Two Year Pictures

I have never been able to bring myself to pay for pictures. I am just to particular. What if I don't like any of them? Plus it is sooooo expensive. (Worth it if you have a good photographer though.) David got me this new camera so I could take my own. These are some pictures that we took. I did not take all of these - David took half of them.

I love his little tongue sticking out in this one:

 

And his goofy smile in this one:

This one was hard to know if I should change it to Sepia or keep it the same:

So, I tried it in Sepia and left his eyes in color. They are gorgeous eyes! (Click on it to get an enlarged view)

Turning Two

Carter turned two, and we had a "Yay! You made it!" party. We invited his friends from church, and some of the neighbor kids - the ones he knows. I tried really hard not to get carried away. I have been to some birthday parties that make me feel seriously inadequate as a mother. I was not about to even attempt that. It was very low key. Let them run around and have fun right? That's all they want to do anyways. So, I borrowed some toys from the neighbor, and we had some games. I also did a scavenger hunt of sorts. There was no structure at all. 

All-in-all we had a little over 50 people come. He had no idea what the fuss was all about.

My cousin brought chocolate covered strawberries & he was in heaven. He got kind of carried away.

David & I made a cake to look like a basketball. He was sooooooo excited about it, until he learned that it wasn't a real ball. He was very disappointed, and wanted none of it.

He got so many fun things, despite the fact that I strongly discouraged toys, and he loves them all.

 This was one of my favorite parts. A boy in his nursery class at church brought him a book with a Fire Truck on the front. David asked him what it was. He said "Toddler Bed". His toddler bed is a fire truck: See Past Post Here. We have since educated him on what a fire truck is. I'll post his rendition of a Fire Truck sound on another day.

For the scavenger hunt, kids & adults went around the yard and garden identifying plants. They were all tagged, and some were very difficult. The hardest ones were the plants that had already flowered, and were just leaves. Even the adults had trouble.

Thanks to my neighbor, we had some ring toss, and a few VERY competitive games of Tug-Of-War. Carter was perfectly fine watching.

Until Daddy got involved. He bawled.

So Daddy had to hold him while he played.

We had a great time. The aftermath was kind of crazy, but we got to send it all back at the end of the day. Carter sure enjoyed himself.

Summer Seems Over

Carter Turned 2! I will have to get pictures of his party later. But, for now I have to chronicle our summer!!

We did a lot of playing outside.

Daddy gave him his first real Popsicle, other than the ones I made.

He really enjoys sitting on the potty. I'm not sure why, but he BEGS to do it.

We tried to get the maximum use out of the Zoo membership Grandma Hammond got him. Of course, his favorite part of the zoo was the tractor.

We went to a lot of free concerts in the park. This was Caspar Babypants. We saw them twice. Carter is standing in the front, totally mesmerized (You might notice his hat, he is the shortest child up there). They are singing Googly Eyes in these pictures: 

Caspar sang right next to the splash park, he sure did enjoy it.

He helped Daddy wash his cars:

And he also got to wash his car too:

Carter had a special date with Daddy at an event called Touch-A-Truck. The county brought out all their vehicles, the fire department, police department, garbage company, school district, a construction company, and animal control were all there. He got to sit in all the fun equipment.

Every button was pushable:

Every horn was honkable. They got to see lights and sirens!!

They even got to use the walkie-talkies:

Carter got to enjoy my garden. He apparently loves carrots. He pulled them right out of the ground and ate them (after David washed them).

And he was nice enough to share them with Blu:

He even got to help Daddy work on his car!!! He is almost old enough to hold the flashlight - a major milestone according to David.

Fun with Family

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do! David had a cousin in town last month, so we went and visited aunts, uncles, cousins, & grandparents that he doesn't normally see.

Aunt Bonnie had a bike in her garage that Carter just had to ride:

Uncle Billy taught Carter how to throw and catch a football. He still talks about Uncle Billy throwing the football with him:

We really enjoyed visiting with Great Grandpa Bob:

Cousin Michael and Grandpa Bob had a music session:

Carter did some singing:

And loved to get grandpa's stuff. He found his belt and his hats (as you can see from the first picture with grandpa's cowboy hat):