Girlfriend Troubles

Carter loves Lydia. They are constant companions. Lydia climbed into a laundry basket, Carter felt like he should be there too. Then he changed his mind. He promptly climbed out.

He likes to put things on his head and walk around:

Lydia loves to "bounce" on the couch. Carter loves to copy her. She teaches him new words - like "baby" and "light" - her two favorite. If she is up on the couch bouncing, Carter wants to be there too. He must have been a little too overcome with the moment . . .

Counting Sheep

Carter is such a good sleeper. I used to be, before he came along. I wouldn't wake up for the swat team, helicopters, & search dogs in our cul-de-sac (I know that one from experience). I was having a tough time getting to sleep last night.

David says: "You can't even count sheep!"

I asked: "Why not?"

He responded: "Because you have socks on. I guess you could count ten sheep. Not enough to get you to sleep though. I can count to 20 - see."

He proceded to pick a foot up and wiggle his toes.

I love him, he makes me laugh.

The tricks up his sleeve

Daddies teach the most amazing things. Things you would never think would be important to a child's development. Like, putting a bucket on our head and yelling into it. Pretty fun huh? Add the little boy tendency to run, despite the fact that he cannot see anything in front of him. That equals a bloody chin.

Carter has started pointing at things he wants now. It has really helped our communication.

He started saying "Ma Ma". When I asked him "Where is 'Ma Ma'?" He pats the mattress that I am covering. He has said it multiple times, but only while I am using a mattress. Crazy. I don't know quite what to think of that yet.

He still gets great use out of his Bumbo. Who knew?

Today, he woke up from his nap with a hand print on his forehead. I wasn't there, and therefore was not able to get a picture of it. By the time I saw it, there was not much left. Cute nonetheless.

Surprise Portland Trip

I surprised David with a trip to Salem Oregon this weekend. We went from Salem to Portland. Here are a couple of highlights from our trip:

I loved this quote. It is something that David and I have tried to do. It is really hard to read. It says:

"Remember, always, the greatest gift you can give your children is parents who love each other."

Both of these were at the Catholic church in Portland. There is a statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus that has been there since the 30s. They call it The Grotto. I saw a real live nun, and a priest/monk guy. They were wearing exactly what you would expect them to wear. I was pretty excited because the only experience I have with nuns and priests is what I saw on Sister Act.

This is a fiberglass statue that looks so real - you really think this lady is alive. It is better than any wax statue I have ever seen.

We stopped at the Portland temple to get a few pictures:




We also went to Pittock Mansion. It was a house that was lived in from 1914 until 1958. It was absolutely amazing. The house had electricity and gas, an elevator, a refrigerator room - not just an ice box, a central vacuum system, showers and toilets, and many more amenities that were not widely available in the turn of the century. I was blown away at what rich people could afford back then.





The real surprise of the vacation came with this museum. There is an automobile museum in Salem Oregon that is amazing. They made this building to be an old Texaco station. With grants and donations, they have built an fine facility. They are only open 6 months out of the year, but one of the docents agreed to give us a private showing. They have a shop in the back where they build 20s roadsters. The kids that take the class get automotive credit through their high school. They are doing a great service to the community by mentoring these kids.

I didn't get a ton of pictures of anything you all would be interested in. David took a bunch of pictures of old cars and projects that the kids were working on. However, if you are ever in Salem in the spring, I highly recommend stopping through. From what I am told, their website is getting a little revamping soon. - watch for that.

http://www.nwcarandcycle.org/



The museum is on about 64 acres of land it shares with other museums. The last weekend in July & the first weekend in August, they have a huge "Steam Up". It is basically a car show that involves many breeds of automobiles - from steam tractors to motorcycles. I am excited to possibly be able to go this year. Another museum on the grounds that we passed was the Caterpillar museum. They had some HUGE cats on display.



The docent that gave us the tour - Doug - took us over to his shop to see his personal projects. He had some pretty cool stuff. We were there for quite a while. His son CJ remodels old video & pinball machines. We got to play around with them for a little while too.



Here are a couple random shots I got from this weekend:

I saw this bench and thought it was absolutely hilarious!!



This was somebody's entry gate on their home:



This house is completely supported by stilts. There is not a square foot that we could find that was actually on the dirt. They wanted a view of Portland, and their lot was vertical. They made lemonade with the lemons they were given. I don't know how comfortable I would be in the house, but I'm sure it is structurally sound right?

