"Okay, great!"

This boy could not be sweeter or more handsome. He really loves his mama, and that makes me feel like the most important person in the world. He always wants to hug me. I hope he never changes! 

Anyway, here are some fun Carter facts:

• He has the cutest little voice, and he's really become a talker in the last few weeks. Here are some of my favorite Carterisms:
• "Come on, es go!"
• When he calls for Aubrey, he often says it twice--"Aubrey Aubrey"
• If he sees a lid open--to the syrup or the parmesan cheese, for example--he says, "Close the door!" until we close the lid
• "Okay, great!"
• "Pee a mass" or "P M S" for "PJ Masks"
• "Wow, amazing!"
• "Bruabays" for "blueberries"
• "Oh, so beautiful!"

• "Aubrey's sharing!" (when Aubrey has something he wants)
• "It's going a airport!" (whenever he sees a plane going by... and sometimes when he sees trains going by, too, haha)
• "Bockasol" for "popsicle"
• "Waffle time!" when the toaster pops
• When he wants me to do something for him, he says, "You gotta _____!" (Example: "You gotta scooch me!"
• "There it is the [noun]" (Example: "There it is the trash truck!")
• When he does something bad and gets scolded, he says, "Oh, sorry!" and then does a little "heh" laugh

• "Mmmm, love you, Mommy" (He says this a lot... because he's the best ever)
• For awhile, when we were reading books and he saw something he liked (like a lollipop), he pointed at it and said, "Mine!"
• "No thunders! No lightning!" when it's not stormy outside
• "Peek-a-doodle" for "Peek-a-boo" (he mixed it up with Daniel saying "bonk-a-doodle")
• "Carter bone" for "collar bone" (He pointed at mine and asked what it was. Then he heard me wrong, and it stuck. I absolutely love it.)
• "See up" for "syrup"
• "Hug the legs" when he wants me to hold him like this:

• He says hello to everyone he passes. A lot of the time he waves, too. He's so friendly and sweet it kills me.
• For awhile there, any time he got hurt he'd come running to me and say, "Aubrey hurt me!" Sometimes she had hurt him, but a lot of the time he had simply tripped or run into something himself. Smart little brother blaming his big sister! Too bad Mom and Dad caught on...
• Bedtime is a fun time. He always wants to brush his own teeth, and when I say it's mommy's turn, he throws his toothbrush in the sink. I retrieve it and go to brush, and he says, "Bed!" We go into my room, he climbs on the bed, and then he immediately starts to crawl away while laughing. I then have to drag him across the bed by the feet and trap them to brush his teeth. Then we go to his room to read books. He always says he wants to sit on the stool, but the second I lift him onto it, he says, "Sit a lap!" We read, I turn out the light, and he insists on playing "Peekadoodle." This involves him hiding behind the dresser and waiting for me to pretend to cry and say, "Where's my Carter?" Then he jumps out and runs to me, and I give him a big hug and kiss. After a few times, we sit in the chair and snuggle. He always asks for a billion songs; sometimes he asks for songs that aren't actually a thing, like "the truck song" and "the fan song." I do my best to sing songs that relate somehow, but he doesn't always approve of them. When I finally decide I need to get him in the crib, he freaks out and says, "Chair! Chair!" and cries a lot when I leave. It doesn't matter how long I spend with him. Like I said, he loves me! And I super love him, too.
• He loves babies. He is very gentle with them and puts his face right up to theirs. I hope he's that way with his little sibling (whenever we have another)!

• He currently loves the book Put Me in the Zoo. He also loves a library book about a little train called Big Choo, Green Eggs and Ham, and anything Curious George. At bedtime his favorite songs are "Give, Said the Little Stream" (which he calls "the water song"), "You're a Grand Old Flag," "Splish, Splash, I was Taking a Bath," "I Love to See the Temple," and "Freight Train" from Mother Goose Club. (The flag song came about because he asked for a song that sounded completely incoherent but sounded like "grand flag," so I went with it.) His current favorite shows are PJ Masks and Daniel Tiger. He also loves the movie The Incredibles.
• He is full-blown obsessed with syrup. I hate it. He literally drinks the leftover syrup off his plate when he's done. 
• He loves taking walks and seeing bunnies. He's so sweet with animals!

