Carter at 24 Months!

This will be the last official monthly update for our sweet Carter, and his next update will be at 2.5 years.  It's unbelievable to think how quickly the past two years have passed, as it feels like Carter has always been a part of our family (isn't this neat how it feels like this so quickly?!).  At the same time, I definitely feel like he is not a baby anymore (part of that is probably due to having Nora Kate, but also because he wants to be so big and do big things like Dawson!). 

I love the age Carter is now because he's so communicative!  He can tell us just about anything he needs/wants/ or just wants to tell us!  I love hearing how he chooses to express things too!  So sweet!  He most definitely says WAAAAY more words and sentences than I could ever even attempt to record now!

Carter's 2 year check up was this morning and weighed exactly 29 pounds and is 34.5 inches tall, as compared to Dawson who was 35 inches tall and 29.5 pounds at this age.  Carter's check up went fabulously.  He is very healthy and developmentally right on track!  Carter was his usual silly self, and he made Dr. Booher laugh several times.  The room we were in had a forest theme with several animals on the walls including alittle squirrel with an acorn on one wall.  Carter pointed to the squirrel and asked Dr. Booher, "See that squirrel?" The doctor replied, "I see that squirrel.  He has a nut!"  Carter then said, "Nooo, that an acorn! Not nut! Squirrel eat acorn!"  The doctor was also impressed that he was very willing to say, "ahhhh" and let him look in his mouth.  While Dr. Booher was going over everything with me Carter was drawing pictures all over the back of the autism screening questionnaire we had to fill out and telling us, "Carter drawing a cat! Meoooooow! Now drawing bear! ROAR!  Now drawing Dino.  Now drawing Nora Kate...haha drawing Nora Kate!"  Oh, he was sillier than ever and thoroughly enjoying being the very center of attention and getting lots of laughs!  Dr. Booher said, "Oh, he's very, very smart! You'll have your hands full with him!"  Oh, Carter! :)

Carter has been doing an awesome job using the potty lately, and he has even been waking up dry about half the time.

At 23 months old, we decided to take Carter's paci (affectionately known by Carter as "Bobby"-where he got this name we never knew).  I explained that Dawson, Daddy, and Mommy were big and did use Bobbys and that Nora Kate was a baby and used a Bobby.  Then we went around the house and Carter collected all his Bobbys in a bag, and we told them bye bye.  We said this was because he was big.  He was totally fine with it! I was SO surprised!  Sometimes he still talks about the fact that he's big and said byebye to his Bobby.  He has never tried to take Nora Kate's to put in his mouth.  I really have been beyond pleasantly surprised at how well this transition has gone!!! The only draw back is that it seems he just doesn't know what to do with his mouth at bedtime and naptime, so he talks and talks and talks to Dawson.  I think this will change once he learns to just lay down and go to sleep...and, at least he's not crying, right?!

Carter loves to sing!!  He picks up on songs so very quickly, I'm always impressed.  His current favorites are ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Rocky Top.  He also loves to read...especially books about cars, trains, trucks, or animals. 

Carter loves his big brother and his little sister!  Sometimes I watch him with them and think he has the best of both worlds, because he can play with a big kid (so cool to him) and do big kid stuff with Dawson, but then Nora Kate watches everything Carter does in amazement because he's the big kid to her!  With either sibling it's so sweet to watch him interact!

With the warmer spring weather, we have been enjoying a lot of outside play time.  Carter LOVES playing outside, and I'm convinced that he (along with Dawson) would spend every waking hour out there!

Now that Carter does and knows so much I could really go on and on and on about him at this age, but I'll force myself to stop and move on to the pictures.

Really, it's unbelievable that our sweet baby boy is already two.  The incredible joy of finding out that we were expecting Carter still seems so recent in my mind!  He continues to be a joy to us, and we love him so very much!

 

I think this picture perfectly captures their personalities!  Dawson is trying to pose perfectly for the picture.  Carter is just laughing and having a good time.  Nora Kate's attention is completely focused on her brothers!

Dawson 4.5 years.  Carter 2 years.  Nora Kate 8 months. 

 

Months sibling photo!

Monthly sibling photo!

CARTER IS TWO!

This is his "cheese" face!

Love this sweet little grin!

Per Carter's very specific request, I took a picture of "just boys!"

 

 

Nora Kate is 8 Months!

Nora Kate is 8 months!  Her very favorite thing at this age is simply being able to see her brothers playing!  She watches them playing and get so excited, her feet and hands are constantly "busy" and she's smiling the whole time she watches them play!

Nora Kate continues to be a great eater!  She now eats breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a little oatmeal before bed.  Some of the foods she has had so far include, turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, oatmeal,  spaghetti squash, acorn squash, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, peas, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, banana, apples, pears (a favorite!), cantaloupe, puffs, and Cheerios.  There may be a couple I've accidentally omitted!  So far she has done really well with everything she has tried!  Nora Kate is REALLY into the finger foods that she can feed herself!  She eats a ton of Cheerios, puffs, peas, and corn that she picks up herself and eats!  Nora Kate still nurses too-a lot!  I said I wasn't going to let her get out of the habit of taking a bottle, so that we would always have that option...but life got busy, and I can't remember the last time we actually gave her a bottle.  (It's just easier to nurse her.)  So, I don't really know if she would take a bottle or not.  She does, however, love to drink water from a sippy!

