Saying and Doing

I thought I should probably write down a few of the things Carter is saying (and doing) at this stage of his life. If it weren't for the obsessive documentation of many of his milestones, I would literally forget them all. Just today, I could not for the life of me think when Carter sat, crawled, walked, etc. I cannot believe how fast they change and how every single month has so many different milestones and progressions.

- He tells us when he wants a "nack." Usually this is after bath and before bed, but it is certainly not limited to that. His favorites are graham crackers, goldfish crackers, grapes, strawberries,  banana, yogurt, craisins, and a bunch of other things, too. :)

- He can point out the following when asked: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, belly, fingers, toes, hands, feet, bottom, and his teeth.

- He does rowing motions with both arms and says "row, row" so we break into a lively rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" about 23 times a day.

- He LOVES to push buttons - the ones on the keypad to get into daycare, the ones on the car remote, and the one to turn on his white noise before bed. In fact, up until a few weeks ago, he used to cry every single night at bedtime, but now we tell him he can push the buttons and he willingly goes to his room, pushes them, and goes in his crib without issue. Wish I knew that like 8 months ago.

- He is best pals with his "doo-dah" (doggy). He says "dah" for dog but when we try to make it 2 syllables with doggy, he says "doo-dah." NO idea where that came from, but it's adorable. He also knows that when we leave the house, his doo-dah gets a small treat (to be good). Carter stands and points at the jar until we give him a bone to give Bentley.

- He signs (and says) for more, all done, and now please. We're working on thank you.

- Every morning when we get to daycare, he runs right to the mural of a turtle and gets so excited and starts saying "toh-tle" over and over.

- He is SO into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse right now (really the only show he is into, which is good I guess) - he jumps up and dances to the "Hot Dog" song at the end of each episode and gets so excited. I've already decided far too well in advance to throw him a MMC 2nd birthday party, because he's just not "into" anything else like that. Plus, let's be frank. I LOVE planning a good party. It's my second calling. ha. I do have to admit, though, that MMC is one pre-school show that I could actually watch and not want to die. It's cute.

- He is so smart. He has hundreds of books, yet can pick the book out of the huge stacks that has the exact picture of the ball he wants to show us.

- He folds his hands, closes his eyes (with the cute little squint), and bows his head before we eat to pray. He's got a short attention span, so they're short prayers. :)

Well, that's all for now. He's doing and babbling so much I could not possibly put it all. I just need to have a few fun things to look back on.

Playdate at the Curiosity Connection

Carter had a playdate with a friend on Saturday. We went to the Curiosity Connection at the State Museum. We've never been there, but it looked cute on the web site so we gave it a shot. It opened at 10 a.m. but we arrived a few minutes early. They let us in and we had the whole place to ourselves for about 30 minutes!!

They have tons of different learning areas - a farm, build your own truck station, tons of legos, a mini bedroom, a school bus, secret tunnels and forts, a farm truck, a forest with a tent, animals, and tons more. Everything had buttons to push and things to do. We were there for about two hours and didn't even dent the things to do there. Carter had his favorite areas (the farm and the mini bedroom/tunnels) and played there a lot. :)

Here are a bunch of the probably 100 pictures I took at this place!

Afterwards, we walked around the regular museum for a bit, but all of the kids (my friend also has an almost 5-month-old) were ready for lunch and naps. We went for lunch to a local place - complete with a few "get my to bed now" meltdowns. :) It was a fun day - they were  tuckered out!! :) 

There are no words.

I'm usually full of them, but right now, I have none.

Case in point: here.

Dear God, may I NEVER take for granted the time I have with Carter. I will surely hug my little boy just a little bit tighter tonight...and every day.

You know you're a mom when...

...packing a lunch no longer consists of a ham and cheese sandwich thrown haphazardly in a Ziploc. Nope, lunches now take on a whole new level of creativity. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to get your toddler to love a variety of healthy foods, right?! :)

...you give your dog the "all done" sign when he is begging.
...you can clip 10 fingernails and 10 toes in 10 seconds flat.
...your drink consistently has "floaties" in it because a certain little boy would like a sip.
...you have something hanging on your leg beginning at 5 p.m. because they need dinner NOW.
...you have your child's birthday parties planned many months in advance because you saw an invitation you loved and it spiraled from there.
...your child belches in your face when you're sweetly rocking him and singing to him.
...8 p.m. becomes the magic time of the night where you can finally consider sitting down.

