Life Lately

A quick update on life lately (since late Fall), according to my phone. Because where else do these photos/stories go?

We loooooooooved the beautiful, long Fall weather. We were outside every moment we could be, chasing this kid around. The cold was not an easy transition for him, not being able to run around outside anymore. Welcome to Minnesota, kiddo.

Carter started swim lessons, and to no one's surprise thought it was the greatest thing EVER. His favorite is jumping in. And also learning the song "Motor Boat," which he continues to sing all the time. I attended one class with him, otherwise it was a Daddy-Carter activity. Thank goodness. Crouching to stay under waist-deep water for 30 minutes was brutal on me and my giant self, but key to keeping my always-shivering-when-wet son warm.

Now, every time we say we have to pack his bag, he says, "Swimming bag!" Sorry, buddy...lessons are over for now.

Many snacks were had in our driveway. "Mama, sit right THERE!" Our little dictator and his ever-growing vocabulary.

We took our first flight as a family, to visit my aunt and uncle in Denver. Carter was so great on the plane. Beyond my expectations. Contently stared out the window during take off and landing, saying, "Weeeeeee!" and clapping as we ascended, crawling from lap to lap eating snacks and flirting with people around us... I really couldn't have been more proud.

Our time in Denver was the perfect blend of rest and fun. We saw both my cousins and their families, had a yummy early Thanksgiving dinner, visited the mountains, went swimming, lounged around, drank hot apple cider, played some games, went out kid-free... it was one of those vacations where you didn't feel exhausted by the end. Except for the fact that Carter woke at 4:30am every day thinking it was 5:30am, and got a bad cold and slept rather poorly when he did... So okay, maybe I did feel somewhat exhausted. But all in all, he was great, and we had a wonderful time.

I set up the Christmas tree, while the boys sat on the couch watching football and eating snacks. Not sure how that worked out that way... The boys are good at getting out of work.

Carter is proving his independence more and more. He now refuses to sit on our laps for bedtime stories (wah wah wah...I loved those snuggles). Lately, bedtime has become the most annoying thing (and yet at the same time some days it's what I look forward to!). He runs around, wanting to pull out all of his toys, and won't sit to wind down. He barely drinks any milk before bed, which is probably about time for his age. He knows most of his books by heart and will shout out the last word of each sentence to us, even if he's running around the room. So I guess he's paying attention.

He still prefers Mama to do the entire routine, but is warming up to letting Daddy read more books and actually lay him down.

Also I want to note that Baby Girl seems to especially like bedtime stories. She kicks up a storm as I sit and read to Carter (as he runs around). Must be the rhythmic tones, or maybe just the time of day. Nonetheless, love it.

We took a trip up to Duluth with my in-laws to see Bentleyville. It was so cold, but such a fun trip. We stayed in Hinckley both nights (free room!) which worked out perfectly to break up the drive. Carter had his first Tobies doughnut, we went swimming, and he absolutely loved running up and down the hotel hallways and playing with the vending machines. I have many fond memories of running around hotels as a kid, so I'm glad he's doing the same. Of course, do I want to stay in another hotel with him anytime soon? Not really.

Bentleyville was pretty spectacular, magical even, but I will never again go on a weekend. There had to be 10,000 people trying to jam into this small space, so I felt like cattle being herded the entire time. Not to mention that all Carter wanted to do was get out of his stroller and run. But, we survived, and did enjoy the displays.

Shortly before his 2nd birthday Carter requested to go potty. For a good week or so, all he did was sit there, dangling his feet, smiling like it was the most fun ever. Eventually, he actually went to the bathroom, and we did the whole ridiculous cheering thing that I assume you are to do in this instance. Since then, he has had days where he asked to sit on it multiple times, and really uses it, and other days he refuses and shows no interest. We aren't forcing it, or expecting to do a full transition right now. I suspect he isn't ready mentally yet, especially since he usually requests to sit on it after he's already gone in his diaper. With Baby Girl on the way, I just don't see this as the right time to focus on this. But we're following his lead, and will see where it takes us.

Overall, I'm just thrilled he's not afraid of it and gets the concept (sort of). It's a good start.

Except for that one experience in a rather disgusting Macy's restroom. NOT the place to "play potty," Carter.

We took Carter to the MOA for a mini birthday treat, like we did the year before. He loved riding the carousel much more this year.

Oh, my boys. {heart eyes}

We celebrated Carter's 2nd birthday with two parties, one for each side of the family. He ate up every ounce of attention he received, and a fair amount of cake. He was so spoiled with new toys (that we now have to try to find room for).

