And Then You Were Three

Dear Carder,

Time has been flying by so quickly since you joined our lives.  It really seems like just yesterday that I awoke in the middle of the night when my water broke - but it really was 3 years ago.  I cannot believe how quickly you have been growing or how full you make my life.

So much about your personality has emerged in this last year.  You have a wonderful sense of humor and you love to laugh.  Whether it is because your toy falls off of an object over and over again or whether it is because you have made yet another poop joke, your laughter is like music and it makes me smile.

You still give the best hugs, hands down.  You wrap your arms around our necks and squeeze and make the best "Umm-umm" sound while you do it.  And you can squeeze quite hard.  :)  You still love to snuggle up to us pretty much any chance you get and I hope it stays that way for a while.

You have made some new friends in Wisconsin and your ability to share and take turns is growing each day.  You still have to be reminded sometimes, but I think that considering you are an only child starting over in a new place, you do quite well.

It seems like overnight that your stranger anxiety as faded away.  One day you were clinging to my side at the mall and the next you were running full speed ahead away from me.  One day you were hiding your head on my shoulder when a stranger spoke to you at the grocery store and now you walk up to them and shake their hand and offer your name and age and whatever random thing is currently on your mind.  As much as it makes me happy to see you bloom, this change has been a scary one for me as I am constantly nervous that you will be snatched up by some stranger.  Based on your daddy's idea based on Finding Nemo and the diver who took Nemo away from his daddy, we now warn you of "DIVERS" in public and you typically come back pretty quickly.  Thank goodness.

Your vocabulary astounds me - we have complete conversations about all kinds of things and you string together so many words that I don't count anymore.  You ask insightful questions (about the world around you, about how things work, about death, about pretty much anything you could think of) and most people that meet you think you are at least 4.  You constantly ask "Why?"  and  "When I get bigger, can I do XYZ?"

You sing ALL.THE.TIME.  Loudly.  And you make up songs about things that you see around you.  I have had people comment on your singing talents in the grocery store more than once.

We read several books every day.  You go in search of specific books in your collection and find them pretty quickly.  You can even "read" the books to me - I love to hear you read "The Monster at the End of the Book".  You can say your alphabet and can recite numbers into the 30s but you like to skip some numbers in the teens.  You also recognize quite a few letters and numbers but working on recognition has been a bit tough as you get frustrated - you want to be able to form each one PERFECTLY and when something isn't just right, you don't like it one little bit.  (I think you get that from both your mommy and your daddy.) 

You help around the house and love to help me cook.  You actually helped me to make the cupcakes that we had on your actual birthday.

You love to play with trucks and balls and your dogs (although "play" could be translated into chase and choke).  You love to ride your scooter or run around the block.  You love to jump and climb and you challenge us to try to do what you can do.  You love to dig in the dirt and play in the sand and try to pick up bugs.  You have started a rock collection. 

You are such a sweet little boy and I am so glad you are a part of our family.  It wouldn't be the same without you.  We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Wordless Wednesday - Shawshank Edition

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Shawshank Edition

 

I am sure you have seen Shawshank Redemption, right?  If not, you should.  Great movie...

Well, we are beginning to think that Carder is like Andy Dufresne, but instead of trying to break out of jail, it is apparently the day care.

His favorite hobby is totin' sand out of the exercise yard a handful at a time.  Only he seems to end up with it in his shoes.  

And brings it home.

And dumps it out all over the couch or the floor...

Here is photographic evidence:

My God at the sand!  Seriously, do they have any left at the play ground?

One of these days the warden will call is and tell us he vanished like a fart in the wind and that they found a big hole in the wall behind a Sesame Street poster...

Wordless Wednesday - Sleeping With Daddy Edition

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Sleeping with Daddy Edition

 

Since I get up before the boys, I often get to marvel at the two of them sleeping.  I find it really interesting that they are often in similar positions...here are just a couple of recent examples...

 

 

(Also, you may or may not have noticed that I posted quite a few backdated posts yesterday...I am trying my hardest to get this space caught up!)

 

 

 

 

Cherry Picking Is So Much Fun

Among his other ventures, my boss owns quite a bit of farmland and he has a few cherry orchards.  Since he is a super nice guy, he sets a date each year there is a cherry crop and allows us to come pick cherries with our families.

