I Love...

Jeremy Update:

Today was an exciting day. Jeremy received physical therapy and was able to push his hand into the therapist's hand on command. He also turned to look at my dad on command and squeezed my mom's hand on command. Those were the first times he was able to do something when he was asked. Ty took the day off work to help out with my dad's surgery so I got the chance to visit Jeremy for about an hour and a half. It was my first visit of the week that was longer than 30 minutes and I sure needed it! He was the most alert I had ever seen him. While I was there he moved his arms, grimaced, shrugged his shoulders, and spent some time sitting in a chair. When he coughs he moves his lips like he wants to push air through his lips rather than through the trach tube. He is focusing with his eyes even better and tracks things much better. When I talked he looked at me and when I walked from one side of his bed to the other he tracked me. He watched videos of Carter and intently stared at my phone. I haven't seen him smile since that first day he did it, so I'm thinking he did really smile at me. Something I've noticed when I'm visiting at the same time as my mom is that he is always looking at her, looking for her, and watching her. When he'd fall asleep we'd both sit down. Then when he woke up, he'd look around for us so we'd get up to stand by him. The poor guy now has a UTI and thrush on top of all his other ailments. He must be quite uncomfortable. We are all extremely pleased with his progress and proud of how hard he is working. My dad's surgery this morning went well. He's not supposed to lift over 10 pounds and was told not to run for a week. After his surgery they wheeled him up to Jeremy's room in a wheelchair so he could visit Jeremy while he recovered.

Dad hanging with Jeremy while recovering.

Now on to what I love...

Random warm days in the middle of winter. Today it got up into the 70's and we couldn't get enough! We spent the morning soaking up the sun at the zoo and I was amazed by how much the sunshine and fresh air lifted my spirits!

Carter hanging with his buddy at the zoo.

Our amazing support system. We have such a wonderful network of family and friends who have been supporting us through this difficult time. We have been shown love through messages, letters, care packages, gift cards, and food. We feel so loved and taken care of and know the outpouring of love is also being sent to Jeremy through prayers and positive thoughts.

The kindness of strangers. My dad has been in contact with multiple people who were with Jeremy or saw him the day of his accident. Everyone mentions a man who was holding Jeremy and talking until paramedics arrived. He didn't shy away due to blood. He didn't worry about himself. He was just there for Jeremy and showed him the love we should all have for each other. As a family it was so helpful to know someone was there to talk him through it and support him when we were not. We have heard from runners throughout the community that local running clubs have been starting their runs with a prayer for Jeremy. We met some runners at local races who check in on Jeremy and one even brought Panera bagels up to the hospital for us. It's a good reminder for me that even the smallest gestures can make a huge impact.

Watching Carter and Elise's relationship grow and develop. They love each other so much. Carter is constantly asking for sissy to come play with him and Elise crawls after him wherever he goes. They make up games together and Carter's current favorite is to run from Elise and have her chase him. Each time he loops back by her she laughs so hard. It's the absolute cutest!

Valentine's Day. I am already looking forward to it with all the hearts and love and candy! I can't wait to make valentines with both of my little sweeties! I couldn't help myself and picked up some heart shaped glasses and heart glitter goo at Target. I'm a sucker for hearts. I've had our Valentine's Day decorations up since we took down Christmas and it makes me so happy to look at them. I've also been wearing my Valentine's Day socks on the regular.

Ty's Workout Schedule. I feel like he's finally found a balance with working out that makes him really happy. He likes to run and he likes to lift and he's now alternating those workouts every other day. I've enjoyed seeing him so motivated and excited as he watches his body transform. I've enjoyed the transformation as well, although I must add he is strikingly handsome no matter what!

Doing learning themes with the kids. But you already know that! It's so much fun to see Carter excited about learning and proud to share new information with others. He likes telling people the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. Today at the zoo he told me that the arctic foxes were white for the winter due to snow and they'll be brown later.  He likes to teach Elise about colors and shapes pointing them out when we're driving or walking. It is so much fun to see him grow and learn and listen to him share information later, knowing that he retained it!

Carter experimenting with mixing colors.

My new Road ID band. Way back in the day my mom got us all Road ID bands that were on a fabric bracelet with velcro. Mine was out of date with a wrong number for Ty so we ordered a new one and it is on a silicone band. It is great piece of mind. Jeremy wasn't wearing his old one. His accident occurred around 11:30 am and it took them until 5 pm to figure out who he was and who his next of kin were to contact us. I know if I were in an accident my family would be contacted nearly immediately. If you are a runner, you should definitely check out Road ID.
 
