Who is this little boy?

Recently, Russ and I have been commenting on how much Carter has grown up in the last few months. He really has changed from baby to toddler...and in such a quick space of time! Here are some milestones Carter has achieved and some bits and pieces about him.

Carter started crawling on Memorial weekend at 10 months old. Only a few months later he started walking! He had been walking for quite awhile, but only if I would hold his hand. If I let go, he would sit down and throw a little tantrum! Suddenly one day, he figured out he could do it without me, and he has been walking ever since! He loves to walk and will often find an object or toy he fancies and carry it around with him as he walks around the kitchen table and wanders to and from each bedroom! He has no fear of heights and if he is on the couch or bed he would walk right off the edge as if nothing were wrong! Carter often gets distracted by what is going on around him and has fallen so many times we've lost count! He also has a knack for walking right into the walls, hitting his head, and falling over. Usually the falls don't even phase him and he gets back up again to fall down again only minutes later! He is very persistent, and when he has something in mind that he wants, nothing can deter him! It is a great quality to have, but also a frustrating one for the parents to deal with at times!

Carter loves Anna and his favorite thing to do with her is run or crawl with her down the hall into the bedrooms. She will "chase" him and they will play forever! It is quite nice when your older children start entertaining the younger ones! Anna has a cabbage patch baby boy that Carter loves to play with. If he sees the baby, he has to get it and then will give it a love by putting the baby by his face and saying "Ooohhh". He will then carry the baby around by the hair and occasionally love on it! It really is cute! Russ had a hard time at first, accepting the fact that his little boy liked a doll! But he is okay with it now! Carter also loves to play with the toys that Anna gets out for herself. That has caused some disagreements! I usually find the two screaming both gripping onto one of Anna's toys! I try to explain to Anna that Carter is still a baby and is learning to be nice and not take toys away from her! She just doesn't understand! We have daily, if not hourly, talks with her about sharing and not having a fit if Carter approaches her and tries to take a toy from her! We explain over and over how she should react, what she should do, who can help.....hopefully someday it will set in! If Carter wants something Anna has, he will get so upset if I tell him he can't have it! That kid has such a temper at times! Wonder who he got that from? (Hmm*#!RUSS!#*mmH)

Speaking of tempers...Carter, it seems, at such a young age, has learned to throw tantrums! Temper tantrums are the most dreaded part of toddler-hood for me! Learning to deal with them and to teach your children as they go through that stage, and trying to avoid them is sooo tricky! Carter's tantrums are not so bad and can actually be quite hilarious! He is at a stage where he is learning to communicate more, but can get easily frustrated when he can't communicate effectively enough for us to know what he wants or is trying to do. Thus, frustrations lead to tantrums. Then there is the tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants, or gets something taken away from him. Another one for being out in public (those ones tend to be the worse...go figure!) Some tantrums seem to happen for no reason and come out of the blue...the storm rages and before you realize what hit, it's all over as if nothing ever happened! There are some parts of young children that will forever remain a mystery to me!

Carter has added just a few words to his vocabulary, but mostly he thinks he can communicate with a few grunts and gesture with his hands as to what he wants! He says mom, dad, dog(daw), woof woof(woo, woo), ball(baa), this(dss), that(dat), Anna(ah), uh-0h(uh uh), baby(baba), says oooh when he gives hugs or when he hugs his blanket, boom(ba) for loud noises-he usually throws his hands up in the air, he makes vroom noises when he plays with his cars or trucks, and can shake his head "no". He often will go up to the shelf, look at me as he is reaching for something, and then shake his head "no"! Sometimes he will leave alone what he is not supposed to play with, other times he completely disregards our warnings!

Carter eats very well, especially compared to how Anna used to eat! He loves all fruits, some veggies, and mostly everything we give him. He has a knack for picking out candy anywhere...and if we are at the store and he spots a sweet treat, he will start pointing and grunting "uh-uh-uh" and look at me with pleading eyes! When I shake my head at him, he has a meltdown, twisting and writhing in the grocery cart! I would have been quite horrified with my first child if that happened in a public place, but now it doesn't phase me! He has his fit and then it is over after a few minutes and he is fine! Whew!

It has been so much fun watching Carter grow and learn. It seems like he has grown up so much faster than Anna did. I think with each child, times goes by a little faster. Anna and Carter are so different in so many ways, but then are so much the same in others. We are just starting to realize that what worked with Anna isn't going to work so well with Carter and it seems as though we have to re-learn everything all over again! Each day is still like trial and error until you get it right....eventually....someday.....whenever that may be! The best and easiest part is loving our children and seeing them as individuals with different talents and strengths...and catching glimpses of perfect moments each day where life couldn't get any better than being together as a family.