• After he eats a frosty from Wendy's (or any ice cream from anywhere), he says, "Here a go!" and hands me his spoon so he can drink the melted remains.
• He has started making flying sound effects with his toys, particularly Owlette from PJ Masks.
• He really like The Beatles! I'm so proud. He asks to listen to them in the car. He especially loves "Drive My Car" and "Back in the USSR." (he calls it "the airplane song" because of the airplane sound at the beginning).

• When I get hurt, he says, "Hug? Kiss a better?" and immediately comes over to comfort me with hugs and kisses. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this about him. I hope he keeps that empathy/sympathy forever.
• Aubrey has gotten him into High School Musical! He loves the song "All For One" from the second movie. Daniel is thrilled, haha.
• He mixes up "on" and "off" pretty much every time.
• One of his favorite games is rocking on his bike and pretending he forgot the keys. He'll do it over and over again!

And now, just for fun, a cute video of Mr. Sir being confused about carrots...

2 Years Old!

My baby boy turned two! And wow am I late in writing about it! With my new writing-from-home job and having friends and then family come to visit, I just haven't had time. SO I'm making time now, at 11:30 on a Sunday night.

Anyway, we started the big day with shape pancakes. This boy loves his breakfast foods, and he's a ham for the camera.

After that we drove to the Denver Zoo. On the way, we listened to The Beatles (who Carter really likes, yay!), and we just had to play "Birthday." I kept popping my head around and singing silly to him, and he loved it.

At the zoo, Carter particularly liked the sea lions. He always does. Here he is getting a good view from Daddy's shoulders!

Then we used the free tickets we got with our membership (Thanks to Nana Linda for that!) to ride the carousel. We would have done the train, but it wasn't running that day. Oh well. Carter loved the carousel!

He chose a cheetah! He does love being fast.

After the zoo, we met Nana and Papa at our favorite birthday restaurant, Red Robin! Carter had a view of the TV, and at some point he got weirdly serious about it.

Then food came, and he was back to normal.

He loves pizza!

And despite what this face may suggest, he loves ice cream, too. Yay for free birthday ice cream!

  

There he is going for it!

Finally, Papa had to help out.

When we got home, we FaceTimed with Grandma and Grandpa and opened presents. I have no photos of the actual gift opening, because I was holding the iPad (and just enjoying the moment). But here he is playing with the toys after unwrapping them!

And then, because ice cream isn't enough, we had Texas sheet cake. He actually seemed to really like it when we sang to him. 

My silly, funny little man...

All in all, it was a nice, low-key birthday for Carter. We opted not to do a party for him, since he's two and doesn't really have friends. Next year for sure though!

Anyway, I couldn't be more grateful that this sweet, loving, fun, smart, handsome, crazy, wonderful boy came to our family. He is my sunshine, and I can't imagine my life without him. Cliches, I know, but hey... I mean them!

I love you, Carter! Now stop growing up.

"Bye, friend!"

My sweetie baby lovey is almost two! Ah! Why won't he stop growing up?! I wish I could keep him this way forever. He is SOO dang sweet and cute! Anyway, here goes the update:

• I swear Carter adds more and more words to his vocabulary every day. Here are some of my favorites:
• "A one" for "another one"
• "Ah me!" for "Look at me!"
• "Feeger" for "finger" (said as he holds up a finger with a nail that is peeling off)
• "Bee hug!" after we say family prayer (because Daniel is usually leaving for work)
• "All aboard!" when playing with trains 

