Another rockin' road trip

The Daley Family

This post is coming about two weeks too late, but we have to mention our trip to lovely Cumberland, Maryland, over Labor Day weekend to visit the Daley family. After our 20-hour trips to Minnesota, the 7-hour drive to Cumberland was a breeze. Well, it would have been if we hadn't left at 3pm on the Friday before Labor Day. But that's OK -- we took an "alternate route" through some of Charlotte's suburbs' historic downtowns. It didn't seem to save us any time, but at least it was pretty!

The whole way up, we kept telling Nate that he would see Mary and "A'um," Mamma and "Beepsby," and Pete and "Nanoo" (that's what he calls Jess. Not sure why.) He was a little shy at first, but all a strange relative needs to do is to take him outside and you've instantly become his favorite. Peter and Jess got to meet Theo for the first time -- and Mamma and Grampy hadn't seen him since he was just 6 weeks old. He showed them his amazing acrobatic skills, his superb sitting capabilities, his penchant for smiling, and his out-of-this-world hair volume.

Speaking of hair volume, Theo got his fifth haircut last week after he was mistaken for a girl three times in as many days. I'm not going to say who accidentally said, "How old is she?" but he is the author of "Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks." And it may not just be Theo's hair; I suspect his rosy cheeks and pouty lips may add to his feminine mystique. But that's OK because like his brother, the kid is all boy. He likes roughhousing, jumping in his exersaucer like a maniac, slamming objects together, being really noisy and making lots of messes.

Nate is LOVING preschool. There is only one other boy in his class and five girls, so he has his choice of the ladies. He's currently looking for one who shares his passion for the alphabet. He likes to do art projects and sing in music class, and of course he also loves the park there. Chuck got Nate some Hot Wheels and a car ramp a few weeks ago, and it is his new favorite thing to do. He's also been bringing his comforter out into the living room and lying on the couch with a pillow -- or, better yet, covering up his Elmos (he has three) or Theo (who doesn't really dig it). He knows how to relax!

The end of summer

It's been a while since we've updated the blog. We've spent a good chunk of the summer in Minnesota to spend time with Joe and the rest of the family. The past few months have been really, really tough, but the blessing is that we were able to spend so much time together. The Vogels have seen Theo pretty much every month since he was born, and Nate is no longer shy around his relatives. In fact, we've heard "Grrrama and Bumpa!" constantly since we came back to Charlotte. He's eager to have them visit soon!

Theo with Grandma and Grandpa at the Loggers game.

Nate and his Grandpa. Still a little shy. :)

Nate and Grandma enjoy a dip in the pool, his new favorite activity!

 Theo is enamored with big cousin Brody.

Grandpa and Theo.

Theo is already 6 months old and has quickly become the Rolling-Over Champion of the World. Seriously, you can't put the kid down for five seconds before he flips -- and then flips again. He's also beginning to master squirming around on his belly. It's not quite a crawl, but he can make some serious traction in no time at all. We started him on solids a little bit after he turned 5 months, and it took a while before he got the hang of it, or even seemed to like it. That was strange after our experience with Nate, who was an eating champ the second we started him on cereal at 4 months. But now Theo is doing really well. He's had rice cereal, oatmeal, barley, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, apples, peaches, pears, and prunes. He had his 6-month appointment last week and weighed 18 lb., 8 oz. and measured 27.5 inches long. That's 75th percentile for weight and 85th percentile for height.

 Who could resist that sweet face?

Drool from teething ... and yet no teeth. :(

Getting ready to crawl!

Nate has become obsessed with letters and numbers. He mumbles the alphabet or counts to 20 as he's playing, and he sometimes says the entire alphabet backwards -- just as fast as I could. He recognizes letters and numbers in random, everyday things, like a bitten-off pretzel ("9!"), a mark on the wall ("L!"), or his ketchup after he swipes into it ("C!"). I guess the child of two English majors is bound to have a love of letters.

The obsession.

 Two nerds working hard.

After a long day of work and play, the kid knows how to relax.