So little Charlie has now hit 11 months! I guess it's time to start planning that first birthday (which is going to be on Halloween, how cool is THAT?!) And our little buddy is growing by leaps and bounds too! He can now stand all by himself (not for very long but he does it!) and he crawls like a pro all over the place. He even chases the bunny around whenever we let the bunny out.

September also brought a lot of adventures too. First we headed down to Oceanside on a whim because we were just so dang sick of all the smoke from the fires! So we went to a fun little Labor Day celebration at Great Grandma Holly's where Charlie had fun in the sun dancing, playing in the grass, and hanging out with Grammy;


We then went down to the Oceanside pier so Charlie could see the beach for the very first time!


Here comes the water!!


He was not amused...maybe next time!


Then we had Charlie dedicated at our Church over at the First Christian Church of North Hollywood! A dedication isn't a baptism really. At our Church it's more like a chance to introduce Charlie to the rest of the Church. And he did so good! Charlie was adorable with his little zebra buddy (the zebra is his new travel buddy, he loves to take him everywhere!) He charmed everybody in his handsome little sweater. How dapper :)


Then Charlie became Bat Man...just had to add that one in here :)


And last but certainly not least! We headed down to Knott's Berry Farm to meet up with Aunt Tami, Uncle Chris, Cousin Maggie, and Grammy and Grampy for Knott's Chicken Dinner! Yum!! Charlie always loves hanging out with his cousin but he was also getting impatient for his chicken dinner! Well for the part of a biscuit and a little bit of chicken soup that he had ;)


Here we all are;


Except Maggie was too busy waiting for the roller coasters to go by so I had to ambush her for a picture :)


Then it was time for some Maggie and Unkie Bill fun time!!


So that's all the excitement and adventures that came with September, who knows what milestones October will bring! Time to get that first birthday planned though, where did the time go?!?!

Lots of love,

Karen, Bill, & Charlie

Standing, Smiling, Uncles and Fires...

Well our little buddy is now 10 months old! Such a big boy! The month of August brought us a lot of surprises, such as Charlie pulling himself up to stand on his own! He is quite proud of himself for this, as you can see;


We're so proud of our little guy! Except this really puts a damper on bed time seeing as he never wants to lay down anymore. :)

Charlie also crawls now too! Finally! Well, he crawls in order to get to a place where he can stand up :) He also loves to hide under his Jumparoo, like it's some little fortress or something. I was going to take a video but the camera's battery died! Boooooo!!!

August also came with the arrival of many many new teeth! He has four top teeth and three bottom teeth (and probably more that we haven't noticed yet!) Which Charlie loves to show off with cheesy grin, I love that face!


And Charlie finally got to meet his Uncle Alex for the very first time! Alex was in town on vacation for the month of August all the way from Japan, and he came up for a BBQ with us;

We had a great time hanging out, having BBQ and swimming. Charlie is still a little timid of the pool, not so much of being scared, he just hates being cold.

But on another note Charlie has made amends with the bunny and they're friends now! Hooray! Instead of crying whenever the bunny gets near he giggles. But he doesn't giggle nearly as much as when there's a puppy nearby! Even if there's a dog food commercial on TV Charlie will laugh! He also loves whenever the Backyardigans comes on (that's a kids TV show on Noggin) Thank goodness because that's a show that we all enjoy to watch. We've also found that Charlie loves to play with pillows. He's a little daredevil and plows right into them and laughs and laughs! We got Charlie one of those kid sized bean bags and it's shaped like a bird and Charlie will go to town smashing it and bopping it around. It's so adorable! I'm hoping Charlie will be my roller coaster buddy when he gets big enough (which at the rate he's growing should be in a couple of weeks now).

August for us parents was very busy too. The company I do work for told me they needed more help, so I dropped Bill's name and they sent him an art test to take and he got the job! Hooray!! Bill is still working his full time job too because we need the benefits, so he'll be doing this on the side. Also this month Bill has been helping out a studio that we found at Comic Con. He had to cut back on that though because he got the Slide job (it's a very small studio and currently they can't pay until their show gets picked up) but we might be able to participate in their art show coming up in September here in LA! I'll let you know if we get in! Overall August has been very exciting but also a lot of hard work. *whew* And I'm sure you've also heard about the fires going on practically EVERYWHERE. Well they're a bit of a ways away from us but last night the wind changed and we woke up to smokey air! Normally I love a good BBQ but having it smell like the world's biggest BBQ is a bit much. So we have the AC on and we're staying inside until this all blows over. Keep a good thought towards everyone that is being affected and let's hope the firefighters get it all under control soon!


