Leslie & Stuart Johnston

Charlie meets his great grandmother, Mimi

2006-10-23T16:48:00.000-05:00

Waiting to see Great Grandmother Mimi
Watching the birdies
Time to say goodbye
Catching a snooze on the way home

More party pics... this time, not so blurry....

2006-10-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

Charlie posing with his two cousins, Kelly and Shea
Diggin' into his second birthday cake

Charlie's birthday party (Part II)

2006-10-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

So, he's actually already 13 months old, but Charlie's US-based family threw another first birthday party for him. While he managed to push quite a lot of cake up his nose, he seemed to enjoy the festivities...
Charlie and his two cousins, Kelly and Shea.
Nakie on the bed!
Charlie decides to forgo the fork and knife

Charlie hits Washington, DC

2006-10-19T06:09:00.000-05:00

Charlie thought it would be better to remove all of the clothing from the drawer and insert himself in it instead.
Charlie and Evelyn: the older woman in his life
Prepared for the crisp October weather
Dropping in to see Dubya
Charlie and Evelyn

Springtime in Swaziland (October)

2006-10-18T07:38:00.000-05:00

Reading the Sunday papers...
Getting ready for a round at the Royal Swazi Golf Club

Charlie and his toys (September)

2006-10-17T20:48:00.000-05:00

Zonked after a hard day of playing....

Charlie's first haircut

2006-10-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

Waiting for the chop...
Before the chop...
After the chop...

Charlie's first birthday, continued (September)

2006-10-17T06:43:00.000-05:00

Charlie's first piece of cake, made by our pal Morven
Happy birthday to the wee guy
Charlie digging in...

Charlie's first birthday (September)

2006-10-16T21:26:00.000-05:00

Playing with the birthday block from Morven and Rui
Hangin on daddy-o
Ready to party
With his pal, Carlos
Playing with the girlies

Back in Swaziland (August)

2006-10-16T04:40:00.000-05:00

Playing with Mr. Wolf
Charlie at dinner time
Drool fest

Holiday on the west coast of Scotland

2006-10-16T04:31:00.000-05:00

Waiting for the ferry from Port Appin
Charlie's first boat ride on a loch

Port Appin
Chillin' out

Kiawah Island, continued...

2006-10-15T18:45:00.000-05:00

With cousin Kelly

With second cousin Suzanna from London

Kiawah Island, continued...

2006-10-15T18:39:00.000-05:00

Taking a ride on Kiawah
Milk time at the Sanctuary Hotel
Charlie hangin' with his cousins, Kelly and Shea
Dinner time
At the Sanctuary

Kiawah Island, South Carolina

2006-10-14T08:59:00.000-05:00

Charlie on the beach in South Carolina, having lunch.

Charlie at home in May

2006-09-29T10:32:00.000-05:00

Charlie goes North... to Dundee and Lybster, Scotland

2006-09-29T09:31:00.000-05:00

Charlie hits Amsterdam in June

2006-09-29T03:06:00.000-05:00

Home boy hangin' in Swaziland

2006-05-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

Sitting on the kitchen floor. Okay, we had to help him, but he can stay up for several minutes.
Charlie smiling with dad on the terrace of the Royal Swazi Spa hotel
So good we had to post it twice....

A cheeky early morning face.

Charlie's first Easter

2006-04-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

Little boy on his tummy

2006-04-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

Someone is quickly learning how to turn over on his tummy. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite figured out how to turn back over... so this usually ends in tears for now.

Charlie in the new casa

2006-03-09T21:24:00.000-06:00

Big tummy (post-milk)

First day in our new house!

Sweet potato (by finger)

Charlie on safari

2006-03-07T19:34:00.000-06:00

Charlie deciding to skip the crawling stage...
At Mlilwane Reserve with Cory, the ostrich
Watching the footy...
Safari walk (don't worry - no predators here!)
Enjoying a cool drink by the watering hole

Catching up...

2006-03-07T19:29:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, we are facing a backlog of pics of wee Charlie, due to the slow speed of the Internet connection in Swaziland. I'm taking advantage of my time in the US to post a few "oldies" but goodies. Most of these were taken about 1 month ago.

