Charles is one month old.
Wow, I can't believe our little monkey is three already. It seems like just yesterday that I was going into labor (on my birthday of all things) and then we were bringing him home. This has been an amazing adventure with our little man and we're so blessed that he chose to come to us.
He was born at 3 in the afternoon on Wednesday, Novermber 26 2003. He was 6 lbs. 11 3/4 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. He is the most precious gift that I ever recieved on any of my birthdays. His red hair was a surprise to all of us. It was a pretty copper when he first arrived although it has now faded to strawberry blonde. In fact, that's why we call him monkey. He was only a week old when I was holding him in my arms and as he srewed up his face to start yelling, with his copper hair sticking out everywhere, he looked just like a little orangutan baby.
He is my human garbage disposal. He routinely eats anything put in front of him, and it's nothing to see him put away as much as I or his father. I never will understand where he puts it, he's so darn skinny. In fact, my mom says he looks just like an old man: skinny body, thin wispy hair, no butt, and a little pot belly. I swear, he does act like one sometimes. He's such a little hypochondriac.
And he lives up to the name of moneky very well. He's curious about everything and rarely sits still. He's got a surprising strength hiding in those skinny little arms of his and can pack quite a punch as his brother has discovered.
To celebrate his monkeyness, we are having a Curious George birthday party! I designed my own invitations using classic Curious George clipart. The front pic was taken from Curious George and the Birthday Surprise (this is one of his gifts). It really is amazing what you can do with Word and Paint. Since we're only giving him a few small gifts, I printed off our own paper. This one was perfect since it matched the popcorn boxes, this one Charles picked out, and a third one I designed around a pic of George sitting on a big three.
Since it's too cold to have it outside, and our place is just too small, we're going to have it at McDonalds. This is the first time I've ever done something like this so I hope it turns out well. On a positive note, there is a play land at this one, so I really don't have a lot of activities planned. The kids can all just run around and play their little hearts out.
I bought old fashioned popcorn boxes for the goody bags. The contents are: Curious george fruit snacks, stickers, a Curious George mask, and a Curious George Happy Birthday coloring sheet. I had also found a toilet paper roll Curious George and a monkey paper bag puppet that I wanted to do, but we decided the kids would be happy enough with a coloring picture and a mask.
We ordered all of our supplies, including the plates, from All Aboard Toys (except the popcorn boxes, I found those on Ebay.)
The one game will be a classic pin on, only here we're putting goodies on George's ice cream cone. Along that theme, I'm making ice cream cone cakes. These are very simple: make fairy cakes and then sit them in flat bottomed ice cream cones. Frost, and then add sprinkles or other fun goodies to make them look like an ice cream cone. Carey even got chocolate dipped ice cream cones, so the kids are really going to like these. Charles chose red velvet cake, and a bright blue strawberry flavored frosting.
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