But, as you might imagine, we were most anxious to get to
Denver to see our grandson, Charlie—and his Mom and Dad, of course. We arrived
in Denver on January 12th and have been really busy getting settled
and most importantly getting re-acquainted with Charlie, which has been grand
and so much fun.
Today is Charlie’s first birthday—although we celebrated the
event this past Saturday with a big “Muppet Playroom” blast. It is hard to
believe, but just a year ago we were impatiently awaiting news of his
arrival—now we have a charming, almost walking little guy.
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| Charlie in his element at the Toddler Park |
Sue and I are besotted with him—and whenever we are out with him, people often feed our enchantment by telling us what a cute baby he is. At one, he wants to hold your hand and walk, but when that gets to be too tiring he will fall to his hands and knees and tool across the floor at warp speed to his desired destination.
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| Ride 'Em Cowboy! |
He is bright and happy—we love his belly laughs. There is a
toddler playground very near our apartment, and on sunny days we enjoy taking
him there. He is seemingly fearless and loves going down the slide, often face
first, laughing hysterically and anxious to crawl back up and start all over
again.
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| Charlie, deliriously happy at the end of the slide. |
Bryn and Grant planned his birthday celebration for several
weeks, picking the music playlist, selecting a Muppet movie to show during the
party, and making homemade musical instruments.
The guest list included 10 kids, most under the age of two, and about 30
adults, many of whom live in their neighborhood. The menu included homemade
cupcakes topped off by Miss Piggy and Kermit rings.
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| Charlie, listening to the Playlist for the Birthday Party. |
Charlie’s paternal
grandparents, Shirley and Greg, their cuz, Debbie, and Charlie’s Aunt Erin flew
in to join the festivities. Other guests included Grant’s extended family many
of whom live here in Denver and are an important part of Charlie’s life.
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| Aunt Erin and other friends showing off the Cupcakes |
The party was a huge success, with proud parents, adorable
children, fun family, lots of balloons, good eats and drinks…and we’re not sure
Charlie even knew it was all for him. He
crawled around with the rest of the kids and got lots of hugs and kisses.
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| Charlie's girlfriend, Taylor D, waits for him to ask her to dance. |
On Sunday, the entire extended family was able to celebrate
Charlie’s christening. Charlie thought
it was a lot fun—but the pastor just didn’t let him play in the water long
enough. Afterwards we all (except Debbie and Erin who had to catch planes), had
a celebratory brunch. The First Birthday
Weekend was fantastic !
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| Charlie telling the Priest how to conduct the baptism. |
