Animals

One of Carter's grandmothers made Carter this blanket, unless you've been in his room you will not have seen it. I don't let out of his room because we don't want it to get ruined or damaged.

I know that some people don't know what happens to their stuff when they give it to someone and they get a little paranoid that their gift is in vain. It may just be the case that they cherish it so much, they take great care of it.

Anyways, Carter and I were talking about animals, and I didn't know he knew Zebra.

Carter is definitely 2, can you tell with the "No I don't"?

This quilt was made by Carter's Great-Grandmother. He loves to point out the shapes. I will come in and see that is naming the animals and shapes on their bodies.

This quilt is the perfect size for his toddler bed. Although he is not sleeping in it yet, he plays in it all the time. My mother made this quilt, a raggy-flannel quilt with "I love to see the temple" fabric. (Really fitting since Carter seems to really enjoy seeing pictures of the temple, and our most recent trip there on Saturday. I'll post about that later.) Usually the bed is filled with the fabric books my mother made for Carter. He has to have 3 or 4 in bed with him every night. I think it gives him something to do in the morning quietly before I get him up. 

A good friend of mine just passed away and at her funeral were many of her crafts and creations. When they talked in the service of how she loved to make gifts for people, I had to smile and think of the blanket she made for Carter while I was in the hospital. It meant so much to me then, but it is that much more special now.

We have so many other blankets that we love that our friends and family have given us. I am so sentimental I couldn't bear to part with them. It was too hot to use them during the summer months, but now that it is chilly at night, I am remembering all of the wonderful people in our lives that put so much time and effort into a blanket or other item for Carter and our family.

On that same note, David and I still use the quilts that we were given for our wedding on our bed - almost 8 years later. Including one that David's grandmother made, and one that my friend Penny Douglas made.



You are a Child of God too!!

This morning as I was changing Carter's diaper, he was singing Itsy-Bitsy Spider. He loves to sing. He stops and looks at me like he just figured something out. He says "Mommy a child of God!" then he says "Daddy a child of God!" and he finished by saying "Baby Carter a child of God TOO!!". He was so excited to learn this about himself and about us. Some people don't figure that out until they are adults. It is so nice to know that my child has that knowledge about himself at 25 months old!

What is a blog post without a picture right?? I am really excited for this new car seat cover that I traded with my cousin Deborah for. Carter got these new glasses from the bank when he made a deposit of the birthday money he got from all of his family and friends. The whole ride home he was in the back seat exclaiming "Glasses on LIKE DADDY! Hat on LIKE DADDY!!" He was so excited to be just like daddy. I am so grateful for a husband and father who is such a great role model for our child!!!

Playgroups & Bed Time

We keep pretty busy with playgroups. There is not a day on the calendar without a playgroup of some sort. Carter seems pretty well socialized because of it. That and he is a pretty easy going kid. (As you can tell in the end of the video when a little girl sits down and picks up the same toys that he just had in his hand. He didn't freak out, or even try to stop her.)

There is an awesome playgroup that we go to every week. They have a trampoline, blocks, trains, cars, puzzles, pillows, a slide, dress up stuff, a kitchen with food. . . They also have a tactile activity, a craft, and story/music/bubble time.

Carter gets a name tag, which is the highlight of the week. He talks about his name tag all the time.

Today he discovered the baby dolls. He usually just brushes past the "Girly" stuff, but today he was very interested. In the video I asked him if his baby needed a drink because he was feeding the baby earlier and I loved how he made the sucking sound for his baby. It is kind of hard to hear in the video so I wanted to point it out. Also, you might not understand what he is searching for in the basket. He said "I need a puck", which translates to: pacifier or binky. We call it a plug. I can tell when he's really tired, he will ask for his plug. Before I shot the video, he was looking for the baby's plug and blanket to tell the baby to go to bed.

I didn't lead him to any of the play in this video, I have a very hands off approach. You learn who they are when you let them lead the way. If I was constantly pushing cars on him, I may never know his talent for kicking a soccer ball.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

On the subject of bed time. Carter seems obsessed with bed time. I find him putting his toys to "Nigh Night" all over the house. . . 

. . .and sometimes yelling at them. I have been known to tell him some of the things he tells his toys - like no grape juice right before bed, or in bed - but I have never yelled it at him about it. Especially not like this:

 

Quirky Kid.

Automobiles

So, at the end of his second year of life, Carter can identify 11 makes of car: Subaru, Saturn or "Scion", Chevrolet or "Chawy", Toyota or "Toyoya", Audi (not pictured in the video), Volkswagen, Ford, Mazda,  and he can tell the difference between Honda & Hyundai - a feat most adults struggle with.

