Adventures in the life of Carter

Daddy, it has been nice living with you and Mommy, but I'm going to move into this playground now. Can you have all my stuff boxed up and sent here? I'm not so much interested in the stuff as I will be in the boxes.

Carter quickly learned how to walk across this swing bridge without falling the other day... hey, maybe this is when he forgot how to walk on a flat surface! He fell forward twice today, the first time he just ate it, bounced his face off the asphalt and came up crying with little bits of road stuck to his cheek. I winced, bounding forward to scoop him up and gritting my teeth against the blood I was sure would be coming from his mouth. But no, only a few tears lost and when I asked him if he wanted to go back inside he looked at me as if I was stupid. "Walk, Daddy"

We're now members at Charlotte's Discovery Place. Most of the exhibits there are for bigger kids but Carter fell in love with this big board of plastic insertable rods that would light up as you inserted them in the holes. It really seemed like magic. If I worked at Discovery Place after hours I would get a banana clip and totally pretend to be Geordi LaForge trying to get the Dilithium crystals realigned to prevent a cascade warp reaction. I mean, I would do that if I was a total nerd or something.

Another trip to a playground. (This is a different one, we swear!) Looks like these days we only remember to pull out the camera when we're out and about tending to Carter's slide obsession. Here, he rides a big metal toucan. Is this the stork that's bringing my baby sister?

I'll take one of everything! Just put it all in a bucket.

Carter likes to eat. While feeding him I get to listen to yelled commands like "Mo' MEET" Mo-Mo-Mo KRAKAS. Mo BOCOLI!

When he was feeling sick a few weeks back we gave him orange juice. Whoa. Everything else went out the window. Carter, would you like some food? "Jus!" No, how about some food. "JOOOS! JOOOOOOOOOOS!" Carter you can't just have juice. "YAYAYA JOOOOOOOOOOOS!" Hoo boy. We've gotten him to forget about it for now but he may have to go to some meetings later in life.

We've been talking to Carter about his new baby sister who will be here in just a few weeks. He seems to know that there will soon be a new baby arriving... but what he doesn't know yet is how much his life will change because of it. Stay tuned to this space and we'll let you know how it goes!

Where does the time go?

I guess we've just been having too much fun around here... it's been 3 weeks since I posted anything new about Carter! It's been sunny but cold here in Charlotte, and Carter doesn't see anything wrong with bundling up to take a trip down to our neighborhood playground. I always know when it's outside time, because he marches out into the hall and starts rummaging through our bin of cold-weather items. "Coat" he declares as he hands me his jacket. A minute later he's back. "Hat" he demands, shoving a tassle in my face. He knows to turn around and put his arms into the sleeves when I hold up the coat. "Arm" he confides. Although, he did point to his leg on the changing table yesterday and said loudly, "Arm."

"No, Carter, that is your leg. Arms have hands on the end. Legs have feet. That looks like a foot to me!"


He's having a ball on the swing, which can mean only one person is pushing him... Mommy! Whenever Daddy loads him in the swing, it's "Down, Down, Down" right away.

Look at the mess I made! Aren't you proud of me? Long days of mostly inside time lead to some crazy messes around here. If it's a cooking day, sometimes it really looks out of control. I'm always amazed at how fast I can pick it all up. Since it's the last thing I have to do before I can relax, I probably look like the Tazmainian Devil whirling through the house, plastic blocks and stuffed animals orbiting around my head on the way to their bins.

On most nights before Carter heads to bed, he helps me put away the toys in his play area. Sometimes he forgets and starts to play with them again, but as long as I can keep him focused on the goal, (he loves his bath) then he really does a great job.

Here we are reading "Mommy, Carry me Please." Probably not the best book to have around, especially now that Cierra's trying not to carry him so much. Cierra's nearly 8 months pregnant now, and getting close to the "let's hurry up and get this over with" stage. But everything is looking good and aside from a cold Carter gave everyone last week, we're all healthy and happy.

Daddy, it's outside time again! Ok, gotta go!