"I'm a big kid now!"

I first heard Carter stirring about 9:45 this morning. I went in to get him out to potty. (He's been waking up dry now for almost a week. I still have 5 cases of the heavy duty overnight diapers in the laundry room. We might not still need them.)

First thing he said to me was "I peed in there", pointing towards his garbage can. Instead of calling me to take him to the bathroom, he took matters into his own hands. He peed in his garbage can. I couldn't believe it!!! Then he wanted an M&M for his good deed. "But, I didn't potty in my diaper." The kid had a point. So, he got an M&M for not pottying in his diaper. I hope this doesn't become a habit!!

He wanted to wear "The big boy diapers". A friend of mine gave me some Pull-Ups. They have Monster Trucks on them. I tried using them a year ago when Carter refused to go potty before we left the house - just in case. He wasn't fooled. He knew they were not underwear, they were diapers. Today, he said "I'm a big kid now. I can wear the monster truck diapers!!" No, how about we stick with underwear for big kids?

In our house, we call someone's bottom a "bum" or "bottom", so when Carter started using the word "butt" last week, I was surprised. He first used it when his friend Lily fell on her rocking horse. She had slipped and the horse's head hit her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Carter relayed the story and said she fell on her butt. I asked him to repeat his self, and he didn't re-use the word. 

This morning, I poked his belly button and called him silly. He told me not to poke his "butt". I asked him where his butt was.

Right here. It is his belly "butt"on. He was abbreviating it!!

Spelling and Rhyming

I've been meaning to post an update to Carter's language development. He has a foam alphabet mat in his room. He blew us both away a couple weeks ago when he spelled his first word. P-O-E-M. He sounded it out "Po-Em". He doesn't quite know how to pronounce it the way it is in the English language (Most of us have trouble with that), and he doesn't know what it is. However, it was a huge leap. He is trying to spell all sorts of things, most of which end up as nonsense. But we encourage it none-the-less. 

Last week he began rhyming as well. He was asking me what a word rhymes with, now he is coming up with them all on his own!!

We went to the science center yesterday and he happened to sit down at a computer that was working on rhyming. It posted a nursery rhyme with alternate endings, and had the kids choose from different options.

It says "Hickory, dickory, dock. The mouse ran up the ___________"

Carter sees the four options: A tree house labeled a "club", which he called a "House"; a handcart labeled "carts", which he called a "Box"; a rowboat labeled "rows", which he called a "Boat"; and a "rock", which he called "Poop" (and really looked like it too). None of which - to him - rhymed with Dock. 

This was really an activity for older kids, however it was in a 4 and under area. The child would obviously have to be able to read to get their pictorials. 

Personal Record

Today, from 6:22 AM to 6:28 PM, I changed 5 dirty diapers (didn't count the ones that were only wet), and more outfits than I can count. 

I think that is a personal record. 

A name and blessing

At church today, David gave Beckett a blessing. It was beautiful. 

When he blessed Carter, what stuck out most in my mind was the blessing of love. He blessed him that he would always feel our love, and know how  much we cared about him.

What stuck out to me most about Beckett's blessing was the part where David said "You are the second of two children". Apparently he is very serious about this being done thing. The other thing that I remembered most was the blessing that when he met his eternal companion, he would recognize that he had found her. What a great assurance to have - I remember how sure I was when I finally came around to the idea of marrying David. It took me a long time to recognize that path for me.

It was so nice to have family and friends attend. David's parents were there, my Aunt Darla and my aunt Karren drove over an hour and were there before we were (at 9 AM mind you), David's cousin Kara had an hour drive (and she stayed the night with her parents so the journey would only be an hour), a co-worker of David's and his family, Blu & Vortex' dog groomer Vickie, and many other friends were there to share the day.

I bought his tux 2 weeks ago, and it fit perfectly. Today, it barely fit. We will try to get pictures of him wearing all 4 pieces later this week. He spits up so much, I wasn't going to risk it by leaving it on him longer than I had to.

We had an open house after the blessing. My aunt Karren had a cake made. It tasted super yummy.

Dress-ups

Carter is really into dressing up. I have been collecting costumes for a local therapy center. It is really hard to find boy dress up things, so I have been keeping my eyes open. Carter found a pile that I had been intending to donate and decided it was his new favorite thing. He won't let me get pictures of him in many of his "dress-ups", but I got Batman:

We also have Superman, Buzz Light Year, a skeleton, a train conductor, and his Swat vest from Halloween.

We have a couple that are too small for Carter. He likes for Beckett to dress-up with him, so we tried them out too.

Beckett doesn't enjoy it as much as Carter does.

My father was over a few weeks ago. He happened to be wearing a University of Arizona shirt. I ran in my room and grabbed an outfit that I had nabbed at a sale two days before to match:

To be funny, Carter ran and put on his Arizona State University jersey.

All of his miscellaneous jerseys are now in his dress-up bin as well.

Out of all the fun things he has to wear, his outfit of choice now is his best church clothes, and I see no harm in it. Thursday was preschool and the indoor playground. He chose to wear his white button up shirt, his red tie, church shoes, and a suit jacket. While in Target a couple stopped him and asked him where he was preaching at. He told them they could find him at the playground. Carter, the child preacher...

Randomness pulled off my camera

I have been trying to put pictures where they belong so we don't loose anything if the computer crashes again. I have some miscellaneous pictures that I'm not sure where to put them.

There was some massive migration in our yard two nights ago. I woke up to find the grass had been trampled down to form this trail. Our dogs didn't pick up a scent from it, and they certainly didn't make it. It literally formed overnight and hasn't gone away since.

This was a gluten-free gingerbread man cookie. Now Carter has eaten it into an owl. I totally see it too.

I had this message on my phone. Thanks for letting me know that nobody has called me today. . .

Don't know if you can tell, but this is a diaper hanging from the filbert (hazelnut) tree in our front yard. I wrapped it up in a plastic bag and threw it out to David in the driveway. I wasn't even close!! I can't figure out how I got it there. It took me 3 days of throwing things at it to get it down. It was up there good.

Born in a Barn

Just some cuteness to brighten up your day.

Tea Party

Carter is really into tea parties right now. Parties in general. I came into his room and found this set up:

He has laid a table cloth, set place mats, and the hangars are place settings.

 He plans grand parties. This party is for 8 people. He makes up a guest list, a program, centerpieces, and a menu (which includes dessert). He even insists we use 2 different forks!

Someone gave him a tea set. He LOVES it. He has a place setting for 4, and there is a special cup just for his brother.