Charlie at 10 weeks

 You are a dream baby.  We say this because the only basis for comparison that we have was Will and he was a really difficult baby and we always knew it.  Will cried and cried, if he was awake he cried.  Sometimes I thought that he would start screaming before his eyes even popped open.

You are so easy and tend to sleep about 20 hours a day even now...and when you are awake you are so calm that I sometimes look down at you in your seat and you're awake and looking around and I wonder how long you've been up for.  Just happily watching us and surverying the kitchen...

Your big brother Will calls you Charlie but has a hard time with your full name calling you Charloz.  Lately we've taken to calling you just that which we find quite funny.  

You are definitely cooing more lately and we love hearing those "ooh"s and "ahh"s.  

Last night we shared a very sweet moment.  I love your smiles so much!

Dinner at Cuckoo, my favourite!

At the Coombs market on the way to the cottage is a trattoria called Cuckoo that we discovered last year.  They have a gorgeous terrace with lights in the trees and often a band playing nearby.  They have a Caprese salad to die for, a stone oven for pizzas which I love and Daddy's favourite dessert ever, a chocolate peanut butter stack.  We love the restaurant so much we talked about having Daddy quit work early on Fridays so that we could get there in a timely manner and of having a standing reservation Friday nights at 6!  So glad that Cuckoo could become part of our summer cottage traditions!  And perhaps we can even eat our meals slowly and savour them one day...

VIEX 2012

 As we know, last year at the VIEX didn't work out well...Will was deathly afraid to go on any of the rides and we ended up leaving without having gone on a single one!  This was quite shocking to us given your love of high-octane activities.  Ah well, we gave it another shot....

We started out at the KidZone where they had a bunch of stations set up to learn about farming etc.  Of course you were drawn to the filthiest, dirtiest station where you are meant to dig for some produce.  You were quite proficient at scooping out potatoes and pulling the carrots.  I had to wrangle you into putting them back as you wanted to take tham home and "make a salad for dinner" although you would sooner stick needles in your eyes than actually eat salad....

Then there was milking:

Next we moved on to a train ride which was within the KidZone and you said you wanted to go on that.  I explained that Mommy couldn't go on that one with you, I'm too big and you were good with it.  However, when it came time to get onto the ride it was just the same as last year and you backed out at the last second!  When we started to walk away you cried and cried that you wanted to go on, just like last year.  So back we went and waited for another chance and when it was time to get on you refused, crying again!  Talk about frustrating...

Then we found a ride that we could both go on and you were just fine with that.  We took the Merry Go Round first and Mommy sat beside you for that and then we took the Ferris Wheel (Mommy was silently freaked out).  You loved it!

Then I figured out the key: Charlotte.  This little girl who sat with us on the Ferris Wheel with us took you on the next ride with her.  You just needed a pal to go on with!  (Mommy was too big for most rides).

 You and Charlotte on the helicopters: 

 Then we found Connor at the spaceships: 

And after that you went on everything on your own!  Voila!

Daddy goes ATVing

 Daddy has been working so hard at the office and at the cottage lately, Mommy thought it was time for him to have some fun.  I bought Daddy an afternoon ATV tour in Port and he went with a trusty guide called Blaine.  Sounds like they had a blast!  

This is Daddy at the "Top of the World."  That's Sproat Lake in the distance.  In some of the shots you can see the water bomber near our place!

Our first weekend at the cottage!

 We have been dying to get into the cottage for quite some time but the renovations dragged on and on.  Finally this weekend we got running water and the kitchen is fully in and so we spent 3 glorious nights there in the blazing heat!  Mommy and Charles spent our time on the dock in the shade watching Daddy and Will play on the dock and it was so much fun for all! Daddy did all sorts of tricks into the water and Will was a daredevil as usual running and jumping into the lake.  When our friends see photos of Will in midair launching into the water they ask if it's been photoshopped.  I assure them it hasn't.  Most kids at three wouldn't dare jump into the water let alone with gusto!

What you WERE hesitant about was sharks in the water...we explained to you that there are no sharks in the lake, that they only swim in the ocean where there is salt water and this is fresh.  You grasped it for sure but you asked about a million times nonetheless....

This is your first jump into Sproat EVER!

You liked it!!

Daddy had fun too!  

He does so many fun tricks!

 

Woooohooooo!

 

Great shot!

 

The Martin Mars water bomber even made an appearance for us:

 

 Mommy and Will had some fun together too!  Mommy took her first dip in the water too:

After all that we did this summer to make the cottage a reality, spending our maternity leave savings, painting a day before a C-section, long weekends of hard work and countless reno blunders that had to corrected...at the end of this day I heard Will in the shower ask Daddy "Can we stay at the cottage longer?"  ...and it was all worth it.

We are going to have so much fun here!

The sunrise I've never seen

Well thanks to you Charlie Mommy and Daddy have been able to enjoy watching the sunrise from our kitchen for the first time.  A silver lining to getting next to no sleep ;)

You are definitely a better sleeper than your brother but are still up at least twice a night.  Once around 2-3am and then again at 6-ish.  For the past few nights though you've made it until 4am and then not again until a proper wake up time!  Here's hoping!!

We're good with it.  We know you are on demand feeding right now.  And we love that you are thriving.  Dr Schulson says you are as healthy as can be and you weighed in a 12 lbs at your 8 week check!  Go Charlie go!

Poolside fun!

 This summer we were lucky to have warmer weather than last.  Thank goodness, so that we could use the pool more often and also because I was off to enjoy it too (good timing on the mat leave ;).

Until now, Charlie had been watching from the sidelines in a little tent that we bought for this purpose.  But today we thought it was time he dipped a toe (or a torso) in the water too!

 I really thought you would love it since bathtime is such a joy for us but alas, you did not like it at all!  Although the water temperature was high 80s I guess it was still too cold for your liking.  No worries, big brother Will put up a big fuss in PEI with the cold water and he grew into a water baby.  So will you!