There weren't any cherries last year, so we were pretty excited to get to pick cherries this year.

Carder was quite excited to get to pick cherries, too.  He was a very good cherry picker.  He loved climbing the ladder to get the ones that were very high up and he really didn't want to stop picking even when we had more than enough!

The farm manager even drove his tractor up so that Carder could ride on it.  I think he prefers the John Deere tractors with the cabs (like his Grandpa's) because he refused to ride on the tractor.  He did sit on our laps and pretend to drive, though.

Eatin' Watermelon

It's Watermelon Season!!!  OK, so it is too early for local watermelons, but the grocery store melons are starting to look pretty good.

We bought one today and I sliced it up while Carder napped.  We went outside after naptime and I let him have his very first slice of melon.

He wasn't quite sure what he thought of it at first, but it didn't take him too long to get the hang of it and to be burying his face up to his ears in sweet, sticky, juicy goodness.

A Trip to The Zoo

After battling the crowds of the festival for days, we had finally had enough.  On Saturday morning, we decided that we were going to head out of town and go to the zoo in Grand Rapids.  It was a very last minute decision, but in retrospect it was the best decision we could have made.

We called Derek's parents to see if they minded if we crashed at their house that night and invited them to go to the zoo with us.  And then we invited Derek' sister (who currently has a foster child) to drive up from Indiana to join us.  Amazingly, it worked out great.

We swung by to pick up Derek's parents and drop off the dogs.  Although we thought Carder would nap in the car, he slept all of 20 minutes.  Oh well.

We got to the zoo late in the afternoon but it was well worth the trip.  Carder was much more animated watching the animals this year.  I am not sure what his favorite animal was - but the penguins, monkeys, birds, and bears were all very interesting. 

The heat did make some of the animals lethargic and sleepy.  There were several times that Carder would call out to one of the animals to request that they wake up.

After the zoo we all went out to dinner together and the boys enjoyed jumping around in the backseat of my van while they waited for the adults to finish dinner.

Watching the Bears swimming in the pool and wishing we had a place to swim, too!




Family Photo on the Bear Statue

"Monkey. Come Down Monkey!"



 

4th of July

As I mentioned before, we live in a town where there is a huge festival around the 4th of July.  This makes getting around our town challenging to say the least.

We spent the morning of the 4th checking out a new beach close to our house and just hanging around.  After lunch and nap, we drove out to a local lighthouse.  Our intention was to hike through the woods, but we ended up playing on the shore in the rocks and the muck.  Carder even took off his shoes and waded in with us.

 

 

We had thought we would head downtown to have a beer at a local open air restaurant and then to watch a parade.  We fought the crowds on our bicycles to get to the restaurant and when we got there Carder wanted NOTHING to do with any of our plans.  He refused to eat dinner and didn't want to sit still for us to have dinner or our (much deserved after battling the crowds to get there) beer.  With about 30 minutes to go before the parade was scheduled to start, we decided that perhaps and event which required Carder sitting still was not going to happen.  We asked if he wanted to stay and see fire trucks and police cars and floats or if he wanted to go home and he decided he wanted to go home.

 

So, back through the parade crowd we went.

 

Once home, Carder played with the our next door neighbor's friends child (A) for a long time.  And then he ate his dinner, took a bath, and went to bed.

 

We listened to the booms of firecrackers being set off by our neighbors and patted Carder back to sleep a couple of times when he woke up from the noise.  Once it was dark, Derek and I settled in at the front window to watch the real fireworks that are shot off over the bay downtown (which we can see most of from our house).  As we listened to the child next door ooh and aah over the first few explosions, I looked at Derek and said "Does hearing A next door make you want to wake Carder up?"

 

So, we went in and gently woke Carder up.  We brought him out and he sat in my lap at the front window covered in a blanket and watched his first fireworks show.  We did try to walk next door to watch the show with our neighbors, but A had fallen and hit his head and was crying and I think it upset Carder a little bit.  A was fine, though, and kept coming over during the show to say Hi to Carder through our window.

 

Carder loved the fireworks and has talked about how loud they were and the shape of them for days.  There are more fireworks on the closing day of the festival, so we may have to wake him up for those, as well!