Until next month!

~Karen, Bill, and Charlie

A month of adventures!

So now we have a 9 month old baby on our hands! And he's ADORABLE! And he is working the room wherever we go! Everyone told us that he'd get stranger anxiety and really the only time he does is when he gets into a new loud situation but it only lasts a couple of minutes and then he's smiling and talking and melting hearts again!! He loves the ladies and is always a big flirt :) He has his top teeth coming in and teething has not been fun. But those teeny tiny teeth are so cute! He's still not a full blown crawler but he scoots, rolls and shakes his way to wherever he wants to go. He also now grabs our hands and pulls himself up to stand! Walking here we come! He's also quite a big boy now too weighing in at 23 pounds and wearing 12 month clothes! A lot of people are surprised to find out that he's so young yet so big! But then again, look at Bill...are you surprised? :)


Our first big adventure this month was our trip to Vegas for July 4th when we visited Uncle Chris, Auntie Tami and cousin Maggie! We had a great time! Except for when it came to the fireworks. It was past Charlie's bedtime and they were awfully loud so that equaled one fussy baby. But he came around in the end and got into the spirit;

Charlie also enjoyed visiting with their dog Scooby. He's such a dog lover, and we don't even have a dog!



One major event from this month was Charlie's first Comic Con! We headed down to San Diego and Charlie was ready to roll in his costume!

Everyone adored baby Yoda! And the highlight of his Con was when he got to meet Snoopy!
Charlie LOVED Snoopy! He laughed and hugged Snoopy and loved him so much! I was so proud! That's my boy!


On a not so fun note Charlie did come back from San Diego with a virus :( He's ok though, he got tested up and down and there's no infection. So we're giving him Pedialite and baby Tylenol and a lot of cuddles and he is slowly getting better. There's just a lot of fussing and a lot of sleeping going on. Poor little guy. But while we were at the ER when he had a fever we were waiting for the Doctor to come and I guess the Motrin they gave Charlie kicked in and Charlie was ready to party! He was playing and laughing and while he was laughing up a storm he even got the guy in the next room laughing with him! Charlie is a born healer ;)

Believe it or not Charlie's 1st birthday is just a few months away! And because his birthday falls on a Thursday we've decided to throw his party that following Saturday...which is Halloween!! Woohoo!! But when it comes to dressing up, Charlie is an old pro;


Until next month!

~Karen, Bill and Charlie

8 months! Woohoo!!

So Charlie's 8 month birthday is upon us ALREADY!!! What is that all about?!?!? But with the new month comes a new level of cuteness!!! See for youself;
We also celebrated Bill's first Father's day! Charlie got him a card, which he ate...of course...
And here's Charlies little chompers! He's had them for a while but I finally got a picture!
He's getting more and more character every day! He also LOVES to be on the move! While he still isn't crawling he's scooting, rolling, and rocking like a madman! He's also getting much better at feeding himself, and sometimes even prefers doing it himself than having us feed him!
He is all about doing things his own way and hates whenever anyone tries to tell him otherwise! He's definitely our baby alright. We go for walks every morning and he loves getting out and seeing the world! He's a huge flirt and smiles at anyone that'll look at him! He's melting hearts left and right! We've also found that he loves balloons! It's so cute because while he puts everything in his mouth he will hold onto a balloon and bop it around rather than try to eat it. I think he likes how it bounces. I'll have to get a picture sometime. It's adorable!

So our big boy is getting bigger everyday! His newest babbling includes the ever famous "Na Na Na Na." He loves to be a part of the conversation as long as the conversation is all about Na Na Na. Currently everything is a Na Na. I'm a Na Na, you're a Na Na, wouldn't you like to be a Na Na too?

Anyway, that's all for now! This weekend we plan to visit scorching hot Vegas for the 4th to visit Tami, Chris and Maggie. Happy 4th of July everybody!!

~Karen

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Ahh the magic, it was there, until Charlie pooped.

That's it for Baby Train, thank you all for your support and wonderful comments. We plan on doing more of these types of stories in the future so stay tuned. Right now though, we're going to to be putting together the Baby Train book if any of you would like to get updates and be the first to know when its out, send me an e-mail at billdrastal@hotmail.com and I'll put together a mailing list with updates on our progress. Thank you

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Oh man we don't have nearly the space available to go over the stuff that happened during the delivery. Needless to say I was a little to camera happy at Karen's expense. Check in on Thursday for the last strip!!