I still can't believe he's 2.

Brushing teeth has brought out my impatience big time. He insists on doing it himself, rightfully so I guess, and does a decent job with the front teeth. But he has to get his brush wet every 2 seconds, and do it himself, which means standing precariously on his tip toes on a stool to reach the running water. It's sooooo painfully slow. And he is starting to refuse letting us brush his back teeth after he's done, so that's a fun task every night. Not to mention then dumping his cup of water down the cabinet and his PJs and running away. Sigh.

Also, my belly. Woah.

On his actual birthday, posing for Mama so she can continue her annual comparison shots. He wasn't very cooperative at first, but a nap and a snack did the trick.

Geesh, he makes me smile. And forget the awfulness that is his bedtime antics.

Baby Girl's room is cleaned out! If you had seen this room before, you'd understand the magnitude of this transformation. But I would never dare let anyone see it how it was, so you'll just have to use your imagination. Now we just need to sell this desk set, paint, and set up her furniture.

A big milestone in these here parts. Carter is loving being forward facing. I would have preferred to keep him backwards longer for safety, but he was starting to get pretty crammed, and it was getting more and more annoying to get him in there.

He usually stares at the dashboard and all the lights, saying "Uh-oh" when the blinker is on, or the air turns off. Every morning (that I take him), he points to a seat and says, "Mama, sit THERE." And whines when I don't sit next to him, or the passenger seat, as directed. I reply that I have to drive and he informs me that, "No, ME drive." Ha.

Carter came down with some virus right before Christmas, and as a result, became obsessed with making his own toast - the only food we let him eat. If patiently watching him destroy your butter dish and poorly smear it on the bread for never-ending minutes is not worthy of an award, I'm not sure what is. This activity has gotten us through several cranky moments though, so I'll take it.

A big fan of the Christmas cookies. That's my boy!

We were fortunate that Carter was feeling much better by Christmas Eve, and we were able to squeeze in a trip to see Santa! He was very interested in him, watching from afar. But when the time came to sit on his lap, he refused to make eye contact, and managed to look as awkward as he possibly could. But he didn't cry!! When I picked him up after the photos, he decided he could make eye contact and gave him five, fist bump, and said "Tank you." It was rather endearing.

He looks at his photo of him and Santa on our fridge all the time and smiles proudly.

All of our Christmas plans went off without a hitch! We had a great time with family. Carter did request to go to sleep rather than open presents at Grandma's house, but it was 10pm and he had already been sleeping for a couple hours, so I can't blame him. (I wanted to be in bed too). We'll have to figure out a better schedule for next year, that's for sure.

Moments after this photo, he insisted on taking off his sweater, as he does with all sweaters, but then much to our surprise willingly put it back on later to show an uncle and left it all night!

Christmas morning was a bit rough for Carter (and us) given the late night shuffle and wake ups the night before, but we made it through and had a mostly pleasant morning opening presents and lounging. (Oh, and let's not forget how I was up sick most of the night with what I assume was related to Carter's virus...). Carter seemed to enjoy digging in his stocking for goodies more than opening actual presents. And the toothbrushes from the dollar store stole his undivided attention all morning. Of course.

We opted to skip church so Carter could go down for a much needed morning nap, and then headed over to my parents'. After convincing Carter to change out of his Christmas jammies (a difficult task, to say the least).

He was the life of the party, and grandparents doted on him as always.

We played a few hands of Phase 10, until it was about 8:30pm and I was literally falling asleep sitting at the table. So I became the party pooper and called it quits. That night I got over 9 hours of sleep, which felt AMAZING.

There was a lot of Paw Patrol happening in our house over the last week+, with Carter being sick (and us wanting him to stay still and not puke all over the house), and then being cooped up Monday - Wednesday with not a whole lot going on. It'll be tough getting him back to his usual limited screen time, but back to our normal routine this week will help. I'll just keep telling myself that it was a special treat for the holidays, mixed in with sickness, and he won't die from too much TV. :)

During our days off we DID enjoy some quality family time. So many new toys to assemble and play with. And I truly did treasure the extra time with Jon and Carter, even if we did get on each others' nerves a tad.

We rounded out the year with one more Christmas celebration, where Carter thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. And kept his sweater on until presents were over and he stripped down to his diaper. (Which he's been doing a lot of lately).

And I scored some awesome deals for Baby Girl with a 20% Clearance Cartwheel deal. You can't beat 70% clearance plus another 20% and a 5% Redcard savings. I just hope I remember 11-12 months from now that I bought these for her!

I can't believe it's 2017.