Listening to Carter read books. It's so adorable to hear him making up words and looking at pictures to see what the story is about. He is always picking up books and reading to himself. People always joke when their kids are quiet they know they are up to no good. When Carter is quiet? He's off reading a book somewhere. Elise sees him and is drawn to books as well. Right now her favorite toys are bath books and socks. She carries bath books around all over the place. Often times she'll crawl by with one of Carter's socks in her mouth.

Elise crawling around with Carter's sock in her mouth.

I Love...

Carter holding Elise's hand. Every time he does it I love him more and it melts my heart. I turn into goo, feeling so lucky and grateful to be the momma of such amazing babies and being around to watch them grow up together. The other day I made the realization that if I was still working and they were both in daycare they would be in separate rooms due to their age difference and even if they were somewhere where they were together Carter would most likely be too busy playing with kids closer to his age to even notice his sister. I am so glad our situation has changed and they get to spend their days together!

How vocal Elise is right now. She really wants to talk and communicate with us. She loves to screech and it is so funny and cute. Multiple mornings we've been woken up to her screeching at 5 am! We jokingly refer to it as her baby pterodactyl screech.

Trap Queen by Fetty Wap. I hadn't heard of Fetty Wap until we saw him perform on The Tonight Show. After that I couldn't get his song out of my head. Something about his voice, I just love it! I'm always a few steps or miles behind when it comes to music because most of the time when we're driving in the car if I have the radio on Carter declares, "Music too loud!" and asks me to turn it off. I'll admit I have no idea what a trap queen is and I have a sneaking suspicion I don't want to as many times once I understand the lyrics to a song it ruins the song for me!

Piggy backing off where I first heard that song, I love Jimmy Fallon as the host to The Tonight Show. Honestly I rarely watched it when Jay Leno hosted because I didn't think he was funny. Now we watch it on Hulu and I'm always cracking up at his jokes, the games they play with guests, and the way they involve The Roots in jokes. If you haven't seen Jamie Foxx doing musical impressions you absolutely must. He is so freakin talented!

Lip sync battles. We stumbled across clips from the show on YouTube and enjoyed them so much we watched a bunch one night. My personal favorite is Paul Rudd. I loved that his was funny simply because of his movements and facial expressions without any props. Ty really liked Terry Crews because what's not to love about a giant man shirtless waving ribbons around while dancing and lip syncing to a woman singing? If you haven't seen them, check them out below I can almost guarantee you will at least giggle!

Sleeping on my stomach. Man do I miss it during pregnancy and I'm grateful for the ability to belly sleep for so long afterward. Every time I roll over to my belly and start to drift off to sleep I smile and soak in the amazingness. After Carter was born I rolled over to my belly and started to panic before realizing I could sleep like that. It was a glorious feeling knowing I could sleep on my belly. With Elise I looked forward to sleeping on my belly for weeks. Then when the moment came the night after she was born I rolled over and holy breast feeding, my boobs were sore! It was definitely not the same experience as after Carter was born! It has been so amazing since though!

Other people having babies. Pretty much ever since Carter was born I've been in a constant state of baby fever except for when Elise was a new, new newborn. So I'm loving other people getting pregnant and having babies. I just have this need to be around tiny babies at this point in my life. Pretty sure Ty's convinced it's a sickness! One of my good college friends who lives less than 15 minutes away is 36 weeks pregnant and I can hardly wait to get my hands on her sweet girl once she arrives. I was recently going through my maternity clothes to share with a friend and felt so sentimental about it.

All that being said, I love the thought of adding another baby to our family. Obviously later on, not anytime soon. I just love thinking of having 3 little ones running around, playing and giggling. When we were in the hospital after Elise was born a small part of me felt like I could possibly be done birthing babies, I was probably 80% sure I wanted to have another. Then we left the hospital, got home, and that familiar feeling returned. The feeling that we weren't done, that I wanted to be pregnant again, that I wanted to go through labor and delivery again, that I wanted to bring another baby into the world, that I wanted to hold a newborn so fresh he/she was covered in moisture and waxy vernix, that I wanted to look down into the eyes of my newborn child and feel that special moment of love. Now it's just getting Ty on board. He definitely jumped on the 20% of doubt I had and decided he thought 2 was the right number. I joke with him that I want to get accidentally pregnant and not know it until I'm past the first trimester like my friend Roo, but I really don't because I'm so regular the only way that could happen would be if I were to get pregnant before my period returns. After Carter was born it returned when he was around 6-9 months old. I can't remember exactly, but definitely not enough time between pregnancies and babies for my liking!