• "Seeming" for "sleeping"
• "Ah wan to!" for "I don't want to!"
• "Pupcake" for "cupcake"
• "Hem me, Mommy" for "Help me, Mommy"
• "Four, five, sick" for "four, five, six" (this is how he counts, completely skipping one, two, and three)

• "Geecups" for "hiccups"
• "Hepper" for "helper" (he says this when he wants to help me unload the dishwasher or wipe down the table)
• "Poopace" for "toothpaste"
• "Hi, Mama" (which he says when he hasn't seen me in awhile or when he's happy)

• He also randomly says, "Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad, Mom" a lot. For no discernible reason. It's not even to get our attention or anything!
• He is the sweetest boy! He is quick to say sorry (a lot of the time without being asked), and he almost always says, "Thank you, Mommy!" when I give him food and help him with things. He has also started saying, "No thanks," when he doesn't want something.
• When we're at the park (or somewhere else where we're interacting with people) and either we or they leave, Carter shouts, "Bye, friend!"

• He loves running around and always says, "Fass!" When we respond, "You're so fast!", he looks so happy and proud.
• One of his favorite games involves driving his toy school bus over a table until it hangs off the edge and then running towards us and shouting, "Ah! Ah! Ah!" until we respond. When we look at the bus and say, "Oh no! They're going to crash! Save them, Carter!", he gets a big smile on his face, runs over to the bus, and pulls it back to safety (unless he feels like shoving it off and yelling, "Crash!").

• Anything that spins is a wheel. And if it's a wheel, Carter is obsessed with it. 
• He loves books, and it makes me so happy! Some favorites include The Pout-Pout Fish, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Hungry Caterpillar, Night-Night Little Pookie, The Little Engine That Could, Courduroy, and any book about trucks.
• We've begun letting him walk on his own when we take our family hikes. He loves it! He does have a tendency to fall a lot still, but he's getting better! And he loves exploring.

• He likes to play a game with Aubrey where he wraps himself up in the curtains while Aubrey says, "There's a monster in the curtains!" and runs away. Carter then runs after her shouting, "Monster!"
• He has started pretending to sleep. He'll say, "Tire, Mommy," and then lie down and close his eyes. Sometimes he fake snores, which is too adorable.
• He loves giving hugs (my favorite thing!), and he has recently started patting the other person on the back with both hands. So sweet! He also will come up to me when I'm lying down and say, "Suggle!" It never lasts long enough, but I'll take as much as I can get!

• He's starting to point out numbers and letters. He often gets them wrong, but his favorites (based on which ones he says the most, haha) are 2, 8, 9, A, F, W, and Y. Whenever he sees the letter W, he says, "Wagon!" He's also learning his colors, though he pretty much says everything is blue.
• Sometimes he says, "Dore you, Mommy." He's saying, "Adore you, Mommy," because I often say, "I adore you," to him. My heart melts every time!
• He loves cats, and when he sees one he says, "Kitty cat!" and "Awww." In this picture, he's trying to give the neighbor's cat a flower. <3

• He has a serious food throwing problem. If he gets mad about something during mealtime, he'll grab his plate and throw it or shove it off the table. He recently did that with a bowl of dried mangoes, and when we told him, "Carter, what do you say for throwing your mangoes?", he said, "Sorry mangoes." It was awesome!
• When he runs, he flings his right arm around in a kind of chugging motion, like a train. It's hilarious (and cute).
• He loves the movies Coco and Moana and always asks to listen to the songs. He asks for me to sing "Remember Me" at bedtime, and then he'll start quietly singing, "Re-meh-ber me" over and over. It KILLS me. He also loves "You're Welcome" from Moana. 

• He is completely obsessed with lollipops, which he calls "yummy pops" (or "nummy pops"... it's hard to tell). Oh man, the joy on his face when he gets one. And oh, the tantrum when he doesn't!
• One of his favorite things to say is "soccer ball." He says it out of the blue sometimes. He actually says "soccer" instead of "chocolate" too, so it sounds like "soccer milk" or "soccer chip." Heh.
• He sings a lot (It's so sweet!), and I just recently realized that in the the "Wheels on the Bus" song, he says, "Aubrey town" instead of "all through the town." Hehe.