Charlie in Swaziland

2006-02-14T02:42:00.000-06:00

Not very happy at lunchtime
Still not happy
A bit happier
This is when Mum is happiest

Final round from Cape Town

2006-01-21T02:17:00.001-06:00

The best way to keep Charlie entertained at the various restaurants we frequented was to put him on the table (or floor) and let him kick! Here he is at One.Waterfront in Cape Town...

Not happy to be in the car seat again...

Shopping... Charlie was on sale...

More holiday pics

2006-01-21T02:17:00.000-06:00

Hello all. We've been a bit slow to upload the latest photos - due to our recent move to Swaziland. Here is the last bunch from our New Year holiday in Cape Town. More coming soon! Kicks and arm swings - check out that motion!
Charlie and Mum at a cafe on Long Street, Cape Town
Not sure if Charlie is putting on enough weight....
Dribbles galore. Possibly teething at 4 months????
Tummy time. This is before he went ballistic.

Charlie in Cape Town

2006-01-04T03:21:00.000-06:00

Dad and Charlie at The Tarragon - catching the view
Mom & Charlie in Camps Bay. Check out the "wife beater" t-shirt behind her.
Not pleased, despite having a tummy full of milk
Still not pleased

Charlie still hitting the wineries

2006-01-04T02:59:00.000-06:00

Hangin out by the pool
Lunch at Tokara Winery. Charlie had the milk as usual.
Mom and Charlie-kins
Hangin at Knorhoek winery while Dad sample the wines inside

Charlie in the Wine Country

2005-12-30T03:34:00.000-06:00

Charlie & Mum at Knorhoek winery / guesthouse
Charlie & Dad at Delheim winery
Charlie & Mum at Muratie winery - one of the olded in the Cape!
The gorgeous wee boy...
Another shot at Muratie

Prawns and beer on the beach on Xmas Eve

2005-12-24T14:06:00.000-06:00

Not that easy to get a turkey with all the trimmings here in Moz - so we settled for prawns and beer on the beach.
Leslie & Inger with the boys

Charlie sticks out his tongue when he smiles

2005-12-23T09:02:00.000-06:00

With flash! Watch for that tongue....
Tongue has gone back in... but may very well come back out again...

Back in Maputo...just before Christmas

2005-12-23T07:03:00.000-06:00

The breast milk does it every time...
3-month old Charlie wearing pajamas made for 6-9 month olds!

Just after a mid-morning bath due to the soaring temperatures here (100 degrees and up). Doesn't feel very Christmas-y.

Smiling and kicking at the same time!

2005-12-20T08:18:00.000-06:00

On the balcony of the B&B
Dr. Evil impression
A bit dazed
View from the balcony of the B&B in Swaziland
Charlie with Stacey Daves-Ohlin, our HR Director, legal counsel and star babysitter!

Charlie in Swaziland (no, not Disneyland)

2005-12-20T08:02:00.000-06:00

More home pics

2005-12-02T16:30:00.000-06:00

A bit stunned to be having a bath in such a warm climate (no tears, just surprise)
Out for breakfast at a local pasteleria. As usual, Mom had coffee and a cake and Charlie had milk.

Who are you calling pudgy? Tipping the scales at over 14 pounds when just 10 weeks old, Charlie is not on the verge of starvation.

Charlie at home

2005-12-02T15:52:00.000-06:00

Charlie seems a bit startled to be back in the ol' car seat.

Fascinated by the tacky colors of the "gymmini"

A rare moment

Charlie on Thanksgiving

2005-11-27T00:04:00.000-06:00

Happy chap in Malkerns Valley

The boys on Thanksgiving day

Wee Charlie at Thanksgiving dinner

Charlie on the move....