And to end on a random note, baked asparagus! We put asparagus on a cookie sheet and drizzle it with olive oil and salt and I can't get enough! When it's finished before the meal I eat so much asparagus while everything else is cooking that I'm not all that hungry when it comes time to eat. 

I Love...

Having two of Carter's uncies so close!  Jeremy watches Carter when I tutor and Thomas typically comes over to hang out on those days as well.  One day when Jeremy came over to watch Carter I was getting my stuff ready and picked up my keys.  Carter was sitting on the floor with Jeremy, heard my keys, looked up and said, "Bye, bye, mommy!"  It was so cute and I love that he doesn't get upset when I leave.  He knows his uncies will be just as much fun.

Fall.  The weather is truly my favorite.  I just wish it would last longer!  Even though we are still reaching temps into the low 90's the air is so much cooler and in the morning when we run it's typically in the 60's, win!  When September rolls around I start wanting to bake pumpkin everything and drink my favorite orange spice hot tea.  Fall flavors are so delicious.  I have always loved fall, but I'm loving it more than ever this year.  Normally fall means a lot of stress for me as a teacher.  It means getting into the swing of things with school and gearing up for parent-teacher conferences which was always the most stressful part of my job!  Now fall means leaf hunts and special crafts with Carter.  It doesn't get better than that!

Yummy orange spice tea with honey and pumpkin muffins!

Bonaing the kitchen floor.  My mom bought us a Bona to use on our laminate floors.  Previously we used a Swiffer and I hated it.  I hated being wasteful and throwing away so many wet mop refills.  I hated how many I had to use to get our kitchen clean.  It bugged me that when I got out a fresh wet mop the floor was super soaked and by the end I was barely getting the floor clean.  I wished there was something better, but I am not good with a traditional mop and the floor always looks dirtier after I'm finished than it did before I started.  My mom gave us the Bona and I was pretty much instantly in love.  There wasn't the waste because the mop part is re-usable and just needs washed between uses.  It dries super fast and the floor looks so much better than when we used the Swiffer.  It is so much fun to spray out the cleaner as needed and I love doing it!  I thought the Swiffer was the main reason why I loathed cleaning the kitchen.  I love to vacuum and for a while was even vacuuming every other day.  I've toned that down to 2-3 times a week now.  One day as I was vacuuming I wondered to myself why I loved doing it so much more than Swiffering and it came to me.  When I vacuum I go from room to room.  Therefore my vacuuming is chunked up into sections.  I love chunking things in my head.  A 20 mile run isn't 20 miles, it's 5 different 4 mile runs.  12 miles becomes 4 different 3 mile sections.  Things are just easier when you break them into smaller segments.  So I started segmenting the kitchen.  I sweep and Bona one part of the kitchen before moving onto the next rather than trying to do it all at once and voila, now I love doing it!  Instead of the full kitchen I have the entryway by the fireplace, the bookshelf area/Skippy's beach (where he kicks kitty litter all over the place!), the table area, and the cooking area.  It is so much more manageable and I'm only moving a little bit of furniture at a time.  I'm so glad I figured that one out!

Watering our plants.  My parents got us a couple of mum plants and they are so pretty.  My mom told me she fills a pitcher with water as she warms up the water for her shower and then uses that water on her plants.  It's such a good idea because not only does it reduce the usage and waste of water, but it helps me remember to water.  Before my plants would always die or come extremely close because I had the hardest time getting into a routine and remembering to water daily.  Now I have the pitcher in the bathroom and always remember to water the plants.  Once I'm dressed after my shower I tell Carter it's time to water the plants.  He excitedly runs to get his cup we keep in the bottom of the bench for watering.  We head outside and I fill his cup from the pitcher and show him which plants to water.  He loves doing it.

 

Running with Harper.  Along with cooler weather Harper has gotten back into the groove of running with us.  I think the addition of some extra pounds along with the warmer weather was what was slowing her down this summer.  I started taking her on runs again last week and she actually keeps up to where Carter can see her running alongside the stroller which causes him to laugh and is so adorable.  It is so much fun to take her and I'm relieved to know her slow down wasn't completely due to her weight gain!

