Our Visit with Garrett and, of course, His Parents

Today we again had a short drive in the car.  Carter woke up earlier because he'd actually gone to bed at a decent time.  We took our time and left the hotel at 11:00.  I had forgotten that we would gain an hour heading home due to the time change, so we even had enough time to enjoy a leisurely lunch and walk around.  Our time in the car amounted to 3 hours.  About an hour before we stopped for lunch and then Carter napped for 2 hours on the way to St. Louis.  I was anxious to make it to Megan and Scott's house to see them and baby Garrett!  Carter, Ty, and I had the chance to meet Garrett in May and I couldn't wait to see him again!  Read about our excitement when Garrett was born here and when we met Garrett for the first time here.

Brushing his teeth this morning.

As a treat I made Carter a waffle at the hotel breakfast bar.

As a double treat I added a little bit of apple juice to his water.

Boy how Garrett had changed since the last time we met.  This time he was smiling, rolling over from his back to his tummy, grasping toys, holding his head up really well, and sitting almost on his own!  I was a little bit nervous about how Carter would do with his recent behavior toward babies.  The two other babies he had been around were crawling and I was hopeful that was why he was rough with them and would be easier on Garrett since he's younger and less mobile.  For the most part Carter was the same rough and tumble, not understanding how big he is toddler, but he was a little bit better or I was just even more cautious.  He honest to goodness loved Garrett, you could tell.  He hugged Garrett and wanted to bring him toys.  He just didn't understand that when you take toys to a baby you can't throw them to them.  Garrett had an activity gym to play on the floor and Carter was immediately drawn to it.  When Garrett was on it, he wanted to lay on it with Garrett.  The problem arose when he wanted to roll over on top of Garrett and started to steamroll him.  That's a fun game when you're close to the same size, not so much when one person majorly outweighs the other.  Carter also attempted to sit in Garrett's lap.  I'm not sure why he doesn't understand you can't sit in a lap of someone who is smaller than you, but he'll get there.  Carter did much better with Garrett after my mom, dad, and Jeremy headed out to go shopping.  With fewer people he felt much calmer and was able to relax and not ambush Garrett anytime he was on the ground!

Laying nicely on the mat together for all of maybe 30 seconds!

Not sure if Carter was giving him a reverse hug or preparing to steamroll Garrett.

Garrett moved to safety!

Ty's Aunt Netta came over to see Carter and, of course, her grandson.  She brought a train track with her which Carter had an absolute blast playing with!  He drove the train on the track, Godzilla'd the track, and attempted to drive the cars on Garrett's legs (but did it with too much force).  I think some of his excessive use of force comes from having a beasticle as a daddy.  Ty is constantly breaking things and putting lids on so tightly I about bust a vein in my head trying to unscrew them.  No one can get Carter's car seat tight like Ty does and that's all that matters to me!  I'm betting some day Carter will be putting a car seat in for his child and no one will be able to wiggle or move that sucker, it's all about perspective, right!?   

Playing trains with Aunt Netta.

Carter loved the trains!

Checking out the nerf dart suctioned to his head.  He thought it was awesome!

Carter was so concerned Garrett might eat his snack!

Netta also brought a sprinkler which I'd safely say Carter was terrified of at first.  He would only run through the sprinkler if I held him.  The sprinkler was different than what he has seen before and was more of a head shot than what he's used to.  Plus he's pretty darn particular about how and where water touches him.  Scott got out a tee ball set and Carter did pretty well hitting the ball with some help, but then got scared because he had to walk through the sprinkler water to get the ball.  While outside Megan put Garrett down by the grass so he could feel it on his feet and then set him down in the grass.  It reminded me of when she did the same thing with Carter last summer so I had to get a picture and then make a PicMonkey collage with the two pictures!

Netta taking Carter through the sprinklers.

Garrett didn't think too much of the sprinklers.

Scott helping Carter hit the ball.

Carter trying it on his own.

Taking a break with Aunt Netta.

Back inside I noticed Garrett was slobbery and really chewing on his fingers.  Megan mentioned he likes to chew his fingers but doesn't suck his thumb or pacifier.  I asked her if he was teething, but thought maybe it was a bit early for that.  From what I remembered Carter's first 2 teeth came in together around 6 months.  Megan said she thought he was and then pulled down his bottom lip and we could definitely see the whites of his teeth ready to pop through.  I got really excited and Megan told Scott who had been playing with Carter.  It was so cute to see how excited Scott got and dropped what he was doing to rush over and see Garrett's teeth.  They are both such great parents.  Out of curiosity I looked it up (here on the blog) and Carter got his first teeth at 7 months.

Brody, Megan's brother, came over toward the end of our visit.  Carter was instantly drawn to him and sat at his feet driving cars on his legs for the longest time.  It was so cute and made me think of when Carter and Brody first met last summer.  Carter spit up on Brody twice in 2 days and the only times he spit up the whole weekend were those 2 times.  I'm sure he made a lasting impression!

It was such a great visit and I loved getting Carter and Garrett together.  I know next time Carter sees Garrett he will be gentler and a better second cousin.  He'll have plenty of practice as I start watching a 9 month old 2 days a week once school starts.  I can already tell it is going to take some getting used to for Carter and a lot of work and training on how to play nicely, but it will be so worth it for Carter to have a buddy around!