Our baby boy's 1st Birthday!

You know time is flying when one minute you are holding your newly born son and then then next you're celebrating the fact that a whole year has gone by! That's right peeps, on the 3rd February 2011 Charlie turned in to a 1 year old little boy (so now when Jude asks how old Charlie is we can actually give him a number rather than confusing him! Bless).
I thought it would be a good idea to share with you all what we did:

We had heard of this great place in Melksham for kids which is called "Boomerang". So on Monday 1st February we took Charlie and had a wonderful hour or so.

They had all kinds of soft play toys there, we took advantage of the bouncy castle being empty and dove on to see what Charlie thought. Unfortunately he was a little tired and wasn't too impressed.

We then took him over to the ball park which he loved!

I have to say, this donut thing was probably his favourite thing there. I get the impression he'd have stayed in this for hours!



We then took him on this "fun house" type gaunlet. Unfortunately Mummy was too afraid to come on but did a good job of getting some fab pics!

By this point I think he had completely lost interest... These pics were more for us I think lol!

That night we took Charlie in to Bath and went to STRADA where he had his first ever ordered meal. The waiter brought over some crayons (which said not suitable for under 36 months!) and a childrens menu to use them on a long with a few breadsticks which he LOVED! I was quite impressed that he actually got the hang of colouring in instead of just putting the crayons in his mouth.

Charlie ended up having grilled chicken breast and panacotta for dessert!

On his actual birthday we got some birthday banners and party food and had a little party at home for him. He got lots of nice things including; Money, new clothes & coat, a play telephone, shark towel & swimming shorts plus lots of new toys! AND as we're off to our roots at the end of February he has lots of pressies waiting for him!

To end the celebrations we thought we'd take him swimming. So today we packed our bags and set off for the Olympiad Leisure Centre. It's only a 10-15 minute walk but the day didn't look great so I suggested taking the car... Needless to say this was met by a lot of heckling from my beloved. We arrived and got down to the pool to find a bunch of old perishers  swimming in lanes! Luckily I asked the life guard who said it was ok to get in as they had extended the times for the over 50's so they'd just have to swim round us.
Charlie had a fab time and wee definately going to take him back soon.

We hope this has served as a great birthday celebration in his eyes and that he had lots of fun, I guess we shall never truly know.
Still it's a real blessing be able to celebrate the birth of our baby boy as it really is one of the bestest days of my life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!



A bunch of firsts...

As Charlie has just had his first birthday it made me look back at all the "firsts" he has had in just the quick one year of his life:

1. Charlie's 1st day on earth.

What a wonderful day this was. It took a while for him to be born but after lots of complications we were greeted by our little baby boy Charlie Joseph Rowe at 4:59pm on 3rd February 2010 weighing 6lb 7oz at Bath Royal United Hospital.

2. Charlie's 1st bath.

Soon after his birth a very yellow looking boy was introduced to bath time! He didn't seem to mind at all and continues to enjoy bath time... It's when he has to come out that's the problem!

3. Charlie's 1st day home.

After 11 loooong days of being stuck in a 12' x 12' square room Charlie was finally given the all clear and we ran as fast as our legs could carry us!!! And since then we've never looked back.

4. Charlie's 1st day at church.

After being a litle rebelious and not attending church the first couple of weeks we finally were able to dress him in his Sunday best and show him off to all our friends. He was very excited.

5. Charlie's 1st trip to the temple.

We're priviledged to have two LDS temples in the UK, one in Preston and this one in London, East Grinstead. We wanted to take Charlie to the temple as soon as possible, but as I don't have Lauren here right now I can't quite tell you when that was....

6. Charlie's 1st "proper" smile.

There aren't many things in this world that could lift the mood of any person/situation but a childs smile is one of them.I know I'm being biased, but Charlie's is the BEST!

7. Charlie's 1st trip to the park

This must have been sometime in early June of 2010. We thought it'd be nice to take a walk (ride in Charlie's case) to John Coles Park which is a park we used to visit often to chill and listen to the occassional band playing on the bandstand in the park. From what I can remeber it was a gorgeous day and a quality afternoon.



8. Charlie's 1st train ride.

In July 2010 Charlie had his first experience of public transport. He absolutely loved his train ride to London, unfortunately there was a fault on the line on the way home and the train became a nightmare. The car was full to the brim and soon became extremely hot. One man feinted (TWICE!) and Charlie was stripped right down to his nappy! Bless.

9. Charlie's 1st trip to London.

Charlie's train ride in July 2010 led on to his first trip to our nations capitol, London. Lauren and I have a great love for London and love to go. Ironically we don't get much chance now Charlie is here. Still, here Charlie is at Paddington station with Paddington Bear. There were no marmalade sandwiches though.

10. Charlie's 1st meal time at the table.

For Charlie's first Christmas we thought we'd go the sensible route and buy him something that he needed. Before this point he was actually put on the table in his bumbo like some obsurd cannabalistic main course! So we thought it best to buy him his own seat at the table.

11. Charlie's 1st plane journey.

Charlie certainly doesn't do things by halves! My 1st plane journey was at 19 and was 2 hours to Portugal. Charlie braved an 11 hour flight over to LA!! Well I say braved... He moaned for the 1st 5 hours!

12. Charlie's 1st Christmas.

December 2010 Charlie was able to experience Christmas for the 1st time. He was thoroughly spoiled (as all children should be) but not only did he get in-undated with toys and clothes etc he also had two Christmas celebrations AND was able to see Nana Rowe and Nana & Grandad Baxter (Grandad Rowe was sorely missed).

13. Charlie's 1st meal out.

Instead of doing the whole party thing for his birthday we thought that we would spend a lot of time as a family and treat our little boy. So we took him in to Bath and did a little bit of shopping and then went out to eat at STRADA (strange choice for a one year old I know). He ended up having grilled chicken and panacota for dessert!

14. Charlie's 1st brithday celebration.

On 3rd February 2011 our little boy turned 1! Once again it was another wonderful opportunity for his loved ones to show him just how loved is. Not only did we take him to a soft play area called "Boomerang" but we also took him shopping, out to eat and swimming! 

15. Charlie's 1st time swimming.

 As part of his birthday celebration we took Charlie swimming at the Olympiad Leisure Centre. Nana and Grandad Baxter were kind enough to buy him his very own little shark towel and shorts so he looked very cool in his trendy gear! He ended up having a great time and Daddy was brave enough to dunk him.... just once as it was fairly evident that Charlie did not like it!

Well peeps that's all the firsts I could think of right now, I'm sure there are loads, but I am looking forward to a future full of 1sts with my little baby boy; his 1st steps, tooth, words list goes on.