Carter - 18 Months

I feel the absolute need to document this cute kid of mine before our lives get turned upside down in t-minus 9 days.

              

Current favorite word is "no" ...we're working on it

He loves to dance. He has my & Richard's same dancing skills which are ...limited... but I truly believe that good dancing is like, 90% confidence so you better believe we encourage him to get his groove on at every opportunity :)

Has started some backlash on eating his veggies, which is a bummer! He was such a good eater for so long but now all it seems like he wants is fruit. I know it could be much worse, and I could definitely be a better example! 

Had his first haircut! We're too cheap for those fancy kid cuts places, so we just took him along with Daddy to Supercuts when he needed one as well. He did really well (besides being wiggly, but that's a given) until she brought out the buzzer for around his ears and neck...that's when the major waterworks started. Poor girl, she gave him 3 lollipops as a peace offering and we gave her a monster tip. I was super nervous about the whole thing because I wasn't ready for him to look like such a big boy but he does looks dang cute if I do say so myself :)

Is so, so smart. He can point out shapes (square, heart, circle, triangle) a few colors (orange, white, blue and red/sometimes green mostly) and must know and say at least 100 words. He's to that point where he can repeat basically any word which is really fun and has started to sing along on tune to a few songs.

The one word he just can't seem to pronounce right is also his favorite thingin the world: bah-boo-ah boop aka basketball hoop. He is still downright obsessed. I broke down and allowed one of those giant plastic toy hoops into our living room to stay, but I don't even mind anymore because he will sit and shoot hoops for at least an hour or two a day. So worth it. 

If officially in nursery now. If we make a big deal out of dropping him off (like actually saying bye-bye to him) then he'll have a harder time with us leaving but if we just point to some toys and sneak off I think all goes well according to the nursery leaders. I've had to sneak into the nursery room a few times for my Primary calling and the few times I've seen him were during singing time and the lesson and oh my gosh, I just can't handle seeing him sitting there in those baby plastic chairs so reverently. It really just kills me dead.

Is currently going through a bit of a sleep regression, I think. He would always sleep from 8:30pm - 7:30am consistently from the time he was 12 months til about 2 weeks ago. He's had a handful of nights where he'd wake up crying a few times a night. He's usually back to sleep in 5-10 minutes and if not, I'll go in and hold him til he falls asleep. He also is fighting naps super hard and now won't ever go down any sooner that 2:00pm unless he's had a really busy morning. Once he is down, he still sleeps for at least 2 hours which is great though! I know some of this has to do with me not having him 3 days a week, so I'm hoping maybe when I'm on maternity leave for 6 weeks we can tighten up his schedule a bit.

Loves other kids. Whenever we go out to eat, grocery shopping, anywhere he loves to wave and smile at other kids.

Is currently obsessed with Sesame Street/Elmo's World and Daniel Tiger. He'll ask for Elmo whenever he sees my laptop. Honestly, Elmo's voice is starting to get on my nerves badddd though and I don't like him watching much TV so I might try to find some Sesame Street books instead. I may change my mind about the whole TV thing once baby #2 comes around though ;)

Speaking of books, he still loves to read. There are some books where he really just likes certain pages, but for the most part he will sit down and let you read to him for a good half hour. 

Is very, very good at growling. Please, the next time you see him ask him what sound a lion makes. You will be impressed, I guarantee it.

Pretends to have boo-boos all day just so I'll give him kisses. Richard hates this ;)

Still loves being outside. If I wasn't in such a whale-ish state right now I'd be happy to chase him around outside all day in this beautiful weather. We will go on nature walks and collect leaves, rocks, sticks and pine cones. Pine cones are definitely the favorite.

Is such a good helper around the house. He likes putting utensils in the dishwasher, dusting, doing laundry on our new front-loaders (especially pushing the start button), putting clothes in his hamper and wiping down his high-chair tray or the table. He also loves to take the trash out to the dumpster. This kid is strong and will literally drag the entire bag of garbage out by himself and all I have to do is throw it in the dumpster when we get there. This kid is a stud and I hope he continues to like chores for a loooong time! #wishfulthinking

I think I could go on and on (and will probably edit and add more later) but for now, I think this is good. Overall Carter is sooooo much fun and I just love laughing at his crazy antics all day. Him and Richard are best buds and I know he will be such a great big brother. Carter, you are loved like crazy. I hope you know that.