"I did it by my own self!"

This little boy is almost three years old! Ack! I can't handle it! I wish I could freeze time and prevent him from growing up, but I don't think I can. *sigh* While we have had our difficult toddler-related moments, Carter is still my sweet boy. I hope he always stays that way! For now, here are some fun facts:

• Funny things he says:
• "I want to be fancy!"
• "I want Aubrey to feel me better!"
• "Sex monkey" (or at least that's what it sounds like) for "so smoky"

• "Banna" for "banana"
• "I did it by my own self!"
• "Something's wrong!"
• "Good _____[ing], Mama!" (ex: "Good sweeping, Mama!")
• "Mommy, don't go! I'll miss you!" 
• "Can I help make?" (He LOVES to help with cooking.)

• When he does something he shouldn't and we say, "Carter, don't _____," he responds, "I already did it."
• He loves playing in the backyard, but he always throws the balls over fence and into the street/alley behind the house. He also likes to chuck bricks and big rocks into the driveway. Not our favorite thing.
• His favorite toy is the Elasticycle from The Incredibles 2. He sometimes insists on sleeping with it.
• He has finally gotten good riding his little tricycle. Man, he loves that thing. 

• One of his favorite games (NOT my favorite) is to get into Aubrey's booster seat instead of his own car seat (when she's not with us). I tell him he can't ride in the booster because he's too little. The first time he did this, I said, "Okay, we're just going to sit here until you choose to get in your own seat," and I sat down in the open sliding door, with my back to him. He quietly snuck into his own seat and then started laughing until I turned around and saw him. Now it's a tradition. Oy.
• When I take a shower, he always comes in and asks if I'm in the shower. Then, when he hears the water turn off, he comes back and asks, "You done in the shower?" When I say yes, he says, "Great!"
• He loves building tall towers with his blocks. He's always so proud of his creations. It's too cute!

• Sometimes, if he's in the wrong mood, he acts personally offended when I shower or brush my teeth. He'll come into the bathroom and say, "No, don't brush!" or "No, don't take a shower!" No idea why.
• He is completely obsessed with chocolate milk. I honestly think it's the only thing providing him with the calories he needs to function. He's started this bad habit of not eating well, in part because he eats slowly but then insists he's done whenever Aubrey is done. She eats faster, so that's bad. 
• Unlike Aubrey, he gets really into story time at the library. I love it!

• We're still working on potty training. He peed once on his little floor potty (like, a tablespoon), and then he refused to do it again. We praised him and high-fived him, gave him a treat, and put a star on his chart. But he was just not interested in a repeat performance. He said it was too scary. *eye roll* Thankfully, we got him to sit on the toilet twice today, so we're making progress at least!
• He feels it's his job to squish any bugs he sees anywhere, at any time. He gets a little too into it.
• When he sees the back windshield of a dirty-ish car with a half circle where the wipers have cleaned, he says, "Look at the rainbow on that car!"
• He sometimes leaves funny Marco Polo messages for people without me knowing. Here's a personal favorite of mine.

• Daniel recently had to take Carter out of Sacrament Meeting because he was being unruly, and he shouted, "Daddy, where are you taking me?" Everyone was very amused and commented on it afterward.
• While we were in the family room one day, we had the following conversastion:
• Carter: "I want to go home!"
• Me: "Buddy, we are home... This is where we live."
• Carter: "No, this is some other house!"
• One day, while playing house with Aubrey, Carter said, "I'm going to the store to get more mommies." Hmm...
• One time he tried to skate on one of his train cars. I just think this photo is cute. The PJs!

• A few months ago, while we were at Home Depot as a family, we turned onto an aisle that had two older male employees restocking shelves or something. Carter pointed and said, "Look, an old man!" Now THAT was a conversation starter.
• He recently announced to an employee at The Children's Place, "I tooted." He likes to mention this a lot. 
• He pretends everything is a gun (no idea where he got that from) and goes around with random objects that he points at people while saying, "Pew! Pew!"
• We discovered that he loves balsamic vinegar. We're both proud and sad to have to share our good stuff with him.

• He loves giving kisses, and he'll sometimes ask to kiss the baby in my tummy. It makes me melt! I can't wait to see him as a big brother.
• He also keeps saying he has a baby in his tummy, too.
• He has started picking dandelions outside of preschool and bringing them in to Aubrey's teachers. So sweet!
• Sometimes when it's just the two of us at home and something happens that's exciting (or sometimes not so exciting), he says he needs to call Aubrey or Daddy to tell them. Then he holds a pretend phone up to his ear and has a conversation with them.
• And here's a video just because it's cute.