Air Show

We live in a town that has a large festival around the 4th of July.  We live downtown, so we have the blessing (or curse?) of being involved in festival activities whether we want to be or not.  And, things that are part of our normal routine are wildly upset by the location of the festival and the large influx of people.

One of the normal activities is an Air Show.  The planes normally practice the Friday before the festival begins.  Lucky us - the planes fly RIGHT OVER OUR HOUSE during their practice and during the show.  We can see quite a bit of the activity from our yard.  And, loud planes buzzing around overhead tend to wake up sleeping children.  (As do the not one but TWO fireworks shows in the festival, but that is a post for another day...)

I wasn't a bit surprised when the practice flights woke Carder up this year.  The difference was that this year, he knew what an airplane was and he was very excited to see the planes.  As the planes would fly near us, he would just giggle in excitement.

Watching the Planes Practice on Friday Afternoon

For the real deal Air Show on Saturday, we planned on waking him up from his nap in time to walk towards Lake Michigan to see the actual Air Show.  Although there was a grandstand set up for this type of activity, we skipped that and opted to throw out a blanket on the grass a few blocks from our house.  There was a road separating us from the action (FAA rules and all) but it was still a wonderful place to watch the show and we didn't have to arrive hours early to get a seat!

Carder was super excited to watch the planes flying even closer and in formation.  There were a couple of different types of planes that flew in the Air Show.  I believe his favorites were the smaller planes as they weren't quite as loud and there were more of them to watch.  The planes performed loops and dives and even had colored smoke that was turned on and off at specific times during the performance.

The larger planes were a bit louder than the smaller ones and the sound reverberated over the water making it seem even louder.  When they started performing, he began to get a little apprehensive, but still seemed to enjoy the show.

Carder and I as we watch planes flying towards us over Lake Michigan

One of the Formations by the Smaller Planes

Even though he was a bit timid about the larger planes, he still loved them.



Our Air Show Viewing Area on the Lawn

Kids Say The Funniest Things

Tonight, we were reading our bedtime story.  Carder wanted to look at his favorite picture book instead of actually reading a story.  I was letting him tell me about the pictures and pretend to feed me items from the pages.

We had been to the beach earlier in the week and he wanted to look at the beach page.  He tried to feed me sand and I told him "Ewww, sand is yucky and dirty.  I don't want to eat sand..."

He looked at me and said, "Mommy, wash it!"

Counting

Carder has this game he likes to play - he likes to count to 3 and then we are supposed to fake cry.  For a long time, he skipped the "one" and would just say "2 3, Mommy".  I am sure we perpetuated this dropping of the one because we would pretend to cry and then say "2 3, Carder".

We began making an effort to always say "1 2 3, Carder".  And we began making him say his one if he wanted us to cry and this has resulted in consistent use of the number one.

The week befor last, when my parents were here, we were stacking blocks and counting them.  When it came time for "6 7 8", he said the numbers in the right order with us (not after us).

This Monday, during his bath time, he decided to stick all of his bath toys down my shirt.  We took them out one at a time and counted them.  He counted to 3 and then stopped.  I said 4 and prompted for the next number.  We ran out of toys from my shirt at 7, but I still asked what came next.  And from there, he counted all the way to 10.

His pediatrician said that by age 3 children can typically count to 3.  I understand he skipped 4 so this doesn't count as all the way to 10.  And he wasn't "counting objects" for every single number  - he was just reciting the numbers.  But still, I am one proud Mommy and I think I have one smart little boy!

Edited on 7/7/13 to add:
Tonight Carder was having Quesadillas for dinner.  At one point, he began actually counting individual pieces of quesadilla (using a correct one to one ratio).  He counted all the way up to 8 before he decided that he needed to take another bite.  And he included 4.  We are super proud!

And Then We Spent the Night in the ER

A while back, Carder began to protest his high chair.  We moved him into a booster seat at the table.

Also, call me a bad parent if you will, but I think it is next to impossible to sit right next to him the entire time he is at the table.  If he wants second helpings or needs his hands wiped or drops his drink and you need to wipe it up or if you need to grab ketchup from the fridge...you just can't ALWAYS be right next to him.  And he often eats better if you ignore him while he eats.  And in our open floor plan home I am only a couple of steps away if I am in the kitchen.

