Foot Ball

When I was pregnant, my good friend Erik took me to Target and told me to pick out something for the baby. I found some cute jammies. He got frustrated with me and took me to the sporting goods isle. He said "This kid needs some real toys". We ended up in the toy section for something he could use before he was 12. He bought Carter a football and a basketball set. He loves them both - but the football more than anything. David and I are not sports people, so I would not have bought him a football otherwise. I wish I could capture on camera how Carter says "football", it sounds like he is saying "Foofoo". We took him out in the yard with his foofoo and let him play.

(He's not posing to be cute, he just fell and touched the grass - YUCK!! - apparently)

He just took the ball from Daddy, and is running away with it.

This is Carter actually throwing the ball.

Carter snuck into the pantry and began to play with things. He made a tower with his food. I was quite impressed. He didn't even knock it over:

One more Carter story:

It amazes me how much he understands. I tell him that it is time to roll up his sleeves, and he grabs them and tries to pull up. He knows what I want, he just doesn't have the capabilities yet. Carter was being super defiant last week. He loves to play in the dog's water dish & turn the water on in the bathtub. I am hoping the water table cures him of both of those. On Saturday - the 14th - I caught him in the dog's water 3 times. Each time I said to myself - he is not old enough to punish, I just have to remove him from the situation until he can comprehend punishment.

We have tried flicking his hand when he is touching something he shouldn't, or even a time out on my lap. He just doesn't get it. He will continue to do what he is doing regardless of how many times I flick his hand in a row. Eventually he will cry while still doing what he is doing. I think he knows, but just doesn't care.

So, on the fourth time I was pretty angry. I walked in there and thought I'd try raising my voice. He just looked at me and continued to splash. He was also babbling at me, like he was saying "Hi mom, what beautiful weather we're having". I told him to get out of the bathroom. Nothing. I leaned over and smacked his hand against the bowl. NOTHING. I smacked his hand again. It didn't even break his conversation. He was completely ignoring me, with one hand in his lap and the other splashing in the water. I looked him right in the eye and said "MOVE YOUR HAND!". He picked up the hand that was in his lap, raised it up and wiggled his fingers.

What do you do?? It was one of those moments that I just wanted to laugh. You can't laugh however. I picked him up and took him out. Then we got a water table.

You ask me, 'Why don't you remove the temptation?' 'Why is the water accessible?' I can't lock the dogs out of their water, and I can't lock them in. It is a double edged sword. Somebody looses, and I cannot punish the dogs. It is so frustrating.