2005-11-26T23:17:00.000-06:00

A sneaky smile while at the Holiday Inn in Sandton

Daddy-o and Charlie at the breakfast table

Sometimes it's the only way we can get him to fall asleep

Charlie's first safari...sort of

2005-11-26T22:42:00.000-06:00

So, we spent the night at Dawson's, a fantastic little find just a few hours from Maputo. Here's Charlie on the bed...
Here are the boys overlooking one of the lodge's lakes.
Charlie's first safari! (sort of.... there were no predators...only harmless antelopes). He slept through the whole thing.
Changing station with a view.

Charlie in his new nursery

2005-11-18T22:50:00.000-06:00

Wiggly Charlie on his changing table

Kicking away in "da crib"

Pausing to coo

Charlie in Maputo

2005-11-18T02:02:00.000-06:00

Lunch time
Nap time
Kicking time

Charlie hits Chez Vincent B&B in Nelspruit

2005-11-15T12:45:00.000-06:00

After the almost 10 hour flight from London, we were lucky to get this smile from wee Charlie. This was taken at Chez Vincent, about a three hour drive from Johannesburg.
He was a bit perplexed by the warm weather in South Africa...
But happy enough...
...as demonstrated by his many kicks

Bathtime in Edinburgh

2005-11-09T17:03:00.000-06:00

Mum gets a hand from Grampy George.

Post-bath coma

Charlie goes out to lunch

2005-11-09T10:32:00.000-06:00

Charlie and Mom at Maxi's cafe in Stockbridge. Mom had the grilled panini and a latte. Charlie had the milk.

Milk coma begins to set in.

The boys relax in bed after a big meal.

Charlie hits Edinburgh

2005-11-09T10:25:00.000-06:00

Charlie does the hokey pokey in Johnny and Claire's flat.

After a fabulous meal of lamb tagine and homemade crumble.

Charlie enjoys his first ride on a double decker bus.

Uncle John practices his parenting skills.

Grampy gives Charlie the bottle

2005-11-08T05:49:00.000-06:00

Grampy has the magic touch
Taking a break

Bathtime in Dundee

2005-11-07T15:47:00.000-06:00

Charlie visits his first Scottish castle

2005-11-07T15:34:00.000-06:00

Charlie visits his first Scottish castle, in nearby Broughty Ferry. Unfortunately, the cold winds cut the visit to only about 20 seconds...before he was whisked away to a warm coffee shop.

Charlie's smile captured on film

2005-11-07T13:02:00.000-06:00

Prior to visiting nearby Broughty Ferry, Charlie gave us a few smiles as he sat in his carseat in the kitchen. Must have been the new "Wee Man" cap...

Grampy George throws Charlie a party

2005-11-06T16:32:00.000-06:00

Charlie takes a time out upstairs while the guests arrive
Aunt Krista baked Charlie a cake to celebrate his first 51 days of life
Grampy and wee Charlie

Charlie - a real ladies' man

Grampy George throws Charlie a party

2005-11-06T16:23:00.000-06:00

Charlie hangs with Max, Flo and Sarah
Grampy calms wee Charlie post-party
Charlie chills on the floor while Grampy does all of the cooking
Charlie rudely sleeps through the whole affair
With Grampy and cousin Max

Charlie travels to Dundee, Scotland

2005-11-05T17:49:00.000-06:00

Sleepless nights take their toll on Grampy George and Charlie.
Kisses from Mom.
Big smile from wee Charlie.

Wee smile from big Dad.

Charlie slacking off in the kitchen as George prepares dinner.

Charlie meets Scottish family

2005-11-05T06:36:00.000-06:00

Charlie meets Aunt Krista and Great Auntie Agnes

Hangin' out with the Caldwells

Charlie practicing his kicks

Charlie's first trip to Scotland

2005-11-03T09:03:00.000-06:00

At Heathrow Airport

With cousin Max and Uncle Sandy

After a very long flight

Halloween Night

2005-10-31T08:54:00.000-06:00

Trick or treating with cousins Shea and Kelly

Halloween Day

2005-10-31T07:26:00.000-06:00

Lunch at the Baker Hotel with cuz Kimberly

Mommy's little pumpkin

Evening stroll below autumn leaves

2005-10-27T17:41:00.000-05:00

Pooping face.
Deciding whether to be happy
Turn that frown upside down..
Not happy about something
Oh well..