This new seating arrangement has been working fine - except he has learned that he can use his hands and feet to push himself away from the table.  Our chairs are pretty heavy, so typically this just results in pushing back.  But sometimes, the front legs of the chair would lift off the floor.

After repeatedly telling him that he needs to stop because his chair would flip, he finally flipped it over.  As we were getting ready to sit down to a meal, Carder was in his seat and I had walked into the kitchen to grab something else.  I saw it happening and couldn't do anything to stop it.  There was a huge thud as the chair hit the floor. 

I was (and still am) fairly certain that he didn't hit is head on anything.  He cried for a minute tops and said he was OK and then went on his merry way of playing and acting completely normal.  I wasn't really all that worried at that point.  We called the pediatrician just to be safe and his advice was to waken him a couple of times to make sure he wasn't too hard to arouse and that he knew who we were.

When we tried to wake him up before we went to bed, he was very groggy and hard to waken.  And then he didn't want to tell us that Derek was Daddy or who any people in pictures were or who our dogs were.  How much of this was because he was tired and 2 and what could be attributed to a concussion we weren't sure.  So off to the ER we went.  And I was in a panic.

We got checked in around midnight.  After we were escorted into a room and got settled in, the nurse brought him a toy and a book.  And within 5 minutes he was fully awake and telling us all about everything and was obviously fine.

3 hours later we saw the doctor (who confirmed he was fine) and were sent on our way.

Luckily he slept until 10 the next morning because we all needed the extra sleep!

The moral of this story is - if you have a child who is getting to be a daredevil, wake them up in the middle of the night so that you can have a baseline to compare it should you ever need to waken your child from a deep sleep to check for a concussion!

Putt Putt & Family Fun

My family was here visiting from Georgia for a few days.  As seems to be par for the course, Carder got sick as they were on their way.  The first couple of days were spent trying to keep his fever under control (at times it was 102 even after fever reducer).

We spent the time that he was feeling up to it just hanging around the house and playing.  There was an afternoon that we spent a couple of hours decorating our backyard with sidewalk chalk.  Or, perhaps you could say we decorated Carder's pants with sidewalk chalk as his pants ended up being multi colored by the end of the activity.

When he finally felt a bit better, we decided to venture out to play putt putt.  This was Carder's first time on a course and we weren't quite sure what to expect.  We also got a later start than I had intended, so I was anticipating a meltdown fairly early in our course.

 

Carder decided that instead of putting from the tee, it was much more fun just to start his putt from right next to the cup.  And instead of taking one turn per hole, he took as many as 4 or 5.  Who can blame him, though?  Aren't the best putts the ones that go in?

 

He did really well with taking turns and letting everyone take their shots.  He did begin to meldown a bit on the 17th hole, but did wonderfully otherwise.

 

It really was a great deal of fun.  I would highly recommend Miniature Golf as an activity with a toddler.

Carder Starting His Putt - from right next to the cup

Another fine starting point for Carder

Oh, and since the course was pirate themed, Carder got a bag of pirate booty and a pirate hat as well.  Inside the booty was this little eye patch that has been quite a bit of entertainment for the toddler and adults alike.

Arghhhh!  Walk the Plank, Matey!

A Blossoming Imagination

It's funny how things happen all of the sudden.  Or maybe it is because you suddenly realize it.

 

Carder's imagination is blossoming.  In retrospect, it probably started out with pieces of food that were pushed around and sounded like a car.  Or flew through the air like a plane.

 

But all of the sudden, we can see his imagination. 

 

We were at the park when another child gave him an imaginary ice cream cone and he carried that cone all over the playground.  He even asked his Daddy to hold it while he climbed up and needed both hands.

 

He started making us imaginary ice cream cones and feeding them to us.

 

And then, this morning, he decided his penguin needed to have a drink during breakfast time.

 

 

 

It really is cute to see him begin to play pretend.

2nd Birthday Party

 

Carder's birthday party was a great success.  All of the preplanning I had done really paid off as the days before the party weren't slammed with things to do.  Except to finish that darned cupcake stand.  And those Oreo pops that I had grand plans for (which could have been posted on the Pin.terest Fa.il website because I think I bought the wrong kind of chocolate to dip them in).

