Growing Up Too Fast

I've found lately that motherhood can be brutally bittersweet. I'm always so excited and proud when he learns something new, but I find myself feeling sad at each little milestone, too. No one prepared me for this!! I know that I will love each age and stage that he is in, but I am sure sad to see that tiny baby, that was so very dependant on mommy, learn to do things on his own. Ohhhh, another 18+ years of this. Wow.

On the flip side of that, I do love watching him learn new things. Everyday it seems there is something new that he is doing. Especially lately. I feel like he's just at that age where he just soaks everything right up. Some of the newest things he's been doing lately are:

• Clapping at the sound of applause on TV. He's been clapping for a long time, but always had to be prompted by someone. The other night we noticed him clapping after hearing the audience while we were watching the Golden Globes. This is funny to me..... at some point he made the connection. I've also caught him clapping during football or basketball games and while mommy watches Deal or No Deal and Ellen. HA!

• Pointing at things he likes. When I hold him in front of a mirror or show him some of his favorite books or pictures, he always points at what he sees. And it's always with the index finger of his right hand.... gonna be right handed? We'll see. This is neat though, because I know it won't be long until he can point for things he wants or needs. A small milestone of communication Mommy is looking forward to!!
  

• Waving "Hi" and "Bye." Of course, he doesn't yet actually do it after arriving or before leaving. It will be random while we're playing. I'll say "Hi baby!" and he'll wave. Or Stormie will walk into the other room, and I'll say, "Bye bye, Stormie" and he'll wave. It's a funny wave, though. Not a beauty pageant side-to-side wave, or a waving with just your hand opening and closing wave, a HUGE, watch out or you're going to get hit wave!! He waves from his elbow to his hand!! We'll work on toning that down some.
  

• Bringing "Ma Ma" back into his vocabulary. When he was about 2 or 3 months old, he'd just started babbling, and Ma Ma was one of the first things I heard from him. I'm sure it was purely coincidental, but I loved it. And then it was gone. I haven't heard it since the summer, and he's started it back up again. The only kicker is he says it when he's throwing a fit for something, when he wants to be picked up, or when he's crying because he's tired or uncomfortable. Uh oh...


• Looking all over for Stormie. She has a few spots in our house that she goes to lounge, and Carter knows those spots. You can always find her either on the back of the couch cushion in our living room or in her doggie bed in our bedroom. I'll say, "Where's Stormie??" He immediately looks to the back of the couch first, and if she's not there, he'll look toward our bedroom doorway. This is pretty amazing to me. It just shows how much he really takes in. He always gets the biggest grin, too, when I call her and she comes over to us. It's precious.


• Pushing off with his toes to help scoot himself across the floor (while on his belly). I think this will very soon be a serious army crawl if he can just figure out the arms. He likes to go after cell phones, remotes, the lap top, and, thanks to his friend Mia who did it first, Gerber puffs or melts.


• Beginning to understand the sippy cup, mostly in the last few days. He doesn't mind drinking COLD liquid anymore, and that helps a lot. He still isn't the best at holding it himself, but I'm just glad he's interested in what's in it now, and will actually drink out of it, instead of just playing with it.


• Tries to mimic any sound Eric and I make, including coughing, laughing, sneezing, breathing, and others. The other day Eric was drinking from a water bottle and would go "Ahhhhh" each time he took a sip. After a few minutes, Carter started to say "ahhhh." Although it didn't sound exactly the same, we knew what he was trying to do!


• Standing while holding onto the couch or table. He's gotten brave lately and has started let go with one hand and turn to look over his shoulder. Sometimes he'll intentionally plop down on his bottom from standing, too. Hopefully this will help prevent bad falls when he does start cruising a lot.


• Throwing. He thinks it's funny to watch things fall when he lets go of them. He gets in moods sometimes where he just wants to throw, and anything you hand him will just fly right out of his hands instantly. This MUST be a boy thing.

Here is a cute little video from the other day. He's just started making this funny noise. He babbles by pushing his tongue back and forth in his mouth. This is his new favorite thing to do.... sometimes it really sounds like he's talking. Watch for pointing to the pictures in the book, noticing the text tone of my phone, dancing, and responding to his name.