Encouragement on runs.  Carter has become quite the cheerleader on our runs.  One day we were running downhill and he was excitedly yelling "weeeeee!" the whole way down.  It made it so much fun even though it's a very steep hill and I felt like I was going to lose control of the stroller.  I was coming back up that hill on our way home and I was struggling.  I was puffing and wishing I could walk.  It is a rough hill and even tougher when you are pushing a stroller!  When we crested the top of the hill Carter cheered me with "yay!"  Nothing beats that after reaching an accomplishment!

My assistant chef.  Every night as I'm making dinner I find some way for Carter to assist me.  It is so much fun to slide a chair over for him to stand on and let him wash his hands, add ingredients, and stir.  Normally he follows me around fussing as I cook.  Now he happily helps cook and when there's nothing else he can do, I turn the faucet on as low as it goes and let him play in the water for a little bit or I give him a little snack to eat as he walks around.  It takes me a little longer to cook this way, but it is so much more fun for both of us!

Carter's imitations.  It is hilarious how Carter imitates us so much now and always wants to do what we're doing.  We were grocery shopping and I called Ty to ask him a question about something I needed to buy.  I was talking on the phone and looking at the products on the shelf.  When I got off the phone I realized Carter had his hand to his ear as though he was talking on a fake phone.  He was saying, "yeah, yeah, yeah" and then started laughing while pointing at the shelves.  I tried to take a video but of course he turned and saw me so he stopped!

What I'm Loving the Most About Carter Right Now

He is such a great helper.  It blows my mind how much he wants to help and how he thinks of ways to help on his own.  When we got home from our trip to my parents' house for labor day weekend Skippy had thrown up on the floor.  I didn't notice it until the next day and was busy when I saw it so I didn't stop to clean it right away.  Later in the day Carter walked over and pointed to it, asking "what's that?"  I told him Skippy had thrown up and I forgot to clean it up and I needed to do it.  As I was going over to get something to clean it Carter climbed up on a chair so I stopped to make sure he didn't fall.  He grabbed a napkin off the table and walked over to the mess, wiping it with the napkin in an attempt to clean it up.  It was the sweetest gesture.  Not only did he understand what I was saying, but he was trying to help fix it!

I've been trying to get him to sleep with a blanket for a while now and he was just never interested.  This month he has finally started sleeping with a blanket, but it has to be just right.  One night I laid him down in his crib and put the blanket over him.  He laid quietly for a bit while I sat in the rocker.  Then he stood up and said "uh oh" so I went over to check.  He was holding his blanket and handed it to me while he laid back down.  I covered him with the blanket and sat back down.  A little bit later he did the same thing and I put the blanket on him, tucking it under his sides.  He went right to sleep after that.  It was the cutest!

He follows directions so well and can even follow multiple step directions.  I was telling Jeremy how cute it is to read Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley with Carter because at the end he'll say "Go away!" and then turn the page.  I told Carter to go get his green monster book to read to Jeremy and that it was in mommy and daddy's room.  He took off down the hall and disappeared into our bedroom.  When he came back he had the book and handed it to Jeremy.  It was adorable!  I've tried getting a video of him reading the book, but I haven't gotten a very good one.  Normally he says "go away" much clearer than he does in this video.

During our color themed learning week I would point to things and ask Carter what color they were.  He would just look at me and smile.  If I told him the color he would occasionally repeat it after me and would sometimes still just stare at me.  I felt like things just weren't sticking, but I knew that was okay because at his age it's all about exposure and he'll get it later on.  We kept going with the color week, having fun with all the activities and I kept trying out pointing at things and asking the color to no avail.  Then yesterday I was putting some things away while he "read" in his book nook.  I heard him say orange so I looked over and he was pointing at something orange on the page and saying it's color.  I was so excited.  It turned out he was learning, he just didn't feel like performing for me!

I Love...

Carter walking with his hands in his pockets.  All the sudden this is Carter's favorite thing.  He loves to stick his hands in his pockets while walking around.  It makes him look so grown up and dignified.  I don't know why, but I laugh so hard every time he does it!  I'm just hoping he doesn't fall with his hands in his pockets and totally face plant!