 

I used a computer program to make 2 pictures into a panoramic one.  I didn't realize until after the fact that it photo-shopped the "R" out of birthday.  Oh well.  You get the idea...

 

We did the grocery shopping on Friday, so Saturday we only had to get balloons and put out all the goodies.  And run a 5K first thing in the morning...

We have a fenced in back yard and beautiful (sunny but not too hot) weather, so we planned to have most of the party outdoors.  I wanted to make sure the kids had fun and organized games are a bit hard for this age group. 

There was a bubble station with several different types of bubbles set up on a table (which was covered with a plastic tablecloth for easy cleanup).  This was a very popular station for all the kids.  I had anticipated it's popularity and placed the table in a shady spot.

There was an art easel with both paper and a chalkboard and plenty of markers and sidewalk chalk.

There was Carder's basketball goal and a plethora of balls.

There were trucks and cars and every riding toy we own in the backyard.

Party guests (well, except for Derek's family as they were already there before party time) started arriving right on time at 4:00.  We had used ballons staked to the ground with golf tees to mark our house and I think everyone found the place fairly easily.

The house and the yard filled up fast.  Even though we invited guests from several different areas of our lives, everyone seemed to mingle well.  The adults had fun relaxing in the backyard while the kids ran all over the place and had a blast.

Carder shared his toys incredibly well and the only altercation between kids seemed to be a slight spat over the Co.zy Cou.pe.

We sang the birthday song and Carder blew out a candle on his cupcake.  And then refused to eat the cupcake.  (Don't worry, I ate it.  We don't waste cupcakes at our house.)

When it came time for opening presents, we brought them all out into the yard so that none of the kids had to stop playing to watch another kid open his presents.  I also brought out the gift bags at that time so that there would be something for everyone to open.

 

It went so much better than I could have ever imagined.  I even had one mom tell me I should write a book on how to throw kids parties, so I will call it a win!

2nd Birthday Party Planning

Carder's 2nd Birthday party is this coming weekend.  Although his 1st Birthday party turned out just fine, there was a part of me that felt like I has "skimped" on his party because I didn't make a lot of things myself.  Although I know it makes no difference to him, I wanted his 2nd Birthday to have more effort on my part.

So, a few weeks ago, I began planning and creating.  Thanks to Pin.terest, I had more ideas than I had time.

I started out with the invites.  I used to make our own Christmas Cards each year, so making party invitations was a lot of fun.  I did do something a little bit different this time and I printed certain parts of the invitation rather than hand stamping/writing it all.  Other parts were added as embellishments by hand - like the ribbon and the foam ball stickers.  They were delivered to recipients in pretty clear envelopes that look really cool in real life but make picture taking tricky due to the glare.* 

 

My next inspiration was for a cupcake stand.  I decided pretty quickly what I wanted the top of the stand to look like and I think it turned out great.

 

The cupcake stand itself wasn't as much of a slam dunk.  I found a few tutorials and examples online and it looked pretty easy.  I couldn't find premade cardboard cake rounds without having to buy them in bulk, so I decided to make them myself. Derek brought home some boxes and I set to work.  Getting perfectly round cardboard circles was not quite as easy as I had thought it would be.  After covering them with wrapping paper and edging them with ribbon, they didn't look quite like I thought they would, but they would do.  The spacers became my problem.  Nothing I tried made seemed sturdy enough.  Since putting cupcakes on an unsteady stand seemed like a recipe for cupcake disaster, I scrapped that plan and went with a new one.  I am currently in the process of making another one out of boxes.  Since there will be no flimsy risers involved, I think this one will work.

 

I also made picks to stick in the top of the cupcakes with the same foam stickers I used for the invitations.

 

I made a personalized birthday banner (thanks to my friend Xio who could flip letters upside down with her newer computer and software!!!)

 

I found a giant bubble wand and a couple more smaller ones.  I made some Super Bubble solution to use at the party to blow big bubbles.

 

Next were the gift bags - inside are homemade bubbles (from the Super Bubble Recipe), play dough, funny glasses, foam ball stickers, temporary tattoos, and some fruit snacks.

 

I have also made thank you notes too!

