Charley

From the other side!

Helping Daddy drive on the ferry to Saltspring.

Here I am helping Daddy pack for his camping trip with Ondrej and Brett. I am such a big help!

Playing with Aila on our recent trip to Saltspring.

Examining the snow

With Daddy after daycare.

Rocking in my chair. I recently went through a stage where I didn't want to take off my boots.... even to go to bed! Luckly I'm over that now.

All ready to go out!

Learning about video games from Daddy and Uncle Jimmy. (Mommy is thrilled about this one....)

As you can probably tell by my face, I'm not thrilled about snow. I truly am a West Coast Girl!

Going for a ride in the buggy with Grandma.

Chatting with Daddy on the phone.

Grandpa be a horsie....

Wilem and I went to the Baby Orchestra together. We had a great time and really enjoyed the music.

Big shoes to fill!

Hamming it up for the camera with Daddy.

In early late December and early January, we had quite a series of snow storms, which took out the power for days. Stefan was called away to help get the electricity back on for thousands of people in the valley. Here are a few photos of the fun he had!

Chainsaw crazy on day 7 of the storm.

Stefan's view from the top of the pole.

Taking a break on day 8. Stefan needs a nap.

Heading home after putting the lights on Saltspring back on.

Feb. 27, 2005

Hello Everyone,

Charley is a year and a half old already! How time does fly. She is undoubtedly in the most delightful stage of her young life right now. She is talking non-stop, often in complete sentences ("See more airplanes please Mama!), and continues to get into everything.

Her two favorite words seem to be 'no' and 'mine', and we fear that the terrible two's have started early. For the most part, however, she is a wonderfully happy little girl. She continues to enjoy going to daycare, and also likes visiting with her friends. She loves getting horsie rides from Daddy and Grandpa, and is increasingly interested in airplanes, helicopters, boats and busses. Carlos and Jake continue to be some of her best friends, and they seem to love her as much as she loves them. We are very lucky to have such good natured cats!

Now that the snow has passed, and after 2 solid months of rain, she loves playing outside and helping in the garden. We have recently noticed that she is a budding soccer player, and earlier today she had her first sports-related injury. While playing soccer at the park with her friend Finn (age 4 1/2), his parents, Stefan and I, she somehow managed to get hit by the ball square in the face. After a brief crying session, she picked herself up and continued on with the game. What a tough kid!

Shannon (Charley's Daycare Provider) says that Charley is 'no wallflower'. While the younger kids are often picked on and pushed around by the older kids, Charley doesn't put up with any sort of mistreatment at all. She has no problems standing up for herself and letting the big boys know if they have crossed the line. We are very proud of her determination and her strong will right now (although we recognize that it may become more of a challenge for us as she gets older!:)

Over the past two months Charley has enjoyed visiting with Oma Peters, Grandma and Grandpa Bennett, Uncle Jimbo, and Uncles Ondrej and Brett. It has been wonderful for her to have this constant amount of love and attention from her family and friends! She is also spending more time with our neighbour and good friend Liz, who Charley calls 'Auntie Honey'. Charley visits with Honey several times a week, and trys to make sure she gives lots of attention and 'treats' to Bumblebee and Duffy.

Charley likes to make sure that everyone is included in whatever activities are going on. She will make a face, funny noise, or do a dance. Then she goes around the room and says 'you do'. She expects everyone in the room to copy her. If you don't do it, she says 'you do' louder until you copy her. She is quite the director.

She is also experimenting with new foods. Before Christmas, Grandpa Bennett introduced Charley to ham. She had never had ham to eat before, but she soon realized that it is quite tasty, and now she loves it. Some mornings she wakes up saying 'Mama, ham please breakfast'.

Charley is also very interested in the ocean, which is a source of great delight for Michelle. She has several picture books about ocean creatures. Her favorite is about Hawaii. It has lots of beautiful photos of coral reefs and different sea creatures. She wants to read it every night before bed, and each morning when she wakes up. She even wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes to 'read ocean book please!'

Please click on the links below to see some photos, and to learn more about Tornado Charley! Please sign our guestbook or email us and let us know what you think.

Take care and Love to all, Michelle, Stefan and Charley

To return to our mainpage, click here

To return to the archives, click here