My new diaper sprayer!  Online I saw an idea for making your own diaper sprayer.  It looked like it would be quite a bit cheaper than buying one.  I was way too cheap to buy one, sticking my hands in poop water wasn't gonna hurt me and didn't bother me enough to pay money so I could stop doing it.  I showed Ty the idea and totally forgot about it.  While I was gone on our Virginia trip he made me one for a birthday present.  It is pretty amazing!  I was so excited that I didn't have to stick my hands down in the toilet bowl, I wasn't thinking and pulled the insert out of the water without wringing it out first.  Nasty toilet bowl poop water on the floor = fail, but it has been a success every time since!

See the sprayer attached to the hook in the upper left corner.

Carter kisses.  He has moments where he dishes kisses out and it's the sweetest thing.  I love it when I look over and he has his lips puckered up waiting for a kiss.  When I take him around to say night night, he'll say "ni, ni" and then pucker his lips for a kiss.  He even kisses his baby doll which melts me!

Carter playing in the mirror.  All the sudden Carter is fascinated with himself in the mirror again!  One day he found a bracelet in my bedside drawer.  He walked over to the mirror, held it out toward the mirror and said "Here ya go".  Then he pulled it back toward his body, said "Thank you" and put it on his wrist.  I was cracking up.  He even ran in after a shower (his new thing is insisting on showering with me after we run) and plopped down on the ground to stare into the mirror.  The mirror is now on the floor because he pulled it off the wall. 

Hello cute kid in the mirror!

Cute little booty boy!

How helpful Carter is and how good he is at following directions.  Thomas is staying at our house until he closes on his in the middle of the month therefore his dog, Quinn, is also staying with us.  I was looking for Quinn to have her got outside to potty.  I couldn't find her and she wasn't coming when I called her (she's still young and learning her name).  I was walking through the house calling her name and Carter was walking along behind me yelling, "Kin, kin, kin!"  It was seriously the cutest thing!  One day we were taking a picture and I asked Carter to stand up against the wall.  He walked right over and stood there nicely while I took a picture.  Those are just a couple of the really cute examples.

Newly vacuumed carpet.  There's just something about that clean, fresh look that makes my chest feel light and cheery.  I love the patterns the vacuum leaves behind and walk around the house feeling happy and satisfied.  The rest of the house can be a wreck, but if the carpets are clean I'm feeling okay.  Before Carter and I made it home from Virginia Ty vacuumed for me and man, did it do my heart good!

Having both my brothers in the same town as us!  Thomas started his new job on Monday.  We have gotten spoiled with Jeremy's new schedule that allows us to hang out with him more.  All summer he's been watching Carter once or twice a week while I tutor in the evenings before Ty gets home from work.  I tutored yesterday and Carter got to hang out with both his uncies while I was gone!  Carter's even gotten to where if he wants picked up and I'm not doing it quick enough (in his opinion), he switches from crying "mommy" to crying "ungy".  It's the most adorable thing!  We joke that he knows there's no point in crying daddy because daddy's not a softie like the rest of us!

Thomas got ambushed when he got home yesterday!

 

Our running trails.  We went for a run at the trails this morning and it was the first time we'd gotten to run there in 3 weeks!  First we were out of town for our trip and then we were without a car.  Ty was in a wreck and is fine, although sore, but his car was totaled.  He took ours to work so we've been without a car basically since we got home from our trip.  The insurance company finally got him a rental car which he picked up last night.  Pulling up to our normal parking lot at the trails I got so excited.  I didn't realize how much I'd missed it until we got there.

Ready to run at the trails!

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!

 

What I Love About 16 Months

Carter is such a blast right now.  I'm loving so many things about this age and want to write them down.  He has become so sweet and caring with his friends.  He's still a 16 month old and brushes them away or pushes them when they are bugging him, but man can he be sweet.  Yesterday at daycare I put Carter down and his little friend who loves to hug and kiss on him came over.  He wasn't in the mood for hugs and kisses so he decided to run away from her which started a huge game of chase with the 4 kids there.  When one of the little boys fell down, Carter stopped and held his hand out to the boy.  He also loves on one of the kiddos getting ready to move up to the one year old room and will go get toys and bring them to him because he's not fully mobile yet.  Our sweet boy sure has a big heart!

He is so talkative and really uses his words to interact with others.  He still babbles some, but the majority of his talking is centered around communicating with others.  Uh oh is still a favorite, but he also loves to say "hi".  We were at the grocery store picking out produce and there was a lady next to us.  Carter kept saying "hi" to her, but to no avail.  Finally as she was walking away he yelled "hi" after her a couple times.  She turned around, smiled, said "hi", and waved back.  I laughed all the way to the dairy section of the store.