 

Still on the to do list are chocolate covered Oreo pops (that will look like baseballs and basketballs) and finishing up the cupcake stand. 

 

And of course the food...This is where I have opted to take the easy route on a few things and buy a fruit tray and a veggie tray and I ordered my cupcakes (baking isn't my strongest suit).

 

Hopefully these last couple of days will be productive and Carder will have a wonderful 2nd Birthday!

 

 *Should you decide that you would like to mail things in clear envelopes, I think I got them here.  But you can Goggle Clear Envelopes and find other suppliers.  They come in many shapes and sizes and are a great way to showcase your hand made cards.  Just be forewarned that the USPS charges more to mail them because they can't be machined.

 



Week in Review

We have had a stretch of nice weather here in Michigan over the last week.  (Thank GOD because we had snow falling just a couple of weeks ago and I am SO over winter!) 

Although there have been a couple of cooler days mixed in, we have been taking advantage of the warmth.  We have spent a good bit of time in the yard both on days home and also in the evenings after work.  We have been regulars at the local parks and have been biking the last 2 Sunday afternoons.

We put in our "redneck sprinkler system" where we zip-tie garden hoses to our chain link fence and even added a timer this year so that we don't have to turn them on and off!  Spring maintenance was done on the yard and Derek gave the yard our first mowing of the season.  Carder saw the mower and had to run inside to get his mower so that he could help Daddy mow the grass.  He actually got upset this weekend when Derek started the mower while he was getting ready to go down for a nap because he wanted to go outside and help.

 

This was just a regular weeknight getting ready for bathtime, but I loved the way Carder was looking up at his Daddy.

 

 

 

On Sunday, we went out shopping after Church and bought Carder's birthday gift from us.  He will get plenty of gifts for his birthday and is too young to know the difference right now, but we wanted him to have an outdoor basketball goal.  His indoor one (the one we bought him at Christmas thinking it would last a while) is as tall as it will go and he he keeps asking for it to be higher.  We ended up buying a youth goal that will raise up to about 6 1/2 feet.  Right now it is at 4' 9".  He isn't making a ton of shots, but he hits the rim on a regular basis.  And he is loving it.  We have had a few meltdowns because he isn't scoring as often as he would like, but that will get better with time.  And he seems pretty determined because he keeps trying.  We have had to literally tear him away from his "outside basketball goal".  Here he is shooting some hoops as we were outside on Monday afternoon.  I think his form is pretty good for not even being 2 yet.



 

 

 

 

We also bought him a couple of big balls.  Yesterday he spent a good 10 minutes running around and jumping on the ball and then flipping over onto the grass.  He had such a blast doing this.



 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last few days, we have discovered that bugs actually exist outside the pages of the books we read.  Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time looking for and looking at bugs.  I taught him to stay away from the flying bugs with yellow and black stripes.  He was facinated with a large ant that I let crawl on my hand - although he had no interest in letting it crawl on him.  And we spent at least 15 minutes watching these tiny little ants in the crack of our sidewalk...he was facinated.

 

23 Months

Dear Carder,

You are growing up so fast.  You are almost 36” tall now (taller than the kitchen counter!!!).  You might be a tiny bit heavier (about 26.5 Pounds), but you are still one skinny little boy!  Your Daddy and I regularly compare you to a Spider Monkey when you are running around in only your diaper or naked because you really are all arms and legs.  You are all over the board in the size of clothes you are wearing – pants are a 2T and have been for a while due to the length – but if they aren’t an adjustable waist I have to add one in or they will literally fall off of you.  In shorts, you are still in the 18 month ones from last summer – and some of those are still too big in the waist.  Shirts you are wearing either a 2T or a 3T as both seem to fit you, but I have a feeling that come fall you will be in all 3T shirts because the sleeves on a 2T are often a bit short for you.  You still have a couple 2T pajamas that fit you, but you are also wearing some 3T pajamas as well.  And anything with footies that was 2T was put away weeks ago.  I can’t believe that my sweet little preemie baby isn’t even 2 yet and is already outgrowing some 2T clothing!  Your shoe size seems to be around a 7 ½ right now.

And although I just wrote a whole paragraph about your size, I am more amazed at your developmental growth lately.  Every day you surprise me with the things you say and do. 

