Today my little guy is 21 months! Since I haven't in a while, I wanted to document what Carter is up to lately. This is truly such a fun age, and I want to be able to remember (as much as possible, anyway) all the cute and fun things he says and does right now!
He is still napping once a day for at least 2 hours, but can sometimes go as long as 3! He goes down anywhere between 1:00 and 2:00 most days, but occasionally is cranky and goes down a bit sooner.
He has finally expanded on the foods that he eats, and is definitely getting better about trying new things. Recently he has added carrots (only shredded ??) and okra to his diet, and has started eating cheese and grapes again. His current favorite snacks are popcorn and pretzel sticks!
His favorite toys to play with right now are all of his matchbox cars, his kitchen and the play food, his new firetruck, his Fisher Price Doodler, and all of his Little People, but especially the school bus and airplane.
Carter in his firetruck
He continues to add new words and phrases to his vocabulary every day. I am always amazed at what this little guy picks up!! I'll list some of the most common ones I hear, and my favorites!
He loves his bedtime routine. Before nap or bed he gets his lovey and his blanket and gets cuddled up in Mommy or Daddy's lap to read a few books. He always picks which ones to read by saying the title or another identifying word. Lately the most popular picks have been "Stars" (Five Wishing Stars), "Monkeys" (Five Silly Monkeys), "Nose Book" (The Nose Book, a Dr. Suess fav!), "Hop-a-Pop", (Hop on Pop, another Dr. Seuss fav), "Grandma" (Spot Loves his Grandma), "Giraffe" (Hello, Giraffe!) or "Peekaboo" (Peekaboo, Baby). Since we read these books the most, he always like to read along as we go. He usually has a few words throughout the book that he knows when they come, and he says them with me. Once we're done reading he likes to say Night Night to everyone by saying them one by one. This includes "Mommy, Daddy, Stowie (our dog, Stormie), Nana, Dandad, Matt, A-dew, Grandma, Grandpa, Gawin an Dewin (cousins Gavin and Devin), Mason, and friends. I have recently taught him to just say "Ni night friends" now, instead of naming them ALL! Timesaver. =)
Carter, A-dew, and Stormie hanging out wathcing the Cowboy game.
He knows mine and Eric's names. If you ask him, "What's Mommy's/Daddy's name?" he'll answer "Ewic" or "Laina." And if you ask him what his name is he'll say "Carter Beckham." Not the first time we've been mistaken for a Beckham.... I'm sure it won't be the last.
He is truly his Daddy's son because he loves sports of all kinds. He differentiates all balls - soccer ball, baseball, football, basketball. He also loves to watch football with Daddy, and loves to throw the football around and say "football game" while watching! When a football game is on the TV, no matter who is playing, he calls them the Cowboys! He's even started to recognize when we have the Mavs on, and calls it a "basketball game."
If you ask him what he wants for lunch or dinner, always, WITHOUT FAIL, he will reply "PIZZA!!" Every single time! Another reason he is SO much his father's child.... he does love his pizza.
For several weeks now, Carter has been trying so hard to jump, but hasn't been able to get both feet off the ground at the same time. A few weeks ago he finally got it! He is so proud of himself and is jumping all the time now! He thinks it's fun to climb up on the couch and jump, and I've also caught him jumping in his crib after he wakes up from his nap. Great. Also, Eric showed him how to do a somersault, and he thinks those are just hilarious! He doesn't go perfectly straight over, more to the side, but he's getting the hang of it! He calls it a "fip" too.... so cute!
He knows all of his colors and is constantly pointing them out to me. For example if I'm fixing him lunch and get out a fork and a blue plate, he'll tell me "Blue plate, green fork." Or if we're driving he always makes sure to tell me what he sees... "red car" or "blue truck!"
He knows some of his shapes, including circle, triangle, square, star, and heart.
Has recently started to identify animals other than the basic house and barn animals. Some he now knows are giraffe, zebra, elephant, camel, alligator, crocodile, flamingo, mouse, turtle, lizard, monkey, frog, butterfly... you get the idea!
Over Christmas, he learned all of the characters in the Nativity scene. One by one, he'd name them all. Mommy (Mary), Daddy (Joseph), Baby Jesus, kings, camel, donkey, sheep, and angels! He also loved to point out Santa wherever he saw him, and snowman!
He strings several words together and has many phrases. I just love this!! I love hearing all the new things he comes up with, too! Some of the most common phrases I hear from him....
- Oh cool or Oh man
- I'll get it or I got it
- What are you doing? or What is he doing?
- Time for lunch or Time for dinner
- I'm hungry
- Where is Stormie?
- Let's get dressed
- Go play with friends
- Go in the car
- Oops, I dropped it
- 1, 2, 3 Go!!
- Be careful
- I'm ready or Ready??
- Crash the cars! (When he's playing with his cars)
Carter is a very snugly boy. He loves to give hugs and kisses, and this makes me really happy! I hope he's always this way!
He is learning the importance of cleaning up his toys. I'll tell him "Its time to clean up," and he'll start picking up while singing "Clean up, clean up!"
Speaking of singing, I constantly hear him singing/humming along to songs in the car. He definitely has a few favorites. The other day I heard him singing along to "Firework" by Katy Perry. His favorite part... "Ah ah ah, as you shoot across the sky" He sings, Ah ah ah and sky.... it's adorable! He also loves Dynamite by Tiao Cruz, DJ Got Us Falling in Love by Usher (He sings, "Eyes, eyes, eyes!!"), Amazing and Granade by Bruno Mars, and We are Who We Are by Kesha. Yes, he seems to have a knack for top 40 pop music!! He always seems to pick up on a few words and sing along with them and he loves to hum with the tune. Cracks me up!!
He loves to name each of his foods as he eats them. The other day as I put his plate in front of him I asked, What are you eating today? As I pointed them out he named each of them.... corn, beans, ham, cheese, strawberries. He loves to do this with his play food, too.
Before bed each night he makes sure to tell us, "I love you Mommy" or "I love you Daddy." Sweetest boy ever!
I think Carter now weighs about 27.5 pounds, give or take. He is currently in all 24 month clothes, though the waist in his pants are a little big. He wears size 6 shoe, but I think we'll soon be buying him some new shoes in size 7!
He goes to the kids club at my gym almost daily for about an hour at a time. From what I see and what the girls there tell me, he really enjoys it and almost never cries. So proud of him!
Has a few favorite TV shows, and frequently asks for them. Barney, Handy Manny, Yo Gabba Gabba and Elmo are all on the list!
So if you're still reading, thanks!! I know that's a lot, but I want to try to remember as much as I can about this fun age. Today Eric and I are going to St. Thomas for 5 days. Of course I am super excited about it, but it also never gets easier to leave my baby behind. I will SO be looking forward to picking him up and giving him kisses next Tuesday when we get back! I am loving every moment of having this sweet little boy around. As all of you with little ones know, he brings so much joy to all of our lives, and I don't know what we would do without him! And I still cannot believe that in just three short months he will be TWO!!
