He can ride a bike!

He can do it! 

(Yes, we know he needs a bigger bike.)

Movie Reviews by C: Karate Kid

Spoilers.

What did you think about Karate Kid?
Well, I liked the part when he did karate. And do you know what I liked about that? It's that, like, karate defeats a lot of guys. Because if like they don't know karate and you do know karate and you do karate on them, you can always win.

What else did you like about it?
That when he was scrubbing the cars, that was actually a part of karate.

What else?
The other thing that I liked about it was the training. Because, like, he had to balance a lot. Like in the ocean. On that little pole of the beach. And I liked when they did his birthday at his house and he got to choose a car to keep and he loved it and he knew how to drive the car.

What else?
Well, that's all that I liked about it.

What did you not like about it?
That first, before he did karate, he had to do all these other things. Like painting the whole entire gate.

What characters did you like?
The Karate Kid and that Chinese guy. I liked it when those two boys wrestled and the karate kid didn't know how to do karate and at the end they did a karate tournament and the karate kid won.

Were there any kissing parts?
No!

Was that a good thing?
Yes!

On a scale of 1-10...
10.

The same as The Princess Bride?
The same.

Editor's note: Very early in the movie, Carter disappeared from the living room, and reappeared with a homemade karate headband...

Movie Reviews by C: The Princess Bride

AKA "The Princess and the Bride"

Spoilers ahead.

So, the thing that I wish it had more of was, I wish it had more fighting. Well, I liked the fighting so much because Westley, in the black suit, kept winning. I wish there was more fighting so he could win some more.

What else did you like?
When the princess pushed him off the hill and he said "as you wish" and the princess noticed and she rolled herself down too.

What else did you like?
That he could do that really hard rock climbing.

What else did you like?
I liked Westley and the guy that had six fingers on his right hand.

You liked that guy? 
Well, he had six fingers on his hand!

And I liked the guy who killed the guy who had six fingers. He killed that guy because he killed his father. I like the part where he gets kind of stabbed and he has to hold it and he feels better. And when the giant brought the horses under his command. And I liked when they jumped out the window.

I loved the part when that guy got poisoned and he died. So, like, the evil guy drank it, but Westley put poison in both, so he didn't die.

What did you think about the sick boy and his grandfather that was reading him the story?
Oh, that part. Why did he keep interrupting?

Why do you think?
I don't know. because he had questions. And he didn't like the kissing part.

What did you think about the kissing parts?
Yucky.

If you had to rate this moving on a scale of 1-10...
10. It was one of the best movies that I have ever watched.

Editor's note: In the first scene on the farm, where Buttercup and Farm Boy fall in love, Carter got it after the first "as you wish". He said the next two Westley lines before Westley even opened his mouth.

Carter's First Ski Trip

A little behind in posting about this trip Carter and Thomas took back in February...

Philosophy 101

The video orientation is just for you, Patrick.

On three wheels

He was SO happy to graduate to this ride. He did a great job.


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He did it!

Carter and I set a goal on Friday that he'd be riding a bike by Monday. We agreed that he'd practice on Saturday and on Sunday, and, based on where he was last week, I thought he'd have it by then. Things did not start out well on Saturday, and previous lessons have been... frustrating. But - he got it! The look on his face when he realized that he was riding - and I was just running alongside not holding on - was priceless!

Growth

As you can see in recent posts. Carter is missing quite a few teeth! He also continues to be the tallest in his class. There is one boy in his class and on his soccer team this year that is almost as tall as Carter, and I think they were both very glad to have each other!

John is also growing! Carter has always been quite a bit above the 99th percentile line in growth charts, but John has ping pong-ed between being right on the 99th percentile and being more in line with Carter. At his 15 month checkup, he was off the charts. He's climbing these days (yay) and LOVES to be outside!

Stitches, Staples and Glue... oh, my.

When carter was between one and two years old, he accidents that required had both stitches and staples. 

John is continuing the tradition with an accident that required glue... 

1) I definitely didn't realize there were so many ways to put skin back together - until these boys came along. 

2) John's cut is in almost the EXACT same place that Thomas has a scar from toddlerhood. I think someone is feeling sad that he doesn't look as much like Dad as his brother does...

Another Milestone

John's first ride in the race car shopping cart. Carter was very excited to ride next to him and was very sweet (most of the time). But given how uncomfortable he was in there, I suspect that it may also have been his last ride.

First Bike Ride

We recently took our first bike ride as a family of four. We rode to the swimming pool, with John on the back of my bike and with Carter on the trail-a-bike attached to Thomas' bike (we're working on teaching him to ride his own bike, but we aren't there yet).

Carter was a couple of months older when we took him for his first ride, and he seemed to enjoy it a bit more than John did. On the way to the swimming pool, John was okay with the moving part, but did not care for stopping. On the way back, John didn't care about the bike at all. Tired out from splashing at the pool, he just wanted to snooze.

Almost ready to head out, just need the dreaded helmet

Arriving back home, ready for crib transfer

John's Funny Crawl

When John first started crawling, he had a really weird way of doing it. He still does this sometimes, but it's becoming less frequent, so I wanted to post a video so we never forget his original style!

Diving Board!

In the last year, Carter has conquered swimming. And as soon as the pools opened this summer, he conquered the diving board!

John 9-Month Stats

So John had his 9 month check up yesterday and he is right on schedule developmentally, i.e. extra clingy and unhappy about getting shots. Now for the stats: Weight 19.95 lbs (50th percentile), Head Circumference 17.5in (just under 50th percentile), