Carter's Day

Today Carter got to do loads of fun stuff.

We played around the house this morning until it was time for Carter's morning nap. Carter loves to pull the toilet paper rolls out of the trash and put them on his hands. He's so silly!




I put Carter down a little early for his nap since I wanted to take him to Baby Bookworms at the library today. Even though he had woken up early around 5:30 am, he did not want to take a nap. I got him out of his crib after about 30 minutes and finished getting us ready to head out.

And of course, Carter fell asleep in the car on the way to the library. We parked next to Amy and Caitlyn and Amy got to see him passed out with his hand still in his snack cup and his mouth wide open and drooling.

Carter did great at storytime. He sat on my lap for the majority of the time and stuck close by when he got restless. We let Caitlyn and Carter play for awhile after class, and Carter showed off his monkey skills and pulled himself up onto every chair.

Carter is so obsessed with everyone having shoes on lately. When Caitlyn's were off, he took her hand and tried to pull her over to her shoes so she could put them on. I think Carter realizes that he and everyone with him has to have shoes on to go outside and since he loves outside so much, he wants everyone to put on their shoes.

After Amy and Caitlyn left, Carter and I stuck around and walked around the park adjacent to the library for about an hour. Carter had lots of fun exploring and I enjoyed getting to take some pictures of him!



Carter liked checking out the statues around the park.

"What are you reading?" ...


Holding the statue's hand ...


"Who are these guys?" ...


Really, who are they? I can't think of a story with a turtle, bear, and beaver.

Carter had to go up to each one and pat its hand ...




Carter gave the beaver a hug like he gives Charlotte a hug. This guy didn't run away though half way through the hug and leave Carter laying on the ground!


Carter sees something interesting ...


Carter's favorite thing at the park was the excavator digging a hole across the street ...


At least Carter picked out a bench in the shade where he was happy to sit for awhile and watch it. And I got to play with another one of my lenses!







Once Carter got tired of the excavator, we explored a little more and then headed out.

"Can you get off so I can ride? Please!" ...


Carter is such a little monkey. He easily climbed up 2 more rails (with me right behind him) before I decided he was high enough.




After we left the park, I fed Carter his lunch in the car and we ran a couple very quick errands. My plan was to take Carter to the splash pad before kids got out of school, but he passed out on me and I decided to take him home and let him get a good nap.

Carter took a long nap so we didn't get to Carl Cowan Park until around 4 pm. It was crowded with lots of older kids (including several teenagers) which made it a little hazardous for our little guy. There were big kids running all over not looking where they were going. And there are a few water guns that some bigger kids like to aim at the smaller ones.

Carter wasn't too sure about the water. He spent most of the time clinging to my legs. I was able to encourage him to play in the water a few times and got some pictures.



We spent most of the time talking to another mom with a 15 month old boy who wasn't too sure about the water either. He did better than Carter though probably because his older sister was playing in the water and would follow her around some.

When we got home, Carter had dinner and then got to play outside some more while we cut the grass. I hope Carter sleeps well tonight and sleeps in to at least 6 am tomorrow!

So Funny!

I forget now what was so funny yesterday ...

31 Weeks

I am 31 weeks along with baby #2 today. I had an appointment with my OB but ended up seeing the nurse practitioner instead because my doctor was apparently really backed up. Again, nothing special at this appointment, just a routine checkup. My blood pressure was good (112/62) and I'm up to around 153 lbs (that's +34 lbs already). The baby's heart beat sounded good and my belly measured right on. Brian was able to come to my appointment today so he got to finally meet the nurse practitioner and help watch Carter. I'm scheduled to have an ultrasound at my next appointment in two weeks. I'm excited to finally see this little guy again. I'm hoping the ultrasound tech isn't stingy and flips the machine over to the 3D view like she always did with Carter. I'd love to be able to compare the 3D pictures of the new baby with the ones we have of Carter when I was at this point in the pregnancy!

I finally took a belly picture tonight. So here's me at 31 weeks ...


And here is a picture from 27 weeks ...


I decided to go back and see if I had a picture of myself from when I was pregnant with Carter and about this far along. I found this picture taken at 32 weeks ...


I am SO MUCH BIGGER this time!!! Is this kid a giant or did Carter obliterate my ab muscles?!?

