Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Photographing three young cousins...



...Is not as easy as it looks!
(Lincoln -6 mo, our boy -9 mo-, Aaron 15 mo)

Bannister Family Christmas

We went out to Hempel Hill for "Little Christmas" and to hang out with the rellies. Grandpa played the world's smallest harmonica and was quite impressive!

Charlie's Great Grandma, at age 88 (!), bounced Charlie on her knee and sang to him. Charlie loved it! As soon as she stopped jigging her knee, he would clench his legs and jig on his own until he started again!

Charlie got to meet his cousin Aaron for the first time or "Big Aaron" as he's know in the Bannister clan now that there is a "Little Aaron." Charlie was ecstatic to be hanging out with an LA movie star:)

There's that cheesy smile again!
One of the greatest things in the world, Aaron's "cheesy" smile. He also has a cheesy laugh, but you'll just have to use your imagination!



Charlie was so excited about the gift he picked out for Aaron, he couldn't wait for him to unwrap it. It was a pretty cool present...a Veggie Tales "Bob the Barber" play-doh set.

Cousin Aaron's a pretty good gift giver too. Gave Charlie his very own Woody doll and a Buzz Lightyear cell phone. Funny though, seems that kids have an innate gift for distinguishing the real from the fake. No matter how exciting and realistic you make a toy remote control or cell phone, kids don't fall for it. They know, and decidedly prefer, the real thing.


Notice the baster in Charlie's grip. He was fascinated with this thing and didn't let it leave his sight all of Christmas day. Needless to say, this was not one of Charlie's gifts, but oh well, baste away!

"All for me?...Sweet!"



Charlie quickly caught on to the process of unwrapping of presents. He needed some help getting started, but then took over the tearing like a pro. He especially liked the push popper from Uncle Jon, his construction shirt from Aunt Koo, Buzz Lightyear cellphone from Cousin Aaron and Fridge Farm from Gram and Gramps. "Wow, guess I was a good boy this year...!"

Christmas at Cherry Creek

Some cute pics of the boys under the Christmas tree...and reading with Grandma.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Sharing Christmas Joy

A group of kids and moms meets each week at The Friendly Home, a Rochester nursing home, to spend time with the residents. Charlie and I headed there the week before Christmas to sing carols and meet some new friends. The kids usually play in the middle of the circle so the residents can get a good view of the action. One older woman was so taken with Charlie and wanted so badly to hold him, so I gave him to her for a while. She went on and on about how big he was and how cute, until Charlie latched on to her necklace--then her earrings. After wrestling with his strong grip for a while, she was happy to give him back to his mom!


Charlie meets Santa (again)

"Why do I have to keep sitting with this guy?"

"I hate this guy!"

Charlie was all tuckered out after an early morning Breakfast with Santa at the zoo. We got to eat in the polar bear viewing area and watch the sea lions swimming as we ate.

This is Charlie's friend Benjamin sporting a very cute reindeer sweater. He felt much more comfortable in his stroller than on Santa's lap.

The Christmas Penguin (I guess)