I had printed this paper up because I was getting tired of a toddler trying to run away from me to get to the parking lot just to see the emblems. He LOVES to practise on it.

He loves to tell me who drives what. For example, he told me at breakfast this morning that Melissa at our Chiropractor drives a Kia. He can also tell you what the doctors in the office drive.

What a crazy kid.

Pumpkin Patch

I am getting so behind!!! We went to the Pumpkin Patch to Stoltz Family Farm again this year.

Carter was in a MUCH better mood:

Although we couldn't get him to sit here like last year. . .

We got a great shot of him just above these pumpkins. 

Couldn't get him to stand still at the spider this year.

But he loved the duckies just as much!

And this year he got to pump!!

Spray Pad with our friend Owen and our friend Felicity

This is another Arizona post. I will get through this trip - soon I hope.

Carter was MISERABLE. We tried to take him to the spray pad when the water was actually on, and he fought us the entire time. He WOULD NOT play in the water or on the playground.

There was a soccer game going on, and Carter did go over and watch. However, it turned into a huge screaming fit because Carter tried to go onto the field and get the ball. No pictures of that - I was too busy chasing him.

A friend from high school met us there with his wife and son Owen. Owen is about 8 months younger than Carter. He had a blast!!

We also met up with my brother John and his girlfriend Natalie. I really like Natalie. She is fun to talk with and she has a very positive attitude. She brought her niece Felicity - who happens to share a birthday with Carter's best friend Lydia (4 weeks younger than Carter). She was also fine with the heat/water combo.

These were my sad attempts at trying to pose them together:

My brother John never could quite make it into Carter's comfort zone.

Although, with all the balls John had hidden around his house, he may have come close. After the park we went back to John's house. Carter had a good nap in the car, and a lot of Gatorade.

He was not real fond of John's pit bulls, but he's not real fond of Blu & Vortex either. They are just easier to bully.

Carter's Chiropractor

Carter has been going to the Chiropractor since he was old 2 months old. We go to Lake Meridian Chiropractic. He LOVED Dr. Geigert. She moved to Africa to save the world. We really miss her.

Carter has been going there so long, he is getting ready to be a chiropractor himself:

Our friend Ember

While in Arizona, we got to play with another little girl who was born around the same time as Carter. She was a little over 2 weeks younger than him. Ember is so much further in her development of verbal skills. Carter can talk, and he talks well. But Ember narrates. She narrates everything she and everyone else is doing. It is so cute.

(Daddy did her hair on this day - what a great daddy)

We had a lot of fun playing and eating dinner.

We went out to ice cream (sorbet for Carter) afterwards. All he wanted to do was watch football on TV - his new thing. Ember put up with his boyness and willingly followed him to the neighboring Pizza place to eat our dessert in full view of football. What a trooper.

I Am a Child of God

Carter's favorite song right now is Follow the Prophet. I went on YouTube to find some more interesting versions of it. I came across this on YouTube. The second time they sing it really hit me. I don't know what it was, but it brought tears to my eyes. I hope you enjoy it too.

Our Friend Braelynn

One of my friends who was pregnant the same time I was had her baby about 3 weeks after I did. Braelynn.

We got together with them on Braelynn's birthday to go to the splash park in Arizona - which they call "Spray Pads".

Carter did not want to play, he only wanted to watch the boys play basketball.

It was so dark, this was the best picture of hand holding I got. They stood there holding hands, watching basketball for quiet a while.

After much coaxing, he began to play.

Then there was jumping . . .

and running. . .

and swinging. . .

They had a lot of fun together.

But in the end, all he wanted to do was play basketball, and watch some other boys skateboard.

What are these pigs doing?

Carter has this cute book: "Busy Piggies". Every page has piggies doing something. I opened to this page, and Carter had a very unexpected answer. See bottom for his answer.

Today was the hardest time I've ever had sitting through church with Carter. In our service we have a portion where we take the Sacrament - bread and water (similar to the Catholic church's communion - except we do it every Sunday and in a different way).

Some parents give their very young child the bread and the water. I believe that we should wait until the child is old enough to understand what is going on - that way it will mean something. I don't want my children going through the motions with no meaning to them.

David is afraid that if we withhold it from them if they ask, they will resent it. We decided that we would wait until Carter was old enough to ask for the Sacrament, and I would try to explain it to him.