Your vocabulary is getting so big and you are saying words I had no idea you knew.  You are identifying some of your letters (E and R), you know quite a few colors (red, blue, yellow, green, orange, pink, purple, brown, white), and you are learning to count and your numbers (you have 1 & 2 down pat and are working towards the others).  You know your first and last name.  You also know both Daddy and my first and last names.  You know the names of our neighbors and their animals.  You know you will be 2 on your birthday.

You speak in broken sentences – sometimes up to 6 or 7 words strung together – and most of the time there are a subject and a verb.  You are identifying things and describing them by the number of them, what they are doing, what their function is, and the color they are.  We have whole conversations about what you see around you.  This week I have heard “Trash Truck Alley Up Carder Dirty Diapers” multiple times as you were telling me that the trash truck had been in the alley picking up your dirty diapers.  In addition, you are no longer content with a response of “uh huh” when you point something out to us – we have to repeat what you said so that you know we understood you.  This can be frustrating if we don’t know what you are trying to say – but you will often find an association to help us figure out what you are trying to say (“crying” was “wa wa wa” and “slide” was “wheeee!”).  

If you think I am not paying close enough attention to you, you will place your hands on both sides of my face to make sure I am looking directly at you. 

Your favorite songs right now include “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”.

You still love to read, but your favorite book changes from week to week.  Some recent favorites were “LMNO Peas”, “I Love Trucks”, and “Go Dogs. Go”.

Your favorite toy in the world is a ball and you LOVE to “shoot hoops”.  You cheer for yourself when you make it (and often say “Yay Carder, 2 points” or “score”) and you will say “almost” and “so close” when you miss.   Other favorite toys right now include trucks/tractors, your blocks, puzzles, and your farm.  And roughhousing.  And anything that involves being outside.

At swimming lessons this past month, you started requesting to swim by yourself with your puddle jumper and you kick your legs so hard to get from one place to another.

Technology comes second nature to you and you are whiz at the iPad.  You can open it up and find your games by scrolling through the screens.  You also know how to open your games and get them started on your own.  You will also hand me the iPad and request to talk to one set of your grandparents or the other on FaceTime.  And you know how to end the call as well.

Your favorite food is still any type of fruit (blackberries and melons this week).  You still love still things like hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato fries, waffles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and cereal.  You are beginning to get more adventurous in your food choices and have begun requesting to taste things on our plates and then eating more.  A recent discovery is that you love tomatoes with fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  And chips dipped in salsa.  You have also started calling your drinks "coffee" because that is what mommy and daddy drink.

Sleep still isn’t stellar, but you have 4 teeth breaking through and swelling indicating that your 2 year molars are trying to come in as well.  We have made progress in this department though as you now lie in your crib each night to go to sleep.  I am still in the room but we are making progress and the bedtime routine is getting shorter so I think it is a win.

I love you, my little man.

Mommy

A Really S#!++% Night

Tonight, we were grilling out hamburgers for dinner.  While Derek grilled, Carder and I played in the backyard with his trucks, rocks, and bubbles.  When dinner was ready, the normal temper tantrum occurred when it was time to go inside.

I wrangled the crying and writhing toddler into the door and got him washed up for dinner.  After dinner, we moved on to bath time.  When I was bathing him, Derek noticed that I had dog poop on the bottom of my shoe.  OF COURSE I DID - and I didn't check my shoes before I walked in the door (due to the tantrum).  So, Derek took my shoes and then began the process of cleaning the floors from where I had tracked poop all over the house. 

Since Derek was busy cleaning the mess I made, I decided to use the restroom while Carder played in the tub since Derek wouldn't be available to let me go right before Carder's bedtime ritual.  (Note:  The tub is right next to the toilet so there is no danger of drowning...)

I noticed Carder lean a bit to the left and I knew what was happening.  CODE BROWN.  So while Derek cleaned the crap off the floors, I rinsed Carder off with fresh water, wiped his little bum, and wrapped him in a towel while I dealt with the crap floating in the bathtub.

Derek came into the bathroom while I was cleaning up, shook his head, and walked back out the door for the bleach...

Good Times.  Good Stuff.  Thankfully we have a pretty good sense of humor...

And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

22 Months Old

Dear Carder,

The last month has been quite a month developmentally for you and your personality is just blossoming.