Bath time and beyond

2005-10-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

The Hello and Goodbye party

2005-10-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

A kiss from Laura
Shaking hands with Walt.
Ingrid and the cousins. Kelly is shaking feet...
Mimi looks on.

The Clan says hello

2005-10-26T22:54:00.000-05:00

Holding great Aunt Irene's spectacle chain, just to be sure...
With Irene, Kimberley,Mum, Joanne and Great Grandmother Mimi
Dad picking up tips from Irene.
Charlie with his great grandmother Betty Roney.

2005-10-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

Heading out for dinner. New duck blanket clutched in left hand , which is an instant success, comes courtesy of the Southern branch of the Roney family.
With Great Aunt Joanne. If your mum's aunt is your great aunt, that is.

2005-10-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

Mum singing 'I bid you goodnight' to a rapt Charlie. Did he go to sleep immediately? No, not even a courtesy yawn.
Dad pauses during burping duty.
Charlie in milk-coma mode. At the four week check up at the paediatrician Charlie was measured at 21 inches and 10lbs one oz. This is very impressive weight gain; mum's milk seems to be doing the job.
Testing the new wee-wee man willie cover. Naturally, since the cover was in place, Charlie declined the opportunity to pee. We kept the receipt though.
Being burped by Mummy.

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

2005-10-16T20:27:00.000-05:00

Charlie on the way to Sunday breakfast at Egg Harbor diner in nearby Geneva. Charlie reacts to dad's plan to visit a WW2 German submarine later that day.
With Leslie's old friend from Berkeley, Shana, outside the Russian Tea Time The U-505 , an intact and real German U-Boat on permanent display at Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, captured by the US Navy off Cabo Verde, West Africa in 1944. Inside the submarine. Charlie slept through the whole guided tour. Good job his admission was free, otherwise I'd have deducted it from his pocket money in 2015.

2005-10-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

Walking in the neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon in the warm October sunshine.
A friendly passing motorist saw us taking snaps and stopped to take this one for us.
Mummy has Charlie's full attention. If you hold the milk, you hold the power.

2005-10-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

Hey mum, nice pillow!

Looking very content on mum's lap after evening feed and bath, despite being forced to wear another silly hat.
October 13th. Outside temperature 72 fahrenheit. Nice temperature for snoozing.

Looking at mummy.

2005-10-11T17:37:00.000-05:00

Will the real slim shady please stand up... Charlie models rapper leisure wear during afternoon siesta.

Asleep on mummy. Now that he weighs a tremendous 9lbs 5oz, evidently it gets so tiring that he needs a sleep to recover from the previous sleep.

2005-10-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

Charlie gets the blues

A kiss from Mummy.
Dad takes a pause from burping Charlie

Three weeks old

2005-10-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

Soon after breakfast, digesting on Dad's knee. Dad's not looking at all tired in this morning photo, oh no. Charlie has every right to appear somewhat embarrassed by the silly, overly large hat that he is sporting.
Close up of the silly hat featured above.
Sleeping on Friday afternoon; Charlie selects the traditional way of celebrating his third week.

Charlie hits downtown Chicago

2005-10-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

With Jeremy and Mum at Shaw's Crab House and Restaurant, downtown Chicago. We had the chilled blue crab fingers with garlic mayo, followed by seared Fundy Bay scallops on a bed of rice and sauteed spinach. Charlie had the milk.

Charlie next to Mum on the train as it leaves Geneva for Chicago.

Early October pictures from St Charles, Illinois

2005-10-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

With Mum and Kari, mum's oldest friend from Aurora, where she grew up.

Chillin' out on the lamb fleece during the afternoon.
Hanging on to dad, looking ready to burp, or just plain scared.

2005-10-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

Milk coma induced snoozing on dad. Pity there wasn't a little more of this between 1-5am..

With cousin Shea, aged nearly 5.
Charlie aged two weeks precisely. Still unemployed.
Rare footage of Grandfather Dennis holding the wee fellie. Open eyes are becoming more common with each day (Charlie not Dennis).