So far, we have been able distract him during the Sacrament and it hasn't been an issue. Well, he stayed with a friend of mine for the weekend a few weeks back while David and I were out of town and she didn't know. So, he got to taste the bread and drink the water from the little cup. Now he wants it. We were not expecting the screaming. "I want some! I want some!" over and over. When it came down our pew and the pew behind us it was the worst. After it was gone, he forgot about it.

I had a friend come up to me after church and tell me that Carter really reminded her how we should all have such a desire to take the Sacrament. She said it made her think "Do I want it that bad?". All the more justifying my thinking of going through the motions without much meaning. However, it was nice to know that my child's fit today gave someone meaning to their Sunday service.

So, the piggies. I asked Carter what the piggies were doing, expecting him to say "running". He said they were following the prophet! How cute is that?

The Airport

So, I am going to start documenting our Arizona trip. Slowly.

Carter did AMAZING. He didn't run away, and he followed me onto the airplane - despite the fact that we were waaaaaaaay past his bedtime.

Because I have this almost unhealthy fear of checking bags, I chose to carry on all of our luggage. I had my two bags, and Carter's two bags. In addition to Carter, and his car seat. I also gate checked his stroller. I only used it in the airport. It sat in the trunk of the car the entire trip. Carter sat in his seat the entire ride with NO FUSS. It was a blessing for sure.

Talking & Singing

Carter loves to sing. When he wakes up in the morning I can hear him singing to himself, in the bath, and in the car he sings to himself. It is pretty cute. He can sing the entire alphabet, Twinkle Twinkle, & Itsy Bitsy Spider. I am amazed at how much his brain absorbs and regurgitates!

Carter now mainly calls us by our first names. There is not much I can do about it. I can't force him to call me "Mommy". I don't know what was wrong with "Mommy" either. Yesterday at a playgroup he was in another room calling me to him using my first name. I tried to correct him on it and he became more adamant that he call me Lisa. This is a video of a typical morning or after nap scenario. Carter is screaming for "Dawid" to come and get him:

Mostly what I hear all day is "Where's Dawid? (answering his own question) Oh, Dawid at work. Dawid come home and kick-a soccer ball!" I keep telling him that I don't know who David is, and I only call him "Daddy" around Carter. Hopefully he grows out of it. At home I can give him very little attention regarding it, but when we are out and people see a toddler call his mom by her first name, they all snicker and it really fuels it.

Carter was never much of a reader. He always tried to eat the books. I really wanted him to love books. He is just now catching on!!! I have cropped these videos down quite a bit, but there was no prompting at all. I did not read him the stories ahead of time, or give him hints. He has excellent comprehension skills. I never though to tell him that Humpty Dumpty cried when he fell off the wall.

While we were in Arizona - which I will post about soon!! - one of my aunts taught him a cute garden rhyme involving a teddy bear. I bought this book and found it in here. He was pretty excited to find it. You can see how excited he gets when he sees the "Garden". I actually cut the part out when he grabs the book asking about the "Garden" story. Watch all the way to the end where he tells me to stop singing to him. He has started really telling me when he doesn't want me to do something.

Duct Cleaning

We should have done it 3 years ago, but we just now got around to having our air ducts cleaned out. When we first moved in I laid awake at night listening to the rats use them as a highway. It was pretty unnerving. Especially knowing that we were breathing in what they left behind. 

I called Jared at ACT Air Duct Cleaning, and he came out the next day.

Carter was really excited to watch. It got kind of loud, and Carter ran over and put my hands over his ears, but Jared showed him everything he was doing.

Then Carter insisted on making Jared catch his ball. Jared stopped to play catch with him.

Although it smelled like burning right after he came (he sanitized the ducts, and the heat burns it up a little - he warned us first), it does not have that dirty smell that finally forced me to call him in the first place. So, if you've been thinking about it, I highly recommend Jared.

Queen of Seattle

We took a ride on the Queen of Seattle last month. It is an old steam ship that runs from the southern most tip of Lake Union all the way to the Ballard boat locks - almost to the Puget Sound.

Carter had so much fun just running around the boat.

We saw this on our way through the Lake Washington Ship Canal - "The Indoor Sun Shoppe":



They had people dressed in costume to play the part, and a real pianist on the boat. Carter thought that was pretty cool:

What was even cooler, was that the piano played itself when nobody was around!

We went under three bridges that went up just for us! Carter thought that was pretty cool. Heck, David and I thought that was pretty cool.

It was a 2 hour trip, with lots to see. He did surprisingly well, consindering it was during Carter's nap.

In the end, we got to meet the captain. Carter was afraid of him, but still wanted to play with his walkie-talkie thing.

"Bye Bye Boat"