 

• We've been taking him swimming a lot now that it's summer, and now he likes to pretend that he's swimming all the time. When he jumps onto the couch, he says, "Splash!" When he throws something on the ground, he says, "Splash." I love it.
• And finally, I feel like this video really illustrates who Carter is. I wish I could film everything he does, because everything he does is so cute! But alas, I can't. So what I have will have to do.

"My Mommy"

Oh man. I have really gotten behind on this blog. *Sigh* Because of that, some of these things are already not true anymore. But I still want to preserve the memory! This little man is too cute for me to forget anything about him at this fun, wonderful age.

• Most of the cute things about Carter are related to the things he says. I swear he learns a new word every day! Here are my favorites:
• "Sas" for "sad" (when he hears Aubrey crying, he says, "Aubee sas"... so cute!)
• "Dink" for "drink" (which sometimes means "yogurt drink")
• "Ka-kake" for "pancake"
• "Sauce" for "applesauce"
• "Sap" (used to be "dap") for "lap"

• "No" for "snow"
• "Dop" for "stop" (He says, "Dop it!" when he doesn't like something, haha.)
• "Up see" or "Oh be" for "Oopsie"
• "Me ming" for "sleeping"
• "Dog"
• "Bah peas" for "more please"
• "Nope"
• "Hey!" (said in protest)
• "Ky" for "sky"
• "Warm"
• "Bee bo" for "rainbow" (and for Lucky Charms, haha)
• "Bears" for Teddy Grahams
• "Nack" for "snack"

• "Nemo" 
• "Wahna" "for "Moana" (he loves listening to the music)
• "Coco" (because we just saw the movie)
• "Hey main" for "airplane" (He hears every airplane that goes by our house, I swear!)
• "Pah dah" for "pacifier"
• "Man-ah" for "banana"
• "Ug" for "hug"
• "Co" for "cold"
• "Binkie" for "blankie"
• "Wheel"
• "Heart"
• "Walk" (He always wants to go for a walk.)

• "Bed"
• "Soff" for "soft"
• "Dod" for "God" (when asking for the song I Am a Child of God)
• "Toot" (and yes, he says this every time he does it... and laughs)
• "Dight" for "light"
• "Otto" (he says this so cute!)
• "Doooo-duh" for "dude" (which he thinks is hilarious)
• "Nom nom" about yummy food
• "Oh no"
• "Mmm hmm" or "uh huh" when he wants to say "yes" (He'll even say, "Mmm hmm [noun]," when you ask if he wants that thing. For example, if you offer applesauce, he'll say, "Mmm hmmm sauce!")
• "Bee Cees" when he wants me to sing the ABC song
• "Puppy" when he wants the iPad (because of the Fisher Price Puppy apps)
• Sometimes (very rarely), when I ask him to sing, he'll mumble nonsense to a little made-up tune. It's the sweetest! It's been hard to get a good video though...

• He blows kisses when saying goodbye, and it's the sweetest.
• Sometimes he calls me "My mommy," which absolutely kills me. Loooove.
• When you tell him something he doesn't know, like that Daddy is at work, he says, "Oh!" He says it all the time.
• When he's trying to open something, he grunts "Errrr." He got that from me, haha.
• If he doesn't like something, he'll stick us tongue out and say, "Plegh!"
• We do scriptures and family prayer right before Daniel leaves for his Home Depot job at night, and as soon as we say "Amen" (which he shouts), he says, "Ug!" and goes to give Daniel a goodbye hug.
• He loves washing his hands (and pretending to wash his hands). I hope that's permanent!