As far as sleep goes, someone please remind me what that is??  In all seriousness, I really thought Nora Kate was going to be our good sleeper! She slept better during the night from the beginning just getting up 2-3 times per night, but this past months has been rough!  She's started getting up 4 or 5 times a night.  I'm hoping this will change in the coming month!  For Carter's 8 month update I wrote the following, "Even though Carter isn't a wonderful sleeper at night, I am so thankful that he still takes a nap at the same time as his big brother in the afternoons! He takes a morning nap too"  Nora Kate, did you hear that?!  :)  Nora Kate doesn't sleep much at all during the day!!  She's usually always happy when she's awake, though, so I won't complain about the one-on-one time I get with her while her big brother are napping!  :)

In communication developments, Nora Kate's very favorite thing to say is Dada!  I "won" with the boys and got them both to say "mama" first, but it looks like Nora Kate stole her Daddy's heart by saying Dada first.  Oh and she says it all the time while looking right at John...he can't help but to pick her up every time and hug her!  Nora Kate also says Bubububub a lot!

Nora Kate did not have an 8 month check up, we go back at nine months, so I don't have any official stats this month.  She's continuing to grow well though! 

My sweet baby is already 8 months!!

 

 

Our smiling, blue eyed baby girl is already 8 months!

8 months!

Nora Kate had to take a taste!

Love how she sits up so straight and smiles!

I absolutely love this pictures that perfectly captures the personalities of all three kids!

Monthly sibling photo!

Love these three sweeties!

 

****Carter did turn 2 the day before Nora Kate turned 8 months.  I have not forgotten about posting his 2 year update, in fact I already have it all typed up and ready to post.  I'm just waiting so I can add his stats from his 2 year check up which is schedule for this coming week!****

Carter's 2nd Birthday Party

Carter's 2nd birthday party was Saturday, and we had a great time celebrating our sweet 2 year old!  His actual birthday was the following day, Sunday.  We decided on a circus theme for Carter's party this year for several reasons-mainly because he loves bright colors and we thought it'd be fun, but also because one of our outings during Carter's second year was a trip to the circus back in the fall with Lolly and Pop during which we were surprised at how much Carter was actually paying attention for a little guy!  We always joke that Carter is a little clown because he loves to make us laugh, and one day a few months back Dawson said out of the blue that Carter was going to be a clown when he grows up-hah!  (Dawson later came back to this conversation and corrected himself saying that Carter would actually be allowed to come work on his farm when he grows up!)

Anyway, a circus theme it was to celebrate Carter's 2nd birthday!

We felt very loved as a lot of family members and friends came to help us celebrate our sweet Carter!  In attendance were the following people:  Carter's Daddy, Mommy, Dawson, Nora Kate, Lolly, Pop, Nana, Grandad, Aunt Emily, Uncle Eric, Cousin Drew; Laura and Jackson; David, Sarah, Alexa, Connor, and William; Tanya and Bailey; Ryan, Darcie, Dustin, and Blake; Chris, Alana, and Colt; Freddie, Andrea, Charlie, and Olivia; Mark, Cassie, and Campbell (our youngest party guest at just under 2 months!); Rachel and Corbin; Daniel, Patty, and Hayden Ramsey; and last, but certainly not least, the entertainment-Speedy the Clown!!

 

The invitations for Carter's party!

(I covered our address for this picture!)

I won't caption EVERY picture, but there are about a million pictures like this of Speedy the Clown making balloon animals which were a hit!!!

I'm SO excited that my best friend from high school has a baby now, so we have an excuse to do playdates and invite her to birthday parties!  Here's Cassie and her sweet Campbell (our youngest party guest)!

The INCREDIBLE INFLATABLE and The RING OF FIRE!

Party décor!

This is Dawson's friend from school (that he talks about CONSTANTLY!) and church!

She is always so sweet, and she was excited that Speedy made this pink kitten for her!

the inflatable!

Nora Kate got to spend A LOT of time being entertained by her Lolly and Pop during the party!  We had a "baby area" set up with quilts in the shade and exersaucers and baby toys.  Thankfully, Lolly and Pop were happy to entertain her so that John and I could focus a lot on Carter on his special day!

Nora Kate was obviously happy to have some special time with her Pop too!

After Speedy the Clown made balloon animals for a while, it was time for the magic show.  The kids attempted to settle down on this quilt and watch Speedy.

Since Dawson was the big brother he got to be the helper for the tricks.  He was more than happy to help!

Carter was oh-so-serious watching Speedy's magic tricks!

Speedy the Clown!

Party food!

To go along with the circus theme, we did "concession" style food.  Think hotdogs, nachos and cheese, and ice cream bars....along with fruit and birthday cake of course!

We even got these cute "concession stand-looking" hotdog wrappers!

And I made this concession sign.

Check our Carter in his birthday shirt beside his birthday sign telling all about him at age 2!

Carter's birthday cake I made.

He was so excited to eat it!

I was excited to be able to make these elephants on balls for the sides of the cake out of fondant to match the invtations!

One more shot of the cake!

READY TO EAT CAKE!

Happy Birthday Sweet Carter!!!

Make a wish!

Well, our sweet Carter's 2nd birthday has come and gone.  We had beautiful weather over the weekend to celebrate his special day!  I loved celebrating our sweet, silly, fun loving, and affectionate 2-year-old CARTER!  We love him so so very much!!! 
I have his 2 year update ready to post, but I'm hanging on before sharing it so I can add all his stats from his upcoming 2 year check up this week!