The Weekend

Our main project for the weekend was cleaning out our garage. It had been taken over by Carter's outdoor toys that we hadn't found a place for. We spent most of the day Saturday reorganizing and cleaning out spider webs. We still have a few more shelves to purchase and hang, but we now have a place for everything again. And I'm no longer banging my car door into toys every time I get out of my car!

On Saturday morning we took Carter to Lowe's for the Build and Grow workshop. This week's project was a school house. This has been Carter's favorite because the roof opens and he can put stuff in the school house.



They did the project outside again but this time we were right next to the outdoor playsets that are on display. Carter was way more interested in those than in building the school house.


We got a few swings of the hammer out of him, but we ended up doing most of the building.


We still got Carter a patch since he helped some.


We didn't do much today. We ran some errands and I finally went through all the stuff we didn't sell at the yard sale last weekend that I had just thrown in the Pathfinder.

Earlier in the year I bought Carter a Radio Flyer tricycle because it was 75% off at Target. It's recommended for ages 2-5, but Brian and I decided to put it together to see just how big it was. Whenever we go to parks, Carter always runs up to bikes that are on the ground and is really interested in them so we figured he might be ready to start figuring out a trike. The one we have is way too big (which we excepted), but Carter still had a lot of fun playing on it today. He likes to climb up the back two steps, put his hands on the handlebars, and sort of jump onto the seat. Then he'll swing a leg over the bar, slide off, and start all over again. When we push him around on it, Carter tries to reach the pedals that are moving around, but he just can't reach yet. Carter got on the trike once sitting behind the seat and was able to scoot around a little because he could reach the ground ...

I'm looking around for a smaller trike that Carter will be able to use this summer. We looked a little today but didn't find anything quite small enough for Carter yet.

Brian put Carter's goggles from the Lowe's workshop on him this evening with his construction hat - he just needs some steel toed boots and he'll be ready to walk around in a chemical plant with me!


For the last few months, Charlotte has been hanging out in a new spot downstairs ...


Charlotte really likes to hang out here when Brian is working at the desk. Carter likes to join her under the desk when he finds her there. Sometimes she looks like she's stuck!

Playing Outside

After Carter's afternoon nap today, we played outside for a couple of hours until Brian came home. It was so warm that I got Carter's water table out. That kept him entertained for almost 45 minutes! He spent about 2 minutes playing with each of his other toys (some got a second and third 2 minutes though).


Carter of course started out playing with his golf clubs and balls. These are his absolute favorite and he pulls them out as soon as he's in the garage.


Brian's parents gave Carter a pair of Crocs for Christmas. He has been obsessed with them recently. He wants to wear them all the time (even to bed). Over the last couple of days though he has changed to being obsessed with shoes in general and always wants me to put a pair on his feet when he finds them (even if he already has some on).


Trying to figure out the watering can ...



After about 10 minutes of coaching, Carter finally figured out how to pour water out of the spout instead of just dumping it ...



Carter found his swing in the garage and wanted to sit in it again to have his snack ...



Mowing the mulch ...


Carter really likes weaving between all the plants in the front beds.

Carter's got a bit of a belly like me!


I think our trees are going to be in trouble here soon!



Happy boy!

Swinging

I finally got Carter's swing out today when we were playing outside. We hang it from the side of our deck in the backyard but try to put it away in the garage when we're done with it each day so it doesn't get buggy and faded.

Carter was very excited to swing in it again.


Though he doesn't look like it in this picture, he was even more excited about having a seat to use in the grass!


Here's a picture of Carter using the swing for the first time just over a year ago ...

Ice Cream

We met Sarah and Mary Grace this evening at Baskin Robbins because they that $0.31 scoops of ice cream.

This was going to be Carter's first time eating ice cream. However, he refused to even try it. When I put the spoon up to his mouth, he squished up his nose and shook his head no. We tried multiple times to get him to just taste it but were never successful. I wasn't that surprised considering he didn't like cake at his birthday parties either. I'm not going to complain though - I'm okay with him not wanting to eat sweets!


So Brian got to eat Carter's ice cream and chase him around the fountains and plants in the outdoor seating area while Sarah, Mary Grace, and I sat and ate our ice cream.

Carter still had a ton of energy to burn off when we got home (he somehow got our sugar-high), so we let him run around in the driveway for awhile. Here's a video of him riding the Powerwheel my mom got him for Christmas. He's jerky with the holding down the button that makes it go.