Sharing food is so much fun.  Every morning Carter eats his breakfast around 6:00-6:30 depending on what time he wakes up.  When it comes time for me to eat breakfast around 7:15 or so, he clings to my legs desperate to have a bite.  He stares up at me, lifts one hand in the air beckoning my food to come toward his mouth, and says momma over and over.  I then sit at the table with him in my lap and we eat my breakfast together.  This 2nd breakfast tradition started out a little bit frustrating, especially when I was running late and only got to eat half my breakfast and spent all morning hungry, but now I love it.  I account for Carter eating a portion of my breakfast and prepare more.  This morning I was eating Raisin Bran so I gave Carter his own spoon and he rocked it.  It was so hard to eat my breakfast because I wanted to giggle the whole time.  Seeing me share has also encouraged Carter to share.  When I arrived at daycare this afternoon he was eating his afternoon snack and insisted I eat one of his chunks of apple.

Oh, hello mom, have some apple!

I love that little dude is tough.  This month has been the worst as far as injuries go.  I feel like he's had a constant bruise on his forehead all month.  He typically gets right up and goes about his business.  I usually say, "All falls down" when he falls and then cheer for him when he gets up.  Occasionally he has a bad fall where I immediately pick him up and rock him for comfort, but most the time he just brushes it off.  For some reason he tends to always land on the left side of his head and is constantly re-bruising his left temple.  Thank goodness he's a tough guy because he has needed it!

Carter has figured out the buttons on his toys and what they do.  He loves his Scout doll and his dolly the most.  He will carry his dolly around giving her hugs so she'll laugh and make noise.  His Scout doll has been in the car for a while and he loves it when I buckle him in and then hand him Scout.  The entire drive home or to daycare he repeatedly pushes the button for music.  I crack up because he keeps pushing it until it gets to the song that says "I'm going to sing a song about you Carter" and then it raps his name, spelling it to him.  After that he'll push the button and let the songs play out.  Before that song comes on, he'll push the button, hear the start of the song, realize it's not the one he wants, and then pushes the button again.

I can't imagine how life could get even more fun and exciting, but I know it will.  Bring it on, Carter man!

I Love...

Whole Foods.  Since starting Carter on solid foods we have moved to using mostly organic produce.  We have been to many different grocery stores with organic produce, but Whole Foods is still my favorite.  They have such a large selection of fresh produce as well as frozen fruits and vegetables.  On one of our last trips to shop there I found another reason to love them.  They have a special kids section at the front of their store where they keep stickers and snacks.  When you bring your children with you to shop your child gets to choose something from this area.  I was so excited when our cashier told us about the area and we went right over to check it out.  They had stickers, bubbles, bananas, oranges, and fruit roll ups that were made entirely of organic fruit and organic juices.  I picked up one of the fruit roll ups for Carter and he loved it.  By the time we got to the car it was already over half way gone!  Then today I was checking out and our bagger saw some gelato I had grabbed because it was on sale and I was being bad and shopping while hungry.  He told me if I liked it I should try this other kind.  I told him I'd actually never tried the gelato before.  He excitedly said, "Well, then we're getting it.  It's on the house!"  I couldn't believe it.  I had never gotten anything for free at the grocery store and here I was with a free carton of gelato and a free box of raisins Carter was chowing down on.  Pretty sure I'm still pumped up from the experience.

Chowing down on his fruit roll up.

That I only have 5 and half more weeks until I'm a full-time stay at home mom!  It's ridiculous how much I'm looking forward to it.  I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!  I've already started bringing home my seasonal books and some other things I'm not currently using in my classroom.  I wish I could slowly pack everything up and bring it home, but there's just so much stuff we'll be using all the way up until the last day of school.  As I've been going through things and bringing some of it home, I'm getting really excited about using some of the age appropriate things with Carter.  I love that I'll have so many resources to help him develop and grow.

Carter's interaction with friends at daycare.  His teacher told me Carter went and got a toy for one of the other kids and took it to him.  She said the kids love him and are always saying his name.  When I get there in the morning his best bud immediately starts saying his name and reaching her arms out to hug him.  Yesterday he hugged her back for the first time and I melted!  She follows him around all day long and the last couple days when I've picked Carter up they've been sitting in a chair together.

He was excited to go home.  She was crying because he was leaving.

