Unique

Carter has a spiritual understanding that I can't say I had at this age. He asks questions that I don't even think to ask as an adult. It is constantly boggling my mind. Here are a couple examples of the light inside of him shining brightly.

He loves to make up stories. It is how kids project their understanding really. I will tell Carter something, and he will repeat what I have told him back to me from the experience of someone that he has made up in his mind. He spends most of his day telling me about these imaginary people. He has a friend "Carl" (also happens to be the name of Daddy's boss). He has a friend "Hayden" and a friend "Travis" (Who, coincidentally, share the names of two of Daddy's students who play sports - who have invited us to their events. Carter has seen both of them at these events, and talks about his friends with the same names NON STOP!). A month or so ago, Carter starts talking about "Hayden" and his "Two Daddies". I have not addressed the issue of same-sex marriage with Carter, and I don't know if 4 is the right age for us. I didn't say anything about the comment, and let him just keep talking. He brought it up again and again. It wasn't until he said something about himself having two daddies that I finally asked him about this concept (I figured they had to come from real people, like all his other characters.). His response blew me away:

"Well, Heavenly Father, and him." (Pointing to David)

Wow. Really? I was astounded that he had incorporated this concept into his world view. We believe that we have a spirit and a body. Your earthly father helps create your body, and your Heavenly Father created your spirit. We call him "Father", not just "God". Carter seems to understand this.

About a month ago, I finished decorating the living room for Easter. David got me 2 lamps for Christmas that I can fill with whatever I want. For Christmas, it was sparkly ornaments. For Valentine's Day, it was red garland with silver hearts. For Easter, it is colorful plastic eggs. I also made a cool strand of  paint samples in the shape of eggs. Thank you Creative Memories. 

As we sat down to lunch, Carter says to me "Mommy, what does the Easter Bunny and eggs have to do with Jesus?" 

What do the Easter Bunny and colored eggs have to do with Jesus. NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. There are a great many adults that cannot separate the traditions and the true meaning. I am trying very hard to teach Carter the true meaning, and he seems to be grasping that there IS a difference.

Carter woke up in the middle of the night and went into the bathroom. I awoke to the noise of his door opening. When I didn't hear water running, I became concerned. I got out of bed and went to investigate. He was in the bathroom crying. He was beside himself because of a bad dream. I gave him a big hug and tried to comfort him. I walked him back to his room and talked to him about things we could do to help him get back to sleep. I offered to sing with him, or come up with alternate ideas for dreams. Unfortunately, he was too scared to try any of my ideas. He was still crying as he told me that it was just too scary. Then, as if a light switch had flipped in his brain, he got a huge grin on his face.

"I know Mommy! I'll ask Jesus. He'll take the bad dream away."

He got on his knees, said a prayer of comfort and sleep, rolled over, and went to bed. I was blown away at his faith. He KNEW, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus would take away the scariness of going back to sleep if he just asked. What faith!

This last weekend was General Conference. It is Carter's FAVORITE time of year. He has been begging to go to Utah and watch Conference in person. He wants to go to the Conference Center and sit in the same room as a prophet of the Lord. Our plan was to go this April. Especially since it coincided with David's break from school. However, me being 7 months pregnant really messed things up. David won't drive that far and risk me going into labor so far from home. Carter has been asking to watch past Conferences for weeks. We don't do a lot of screen time in our house. Carter might get to watch Blue's Clues or Hard Hat Harry once a week (closer to once a month or less). However, what do you say when your 4 year old wants to watch a prophet of the Lord talk about the power of prayer, or the effectiveness of a positive attitude? He has been watching 3 to 4 hours a day for the last 2 weeks. I just can't think of a good reason to tell him no.

This year, Carter stayed in front of the screen for about 6 and a half hours (there is a 2 hour break in the middle, but he was afraid of missing the next session - so he didn't leave the room) on Sunday alone. He was intent to hear every word.

He wants to be a missionary so bad. He asked me to make him a name tag:

He wears it ALL THE TIME.

His Aunt Caroline is serving in the Kennewick, WA mission (VERY close to us too). His buddy Spencer is currently in the Dallas, TX mission - hoping to be heading to Brazil as soon as his Visa goes through.  A good friend of mine, Sarah, is serving in the Philippines. A boy from preschool has an aunt Rachel who is in Germany right now. Plus, there are a number of missionaries serving from our ward. He is very excited to do what they do.