A Letter to Carter at 21 Months

Time keeps flying by my sweet, little boy!  Here we are with just 3 months to go until your 2nd birthday!  It's so strange, but I'm not sad or mopey about you turning 2 like I was with you turning 1.  I procrastinated like crazy planning your 1st birthday because I got all emotional about it.  But I've been working on plans for your 2nd birthday for months and when people ask your age I've been responding with "He'll be 2 in December" pretty much ever since you surpassed a year and a half.  Maybe I'll get more emotional as your birthday gets closer.  Maybe it's because I feel like I'm more prepared and being 2 really isn't that different from being a year and a half whereas being 1 versus 6 months is huge.  Whatever it is, I'm glad I'm not turning into a ball of emotions this time around.

You seem to have grown up so much these past few months.  This month you've started to inch into the no help phase.  You always want to do things by yourself.  Sometimes you let me help you a little bit and other times you freak out if I try to help.  One day you were trying to put your shoes on and they kept sliding so I held your shoe down so it wouldn't slide and you could slip your foot in easier.  You freaked out and threw yourself down crying.  Before helping you I always say, "Momma help?"  Sometimes you shake your head yes, most of the time you very emphatically yell "no!"  Since you can put your rain boots on by yourself with no help you are all about wearing them and wear them quite a bit.  Something really helpful you can do on your own is climb into your car seat by yourself which is really nice.  I set you in the car and say "Carter get in your seat" and you climb into it.  It's a little bit tricky since you are still rear facing and will get even easier once we switch you to forward facing in a few months.  I've also been letting you wash your own hands which you are pretty good at.  One time I asked you to wash your hands and you soaped up your hair.  I laughed so hard!  You are also working on pulling down your pants on your own which will help with potty training when the time comes.

Speaking of potty training, I think the time will be soon.  You are showing lots of signs that you are ready.  You wake up relatively dry in the morning and from naps.  We've even started putting you in cloth diapers overnight because you wake up so dry.  We always used disposables at night because we were worried about leaks, but that's not a concern anymore.  For a while now you've been coming to me and telling me when you are poopy sometimes and will even tell me you pottied.  So I pulled your potty chair out and you wanted to sit on it.  You had just pottied and told me you had, but I went ahead and pulled off your shorts and diaper.  You sat down on the potty and stayed there until you squeezed a couple drops of potty out.  I was ridiculously excited and called daddy at work to tell him.  During our trip to Florida you would walk along funny all the sudden and then point at the front of your diaper while saying potty.  It seems like it's starting to bother you to potty in your diaper.  The odd thing is that it seems to bother you more in disposables than cloth.

One of the cutest things you've picked up is pretend playing asleep.  You will lay down, close your eyes, and fake snore.  I'm not really sure where it even came from because I can't think of doing it with you other than maybe a couple of times.  You will even lay down, point beside you while saying "mommy ni ni" and then start fake sleeping.  So I'll lay down beside you and fake sleep too.  During actual sleep time you are finally sleeping under a blanket.  I've been trying it off and on for a while and you would always roll out from under it and it would end up underneath you.  Now you sleep under a blanket although sometimes you pull it up to cuddle with it.  When you first started sleeping with a blanket you were really particular about it and had to be tucked in just right.  I would re-tuck you 2-3 times before you fell asleep.  Now you don't seem to mind how it's tucked and sometimes even roll around to where it's only covering your feet as you sleep.  Another cute thing you've picked up is pointing next to you and saying the person's name who you want to sit there.  You will even sit at your special table and then point at the chair across from you and say "mommy" because you want me to sit with you.

Every month you are saying more and more.  I've been impressed with all the 2-3 word sentences you are spouting out.  You have just now started calling grammy "ma" and grampy "da", but haven't quite decided what you want to call grandma and grandpa.  On our trip to Florida you kept referring to grandma as "didi", not sure if it's your version of gigi for your grandma or what.  With Jake here I'll tell you "The baby is sleeping, shhh."  So you've started saying "Baby shhh" while putting your finger to your mouth when saying "shhh".  Sometimes right after that you scream.  Usually that's just when you're playing with your dolly and not when Jake is sleeping, thankfully!  You are now calling Harper "Arpar Lee" just like I call her by her full name, Harper Lee.  I sometimes call her Lee Lee and you have picked that up to.  You'll sit and say Lee Lee and sometimes even turn it into a chant saying leeleeleelee over and over.  You also say "come on, doggy" and pat your leg in an attempt to get whatever dog it may be at the time to come to you.  You've said "I love you" a couple of times which was enough to make me tear up.  Elmo is a surprising new one.  You have an Elmo doll that was Uncie Jeremy's when he was little.  You love it, carry it around, put it in chairs, and put it on your cars and drive it around.  One day you pulled out your stuffed elephant named Elmer.  I said, "Oh, there's Elmer!"  You looked at me weird, said "Elmo?", went and got your Elmo doll and showed it to me as if to say, no mommy, this is Elmo.  You are really good about saying thank you and do so without being prompted when someone does what you want.  Please is still a work in progress.  I have to remind you to say it and it sounds more like "meese".  It is so cute and is always accompanied by an adorable crinkle nosed smile.  One day I gave you a few pieces of cheese cut off a block and then switched over to yogurt.  You looked at me and said "more cheese" so I asked you to say please and you said "more cheese meese".  So cute!  Something I keep forgetting to add in your month posts is that when you say shoes it sounds more like "ish". 

