Chance's newest tricks

The last few days Charlie's been at the grandparents'. I sent him there because A. he'd been asking for it, and B. I think he deserved a break from his brother. Sometimes I feel guilty that he has to put up with so much, having a little brother. Chance takes 2 naps a day, so I'm constantly telling Charlie to be quiet. And when they play together, he has to endure Chance always taking his toys. The rule is that he can find Chance another toy and trade, or he can ask me to get the toy back. The other day Charlie just took the toy back...and got a big bite on the arm from Chance. Charlie also doesn't get it that Chance babbles. He's always trying to argue with him about how to say something. "I not Dada, I Charwee David," for instance. Then he'll get mad when Chance keeps saying "Dada."

On the other hand, they do entertain each other, and I can see how Chance has missed having Charlie around. Life is much more boring without Big Brother around. I've missed Charlie a lot, too. He's having a great time though, and it was a neat thing to see Charlie talk to Chance on the phone last night. They were both cracking up at each other. And it's an amazing experience to actually have a conversation with Charlie!! He's quite the story teller. He told my about how my folks took him to a mini golf place, where he made a hole-in-one on the last putt! So the owner of the place gave Charlie a real mini-golf club!



But anyhow, having only one child since Saturday, I've noticed a lot of Chance's newest developments:

~His vocab is increasing by the day. Cracker, Cookie, Outside, Car, and Puppy are all new this week. He's also trying to say "Wake up" when he gets up, and sometimes when he points to things, it sounds like he says "That!"

~He's getting into more things. I often have to pull him off of the kitchen table, and he's figuring out how to put things together so he can climb on them. He also has discovered the water dispenser on the fridge and loves to see water spill everywhere! Thankfully, it has a lock option ;) He pulls things off of counters now, so everything has to be moved even higher.

~He has quite a temper, and he's figuring out how to use it. When I tell him No about something, he often will hit something or me, and then watch to see how I respond. It's sometimes difficult to keep a straight face. He differs from Charlie in that Charlie rarely hit people, usually he'd hit only himself. And another way he differs is I don't have to spank Chance much (yet). If I just get onto him, he's in tears. My words never seemed to affect Charlie that much at this age. And one more way he is different is, his anger flares quickly, but it also dissipates quickly. Charlie usually mulled on a bit longer, and threw stronger fits. Maybe Chance will get stronger in his fit throwing later...but I'm so thankful that he's still not the fit-thrower his brother was from 6 months of age!

~He's harder to take places. He has given up on the idea of sitting for very long. First the high chair, and now the stroller. He is always wanting to run around (without holding anyone's hand) in whatever store/restaurant we're in. It makes me want to never leave the house, for sure!

~He plays games now. He loves to play peek-a-boo (which he can now say "peek a boo!") and patty cake.

~He's quite the dancer. He's been watching "Built to be Wild" by Bob the Builder, which has a lot of country line dancing in it, and he imitates it really well. He stands in front of the tv and stomps around all over the place! I'll try to catch some video soon and post it.

~He's very affectionate. This is a nice balance to the quick temper. He often wants to be held, and it's so great when he walks up and wants a hug. He does it often. As I'm writing this, he's hugging on his stuffed puppy. ;)

Ok, so that's all I've got for now. I get Charlie back tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be more funny stories soon.