Silly Faces of Carter

I am on a board with the city for my dog park. I went to a meeting while I was pregnant to choose a location for our site, and I've been with them ever since. Together, we have built a dog park near my house. We have fewer meetings than we did, but Carter has come with me to most of them. Today, we had community members come to give their input. As a result, we all had to wear name tags. Carter got one too. He was amazing! Despite the fact that it started right at bed time, and went for an hour and a half (shorter than our usual meetings), he never cried or yelled. He didn't try to leave out the large open door. He didn't play with any of the cool electronic gadgets that they had a city hall. Nor did he even attempt to go up the stairs that were in our conference room. He went up to people on the other side of the room - where he couldn't see me - that he didn't know, and let them pick him up and carry him around. He is such a great kid. He is really a people person.

When we got home, I put him in daddy's chair, and took some pictures.

These are the silly faces of Carter:

Silly Carter

Carter can be a pretty silly kid.

My friend Chandra took the first two videos at her house. I took the last one this morning. Carter and Lydia are egging each other on.

One for Me, One for You

Who knew I had such a good sharer at 17 months? My friend Chandra took this video of Carter sharing his oranges with her daughter Lydia at her house:

And they call that vegetables???

I have been trying to get Carter to eat more vegetables. I normally read the labels. This time, I just grabbed it at face value because I was in a hurry. "Hearty Vegetable Stew". Yeah right.

Water, Carrots, Pink Beans, Rice Flour, Tomato Paste, & Heavy Cream.

"Hearty" & "Vegetable" don't exactly come to my mind when I think of Pink Beans, Rice Flour, & Heavy Cream. Sounds more like fillers to me. He ate it, but I think I will just stick to the basics from now on.

Carter is getting very naughty. Notice the computer is starting up. Notice Carter watching. He turned the computer off to watch the lights swirl around. Then he turned it back on again. Twice today. Grrrrrr. It is one of his favorite things to do. That button with the bright green ring around it is just so tempting for one so easy to tempt.

INTO EVERYTHING!!!

This kid is into Absolutely EVERYTHING. I now understand why moms are sooooooo busy. They spend the whole day following the hurricane around putting things back where they go. He brought me a steak knife he finagled off the kitchen table yesterday. He emptied a large box of dog treats onto the floor. He goes to our nightstand, and takes as much off as he can. David's glasses are his favorite. He opens the case and dumps them out. He loves to go into the bathroom and pull little things out of the drawers then carry them around. If you notice the picture - he is carrying a paint can and a small Tupperware. He found the can and carried it around all day.

Carter has learned how to climb into chairs now. He has already fallen off onto his head a couple times. Notice he has a circle from one of his shape toys in his hands. He made it up there with the circle and he just won't let it go.

This is a picture from Sunday with his cute Dino suit. The basket sitting next to him was full of burp cloths - it is now empty. They are strewn about the house.

Ca Ca

Lydia loves Carter. She talks about him as she carries around a picture of him all over her own house. She even thinks the baby on the box of diapers is Carter.

Unfortunately, she can't say his name properly. She calls him Ca Ca. I got a video of it down at the bottom. Like most children she doesn't like to perform for the camera, and so it is kind of quiet. She also started making kissy faces. She sucks her cheeks in and puckers her lips out. Carter thinks it is pretty funny, as you can see in the video.

Lydia was being super photogenic yesterday and I got some good pictures. I have been experimenting with her hair. Mostly the one pigtail on the side works, but I am trying to find something that works with her face shape. If you have any ideas - I am open to them.

He's Touching Me

Carter has gotten very lovey lately. Some with me - which is very cute - but mostly with Lydia. Lydia does not like his affection. He is constantly trying to hug and kiss her. Most of the time he knocks her over in the process. She cries and screams now every time Carter goes to touch her. Sad. He just doesn't get it.

These are some pictures my friend Chandra took at her house:

I just cannot get enough of this face. It is his "You're bothering me, and I don't have time for this" face.

Lydia is really into her looks right now. When she sees clothes that she likes, she will take them to her mom (Chandra) and demand to wear them. She is into shoes, and clothes, and necklaces. She also loves to brush her own hair. Carter has now followed her lead:

A couple weeks ago, he took the comb out of my hand and started to brush Lydia's hair like I was. Unfortunately, I had finished and was trying to put it in a ponytail.

He likes to go to my drawer in the bathroom and get my brush. He will walk over to me and attempt to brush my hair. He always brings with him a hair clip that is in the drawer also. Maybe he will be a hair stylist some day!!