Wouldn't trade a second of it! :)

Gorgeous weather = All-day outdoor play!

Cherish What You've Got

If I'm going to be frank, I'll tell you that I have been sort of down in the dumps the past few days. I seriously 9-11'd myself out, watching  countless footage, reading stories, and reliving the general horror that was that day. We all know the devastation of the day, and I've been well aware of it for ten years. But, on the other hand, I really didn't know the half of it. I've never sat down, spent hours reading stories, listening to 9-1-1 calls, hearing widows speak of saying goodbye on the phone, and listening to accounts of the true first-hand terror.

Just yesterday, I found out that the college student that let Bentley out a few semesters ago lost her firefighter father in the collapse of the tower. Wow. I literally had no idea. Now that's starting to hit close to home. I did some research on him - and what a great man. He was found six (yes, SIX) months after the collapse, still wearing his helmet and holding a victim who was wearing his coat. What a hero.

I've had horrible dreams the past few nights, and am incredibly convicted to cherish - really cherish - the time I have on this earth with my loved ones. Because ten years ago, thousands of people lost theirs. Can you do the same? Because you honestly never know when that kiss in the morning could be the last, when what you say may be the last thing you say, and so on. I literally cannot IMAGINE saying goodbye to my loved ones in the face of impending doom. I have a new-found respect I can honestly say I didn't have in the past ten years.

I am blessed. Heartbroken. Loved. Convicted. Renewed.

(source)

Watch Out, Ladies

I can't stand the cuteness. I really can't.

{DIY} Homemade Slime

So, I found an interesting craft idea on Pinterest a few days ago that I wanted to try for Carter. It was so easy and the ingredients were cheap.

Homemade slime - clearly something moms of boys should consider making at some point.

You need:
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp. Borax (found by the powdered laundry detergent)
- 1 regular sized bottle (4 oz.) of Elmer's glue (clear or white, but must be Elmer's)
- Food coloring drops

To start, dissolve 1 tsp. of Borax in 1 cup of water.

In a separate bowl, empty the glue and add the other 1/2 cup of water. Stir until smooth.

Add several drops of food coloring until you reach the color you want. Now, get ready.

Dump the borax/water mixture into the bowl. Immediately, you will see clumps begin to form. Stir for a few minutes.

In the recipe I used, it said that a large clump form will form. This didn't happen for us. I thought it was a failure so I walked away. When I came back, VOILA!, it was suddenly completely set. So my suggestion may be (and I actually saw a few people mention this) to let it sit for a minute or two before you go to town stirring. Using your hands, knead and knead and discard the extra liquid in the bowl. Keep kneading, and the product is done!

It took about 10 minutes total and cost virtually nothing (glue, $.20; Borax, $3.99 for a huge box but I can use this for a billion other things around the house; food coloring already on hand).

Store it in an airtight container!

The receipe I used is adapted from Our Best Bites.

Try the recipe with your kids and let me know what you think!! Carter hasn't played with it yet, but I'm sure he'll love it.

Night Terrors

I'm going to make a very long story short. Like his daddy had when he was little, Carter man has night terrors. If we're going to be frank, the child has never slept all that well. Noises wake him up, he is super restless, and needs 472 pacis in his crib at all times. So, for fun, the big man upstairs thought he would test my mothering skills and patience level by throwing some night terrors into the mix.

He's had a couple terrors in the past few months. While scary and sad, none have been that bad. Last night was sort of different. He had a terror that was even freaking Seth and I out. It took almost thirty minutes to get him to come out of it, and another thirty for me to rock him until his body stopped trembling and he stopped doing the post-intense-cry gasping. The screams were terrifying (hence, the terror part), and that poor little boy was shaking, clenching, and disoriented.

I have a message in for his pediatrician to see if there is anything we should do. I've read that they just happen and can even be genetic, so there may be nothing to do but help keep him calm and get him back to sleep. But, just to be safe, I may want to have him seen to rule out anything else that can cause them.

Say a prayer for the little guy (and us) - it is so hard to see your baby like that. :( Plus, we are one sleepy family today.