Carter has grown and changed so much in these last two months, it's hard to remember what happened when. But I will do my best. I will highlight in blue the things I know are new to him just this last month since he's turned one.
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| This was at a friend's birthday party. Isn't he cute?? |
- Carter still loves to eat, but he's becoming a bit more discerning about his food. He used to shovel anything (literally, anything) into his mouth. Now he's starting to develop preferences. For instance, he loves breads and grains and cereals. Carbs. Who doesn't, right? He still eat his fruits and veggies just fine, we just make sure to limit the amount of starchy foods we put on his plate to keep him from filling up on just that.
- Carter nurses a handful of times a day. Usually right away in the morning, before nap, post nap and at bedtime. And sometimes an extra morning nursing session makes its way into our day. Sometimes I'm annoyed at how often he nurses still, but other times I try to remind myself that this is just a season and to try and enjoy these times together while I can. Soon he'll be off and too busy to snuggle with me. Plus, with the winter month coming up, I know it will help keep him healthy.
- Carter pulls my hair when he nurses. That does annoy me.
Sleeping:
- Carter's nap schedule hasn't changed. He still goes to sleep around 1 or 2pm. He used to sleep a solid 2-3 hours every day, but sometimes now he'll only take a hour and a half nap and he still does ok.
- Night time sleep also hasn't changed. But that's not so great. I'm really ready to start sleeping a solid night through. He goes to bed around 8pm and he'll usually wake around 3am to nurse, and maybe again at 5 or 6. The good news is then he'll usually sleep in until 8 or so, but I'd prefer to have him up earlier for the day and sleep the whole night.
- Carter has slept through the night once. Just once. One night last week (on September 26 to be exact) he went to bed at 8pm and slept until 6:45am!! It was amazing! Well, sort of. My nursing body wasn't used to him sleeping that long and I kept waking up thinking he'd be up at any time wanting to eat. So I guess it still wasn't good continuous sleep, but now I know he can sleep that long. The only trick is how to get him to do it again. Hmmmmm.......
- Carter's bed is still in our room. Thankfully he sleeps awesome in his bed (and not in ours) but we're hoping to eventually move him into Brooks' room. But again, that whole night waking thing is holding us back from doing that.
New Discoveries:
- Books. This topic really deserves it's own blog post, so I won't say much here. But I will say that Carter.loves.books. Totally loves books. And it's so cute to see him toddling toward us with a book in his hand saying "book book". I can never resist.
- Pots and Pans. Every kid at some point in their lives totally disassembles the pots and pans cupboard. Carter is no exception. He pulls everything out piece by piece, throws them all on the floor and then climbs in the cupboard. It's a fun little fort, apparently. The funny thing is that Brooks can't stand the mess, so when Carter is done Brooks comes in and puts everything away. Works out nice for me.
- Shoes. Carter love shoes. We often find him carrying them around the house. And when I tell him we've leaving, he'll (sometimes) walk to the back door, pick up his shoes and tap his feet with them in an attempt to put them on. Then he'll pick up Brooks' shoes and hand them to him. So helpful.
New Abilities:
- Standing. One day as the boys and I were playing on our front porch, Carter just stood up. He wasn't holding on to anything. He just stood up ... right in the middle of the porch. I was super impressed. And he seemed fairly impressed by himself too!
- Walking. Carter took his first "real" steps on his birthday. How fitting. He loved it!! The week or so leading up to his birthday Carter was crabby crabby crabby. And now I'm convinced it's simply because he wanted to walk and couldn't. Once he became mobile on two feet, he was a much happier boy. Each day after that he took a few more steps, walking more and more. And about two weeks after his birthday he became a full time walker. He thinks is great being able to get around while holding stuff! And since he's still so little, it's absolutely adorable to see him toddle around. Now he's really steady on his feet and can catch himself when he trips up a little. I'm so impressed.
- Hugs and Kisses. At random times Carter will toddle over to me, throw his arms around my neck and then give me a kiss. A big, slobbery, open mouthed kiss on the cheek. And I love it!!! Sometimes he'll give you a kiss if you ask, but most often it's on his own terms.
- Mama and Dada. We officially have names. Carter can both say and correctly identify Mama and Dada. And it's the best thing being woken up in the morning to a little boy cooing my name :)
- Signing. We've been working with Carter on his sign language for the last several months. In August he really started picking up on it. He could sign more, all done, and dada.
- Signing. Since his birthday, Carter has added even more signs to his vocabulary. In addition to the above, he can sign Mama, eat, sleep, nurse, puppy, shoe, book, tree, fishy. Now, all of these signs aren't performed perfectly and some of them kinda look the same (shoe, book and more all look like clapping. Tree, fishy and all done all kind of look like waving) But the great thing about being home with him all day, is that I can figure out what he's saying. It's awesome being able to communicate with him.
- Talking. More "words" are making their way into Carter's vocabulary. It's of just the beginning sounds of the word, but when I look at what he's pointing to or holding, I usually know what he means. In addition to mama and dad, some common words are buh buh (book book), duh! duh! (duck duck), bah bah (ball ball) and bbbrrrrmmm, bbbrrrmmm (car).
- Animal sounds. The cat says "mow mow", the sheep says "baa baa", the cow says "mmmmmmm" and the puppy says "oof oof". The puppy is my favorite.
When Brooks was born I remember being nervous about having a toddler. I had very little experience with kids that age and had only heard aweful things (Terrible two's anyone?) But I'm finding that I LOVE this age. Carter's personality has come out so much in the last few months and he's an absolute blast to be with. He loves to laugh, he loves his family and he still loves cars. He's learning so much and I love watching his mind work as he processes new things. And I'm sure every parent says this about their kids, but Carter is so smart. He picks up on things very quickly and I'm constantly amazed at what he can do. I'm thankful that God has blessed our home with Carter James and I look forward to watching him grow.
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