• He loves the book Goodnight Moon, but he's very distracted by the clocks in it. He loves clocks. So when we read the book, he's always pointing at the clock on the colored pages. And when we get to the black-and-white pages, he says, "No!" and turns to the color page in search of the clock. Funny dude.
• He loves the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and he often repeats the last word of each page when I read it to him. 
• When he's trying to get my attention, instead of saying my name louder and louder (like Aubrey and most kids), he lowers his voice until it's really soft and sweet and says, "Mommy? Mommy?" Sometimes he pats my head or other part of me while he says it. 
• Whenever he hears anyone crying, he says, "Sas." He always looks so concerned when he says it... I hope he's always an empathetic little boy!
• He can do a pretty good somersault! Aubrey taught him, and he picked it up really fast. 

• Speaking of Big Sister, he always wants Aubrey to help him eat instead of Mommy or Daddy. If he needs help getting food on his fork/spoon, he says, "Hep, Aubee." She's always happy to help, which is sweet.
• He likes pushing the table away with his feet when we're eating. No my favorite thing.
• One of his favorite games is to stand on the coffee table and trust fall off into my arms. The only problem is that sometimes he does this without warning. 
• When we dress him, he puts his arm only partyway through the sleeve (so you can't see his hand), and goes, "Oh no!" pretending his hand is gone. Then he pushes his hand out and laughs...
• He likes to open our lower kitchen cabinets, sit down, and try to close himself inside. He always loves closing himself inside closets. He always says, "Bye!" when he does it.

• He's obsessed with a song about rainbows that he learned from the show Mother Goose Club. He always asks for it at bedtime (that, the ABC song, and the "I am like a star shining brightly" song).
• We bought gummy vitamins for Aubrey, and Carter decided he wanted them too. We always do them at dinner, and Aubrey started whispering in my or Daniel's ear to ask for one so Carter wouldn't hear. Then we'd "sneak" over to get one. So now, when Carter wants a gummy, he starts whispering gibberish to us.
• If I hug Aubrey or hold her on my lap, he gets jealous and starts to throw a mini tantrum. Then he has to come and get a hug or sit on my lap. Hey, I don't mind!
• He likes to clear his throat theatrically. He got this from me (because I do it at one part in one of his books).

• He loves brushing his teeth! He's much less excited about Mommy or Daddy doing it though.
• He super loves his baby cousins and always asks to see them on Marco Polo. He just says, "Baby! Baby!" until I show him one of them. Then he cries when they go away.
• When we go outside in the cold, he hugs himself and does a fake shiver as he says, "Co!"
• Every time I get him dressed, he says, "Beep beep!" because he wants to wear something with cars on it. He has some PJs with cars (which is where the idea of clothes with cars came from), so now I've bought him some shirts too.
• He loves pointing out eyes and mouths on people, stuffed animals, photos of people or animals, etc.

• And finally, because I forgot to add this in, here's a video of Carter with his favorite treat--a lollipop.

Oh, Baby

Love love love my sweet baby boy. But he's not a baby anymore! I feel a deep sense of mourning when I think of him growing up. He's in such a cute stage; he's learning so much and becoming his own little person. Here are some highlights:

• He says a bunch of cute words:
• "Baubrey" or "Baubey" or "Aubee" for "Aubrey"
• "Bup" for "up"
• "Hep" for "help"
• "Beep beep" (it used to be "bee bee") whenever he sees a car or a thing with wheels
• "Gock" for "sock" and "clock"
• "Ot" for "hot"
• "Bok" for "book"
• "Dice" (perviously "sice") for "lights"
• "Bah" when he sees a sheep
• "Meew" for "moon"
• "Bah" for "ball"
• "Why" for "butterfly" (I love that one)
• "Stop it" (he got this from Aubrey)
• "Baff" for "bath"
• "Duck" for "stuck"
• "Die-a" for "star"
• "Baa-bat" for "fruit snacks"
• "Peas" for "please"

