Fun with Uncle Matt

My brother Matt came over yesterday afternoon for some play time with Carter. He usually tries to come by once a week between class and work to hang out with his favorite little guy. They always play hard and have the best time, and I love it because he tires Carter out BIG TIME! Between chasing, tickling in the ribs, being thrown in the air, swinging up-side-down, tickling feet with chin whiskers and rolling all over the floor, who wouldn't be exhausted?! Here is a cute video of these two in action!

Thanks, Uncle Matt, for coming over to play! We love our weekly play time, and we love you!

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Book Worm

Carter has always loved books. But lately, it's become an obsession for him. He'd rather sit and look at books than play with his toys. His favorite books right now are Goodnight Moon (MOST fav), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Sing-Along, Big Little, Goodnight Little Pookie, Just Like Daddy, and Mr. Brown Can Moo. I see him looking at these books more often than any others, but he loves all of his books. I am constantly finding that he's snuck into his room and is sitting by his bookshelf enjoying a good read! Most of the time I find him in there, he's sitting in the dark! Anyway, here are several pictures I've taken of him this month with his favorite things... BOOKS!

Even the program at Andrew's Eagle Scout Ceremony was fun to read!

And the brochure of Mommy's new car had lots of cool pictures.

Phone Call

Carter got a very important phone call last night. He wouldn't say who it was, but I'm pretty sure it was one of his Grandmas calling to make sure we were treating him right.

Improvement

Look how much Carter has improved in just two days! Eric's not going to believe it when he gets home!! LOVE the little squeal at the end, too!

Lots of Steps

This isn't the best video, but it's something..... It's hard to video steps being taken while also sending/receiving the new little walker! =) And, I'm amazed how much he has improved in the 6 hours since this video was taken! Enjoy!

Father's Day 2010

To celebrate our wonderful daddy today, we spent the morning at the pool, then we went to eat at his favorite pizza buffet (LOL, only a Dad would want to eat that on THEIR holiday). Since Eric had to leave this evening to go out of town (BOOOOOO!), we had taken him yesterday to Academy to pick out some snorkel gear that he wanted (for our upcoming trip to Grand Cayman) and a new Texas Rangers baseball cap. Also, last week, Carter and I made Daddy a special keepsake to hang in his office. Here are a few pics of what we did.

Oh my, what was I thinking?

Blue paint on the hands of a 14 month old.... dangerous!

At least one of us was having fun!

It took a few to get a good one.... bottom left was the winner!

And the finished product....

It was a sweet little poem about growing up,

and a hand print to remember when Carter was small.

AND.... Carter decided to do his first "serious" walking today, probably in honor of his fantastic Daddy! He has been taking a few steps between furniture and such, but not really striking off on his own and taking lots of steps. This afternoon he took 10-12 steps between Eric and me..... and he did this about 20 times! He even got brave enough to take off from the couch and walk in the direction of Daddy nearby. AND, he decided to do all of this about 30 minutes before Eric had to leave for the airport! I'm so glad he did it before Eric left for 3 days! We were both so proud!! I'm sure this, alone, would've been the best Father's Day gift Eric could have ever received!! I got some video, so I'll be posting that soon.

Happy Father's Day, Eric. You're the greatest Daddy ever, and we love you so much! Also, Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad and father-in-law. You two are one of the biggest reasons Eric and I are who we are today! We love you!

Summer Evenings

I took these pictures of Carter last night while he played outside on the patio with Daddy. This sums up our summer evenings well.... we spend a lot of time out on the deck or down at the pool! Usually, though, he is clothed!

Officially Off the Bottle!

I just want to take a few moments to document this milestone! I've been thinking for a while that we need to do this, but when we've tried giving Carter his milk in a cup in the past, he was having NONE of that. So, when we decided to give it another try this week, I really wasn't sure what to expect. Here's how it went down.

