Double Digit Charlie

                 I have been preparing to write this blog post for WAAAAY too long tonight, getting carried away looking at all these old pictures of my boy.  I can’t believe that it has been a decade since Charlie came plunging into our world (if you haven’t heard his birth story, it’s pretty remarkable, you can Jeff’s version of it here, though mine is pretty different…need to document it one day).  I knew from the minute I went into labor with Charlie that he was going to be golden.  His entrance into the world foreshadowed the life he is leading: a big soul, breaking all the rules (in the good way), unique, full of excitement and kind of unpredictable.   He was also born with a Caul (and I just found out that there’s a whole website about this!). Apparently he is a Caulbearer.  He had a thin covering or veil over his face at birth.  Legend has it that this indicates great depth and wisdom and possibly all kinds of other magical powers.  Not sure how much oomph I put into those legends….but in Charlie’s case it could be true.  This kid is pretty remarkable.  It’s hard to believe that this little blob of a baby is now my big strapping young boy.  Look at that tomato bigger than his big belly.  I’ve always LOVED the determination with which Charlie does things. (especially running)Quite the ladies man. (explanation: one year for Halloween Charlie dressed up like his dad….cutting his long locks into this winning haircut….)We did some serious celebrating this year for his big double digit birthday.  Jeff was going to be out of town on the actual day which really threw Charlie for a loop. So, to make it up to him, Jeff worked with him for a few Saturdays to build this loft bed.  Charlie has a builder/inventor heart beating in his chest, but in our 1400 square feet of living space there’s just now room for Charlie to build.  His room has been impossible to walk through lately, littered with all is building projects.  This lack of space may have bugged Jeff even more than it bugged Charlie.  Jeff wanted so much for him to have his own work space like Jeff had in his basement as a kid.  So, they came up with this plan and using some 2x4’s from Home Depot they gave his bed a boost.  With all the repurposing they did and with the bookshelves I snagged from someone’s trash I think the whole project cost them $35 and a few hours on a few separate Saturdays.  Here Charlie is with the finished under the bed workshop. Still not immaculate, but Jeff has stressed the importance of me not getting involved on that front.  He says the very definition of a workshop is a place that your mom doesn’t tell you to clean up.  I have to say, this little room transformation has completely transformed Charlie’s life.  He’s got the space to work on all the things his mind is chewing on all day. I love this photo even more.  Shows all his passions: building, turtles, cello, space and baseball.    On the Sunday before his birthday we had the first of the birthday celebrations so that Jeff could be in on some of it.  For dessert we had blueberry dumplings.  Charlie was born on my Grandpa Deans birthday.  Dean died when my dad was a teenager so I never got to meet him, but  my Grandma taught me to make Blueberry Dumplings which I guess were one of his favorites.  So, in his honor we made them and they were really easy and super yummy.  I’ll have to post the recipe one day.  I love the connection Charlie Dean has with his Grandpa Dean.  On his actual birthday I took him out of school early for lunch and froyo and a trip to the RC car store.  And we went rock climbing afterschool with two of his best buddies.  We ate pizza and opened a few little presents and ate brownies and ice cream. 

And then, since he’s turning an even number this year, he got to have a friend birthday party.  He invited his whole class and about 3/4 of them showed up.  Charlie was so great planning the whole thing, getting it all set up with me, making invitations, figuring out activities.  They spent the first 20 min following our party plan.  They painted planets and then everything went wild.  They had a full on disco-lit, music blaring, screaming pillow fight in the basement before they came up for pizza and cake.  I’m sure part of the craziness is just their age, but I think it was also due to the fact that these same kids have been in the same class together for 4 years.  They were all biting at the chance to let loose a little together after spending so much time trying to be civilized in a class room. 

Charlie didn’t mind the craziness and I think everyone had a pretty rockus time. 

This ^^ is one of my all time favorite expressions of Charlie.  Pure glee in that face there. 

Ten things Charlie has brought into our world over the past decade:

1. An insatiable curiosity about how things work.  Mechanical things, yes, but he pretty much wants to know how the who world works.  He has a never ending supply of questions and when someone has the time to answer them he is quick and bright and gets it.
2. I’m pretty sure he has the beginnings of some serious inventions inside of that head.  He’s going to make a mark on the world with all his questioning and thinking. 
3. Sensitivity.  Charlie can sense what people around him need and has a way of quietly connecting with people in pain and offering them light.
4. Lots of pestering.  Mostly the kind that makes Emmeline scream at the top of her lungs.  But working hard to reign that in.  To use that gift he has to know exactly what will get a reaction to get good reactions instead of loud angry ones.
5. Glee.  Charlie is full of wonder and glee and those things spill out of him onto all of us.
6. Humor.  Charlie knows how to take a joke and is pretty darn good lately at shelling them out.  I love it so much when Charlie really belly laughs.  He gains so much satisfaction out of the things he finds funny. 
7. Faith.  Charlie has an infallible sense of what is real.  He feels things strongly and is willing to do hard things if he knows they’re the right thing.  He has a fire inside of him to be a force for good in the world and he’s sensitive to the light and truth that will lead him.
8. Passion.  When Charlie decides to love something he throws his whole heart into it.  He lives and breaths it.  He digests it until it becomes a huge part of who he is.  Currently it’s RC cars, but it’s also baseball and rock climbing and cello. 
9. Persistence.  Charlie will not let down.  If there is something good and right the he feels like he deserves he will find a way to make it happen.  At times this is a little problematic, but I trust he grow and learn to use this ability to make good and right things happen.
10. Whole Heartedness.  Charlie is the most confident person I know.  He isn’t never seems to doubt himself (which at times, of course, is a little problematic).  But, he knows exactly who he is and what he’s about and that leaves him free to be himself. 