You are "reading" more and more.  One of your favorite books right now is "Go Away Big Green Monster".  You turn the pages and say "go way!".  You also say "go way ______" filling in words I'm not sure what you're saying, but I'm sure you are attempting to say the words on the page.  Many books you read by saying the names of animals and what sounds they say.  Some animals you don't know their names yet, so you call them the sound they say.  Horses are neigh and sheep are baaa.  "Go, Dogs, Go" is still a favorite and you read it by saying "Go doggy!" and pointing at the cars saying "car".  Other favorite books are "Little Blue Truck" and "Chicken Little"

Always reading!

You are still my little helper.  You like to pull weeds, clean, and sweep.  One of your favorite ways to help is by putting the canister back on the vacuum cleaner after I've dumped it in the trash.  When you see me walking back to the vacuum with the canister you come running after me so you can help.  You are awesome at cleaning up your toys and are working on putting on and taking off your clothes on your own.  You also have recently decided you like to pour water on the floor.  Today I filled a cup of water and sat it down on the table.  You walked over, grabbed it, and poured it out on the floor.  So you are learning how to dry up messes.  I get you a towel and have you clean it up.  I crack up because you put your foot on the towel and move it around just like you've seen me do.  Something you've started doing that I know I shouldn't think is funny, but I just can't help it, is pouring water on Harper.  You will grab a cup with some water in it or fill one of your toy cups from the dog water bowl and walk up behind Harper to pour it on her back.  Normally I catch you before you are able to drench her, but you've succeed a few times and then I send you to time out and have you apologize to her.

One day you randomly started putting your fist out for people to pound it.  Ty thinks you saw someone do it at a restaurant because you started doing it all the sudden when we were eating out with grammy, grampy, and your uncies.  You put your fist out and had each of us pound it or bump it, whatever you call it.  Now you do it every once in a while and it cracks me up every time.  You've been side shuffling for a while but this month you have gotten really good at it and will side shuffle all the way down the hall sometimes.  It is the funniest thing!  You also tip toe to sneak up on people which is pretty adorable.  You try to do the motions that go with different songs, your favorite being "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  You also try to sing along to the songs.  Pointing out body parts has become a favorite and you are always pointing at your nose and saying "nose".  I think it is by far your favorite.  You are really good with eyes (and will point at both), nose, mouth, ears, and belly.  You point out your body parts and will also point out other people's body parts.  We have to be careful with eyes because you will poke people right in the eye!  You know your colors but very rarely answer if I point to something and ask you what color it is.  You'll randomly bring something to me and tell me what color it is or point at things in a book or around you and say the color.  Sometimes you say orange for yellow which sounds more like ownjah.

This month you had some firsts with your first plane trip and your first time at the beach.  Your grandma and grandpa paid for us to fly to Florida for a family trip.  We got to spend 5 days with Uncie Paul, Auntie Amanda, grandma, and grandpa.  Most of our time was spent in Mediera Beach at a rental beach house.  You loved having someone to call auntie and were constantly calling for your auntie.  It was so cute how you said it.  It was more like "antee".  When we left Amanda said she loved being called auntie and was going to miss hearing you say it so much.  You also loved playing with her hair and she really enjoyed that.  You called for "ungy" quite a bit too, but Paul wasn't quite as good at distinguishing what you said.

Your star fish and sea urchin we bought as a souvenir.

Teething is nearing an end.  Your 4 canine teeth are all starting to pop through right now.  Then you will just have your 2nd molars left.  You've been more slobbery and chewing on your fingers more and more, but other than that these canines seem to be coming in relatively painlessly.  For the most part teething hasn't been too difficult for you and has gotten easier as time has gone on.  Your first few teeth to come in were the toughest.  It will be nice for you to have your teeth and not be in pain anymore.

Carter man you are the sweetest little boy.  You are constantly making me laugh and impressing me with the new words you say and things you do.  You are such a helper and a people pleaser.  You love to do things for me and get so upset when you are in trouble.  After I get onto you I always say "Mommy still loves you" otherwise you sob hysterically.  That tends to always calm you down.  And it's true, no matter what, I always and forever love you.  You are the most precious boy I've ever met and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to watch you grow and develop.  I love you, pumpkin pie!

Now, on to daddy:


Loud and Clear! Well, maybe not clear, but definitely loud! And by this I mean you being such a talker. You love talking and will happily tell anyone a story. Every day you learn new words and phrases and it is an absolute blast talking to you. Just tonight, you asked for some more dinner, I gave you another helping and you unprompted said thank you to me!

You still have a very loud and excited yell when you see Skippy and it still cracks me up. The only change in it is that it is considerably louder and more high pitched. All of your family is always so amazed at your attitude and good, gentle nature. It seems every day that you show your love for us in some new way.

I also enjoy your moments of pure excitement. Sometimes there is a reason I can identify, sometimes there isn't, but you are still crazy excited and run around crazy hooting and hollering!