Oranges.  I honestly don't think I'd eaten an orange in years.  I always have trouble peeling them and end up with all the white yucky stuff on them so I'd given up.  Then a couple of weeks ago we were grocery shopping and I randomly decided to get some for Carter and me (Ty wasn't interested, he says they're too messy).  I ate one and couldn't believe how delicious it was!  Since then I've been obsessed, eating one every day.  I'd eat more than one a day, but I know that's getting a bit ridiculous.  It's to the point where I want to travel with oranges so I don't have to go without.  That's serious.  We got oranges at Whole Foods and they are the best thing I've ever tasted.  I eat one for a snack during my plan time every day at school and when I'm finished my paper towel is soaked with juice.  They are amazing.  You know you want to go buy oranges now...

Shorts weather.  Carter looks cute all the time, but put him in some shorts and I giggle at the cuteness.  My favorite are the rompers because the shorts are shorter and show off the little bit of leg chubbiness he still has.  He has gotten into this odd habit where he grabs onto the bottom of his shorts and lifts them up showing off those cute thighs and sometimes even flashing a bit of diaper.  I can't get over the cuteness.  I also love how he crouches down to look at things.  It amazes me how long he can stay like that!

How good Harper has gotten with Carter.  She has gotten so much more tolerant lately.  She lets him climb on her, hug her, take her toys from her only to hand them back and expect her to take them again, feed her from her food bowl one kernel of food at a time (this we put an end to quickly, but she does it), pull her tail, grab handfuls of fur, chase her non-stop, poke her in the eye, and the list goes on.  She used to get so grumpy with him and would take off right away when he was near.  She now sticks around and waits to see what he's going to do before high tailing it into another room.  I'm sure some of her tolerance comes from the fact that he now feeds her scraps from the table.  That was the glue in an ever blossoming friendship.

Bedtime cuddles.  Carter still loves to be rocked before bedtime and I still love to do it, so we do it every night.  Some nights he wants rocked more than others.  There's nothing better than the feeling of a sweet little head on your chest.  Especially when you've had to spend all day away from that sweet little head.  I know he won't want to do this for much longer so while he's still wanting it, I'm all in.

Blowing kisses.  Carter has really gotten blowing kisses down and is quite liberal with them.  If you say bye bye he'll wave and start blowing kisses, it's ridiculously cute.  Now when I drop him off at daycare he blows me kisses as I leave.  It's the best send off I could receive.  Ty is gone on a work trip for a few days.  We facetimed with him tonight and Carter started laughing and blowing kisses the moment he saw his daddy's face.  He laughed the entire time and blew so many kisses when Ty said good bye.  I loved that he got so excited to see his daddy!

Sweet Ty.  While he's gone and I'm missing him I appreciate the things he does even more than usual.  He just left this morning, but I already miss him.  I love that he enjoys cooking and makes dinner almost every night, even though I know how much it stinks to come home from work and actually have to do stuff.  I love that he always stops what he's doing to give me a hug no matter what.  I love that he's always checking, double checking, and triple checking to make sure the doors are locked and we're safe.  No one ever comes to our door and I'm alone for one night so of course someone knocks at our door while I'm bathing Carter.  I got so creeped out and obviously didn't answer.  Made me wish my protector was around to check it out!

My cuties!

I Love...

I haven't done a love list post in a while, I'm pretty sure since October, so I figured it was about time to write one.

Trips to the library.  The last few times we went to the library Carter walked along holding my hands and occasionally stopped to reach for a book.  Funny enough, every book he has picked out has been about cars or bugs.  I have a feeling that won't change anytime soon!  I'm definitely enjoying the ability to pick out books while I can!

Jeremy's new schedule.  I love that Carter gets to see his uncie so much more now that he doesn't work 4pm to midnight.  Carter sure loves his uncie and grabs for his beard every time he's near!

Macklamore's song "Same Love".  It's such a great song with a great message.  The first time I heard it was at the tail end of the music video and it teared me up.  It is just beautiful!  I'm also jamming out to Kacey Musgraves, "Follow Your Arrow".  Carter enjoys boogyin along to both songs, but not nearly as much as "What Does the Fox Say"!

Carter's tongue trick.  I've mentioned this before, but I can't get over how darn cute it is!  The only thing cuter is when he stands on his tippy toes.  What really gets me is when he stands on his tippy toes with his tongue out, reaching for something.

