23 Months

This is my final monthly blog post. Next month will be his two year post and then I am done posting monthly blog posts. CRAZY! Well, I shouldn't say I am done because I will be starting monthly blog posts for Madelynn and of course I will still write tons about Carter but just not in formal monthly posts anymore.

I know I keep saying this but I can't believe Carter is almost 2. Like in 3 weeks...holy cow! I have been working on the plans for his birthday party and am super excited to celebrate him and his amazing two years of life. We are doing a fish theme this year so I am searching for everything fishy. It's been fun :)

Carter has changed a lot in the last month and a lot has changed for him. He is still such a bright and shining star in our lives and makes us go crazy with pride every single day. I am amazed every single day what he is learning and how much he loves life.

So my Carter man...
Here is what you have been up to in the last month...

We moved you into your new room in your new big boy bed and I will be honest and say that it was NOT a smooth transition! I didn't know you could be so stinkin' stubbord and determined to fight a battle with your mama and daddy. We learned a lot about ourselves as parents through that trial and a lot about what works for you when you are being naughty. Yes, you were being naughty! :) But as much as it drove me crazy, I still LOVE your determiation and strong willed spirit. I just pray that you will use it to glorify God as you grow older! I would say we are mostly out of the most difficult part of your bedtime routine and we seem to be into a pretty good routine. The first few days of naptime in your new bed went really well! I thought we were going to be super lucky parents and be spoiled with a smooth transition. I think you were just in there laughing at us...Then we decided to add in nighttime and that is when everything fell apart. You wouldn't stay in your bed for anything! It was two to three hours every night to get you to finally fall asleep and often it meant daddy had to lay with you until you fell asleep. Nap time was just as bad and would often take up to two hours to get you to finally fall asleep. We tried everything! I finally was at my end and not sure what to do so I asked other moms for advice! The advice that hit me the hardest was "cool, calm, and consistent." I realized that I was getting impatient, frustrated, and short with you and I am sure you were feeding off of that! So we changed a few things. So here is our new routine...Daddy reads a few stories to you in bed, I come in and we all pray together, then daddy leaves and I lay with you and sing some songs. After singing I remind you that you must stay in bed, tell you I love you, walk out, close the door and then I sit right outside your door and everytime I hear you move I open the door and put you right back in your bed. We did this for about a week and now you are doing great! You still get up a couple times every once in a while but you are doing sooooo much better! Now the longest it takes you to fall asleep is 15-30 minutes and you only try and get out of bed once or twice, sometimes not at all. We are so proud of you and ourselves for sticking with it and making it work! By the time Madelynn is here you will have it down perfectly.

You have started talking like crazy. Some new words include blast off, snow, high, up, go, milk, wall, purse, Josh, whale, and so many more! You try to copy almost everything we say and get so excited when we scream and jump up and down because you said a new word!

You love your saying Mady and giving zerberts to my tummy. Every time you go in her room you say Mady over and over while pointing to everything. You are realizing that everything in there is now for Mady.

You still have your very stubborn moments but you seem to be mellowing out a bit over the last few weeks. I am almost wondering if you were teething for a while because it seemed like you were extra cranky for a couple of weeks. You seem to be much more content lately.

You LOVE LOVE LOVE reading books. Oh my goodness you could look at books for hours and not get bored. Most of the time I love it but sometimes I need to get something done and all you want to do is read books. But, I will keep reading to you because it is such a powerful tool for you! I hope your love of books and reading lasts a life time! And if so, you did not get that from either of your parents. So it will be a miracle!

You are very smart and remember everything! If I tell you that you get to fly daddy's helicoptor after you go nigh night, I better have that helicoptor ready for you to fly when you wake up because you are reminding me as you walk out into the living room. You seriously remember everything! I have to be careful what I promise you!

You are sweet and spunky and we love you so much! Don't ever change who you are because you are just perfect! Of course, I don't mind if you obey all the time but I love who you are and your great personality! We love you Carter man!

Happy last month being a one year old!