I Love...

Being home with Carter.  Holy smokes every day is a new adventure and a blast!  We've been to the zoo, children's museum, storytime at the library, storytime at the park which was more like a concert, Native American storytelling and dancing, hiking at Turkey Mountain, walks to the park, tons of runs, and have even been home a lot too!  While my car was in the shop to get the AC fixed (thank goodness) we were stuck at home for 2 days.  I was a little worried we would get stir crazy, but we had a blast finger painting, taking Harper for walks, and I even let Carter romp around naked most of the morning.  My plan is to let him go without a diaper every once in a while so he'll start to notice when he goes potty, we'll see how it goes!

Carter walking Harper.  He wanted to hold her leash, so I let him for a bit.

Carter figuring out when he goes potty.  Speaking of romping around naked, that morning I let Carter go diaperless was hilarious!  Every time he went potty he would stare down in amazement and then look at me like, are you seeing this too?!?  He was so fascinated by it.  I know I'm a little bit strange that I enjoy letting him go without a diaper.  He doesn't make too big of a mess, it saves us a few diapers, and I know it will help him with potty training later on because he's starting to notice when he is going potty.  I'm tempted to do it every morning, but I don't think Ty or our carpets would appreciate that!  

Enjoying a no diaper morning with Harper.

Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High by the Arctic Monkeys.  I normally listen to the same country station in the car every day.  They have the only DJ's I can stand and they play more music and have less talking than the other stations.  Ty drove my car and changed the station.  The next day when I was driving this gem came on the radio and Carter and I were instantly jamming out.  It is my current favorite song and I can't get enough of it!  Obviously it's not the lyrical content, but the background music that gets me going.  I was disappointed in the music video, but could dance to this song all day!

How much Carter loves to read.  When we're at home he will grab a book, hold it out to me saying "boo(k)", and back up into my lap to read.  Sometimes he even lets me turn the pages so we can read all the words on the page!  We keep a copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and a couple other books in the car.  The first thing he does when I have him strapped in his car seat is reach his hand out while saying "boo(k)" and he gets so excited when I hand him his book!

Ready to read in the car!

Listening to my brothers read to Carter.  When we were house hunting for Thomas, Jeremy sat in the back seat with Carter on the way out.  He read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? over and over to Carter.  He read the words that were there and added in some animal noises and questions to enhance the reading.  It was really cute because Carter would grab the book from Jeremy, turn it to the page he wanted Jeremy to read, and then hand it back to Jeremy so he could read it.  On the way back Thomas sat in the back with Carter.  Carter again wanted the book read to him.  Thomas read it once or twice through and lost interest.  Then he started reading it giving the animals goofy voices and making them say things, adding in his own commentary about the illustrations.  It was so cute.  Jeremy is so patient and will do whatever Carter wants and Thomas is creative and throws curve balls making things interesting for himself as well.  I love seeing their different personalities shine through in situations like those.  

Carter enjoying time with Uncie Tommy.

Carter kisses.  I wrote about the first kiss I received from Carter here.  In the time since our first kiss Carter has kissed me, the wall, his baby doll, windows, a car, a letter from grandma, my phone, but no other humans.  Yesterday morning Carter walked up to me and kissed me just because.  He continued on to kiss me about 5 more times.  Then last night Ty finally got his first kiss and Carter followed that up by giving Uncie Jeremy a kiss.  It was the sweetest.  I am so excited for him to see Grammy and Grampy tomorrow and then his paternal grandparents next month so he can give them all kisses.  I hope he doesn't become stingy with his kisses again!  Before I joked his theme song was Steal My Kisses by Ben Harper.  No longer or so I hope!  

Carter giving daddy his first kiss!

Carter giving Uncie Jeremy his first kiss.

Garage sales.  I love a good deal and you really can't get any better of a deal than a garage sale!  I also love that when we get something at a garage sale I don't worry about Carter being too rough with it and I don't have to constantly worry about keeping things in pristine condition.  This morning we went out to a few garage sales and came home with some good stuff.  We spent $13.50 and came home with a train table, a kitchen set to use outdoors because it was obviously outside before and is too big for anywhere inside our house, a tumbling mat, 3 pairs of 18 month shorts, and 2 short sleeved shirts!  I'm excited to get outside and scrub down the kitchen set so I can have it ready for Carter when he wakes up from his nap.

Carter's creativeness.  The boy always figures out how to entertain himself and solve problems.  He went through a tub of baby stuff I had in his nursery and found a pacifier.  It is currently his favorite teether and he walks around the house chewing the heck out of it!  He's been having some trouble during naptime due to those teeth.  He's become quite creative in how he attempts to entertain himself and/or get me to take him out of his crib.  One day I laid him down and sat in the rocker for a bit because he would cry when I left the room.  He knew I was there, so he'd lift his head just enough to see me over the bumper pads, and would laugh really hard.  Unfortunately I was unable to keep it together and would also laugh when he'd pop up.  Therefore a 15 minute game of peek-a-boo ensued.  A different day he was laying in his crib and tooted.  Then he stood up said "poo" and pointed to his bottom, so I pulled him out and checked his diaper.  There was no poop, it was just a ploy to get up!  My favorite came yesterday when he figured out how to jump in his crib and bounce on the mattress.  It was so funny I eventually took a video of him on the monitor.

Using the pacifier as a teether.

 

Tropical Smoothie Cafe.  During the school year one of my co-workers told me about a special this restaurant has on Tuesdays where you get a flatbread and a smoothie for $5.  All you have to do is sign up for their text message system.  They haven't sent out anything other than reminders for their specials which is awesome.  Yesterday if you wore flip flops to the store, you got a free smoothie.  Jeremy, Carter, Ty, and I all went and they even counted Carter's sandals as flip flops and gave him his own smoothie.  I had been planning to share my smoothie with Carter, but drank the whole thing since I didn't have to share.  Their smoothies are delicious, their deals are awesome, and they are less than a 10 minute drive away.  I totally love this restaurant!  I've also gotten ideas for smoothies I can make at home from ones they have.

Carter loved his smoothie!