My boys.  Ty is such a great daddy!  As Carter gets older and is able to do more I see Ty enjoying it and having so much fun!  He is so sweet and loving, but also rough and silly.  I keep picturing him as the dad to a little girl as well.  He would do such a great job!

Watching Carter play at daycare.  There's a toy slide with stairs leading up on one side.  Carter used to climb up the slide, turn around, and go back down the slide.  They switched the stairs and slide around so new he climbs up the stairs, turns around, and goes back down the stairs.  He cracks me up!

Parking in the garage.  Ty was able to fix our garage door opener after Halle found a new home.  Now I park in the garage and it is fabulous!  My car is still cold when I get in, but it's not freezing.  I don't have to bundle Carter up to go out to the car, just to take everything off once we get in.  Everyday when I walk Carter through the laundry room to the car I am so thankful I don't have to walk outside!

Fleece lined leggings.  My mom bought me some for Christmas and they are amazing.  I wore a dress a couple days ago in 30 degree weather and stayed quite toasty.  Everyone kept asking me if I was freezing, but I wasn't at all!

What I'm Loving About Carter These Days

I love how Carter is changing this month.  We are getting glimpses of other personality traits.  When I try to give him a food he doesn't want, he makes an unpleasant noise as he tosses the food on the floor.  He's also picking up new tricks.  I'm still obsessed with how he wrinkles his nose when he smiles, but have yet to catch it on camera.  Now he's all about sharing food.  He will hold his hand out, offering me food.  I'll lean in and eat the food.  Then he eventually starts feeding me out of his own mouth.  It is absolutely adorable!  You know that saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"?  Well, Carter's version of it is, one man's trash is the same man's treasure!  He drops unwanted food which ends up in his bib and then when I pull the tray off his high chair, he eats the food he hadn't wanted earlier.

Sharing noodles from his bib.

 

He's getting around much better now.  He's still working on his balance, but is able to walk with some help.  We hold his hands to help him walk around.  He can also walk while holding onto his car which converts into an almost upright position.  He's still a bit unsure but is gaining confidence every day.  He's started cruising while holding onto the furniture which he was afraid to do before.  There have even been a couple of times where he let go of the furniture and stood for a little while.  I think walking is in our near future!  I am super excited about it and am really looking forward to those first unaided steps! 

All the sudden he's decided he doesn't want to lay down for diaper changes anymore.  He almost instantly rolls over to his tummy and either takes off crawling or pushes up to a stand.  When he's standing he stares out the window and holds onto the blinds for support.  When he's wearing disposables it's pretty easy, but when he's wearing cloth diapers with all the snaps...  It doesn't go very well!  I'm thinking it's about time to retire the changing table and convert it into a bookshelf. 

My daily challenge.

Success!

Mr. Man still loves to help me with laundry.  And when I mean help, more like be counterproductive.  When I'm folding, he pulls folded clothing out of the laundry basket.  When I'm switching laundry over from the washer to the dryer he shoves random things into the dryer.  One day he found a dead pill bug from who knows where and put it in the dryer (luckily I saw him and pulled it out).  Then he reached in and pulled the drier sheet out.  I can tell he wants to help and I know he'll be a great laundry helper when he gets older.

Wait, you wanted this in the dryer?

Dancing has to be my favorite thing he does.  I crack up every single time.  He is just too cute shakin his groove thing.  I just wish it would last longer.  When he hears a song he dances for the first 15-30 seconds and then he's done.  When the tv is on in the background he'll dance to commercial jingles.  He loves his My Pal Scout and the songs.  He also loves the songs that play on his car and his Laugh and Learn Learning Home.  Sometimes he pulls up on furniture to really shake it by bouncing up and down.

It does my heart good how much he loves books.  When we play in his room his favorite thing to do is crawl over to the book shelf and pull books off.  He loves flipping through the books, reading to himself.  I used to take Carter's fingers and run them over the pages of touch and feel books.  Now he'll reach out to feel the special parts of the pages on his own.  He especially loves and notices pages with fake fur.  His favorite touch and feel books are Pat the Bunny and That's Not My Bunny... Yesterday he pulled a touch and feel book off the shelf and flipped through the pages touching each of the special parts of the pages.  It was so cute to watch!

    

Carter is so much fun and picks things up so quickly.  Just in a few short days he's gone from wobbling along as he walked with his upright car to steady walking as he cruises on the couch.  I love my little man and am so excited to see what he'll be up to next!