• Sometimes he will stick his pointer finger out to me and go "eh eh" until I either touch his finger with mine or grab his hand and kiss it. Not sure what that's about, but it's adorable!
• At nap time and bed time, after I lay him down in his crib, he hurries and rolls onto his tummy and shakes his bum. It's his way of saying he wants me to rub his back. So sweet.
• During Christmas time, our neighbors across the street put up a bunch of lights, including some blinking ones. Carter was obsessed with them and would stand on the couch to look out the window every night. When we got back home from Christmas break, he went to the couch and said, "Sice! Sice!" (for lights). It was so cute/sad to see his reaction when they weren't there anymore.
• When I say it's time for bed, he runs away from me while protesting verbally. Heh.
• Meal times are a challenge with him still. He has opinions about what he wants to eat, but he can't communicate them. So he'll point at either the fridge or the pantry, and we have to list things off until we figure out what it is. If he doesn't want the thing we've named, he shakes his whole body back and forth, flails his arms, and grunts. If he does want what we've named, he bounces up and down and says, "Mey mey mey!" That's his way of saying he wants something just in general.

• When he eats, he often looks up at the family photos we have on the wall, points at photo of Daniel, and says, "Daddy!" He loves his Daddy, and it's so cute.
• This kid is completely obsessed with fruit snacks, and he often raids the pantry to get them. He brings one of us a bag, says, "Peas!" and then bounces up and down in anticipation. If we say no and take the bag from him, he throws a tantrum before going to the pantry to get another package and trying again. It's so hard to say no when he does that!
• When he's hungry, he walks over to his highchair, pulls it out, and says, "Peas!" So. Much. Love.
• When we were at Nana and Papa's house one weekend, he followed them out and escaped through the garage. He can apparently open the doors in their house. Daniel's dad was about to back out of the garage when he looked in his rear view mirror and saw Carter toddling around in the driveway. I can't begin to express how grateful I am that Daniel's dad saw him. He could have been run over by his own Papa, or he could have just wandered away and been lost. It still freaks me out to think of it. Now we lock all the doors at Nana's and Papa's house.
• He loves dancing when upbeat music comes on. It's sooo cute.

• For some reason, he won't let me sing to him at bedtime anymore. When I try, he whines and shakes his head. It makes me very sad. I think it's because he knows that after I sing, he's going in the crib. In place of songs, he tries to get me to read all the books. When I tell him it's time to turn off the light, he always whines and tries to run and grab more books from his shelves.
• He has begun a bad habit of climbing up and standing on our kitchen table. He gets a mischievious look on his face, laughs, and then tries to hurry and climb down quickly when I go to get him.
• When he does something he knows he shouldn't, he says, "Oh, baby" over and over. I think it's his version of us saying, "No, baby" to him. It's pretty adorable! And it helps me know I should go check on him if I hear it coming from another room, haha.
• He is completely car obsessed, so he has a lot of toys with wheels. He likes to lie down on his side and just roll cars back and forth in front of his face. For some reason, this is completely adorable.
• He loves to hang out with Daddy when he vacuums. For some reason, it's very exciting.

• He can point to most body parts (eyes, ears, tummy, head, bum, feet, etc.) He actually says "eye," too.
• If he cries in the middle of the night (or, more often, after I've put him to bed but before he's fallen asleep), I'll go in and give him his pacifiers back (because he has always thrown them). When I do, I lay him down again and often rub his tummy or back. In response, he'll sit up and point to the rocking chair, indicating that he wants me to sit with him. It's SOOO hard to say no to him, because sitting with him--snuggling with his head on my shoulder--is my absolute favorite thing in the world. But I know I can't give in and take him out of his crib. So I leave. And then we're both sad.
• His highchair sits at one of the short ends of the table, and during meals he pushes the table with his feet. It's really annoying. It's a new thing, because we previously had carpet, so he couldn't do it. 
• When you offer him a food he doesn't want, instead of saying, "No," he says, "Plegh," and sticks his tongue out as he says it. He got this from Aubrey.
• He likes to pull blankets behind him while going "Sssssss." I think he's being a snake, but I'm really not sure.