We just got back from a trip to Georgia and you were awesome.  Other than the fact that you didn’t act scared when you saw Great Grandma Gin Gin, my proudest moments were when you recognized Grandma and Grandpa from a distance and ran right up to them and gave them big hugs and kisses.  I know that it melted their hearts and made them so happy.  (Thanks, FaceTime!)

Your combination of words is getting more and more frequent and your vocabulary grows every day.  I can’t even keep track of the number of words you are saying.  You are beginning to work on your colors and although you repeat the other colors, everything is yellow.  I like to point out things that are actually yellow and ask you their color so I can tell you that you are right.

My favorite change in your vocabulary this past month is that “Da” became “Daddy” and “Mama” turned into “Mommy” about a week later.  Like all things that change, I miss hearing you yell “DA” as you run across the room to your Daddy to give him a big hug, but “Daddy” melts my heart into mush just the same.

You love to count – from the number of dogs on a page to the number of Easter Eggs in your basket.  You say “Help Mommy” and point your finger at item after item as we count them.  Right now you don’t touch items in a particular order and you may count something more than once, but you recognize the one item to one number correlation and move your finger a single time with each number.

You love to sing and your favorites right now include “No More Monkeys” and “Old MacDonald”.

You love to read and this past month your favorites have been the “Llama Llama” books.  You love balls, trucks, and blocks.  You love to rough house with us.  You love to go downstairs to play basketball – or just to walk the stairs.  You love to laugh and be tickled.  You close your eyes and pretend to be asleep (including fake snoring) and it cracks me up.

You love fruit (raspberries are your fave right now), hotdogs, sweet potato fries, and teriyaki carrots.  Can ketchup be considered a food?  If so, add it to the list.  You recently discovered how to “dip” food and I have seen some strange things go from the ketchup into your mouth (the strangest were lasagna, pancakes, and waffles). You recently started eating cereal from a bowl with milk in it.  Sometimes you use a spoon or fork but your favorite tool is still your fingers.  You still don’t like to drink milk unless it is from our glass and not yours. 

The terrible twos are in full swing at our house and I get hit in the face numerous times each day when you have to do something you don’t want to do – like leave playtime for a bath or dinner.  Time outs are currently our weapon of choice and we will see how that goes.  At least the biting out of anger seems to have subsided…

You are – quite literally – my sunshine and I love you!

Mommy

The Shop-O-Rama

One of Carder's favorite books lately is "Llama Llama Mad at Mama" by Anna Dewdney.  In this rivetting tale, Llama Llama goes shopping with his Mama and throws a major tantrum because he is tired of shopping.  But after some intervention by Mama, Llama's attitude turns around and he happily helps Mama finish the shopping.

Lately, every time we need to go to the store, I have called it the Shop-O-Rama and have asked him if he can help me like Llama helps Mama.  This has really helped cut down on our mid-store meltdowns.  (Thank God because there is probably not anything I dread more than the meltdown in the middle of the grocery store where onlookers just shake their heads at you because of your poor parenting skills...)

This week, I forgot to get 2 items when we went to the store on Saturday.  Derek had to go in to the office, so after solo parenting my way through Church, I decided to run to the store to pick up the things we forgot.  We normally shop at a big box chain store because their produce is much better and their prices are less painful on our budget.

But since we only needed 2 things, I decided to pay the higher price for the convenience of the smaller parking lot and store.  Carder loves this store because they have huge buffalo heads mounted in the front and the back of the store.  They also have some kid sized shopping carts.

This trip, since he is getting to be such a good little helper and has been doing pretty good about staying close when walking in a store, I let him push the cart.  He felt like such a big boy pushing his cart and groceries around the store. He excitedly pointed out apples and bananas.  When I told him what was next, he would repeat the item as we walked toward that section of the store.  Adorable...

When we were done, I asked him if he would like for Mommy to pay for his groceries and he said, "Yes."  Smart boy.  Get Mommy to pay for your food...

He enjoyed pushing his shopping cart so much that he didn't want to leave the store.  Once I convinced him to check out, he pushed his cart over to the little carts and put it back where it belonged so that it would be there for him the next time we came to the store.

My Little Shopper - Looking up at the Buffalo Head