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Let the craziness commence!!

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The horror, the horror!!!

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All this cleaning, it's becoming a problem

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Charlie has gone mobile!!

But he doesn't crawl..oh no! See for yourself how he plans to get around :)



I giggle every time I watch this :) Charlie does things his own way! Oh yeah!

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Sorry for the lateness of today's strip! But as a bonus it's a double strip for your enjoyment! I swear this makes the process of getting leave and disability easy compared to the hoops we had to jump through! Sheesh!!

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Ahh the Truth....

Could it possibly be 7 months?

Yes! Yes it could!! Happy 7 month birthday Charlie! He's getting to be such a big boy! Check him out over Memorial Day weekend when he hung out with his cousin Maggie;
He was so excited to be able to sit in the wagon like a big boy! And he would hold onto the sides and sit there all good just looking around. And Maggie was being such a helpful cousin! Whenever Charlie would start to drool like crazy she would reach over and dab his face with his bib! So cute!! Memorial Day weekend was a very busy weekend and so much fun! We started it out with a BBQ and swimming with relatives from Bill's side of the family. Charlie also got to hang out with his cousin Hugo (2nd cousin? Distant cousin? Once removed? Anyway it's Bill's cousin Anna's baby). Let's just say Charlie enjoyed the swimming, but not nearly as much as Hugo did! That little polliwog! HAHAHAHAHA

Charlie was happier sitting on the step and splashing;So we got out and warmed up and hung out on the grass, what a couple of adorable mugs!The next day we headed to the highland games! Charlie got in touch with his Scottish roots;
Then on Monday it was off to the LA Zoo! Where Charlie and Maggie got to cruise around in the little red wagon. So stylish! You think Charlie enjoyed himself?He's such a big boy! As for milestone news Charlie now has two little teeth! And I think more are coming because the fussyness has returned! Poor little guy. But he has been sleeping a lot better lately! We were having so much trouble getting him to sleep during the night, he would sleep good from about 2am and wake up at noon for the longest time and it was driving me crazy!! And we tried EVERYTHING! Putting him to a night time schedule, not letting him nap later in the day, letting him cry for a little bit before going to get him...NOTHING would work! But now we get him up earlier in the morning and so far so good! It's just now we have to get used to getting up early again! Ack! I don't know how some parents say they go by "schedules" to keep them on track. With Charlie it's a new adventure everyday! We can barely plan let alone set a schedule! He's just his own baby and no one's going to tell him what to do :) Usually he tells us what to do with all of his babbles! It's so cute!! Melts our hearts :) He'll be on the move any time now, he has all of the crawling motions down he just needs to learn how to do it at the same time so he can stop being a beached whale whenever he gets on his tummy. He's also been practicing with his finger foods and sippy cup too. He's getting there, he just needs more practice because most of it is getting everywhere but in his mouth.

So until next month!!

~Karen, Bill, and Charlie

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Accepting the truth is one thing to know all the details is another.

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Haha Normal.

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Actually it was saving and a bit of dumb luck. In our house problems like this will usually be solved by one of us having the problem which we will talk about,receive advice from the other, hug and be on our merry way.A few hours later, it will be the other persons turn to have the same problem and the cycle will continue where we each offer each others' own advice.

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What do we give up indeed. Hmmm.....for anyone that ever finds themselves in this situation, don't panic. Just know where your towel is.

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Well its 3 am now so yes we should've relaxed and got as much sleep then when we could. *sigh* Wow its Strip 68 already? 12 more to go!!

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Putting baby things together is harder than you think. Especially when its hand me down items and the instructions have been lost. Like reverse engineering a flying saucer.

Mother's Day!

So this last Sunday was our very first Mother's Day! And I must say it was AWESOME. We hung out, had brunch, poked around downtown Burbank, and had a very relaxing day. I LOVED it! And Charlie got me a Nintendo DSI! What a smart baby ;) He also got me a card, which he thought was delicious;
and here we are at brunch;


Charlie thought the table was delicious as well;
In other Charlie news he has officially cut his first tooth! There's no pictures because you can barely see it but it's there! The poor little guy has been having a lot of trouble with teething..hopefully things will get better now. He's also got his own crib all set up and so far he seems to like it! Now let's see if Bill and I can handle not having him sleeping in our room anymore :( HAHAHAHHA

Until next time!

~Karen, Bill & Charlie