Carter Update

I wrote this post on Tuesday, April 14th, but I never got around to taking pictures with the fancy camera.  Then today I decided it was about time to get this post published so I tried to get some pictures even though Carter wasn't very cooperative!

"No pictures, mommy!"

Carter is so funny and I swear he's getting into everything right now!  He pulls chairs over and uses the microwave, sticks silverware in the toaster, mixes up my bins on our shelves.  If there's something for him to get into, he does it!  A new thing this month has been stuffing things into our diaper genie.  One night when Ty was looking for Carter's finger nail clippers he asked Carter where they were.  Carter pointed at the diaper genie and sure enough, that's where they were!  Mixed in with diapers Ty found the clippers, Carter's hair brush, diaper cream, our temporal thermometer, and a comb.  We turned the diaper genie around so it faces the wall, but Carter figured out how to turn it back around.  Luckily now that I can give him Elise's diapers to put in it for me, he's stopped putting random objects in it...  At least for now!  He has also gotten opening doors down.  One night he opened his door and came into our room during bedtime.  We talked about how he can't get out of bed until someone comes to get him and it didn't happen again for quite a while.  Then he did it again where I thought I heard something and then opened my eyes to find him standing at my side of the bed.  He's only done it twice so we're hoping he's learned it's not okay.

Speaking of nail clippers, Carter is still not a fan of getting his nails clipped.  He does really well with his fingers and will even just sit calmly while Ty does them.  His toenails are a completely different story.  He screams, "No toes!!!!" anytime he sees the clippers out whether you were going to clip his toenails or not.  When you go to clip his toenails he curls his toes up so you can't get to the nails and have to pry his toes open.  Gotta give it to him, he's pretty crafty!

Mr. Independent is such a big helper too.  He knows where his shoes go and puts them away for me at night when I get him undressed for bathtime.  He throws things away for me, brings me diapers, picks out his jammies and sometimes picks out his clothes for the day.  There for a while when I was walking rather than running he'd ask me to stop so he could get out and run.  Brother loves to run!  He's constantly running around.  When we go to the playground he doesn't spend much time on the equipment.  Most of his time is spent running laps or running back and forth on the playground.  When I ask him if he needs help he typically responds with, "Carter get it!"  He also remembers where places are and recognizes places we've been before.  When at the zoo he knows where the playground is and is able to lead us there.  When we walk up to the playground he will victoriously yell, "GO PLAY!!!!"  When we walk by the building where they held Breakfast with the Bunny at the zoo he points at it and says "Bunny!"  He has also mastered slowing himself down on the slide so he doesn't fly off the end.

This month has been a big one for all of us.  Carter became a big brother, welcoming little sister Elise on March 21st.  We gave him a Lightning McQueen stuffed car from Kohl's Cares for Kid's spot and a book from Elise after she came home.  He would grab his car and proudly exclaim, "Issy Eese give Carter car!!!"  So far he has loved being a big brother and is so sweet.  He brings her toys, asks to hold her, sings to her when she cries, reads books to her, and laughs at the faces she makes.  Naturally he also gets jealous from time to time wanting to be carried when she's carried and wanting in my lap when she nurses, but he doesn't take it out on her.  One day Elise was laying on Ty and my bed and she started crying.  Carter called out, "It's okay, Issy Eese, Carter coming!"  Then he jumped up on the bed and crawled up to her, pulling her onto his chest and patting her arm in comfort.  She stopped crying and even fell asleep.  It was so cute.  The next day I was holding her and she started crying.  Carter pointed to the bed and said, "Issy Eese here, mommy."  I was skeptical the same tactics would work, but wanted to give Carter a shot so I put her on the bed.  He laid beside her, put his arm around her, said "It's okay, Issy Eese" all while patting her arm.  It worked like a charm and before I knew it she was sleeping soundly with her big brother's arm wrapped around her.

There are some things he's super particular about.  In bed he points to the exact spot where he wants me to lay Buddy, Big Al, and Elmo telling me who goes where.  When he's eating off a plate with different sections, he lets me know which food he wants in each of the compartments.  On the other hand there are things he doesn't care about at all.  His feet being wet is the one that blows my mind.  He'll jump in puddles with regular shoes on, soaking his shoes, socks, and feet.  He doesn't mind them being wet and will continue to play for long periods of time with wet feet.  It blows my mind because I can't stand my feet being wet!  Due to his constantly wet shoes we are always rotating shoes so he can wear dry ones.  With the car seat adapter that goes on the stroller Carter now has a cup holder and food tray.  He loves it and will point at it asking me to put oranges on the tray or in the cup holder depending on his mood that day.