And we all pretty much love who he is.  Love you Charlie Dean.  We’re all so thrilled that you dove into our world. 

Happy Birthday to Charlie!

   Charlie turned 9 this weeks.  It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years since he plunged into the world.  (Literally he did plunge into the world…see his unbelievable birth story here).  I remember when I started to go into labor with him, contractions were beginning to be more regular and serious, I was in the grocery store, by all the 75% off holiday leftovers, and I felt this distinct feeling of peace wash over me.  It said to me, “this boy will be pleasing, a delight, he’s gonna get it all right.”  Maybe it’s that I could feel labor starting at the precise moment that I wanted it to (in the afternoon of his great grandfather’s birthday) but I think it’s more likely that it was a real prompting, a real spiritual indication of the nature of the spirit that was to join our family.

And this nine year old dream has fulfilled that mini prophesy.  He has been a delight to mother, to watch change and grow and learn and progress.  Sure, he’s had his moments, his full not-so-good stages, but overall he is a joy and such an incredible addition to our family.

Since he’s turning an odd numbered age there was no big friend birthday hoopla, just some quiet family celebrating.  It was nice.  

The day started with birthday soufflé (German pancakes, but we’ve renamed them since that’s what everyone wants for their birthday breakfast), then school, then an early release for a little lunch date with me.  This was the highlight of my day.  My boy chose to eat at Sweet Green, my new favorite lunch spot where all they serve is deliciously packed salads.  We had to drive downtown in the beginning of a blizzard to get these sweet greens, but it was worth it, the staff there were all so impressed that he chose a birthday salad that they gave it to him for free (charmed life that boy leads).  We had a great little ‘interview’ during lunch, talked about how he’s doing in school, with his friends, physically, with his families.  He is such a great kid to talk to.  

After school we went swimming at the Y.  I wish I’d have taken a picture, but it’s pretty tricky to get four kids in and out of a pool (especially when you have to go out into blizzarding conditions!).  So, just imagine all of us there at the Y.   We always swim on Charlie’s birthday to commemorate his big birth day splash into that tub.   And the day ended with fish tacos at home and a car cake  made by Hazel.   

Charlie’s big exciting gift was a retro (craigslisted) iPod Nano.  He has been longing for one of these ever since Hazel got one on her ninth birthday.  I loaded it up with ted talks about robots and space and his favorite music.  Hazel even bought him some new songs we didn’t own.  He’s been in his one little music/ted talk world ever since.  (Time to make some technology rules.)

During dinner we went around the table a few times and told Charlie the things we love about him.  Each time it came around to him he was ripe with things to say that he likes about himself.  And they were all spot on and much more insightful than the things that we were all coming up with. That’s one of my favorite things about Charlie.  He knows who he is, he knows he’s cool, he’s got more confidence in his little finger than most people have in their whole bodies!   

So here are some pictures I couldn’t resist posting of Charlie throughout the years.  That boy was born with sparkle.  First birthday ^^       Two!Three!Four!  Five!  Gotta love all the different stages of Charlie’s hair.  Wow, he had some winner hair styles.  (The one above is when he dressed up like his dad for Halloween). Look at that shag! ^^    Great big brother.   This summer he got up on water-skis! This was his first try.  Clearly I’m excited.  I love how he sticks out his tongue when he’s doing something hard.  Love it when kids do that!

9 reasons why I love being Charlie’s mom:

1. Charlie is curious.  His mind is always trying to figure things out.  I’ve never met a kid with so many questions.  He has learned exactly which questions to ask us to get us to linger in his room a little longer at night.  To Jeff it’s things like ‘how do the shocks work on a bike, or how long would it take to get to mars?’  to me it’s things like ‘how do you know if God is listening to your prayers?’  He’s sneaky and somehow always knows how to hook us in with his questions. 
2. He knows exactly what he wants and WILL NOT STOP until he gets it.  This year he got that RC car for Christmas but had to buy a bunch of stuff to get it to actually work and boy that kid worked every single angle trying to figure out how to get the money to get that car up and running.  He just asks for what he needs and persists until he gets it. Even though this can be a little annoying at times, mostly it’s a good thing.  It will really get him places in life.
3. Charlie is a good friend.  He always wants to be around people and he’s always kind to the people he’s around (aside from siblings of course). 
4. Charlie has taught me a lot about feeling close to the spirit and to his Heavenly Father.  He has a spirit that really can tune into what Heavenly Father wants for him to feel.  He’s brought me closer to God as I’ve watched him tune in. 
5. Charlie is a good listener (can’t believe I’m saying this!  He didn’t listen to me for YEARS!)   Not only is he good at listening and remembering what I’ve asked him to do, most of the time he listens to my advice and takes me seriously.  I can instruct him on how to do something at school, how to treat a friend or a sibling, how to be healthy and he follows my advice!  It is such a gift to have a child who you feel like listens and respects what you say. 
6. Charlie is a HARD worker.  Of course there’s the normal bellyaching at times when he’s more interested in something else, but once he gets going he works hard until a task is done.  I love it when he gets into that working mode.  I can see a little glimpse of the adult Charlie in him.  He’s not going to be afraid to do hard things. 
7. Charlie is a good brother.  I can almost always get him to back down and be kind to his siblings.  Of course he has mastered pestering his sisters, but they know he loves them.
8. Charlie is pretty funny.  One of my favorite things to do is watch him laugh, he has an incredible deep belly laugh. And his eyes shine.
9. Charlie has a good heart.  He wants to do what is right.  He knows when something doesn’t feel right and works to change things.  I love him for this. 

Happy Birthday Charlie!  Can’t wait to keep uncovering who you are.