14 months

Fun.  Everytime someone asks me how the baby is, that is my response.  He has such a personality!  He wrestles and makes funny noises just to make us laugh.  He plays with his tongue and fake giggles.  He knows how to hold a ball under water and let go to make it POP out of the water, making water fly all over floor.  I adored Carter as a baby, but this is way more F.U.N.!!!

P.S. check out these teeth and Willy Wonka hair....

Carter is not picky about anything.  He will eat anything I put in front of him- lima beans included.  I won't even eat those suckers, but I figured I'd start him early on the gross stuff :-)  Of course, desserts are his favorite, just like great-grandpa.

At exactly 14 months he was standing on his own, and he had mastered the art of walking around tables, chairs, couches and toilets. 

He really has no interest in walking.  Carter crawls faster than any kid I have ever seen.  I think he figures, "Why walk when I can get there faster by crawling."  I can't believe we missed the annual baby crawling contest in Fort Wayne. We would have had a champion for sure!

He did take his first official steps three weeks ago.  Last night he walked a good 20 steps or so, got bored, and started crawling.  I'm not pushing the issue yet. He'll have all the time in the world to walk.  I'm enjoying him holding onto my finger for support right now.

13 Months

I am hoping to do a better job at updating this than I have been.  (Okay-let's get real.  Any attempt will be better than what I have done for the past few months).  Now that Carter is totally mobile, life is chaotic!

Let's see-

He is 23 pounds and ? inches (whatever it was, it was perfectly 50th percentile)

What he says:
Dada, mama, ball, juice, dog, this, that, roar, no, yeah, and I think he says what's that

What he eats:
At the beginning of the month I was so afraid we were going to have MAJOR issues with table food.  He was totally against any textures except totally smooth or crunchy.  We have since gotten over this and pretty much eat anything in sight, besides meat.  Not a big meat eater.  Notes from school often say, "He had a big appetite today."  That's my boy!  Favorites are graham crackers, toast, waffles and pancakes, mixed fruit, bananas, sweet potatoes, spaghetti....

What he likes:

Playing with Kaylynne

Carter will bypass all other toys and head straight for a ball. He taps it, rolls it, chases it, throws it.  Sometimes Hendrix will join in on the fun and steal it from him.  Don't worry.  Carter thinks it is hilarious!  He also likes to climb stairs and does so surprisingly fast thanks to all the practice he gets at the Hall's house. He is beginning to like books and music more and more which warms my little teacher heart.

Things I don't want to forget:
The kisses.  He is such a lover-especially close to bedtime.  Wide-open mouth, both arms around my neck or pulling on my hair.  SO SWEET!
Apparently I squeal when I wrestle with him, and he has picked that up.  He will stand on the bed, raise his arms, let out an ear piercing girly squeal, and attack.  It is pretty funny!
How he sleeps with his arms tucked under his cheek and his butt way up in the air.

Until next month....

No longer a baby, but a boy...

I'm not going to lie.  I've been avoiding this post.  It's been quite a while and I have had people demand that I update the blog.  Yes-I've been busy.  Yes-I have a million other things to do when I get home.  But that's not why.  I just plain didn't want to write about how my baby turned one year old. 
It went way too fast.  I started putting pictures together from the first year and couldn't believe it was possible....that my baby was a boy now.  I sobbed on the night of his birthday when I went in to check on him.  How can I make Carter grow in slow-motion?

Now that I have ranted and rambled, here it is...

Carter had a great birthday!  Even though he won't remember, I wanted this day to be one that we could show him was fabulous through pictures and videos.  We celebrated a few times, so I'll talk about one at a time.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  We are so blessed to have an open adoption with Carter's birth-mother.  A few days before the "actual day" Rachael, her parents, and her brother's cute little family were able to join us at our home.  It is alway great to catch up with them.  I love watching Rachael with Carter. I can tell how much she loves the little guy, yet she is kind and understanding of our place in his life.  He played with friend, Logan, opened presents, and touched the cake.  Apparently chocolate frosting is not is favorite thing on the planet.  (I quickly called the bakery the next day to switch the frosting for our family party).  It was an awesome day!

On his actual birthday, I took the day off work and we spent the day trudging though a blizzard of snow. Carter had his one year old pictures taken by my cousin, Tina, who did a FABULOUS job.  For dinner, we had macaroni and cheese, something Carter liked the week before but hated that day.  More on his food issues another time.... 

The weekend following the big day, Carter had a big party at the gym at church.  We invited friends and family members (41 people total) to celebrate with him.  Carter loved playing with his friends, cousins, and great-grandpa.  Now for the funny part-when we started singing 'Happy Birthday,' Carter's mouth dropped open and he looked around the room like something was wrong with each of us.  He was so tired from all the excitement.