2005-09-28T16:49:00.000-05:00

Drowsy mum and wide awake son.
Dr Mills of Delnor Hospital, who delivered Charlie, holds him on his 12th day.
In the doctor's office. He looks pretty tiny down there. So does Charlie etc, etc.

Ten days old

2005-09-26T19:27:00.000-05:00

Not pleased. Just had nappy (diaper in American) changed.
Chubby cheeked Charlie crashes on carpet.
Still not happy following nappy change.

Chilling at the weekend

2005-09-25T20:33:00.000-05:00

Snoozing on the floor, Saturday.

10pm Friday night. Dad used to be in the pub then. Oh well...

Not a huge golf fan

Charlie at one week old...

2005-09-23T20:09:00.000-05:00

An extremely rare moment where Mom and Dad get to share some quality time together. Mom's anti-biotics have finished, hence the celebratory glass of wine

Chillin out in the lounge on the sheepskin, making sure those arms work

Charlie with U.S. grandparents, Dennis and Lennis

Charlie wondering where his next meal will come from...

Charlie having an afternoon nap beside his mummy. Soft focus for extra cheesiness.

Charlie meets the family, takes a bath

2005-09-22T15:40:00.000-05:00

Uncle Pat meets Charlie. Latter rudely sleeps through entire encounter.

Charlie looking shocked following his first home bath. Not sure he liked having a damp cloth rubbed over his extremities. A bout of hiccups distracted him from the trauma as these snaps were taken..

Charlie's first week

2005-09-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

Modelling the new threads at granny's house.

Sleeping in mum's arms on the deck in granny's garden, evening of September 21. This was the original predicted date for Charlie's birth. Glad he came a few days before.

A favourite photo. Not sure what prompted the slightly kermit-like expression.

Charlie, during his first evening out of hospital, identifies a potential new sleeping spot on Dad's chest.

Daddy's little boy

2005-09-20T10:43:00.000-05:00

Charlie's first...

2005-09-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

...poop was a happy event for all but Charlie. Look at his wee face and furrowed brow. Hope he forgives us for all of the poking, wiping, and prodding.

Introducing...Charlie Reid Johnston!

2005-09-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

After nine (actually ten) months of anticipation, the big day finally arrived. Our little bub, Charlie Reid Johnston, was born at 1:23 pm on Friday, September 16th in at Delnor Hospital in Geneva. (Illinois, not Switzerland). He was a healthy 7 lbs, 11 ounces with a mop of black hair and a dimple on each cheek. We are ecstatic with this newest addition to our family and slowly coming to terms with limited sleep. In the second picture, movie fans will notice that George Clooney popped in from the adjacent operating room to wish Leslie all the best.

Leslie and Stuart hit Aurora, Illinois!

2005-09-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe we have been in the good ol' Midwest for over one month now. While it lacks some of the chaos of Africa, suburbia has provided a bit of calm before we welcome our new addition to our lives. (Approximate delivery date is only 2 weeks away - 16 September).

Our temporary home is now in two places: my parents' house in St. Charles, Illinois during the week and my brother's house in Aurora, Illinois on the weekends.

We're about one hour from Chicago and had the opportunity to take the train there last weekend to catch up with long-lost cousin Mary and her little one, Suzanna, who were also in town visiting the fam.

Here we are reflected in the famous "bean" sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park.

From Africa to, er, Crewe, England....

2005-07-24T15:32:00.000-05:00

It's wedding season in the U.K.!

16 July. Just one day after we arrived from Maputo, we hopped on a Crewe-bound train to attend the very special wedding of one of Stuart's good friends - John Whaling. It took place at a castle in Cheshire - and true to John's form - included an African musician and lots of groovy tunes during and after the ceremony... including a bit of Groove Armada once the groom had kissed the bride.

23 July. Then we were off to the wedding, just outside of Edinburgh, of the legendary Dr. Brush: the man also known as the King of the Rum Bar in Brussels, Belgium. Unfortunately, too much alcohol was consumed during this event to enable us to capture it effectively on film. Best of the pictures is below... and, no, Mr. Brush and his new darling bride are not in it.