Friday, December 30, 2011

22 Months

Only two more months and our little man is a two year old. Carter is showing us many new signs that the big number two is right around the corner. I wouldn't call it the terrible two's because there are so many great things that he is up to right now too but I can see where that phrase comes from. Carter's independence and stubborness is in full force right now and he is helping teach us patience and creative discipline techniques.
I have said many times lately that this is the most fun stage that Carter has gone through so far as well as the hardest stage. With every fun, cute, silly, smart, and creative thing he comes up with also comes with a naughty or stinker thing as well. Is that okay to say about my sweet little man? Sometimes I think my monthly blog posts for Carter are all about "my perfect little boy" and now as we are nearing two we are seeing some not so perfectness in his sweet little spirit. If you ever wonder if we are born sinners, just look at a toddler. :)
Okay Carter man...
Here is what you have been up to in the last month...
You LOVE animals more than ever and could look at animals and make animal sounds all day long. You have learned the sounds for snake and donkey the most recently but also know how to do the sounds for dog, kitty, horse, sheep, lion, bear, tiger, bird, horse, and fish. Your fish sound is my favorite because you do the cutest fish lips to go along with the sound. One of your favorite things to do right now is ride the carousel and could do it over and over. Everytime we drive anywhere near down town Salem you start saying "neigh, neigh" and moving your hand up and down and round and round because that is what the horses do. The most joy I see in your eyes is when you are on a horse at the carousel.
You also LOVE trucks, tractors, fire trucks, ambulances, and really anything large with wheels. You squeal with delight when you see any of these.
You love...
going bu bye, saying hi and bye to everyone you pass, whole wheat waffles, your blankie, Christmas lights, snowmen, Santa and saying ho ho ho, Christmas trees, brushing your teeth five times a day, reading books, playing in your new big boy bedroom with mama and daddy, putting vicks vapor rub on your feet and chest, your daddy, trying new words and talking and jabbering all day long, riding in the car, playing on your new tractor, helping mama, your new van (more on that soon), going to church and playing with your friends, playing with playdough, riding the carousel, running across the floor and sliding on your tummy, and so many more...
You have added many new words to your vocabulary in the last month. You love saying "seat" and pointing to the spot next to you where you want us to sit down. Grandma taught you to say "read please" this week and you are figuring out that we will usually do what you want when you say those two cute words in your cute sweet voice. You finally learned how to say your friends name "Ellie." We have been working on this one for quite a while because she has been saying your name for months. You also learned to say "jeep" and "limo" from looking at your new truck book you got for Christmas. You even recognized a jeep while we were out driving the other day and said jeep over and over again until we found it and acknowledged it. I know there are more so I may be back on here to add more as I remember them.
You have two sides to you...half the time you obey so well that it surprises me and makes me so proud. The other half of you wants to do what you want to do when you want to do it. That's when time out or a spanking comes into play. You are learning.
You have a good spirit and are good to people. You love people and often make people feel good. You love the two service dogs at church and always want to follow them around the church saying "ruff, ruff." You love your daddy more than I can even explain. You learned this week that daddy works on ambulance number 9 and anytime we talk about daddy's ambulance, you say nine over and over again. You wake up in the morning saying daddy and continue all day long whether he is home with us or at work. You love talking to people on the phone and are good at saying hi and bye and giving the phone kisses when we tell you to say I love you. "I love you" to you means kisses. I'm okay with that.
You have had the most random sleeping habits the last couple of weeks. We have had nights that it takes you a couple hours to settle down and fall asleep, one day without a nap at all and another where it took you two hours to finally fall asleep, mornings starting at 6:45 rather than 8 like normal, even some mornings where you slept till 9 or 9:20. I just can't quite figure out your sleeping schedule right now. Hopefully it will all even out and settle back into a routine soon. Feel free to make turn the routine into sleeping till 9 :)
You have been very into helping me lately. While I was cleaning the bathroom last week I was wiping down the shower door with a rag and you insisted on having a rag too and spent the next 20 minutes also wiping down the shower door.
We love you Carter man more than we knew was possible! You are growing into an amazing little boy and we are so proud of you!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas #4...Christmas Day Evening

Now on to the fourth and final Christmas celebrations...
It is so important to us to be with each of our parents and Carter's grandparents for Christmas which means we have lots of different places to go and people to see.
Our final Christmas was with Jay's mom later in the day on Christmas day. We came home from my dad's around 1ish and put Carter down for a much needed nap. We had her over later in the afternoon for appetizers, desserts, and of course, some more presents.

Jay and I had a few more presents for Carter to unwrap. We had bought him a few books and puzzles and I decided it was a great idea to wrap them each individually. Maybe not the best plan for a one year old. He would have been just fine opening four puzzles at once rather than four seperate gifts.

He seemed excited about all of his puzzles though. But he had so many new things to play with that he kept himself pretty busy all day long.




New slippers from us. He wore them the rest of the evening. Yay! I hoped that he would like them and actually wear them.

My silly looking snowman cheese ball dip. I forgot to get something to do a hat so he isn't quite complete but he's cute and tasty.


A new truck book from us that he loved. He loves all large vehicles. This morning he saw the picture of the ambulance (which looks nothing like Jay's ambulance) and screached "da eee!" To Carter ambulances and Daddy go hand in hand.






Opening presents from Jay's mom. Carter loved all of the fun little toys he got from her.

He loved the Buzz light year toy. He talks and goes across the floor.



He also got a little pony from Grandma. He loves horses right now!


Giving the dog on the puzzle kisses.


Silly boy!


Reading with Grandma.






Thank you Grandma for all of Carter's great gifts! He loves playing with all of his new toys! Thanks for our gifts too! We love them!

Christmas #3...Later Christmas Morning

After we did our little family Christmas on Christmas morning we went over to my Dad and Lori's house for our family Christmas with them. We opened our gifts to and from them and had french toast for breakfast/lunch. This is always our tradition with them. Carter got to be santa this year and pass out all of the gifts. It was so fun that we could tell him who to take it to and he knew exactly who that was.
Jacob (on the left) is my brother and Oliver (on the right) is their foreign exchange student from Germany this year. We have loved having him a part of our family for the time being.


Carter was opening our gift from Jacob and Oliver. The boys actually picked out stuff for each of us and did a great job.

They got Carter a lion which is pretty perfect for him. He loves all stuffed animals but especially lions!



We got both Jacob and Oliver zip up hoodies from Costco. It's not easy picking out clothes for teenage boys but I think they are pretty cool. Now I guess we will see if they actually wear them :)





Dad, Lori, and I got Jay the ladder he wanted from Lowes. He had a pretty good idea he was getting this but this is when Jacob and Oliver brought it in from the garage.
Dad and Lori found a Giants kids board book for Carter. How perfect is that?



Carter also got some pretty cool Giant's outfits so that he will be all ready for our Giants game this summer. It is so crazy to think about going to San Francisco again this summer for our annual Giants game and we will have a sweet little baby girl with us. Wow. Only three more months until we meet Madelynn. Now back to Christmas...


Jay found this great picture for Dad at Lowe's a few months ago. My dad loves decorating the walls of his office so this is just another addition.



His first Giants jersey.

He was pretty proud of himself in his new jersey.



Sweet Max


Thanks Dad and Lori for the great time with you guys! Thanks for all of the great gifts and spoiling us so much.