ONE YEAR!

(I totally wrote this post like 3 days after his birthday, but JUST got the photos today! I have good reasons for being way behind, promise! The onesie is definitely stained from a tangerine but Richard pointed out that he was in fact wearing a white onesie today so I jumped on the opportunity to snatch a few pics!)

A very happy birthday to my favorite baby boy.

At one year (ahh!!) Carter...

Is walking like a champ and has been for the last 6 weeks or so. After taking steps since 10 months old, it just seemed like one day he woke up and decided it was time to stop crawling! He is soo fast and I am constantly chasing after him but you can tell how happy his new found independence makes him.

Knows who Jesus is! We will always ask him "Where's the fan", "Where's the clock" etc and the other day I asked him where Jesus  was and he turned around and looked at the picture we have on the mantel of Him! Can you say proud parent moment?!?

Also knows who Dontrell is. Let me explain. He has this stuffed giraffe that he loves (that's also in a lot of his monthly photos) that I let Richard name. Aaaand Richard chose to name him Dontrell haha. So yes, when we ask Carter where Dontrell is, he gets his stuffed giraffe lol.

Is beginning to understand so much, it's crazy. If we tell him to grab a certain toy or book, he will pick up the correct one. We can tell he totally understands what we are saying..now we just need to work on o b e d i e n c e lol

Weaned himself from nursing about 2 weeks before his birthday. Whenever I would nurse him, he would nurse for maybe a minute tops before goofing off and wanting to run off. I knew my supply was pretty low anyways so we went down to just nursing to sleep but I'd have to top him off with a bottle anyways. Eventually I would just nurse him when he would wake up around 5:30am but then he started sleeping all the way through the night. Because of that, I don't distinctly remember "the last time" he nursed, which makes me a little sad, but it's okay. He weaned himself and besides one night of tears for me, I was ready for it also.

Favorite breakfast is scrambled eggs (with ketchup) and strawberries

Finally sleeps all through the night now (for the past 6ish weeks). He will go to bed around 8:00pm and wake up around 7-7:30am which has been awesome. He is still taking two naps a day. The first around 10am and the second begins anywhere from 3 to 4 pm. The naps both last at least an hour (but never longer than 2)

Loves to go for walks in the stroller. He won't be as content when he's in a store (typical guy!) but if we are walking outside he will be happy as a clam forever.

Has 8 teeth with more on the way! He has 4 at the top (with the Rindlisbacher gap!) and 4 across the bottom.

Still eats all of his food really well. Since he's turned a year we've let him have a bit more naughty food and his favorite treat so far has definitely been ice cream!

Can now climb onto everything. Our couch, laundry baskets, chairs, into his stroller, our bed, his rocking chair. It scares me to death and I can't leave him unattended anymore, but that's part of toddlerhood!

Still loves Dad so much. I can't blame him, Richard is the most fun Dad ever.

Is in size 12-18 month clothes and size 5 diapers. His feet are still pretty small for his age though at a size 3.

Brings books to me and climbs up on my lap to read, it melts my heart. Even if he wants to read the same 3 books over and over, I will never say no to a book for him. I love his love for reading.

Is still hands down the busiest kid ever. He is go go go all day long.

Has started to dance which mostly consists of him waving his arms in the air and "dropping it low" Not sure who he learned that from, but we'll blame it on Daddy ;)

He also loves watching the chorister at church during sacrament meeting and waving his arms along with her. It's the cutest.

Is literally the biggest basketball fan ever. He will watch it intently on TV, he screams whenever he even sees a net on our walks, and tries to run onto the court when we go to parks. He figured out how to dribble before he could walk, and now knows how to shoot. As Richard says, "ball is life" with this one.

**For good measure, here is a little "12 Months of Carter" Collage. Thanks for making it the best year of our life Carter, we love you so much and are so happy we get to keep you forever :)