I need to figure out how to convince him germs are bad.  If he drops food on the ground he'll tell me yucky, dirty and hand it to me to put in the trash.  If he finds something on the ground he likes, he'll pick it up and eat it.  A shining moment for me this month was when Carter came up to me chewing something at the playground.  When I asked him what it was he excitedly replied, "French fry!"  Sure enough when I rounded the corner I saw french fries someone had spilled all over the ground and just left.  So not only was he eating a french fry, but it was someone else's french fry from the ground and who knows how long it had been there!!!  Yuck!  

Carter has a great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.  He says the funniest things and even attempts jokes.  On April Fool's Day he had a blast calling his Oma and Opa and pulling a prank on them.  He had decided he was going to tell them he saw a bike chase on our walk to the library, but then once we were on the phone with them he told them this elaborate story all about how he ran away from me while we were walking to the library.  Then he got the biggest kick out of yelling April Fools at them.  During a diaper change one day he told me his booty hurt.  I asked him where and he pointed to his hole.  I was really concerned and then he told me it hurt because a spider crawled up there.  What in the world?!? 

Some cute things he says are enchilalas for enchiladas, showshin for lotion, airplanecopter for helicopter, different one, and somebody else's.  If you ask him about the temperature of something he'll either say pretty cold, nice warm, or really hot (this one is with a surprised look on his face).  He used to say his favorite color was purple, then it was orange, just today he told me it was white.  We went to an open gym play time at a recreation center near us.  They call it Bikes and Balls because you bring a bike and they have balls out to play with in the gym.  Afterward Carter was always talking about "BIKES BALLS!"  He is very concerned with cars and how close we are to cars and where they are.  He'll tell me, "Watch out, car coming!"  If he thinks I'm walking too close to the road when we walk to the library he'll say, "Mommy, lots of cars, be careful!"  I love that he's so conscious and aware of our safety!  He remembers words of books and I'll hear him reading them almost word for word when he's sitting reading to his sister.  We went to Sonic for lunch once about 2 months ago because I had a gift card.  To this day he still yells "grilled cheese" anytime we pass a Sonic.  It must've made an impression!  Little mister also likes to bargain with me.  If he asks for something and I say no then he'll ask for 2.  If he asks for a cookie and I say no then he'll say, "Mommy 2 cookies?"  It's so funny!  If he asks for something and I say yes then as he's getting it, he'll look at me and say, "Mommy 2?"  He's always looking for letters and seems to constantly spot the letter Tt.  We'll be somewhere and all the sudden he's yelling "Uncie Taco!"  At first I had no idea what was going on and then I figured it out.  Sometimes he just yells "Uncie Taco!"  Other times he will say "Tt for Uncie Taco!"

I showed him how to blow dandelions and it's his new favorite thing to do.  He'll pick them and either blow them or wave them through the air to get the seeds to fly off.  Sometimes he walks through stomping or kicking them and watching the seeds fly.  He's gotten really good at drinking out of a regular cup but he still drinks out of a sippy cup most of the time because when he has a regular cup he will randomly turn and dump its entire contents on the floor.  He's starting to be nicer to Harper but he still has a ways to go.  He's also getting closer to being ready for potty training.  At the zoo one day he told his Uncie J he needed to go potty and then ran to the bathroom.  They didn't make it on time, but it's progress for sure!  Before he never knew he had to potty until it was already happening.

Yesterday Carter threw his first tantrum in public.  We had met a friend for a playdate at the library.  We played with toys in the children's area, went to storytime, and then played some more.  Carter asked to go home to eat lunch so I told him we needed to clean up first.  He refused and walked away from me, throwing himself on the floor.  At first I decided to ignore him, but then he started making noises and we were in a library so I went over to quiet him and then attempted to get him to help clean up again.  He threw himself backward away from me, slamming his head on the linoleum floor which caused more tears.  Finally I picked him up, walked him over to clean up, and we left.  He cried and screamed the whole way home and continued once we got home.  It was terrible.

Carter is so much fun to be around.  He is a joy and loves making others laugh.  I've been so impressed with him as a big brother.  I thought he would do well, but he has exceeded my expectations.  He is so sweet and loving and really enjoys taking care of his sister.  Seeing his capacity for love and his willingness to care for her makes me love him even more.  He is the best big brother and the sweetest boy I have ever known!

Reading to his sissy.