Carter's Pictures

From Carter:
I took these pictures with my camera. I got it for my birthday.

A selection of photos that Carter took over the last two days, presented in the order in which they were taken, from his very first shot. He took these pictures all by himself.

Mama

Ducks in Piedmont ParkPart of Mama
Mama again

And again
Varyne and Aunt Linda

Elmo!

The pool

Dada at the pool

Mama at lunch

I think that the camera gives the pictures a kind of oldie-timey feel. For example, here are a couple of shots of Carter that I took with his camera.

Three Year Check Up

Carter had his three year check up at the doctor's office on Friday. He's 37 pounds (75th percentile for his age) and 43 inches tall (no real percentile available for that - it's 50th percentile for a 5 year old). That puts his BMI at the 5th percentile, which is pretty consistent with where he was last year. Everything else looks good, save the gunk in his nose.

We have ICE!

Never in my adult life have I had a refridgerator with an operational ice maker. Our new fridge arrived yesterday and... IT. MAKES. ICE. I'm ridiculously excited. I also like the fact that it matches all our other appliances and that it has french doors and bottom freezer drawer. But mostly, it's all about the ice maker.

Here, Carter captures our new fridge on his new digital camera (thanks aunt ashley and uncle dude!). I'll post pics from Carter's camera tomorrow.

The State of Things

We've had some significant plumbing work done this week, which necessitated the creation of three holes of varying size in the plaster walls of our house. Two of those holes are in Carter's room. Once the walls are patched up, they'll need to be painted, but, since we inherited his wall color from the previous owners, we don't have the paint to match his walls. So, in addition to the plumbing, we're taking this opportunity to paint Carter's room.

Things are a bit of a mess now. Rooms are coated in dust from the hole-making, the holes haven't been patched (thanks to a no-show handyman), Carter's furniture and toys are strewn about the entire house, and our bank account is seriously diminished (due not only to the plumbing but also to the fact that our fridge is nearly dead, but more on that tomorrow when the new one arrives...fingers crossed)

On the upside, we now have water pressure! the ability to run more than one faucet at the same time! and a beautiful, new, eco-friendly toilet! (pictured below, because it really is pretty, and we're really trying to focus on the upside while things are such a mess)

Birthday Family Photo

Here's a little family photo of the attendees at Carter's 3rd birthday party. Carter's face is covered in chocolate icing!

Silly String

Just a little something that I picked up for Carter's birthday. It only took him about 2 minutes to use up the whole can. We'll be getting silly string for his birthday again next year -- and we'll be getting more than one can. I'm pretty sure Thomas wants at least a whole can to himself.

Birthday Evening

This evening, Cart Cart and Nonna came over for a little birthday party.

Opening presents

Trying out his new computer program

Playing his new game (Zingo)

Birthday cake!

Birthday Afternoon

Since Carter's birthday falls on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend this year, and thus, many of our friends are away, we decided that rather than expending energy on a poorly attended birthday party, we'd spend all our time and energy to simply make sure Carter has a terrific day (though we are ending the day with a small party with grandparents).

We started the birthday excursions at an indoor, inflatable play space, where Carter climbed, bounced and slid. We also gave him a doughnut while we were there. After every bite he'd run to the water fountain for a drink and then go into the bathroom to wash and dry his hands. After every, single bite.

Next, we hit the kids area at a local art festival

Then it was time for birthday pizza (Carter is sporting a mask he made at the festival)

And then home, for a failed nap time, putting the finishing touches on his cake (pics to come later) and more fun with his new dance cam

Birthday Morning

Carter was so happy to wake up (early) and find that today is FINALLY his birthday. By 8am we had...

Opened a few presents, set up his new dance cam and danced (thanks, Mama H and Daddy P - video of the dance cam to follow)

Made and consumed chocolate chip pancakes

Skyped with Patrick and Kirstin (and let Carter open the gifts from them)

Set up and played with his new puppet stage and puppets (thanks P&K)


It's already been quite a day, and it's still early enough that I'd generally prefer to still be sleeping. We're off to the indoor playground now, as it's an ugly day. More to follow...

Pre-Birthday

Carter had a big week leading up to his birthday. Pretty much every day, he would ask if it was his birthday yet. Here are some pics from the week.

Shopping with his birthday money from Auntie Joo

Blowing the bubbles he bought with his birthday money

And playing with his new moon sand

Birthday cupcakes at school yesterday

Lyrics

On the way home from school this afternoon, Carter requested his favorite song, which is about a guy falling down and hitting his head. While the song was playing, Carter started saying "He got boo-boo! He got boo-boo again!" I turned down the volume and started quizzing him about the song and came to realize that he understands far more of the lyrics than I would have thought possible (I personally have a terrible time understanding lyrics, and I have a lot more English language experience than he does).

So now I'm just imagining what kind of influence our grown-up music is going to have on wee Carter. I can see it now. If he learns too much from this particular song, the next time he gets hurt, it might go something like this:
"Carter! How did you get hurt?"
"I busted ass off the jungle gym, mom."

Bring My Car Back

I blogged previously about how possessive Carter is with our car. His bedroom windows look out over our front yard and driveway and he likes to lay in bed and look at the car. This morning, Thomas had taken the car to an orchestra concert. Carter woke me up with heaving sobs, crying, "My car gone! My car gone!" I calmed him down, explaining that his Dad had taken it, but he would bring it home later (I can only imagine how horrible it would be for Carter if our car got stolen).

Later this morning, Carter insisted on calling his dad. Here's his recap of the message that Carter left for Thomas...

Cookies and Milk

Given this week's discovery that Carter has never had cookies-and-milk, we baked some cookies this afternoon and taught him to dip. He was an excellent student, exactly mirroring my actions. Probably because he couldn't believe that I was actually encouraging him to put something in his milk!