Wednesday Night - On a whim, I decided to fix his night time bottle for him in a cup with a straw. Lately, he's been loving his straw cup, so I thought he'd definitely go for it. I even heated it up for him! He took a few sips, and immediately spit it right out all over his freshly bathed bare chest. Nice. Then, a fit ensues. Soooo, I thought, okay, we'll try the old "trainer" cup with a spout. By the time I get up, fix it, and get it back to him, he is basically hyperventilating and throwing a huge fit for his bottle. We tried the second cup, and believe it or not, the fit gets worse. There was no pulling the wool over his eyes. He knew exactly what was different and he new what he wanted.... his BOTTLE. So I threw in the towel and went and fixed him a bottle. When I came walking back over to him with it in hand, he sees it, and literally goes from an all out, red face bawl to a straight up laugh, and says "bah bah!" Yes, he got exactly what he wanted. He went on and had his bottle and went to bed without another peep all night.
Carter 1, Mommy & Daddy 0.

Thursday Morning - I had a bottle prepared and waiting in the fridge, just in case. BUT, I fully intended on starting over with the cup of milk. I gave it to him, he sat in his chair, watched Handy Manny, and took his milk. Just. Like. That. Are you freaking kidding me? Did I just dream up the monstrous and dramatic fit he pitched last night over his bottle? And today, NOTHING??? Okay... we'll see how this afternoon goes.

I couldn't believe it, I HAD to take a picture for proof

incase it never happened again! HA!
Thursday Afternoon - I knew he was getting tired because little things were setting him off and turning into fits. So I halfway considered not fighting with him, and just giving him his bottle before putting him down for nap. But then I thought, nope, we've got to do this. So, fixed his cup of milk, and he sat in my lap and took it out of the straw with very little complaining. He was VERY fussy at this point, but he was doing just fine. Until the milk ran out too soon. So, another fit ensues. The bottle from earlier in the morning was still in the fridge, so I grabbed it quickly to keep him from throwing a tantrum. He took about an ounce out of that bottle before he decided he was full. Then, off to bed for a nap. Not as good as this morning, but still took the majority of his milk from a cup!

Thursday Evening - I really did not know what to expect at all. I figured he could go either way. First of all, our evening was a little weird because Daddy wasn't home. Daddy always gives Carter his bath, bottle, and puts him to bed. So, with me doing all that instead, I thought it may throw him off. Luckily none of that seemed to matter. He decided the cup was just fine, and he sat in my lap and had his milk. He sucked it all right up, and then looked at me and said, "Dee Dee?" (Night-Night?) He was ready, and went right to bed! Today's score: Carter .5, Mommy 2.5

Friday Morning - Took his milk from his cup like a champ!!

Friday Afternoon - He did take the milk from his cup, but he didn't seem too happy about it. I think he was just needing a nap more than anything.

Friday Evening - Another successful run with the cup. But more importantly, we made it through the entire day without it, and today was the first day of your life with NO bottle AT ALL!! YAY Carter!! I'm very proud of you, little buddy.

Hopefully the trend continues. If so, I think I know what my chore for Sunday will be.... sterilize and pack up all of our bottles for good! I'm sad to see them go, but I'm happy to not have to wash bottles anymore!

Swimming with our Cousins

The twins came over on Thursday morning to go swimming with us! Carter was his usual water-bug self. Gavin and Devin were very nervous in the water at first. Devin warmed up to it pretty quick, but poor Gavin spent almost the whole time standing by the edge with his floatie... he was content to just watch! He didn't move an inch until about 20 minutes before we left. He got brave enough and eventually did walk around the baby pool, and he even let Grandma take him into the big pool for a few minutes. I think they all had a great time!! Here are some pictures.

Carter & Devin

Carter loving the "rain"  -  Gavin being very cautious and staying close to the side

Devin getting comfortable in the water

They all loved playing with the cups.

My child, of course, tried to drink the chlorinated water. Yuck.

Devin accidentally walking into the rain...

he was quite shocked when it all came crashing down onto his face!

Devin

Gavin, you're still in the same spot!

Carter filling up his cup.

This is the only shot I got of all 3 of them facing me!!

They were having so much fun together!

Grandma took Devin to jump in the big pool.

What better way to end a trip to the pool than a wagon ride for 3?!

Dilemma

Carter knows he's not supposed to touch the remote, but clearly, he's contemplating doing it anyway. To touch, or not to touch?