

It's funny!

Did I mention we're days from crawling?

:)

A Dollywood Christmas

This year for Christmas my parents are giving us Dollywood Season passes, and they gave them to us early so we could go while they're open for Christmas!  So on Thursday, December 6th, we decided to head to Pigeon Forge to check it out.  It has been about 11 years since I've been to Dollywood and at least that long for John, so we were excited to go and to take our boys for the first time!  The day we were planning to go, John came home from work and suggested that we just spend the night in Pigeon Forge and have some more time to do stuff up there.  So an impromptu overnight trip it was, and it worked out perfectly! 

We all LOVED Dollywood.  It was hard to get any decent picture since it was dark the majority of the time we were there, and since we were outside they just didn't turn out too well.  Although it was cold, it wasn't so cold that all the rides were shut down-so we got to do all the rides we wanted! 

 

We had Carter all bundled up.

He had on his Santa outfit under

all of that.  He was so bundled it was

hard for him to move.  He was so happy

the whole time riding around looking at

the lights.

After a little while he actually dozed

off for a few minutes all bundled

up and snug in the stroller.

Dawson LOVED riding the rides while we were

there.  Here he is riding the carousel.  He picked

the horse for himself, and then he picked the

goat with horns beside him for me to ride.  Gee,

thanks!  :)  He also told me to pretend there was

a zebra chasing the goat I as riding and make mine

go faster so it didn't get me.  Silly boy!

Dawson is in the front in this ride.

He rode this Bumble Bee Ride all by himself. 

John helped him get buckled and said that

Dawson looked at the bee and said, "Don't

sting me, bee!  Okay?" before he got in!

I was surprised by how much Dawson loved all

the rides.  He even rode his first roller coaster...TWO

times!?  He rode once with Daddy and then again with

me.  It went fast and was a had a couple of drops, but

he loved it!  I was so happy that he enjoys

riding the rides like John and I do. 

He also enjoyed the Amazing Flying Elephant Ride,

The Duck Ride, and several others-these were just the favorites.

Santa was in his workshop at Dollywood so we stopped in to see him while we were there.  There was also a Christmas parade that went through Dollywood, so we stopped at 8:00 to watch it.  Before we left John and I wanted to ride the Wild Eagle, Dollywood's newest roller coaster.  John rode first while the boys and I checked out an extravagant model railroad set up.  Dawson was in heaven because not only were there a lot of trains and tracks, but one of the trains was even hauling John Deere equipment.  The men working this could tell how much Dawson loved it, and they asked him if he would like to operate the control for the railroad crossing.  Of course he wanted to!  Then we switched and I rode the Wild Eagle. John and I agreed that it's a great roller coaster!

We took a short break from rides because

Dawson wanted to play a game...I know

these things are rigged, but Dawson

ACTUALLY won, no cheating, he won!

This was the winning toss!  He won a stuffed

animal snowman.  He was so happy!

Carter and I were enjoying looking

at some of the lights.

Before we left Dollywood we stopped in their

huge candy store, and we found this entire wall

of different kinds of gummies.  We told Dawson

he could pick a pack, and this as a major decision!

He was like a kid in a candy shop!  :)

Gummies are his very favorite thing right now!

The boy's Advent gift for the day was a

pair of matching Christmas pajamas with feet!

So here they are watching The Cat in the Hat

on tv in their pajamas in the hotel after waking up!

I love these sweet faces.

This picture is a little out of order,

but when we got to the hotel, Dawson

insisted upon pulling our suitcase

so Daddy could carry the pack n play.

He was such a good boy, he pulled

it all the way from the car up to our room.

THEN he did the same thing when we checked

out.  He really does love to help!  So sweet.

 

While in Pigeon Forge we also made some time for a little outlet shopping.  Yay!  Our hotel also had a great pool with a waterfall, so before we checked out we all went for a long swim.  Carter is such a water baby that he kicks his legs in the water and smiles the whole time he's in the pool!  Dawson had fun jumping in the water and swimming around with us too!  Our impromptu overnight trip to Pigeon Forge turned out really well even with all four of us in one room (and Carter still not sleeping well at night-he didn't wake Dawson).  We had a blast at Dollywood, and I'm already trying to figure out if we can squeeze in another visit between now and Christmas!!  :)

Christmas Tree Farm

This year we decided to try something new and get a live Christmas tree rather than the artificial tree we have done every year.  We figured if we were getting a live tree, we would like to go to a Christmas Tree farm and pick it and cut it ourselves.  We decided to go to one in Greenback.

Dawson was THRILLED!  He always tells us he wants to be a farmer when he gets big, but watching him at the pumpkin patch and now at the tree farm...I think it's so funny how he loves everything about these farms!?  Especially since it's nothing John or I know too much about.  We walked all over in search of the perfect tree.

Dawson loved running between the trees.

And then he would stop and tell

us he found one we should come look at.

Above:  Dawson and Daddy with

the Clark Griswold tree that would

definitely not fit in our house

or on top of our car!

Then they found the perfect tree!

This is the tree we cut down and

brought home!  Good job finding it, guys!

Carter and I caught up to Dawson

and Daddy to inspect the tree too.

Looked like a good one to me and my little

elf!

So brought it home!!

 

We had a great time going to the tree farm!  Dawson especially loved it.  So far we're very happy with our live tree this year, despite four BIG spiders crawling out of it once we brought it inside!  :)  I'm thinking we may end up getting a real tree again next year!

Fantasy of Trees

John and I were excited to take the boys to the Fantasy of Trees this year since we're back in Tennessee.  This is an five day event that we both grew up going to.  Growing up, I danced at the Fantasy of Trees each year, and then, of course, would get to go through it too.  When John and I got married and combined all of our Christmas ornaments we realized that we had not only been there the same year, but we had made the same ornament!  I love this!  Here's a pic...

So this year we went the first day of the festival which was "Parents and Tots" day.  Carter loved the fantasy because it was so dimly lit with Christmas lights and Christmas trees to look at everywhere!  Dawson loved the Fantasy of Trees because there were rides like the carousel that he rode with me...

Then he rode Tubs of Fun with Daddy.  It was a big boy ride that went really fast (so fast that it was hard to get a picture that wasn't blurry!), but Dawson takes after his Mommy and he LOVED it!

Dawson and Carter made a these matching ornaments with their thumbprints for our tree and one more set that I don't have a picture of yet!

Here is Dawson making the other ornament.

 

Then Dawson and Daddy decorated a Christmas Cookie!

 

Then Dawson got his face painted!  He had never been interested in getting his face painted at any other events, but at the Fantasy of Trees he got a reindeer on his cheek!  He said it tickled!  :)

 

We had a great time so before we left I had to get a couple of pictures with me and the boys!

And one more...

Despite the fact that we were trying to get a "good" picture, I love this picture!  Dawson making a silly face, with Carter staring at his big brother trying to figure out what he's doing!  :)  Love these boys!

We had a GREAT time at the Fantasy of Trees!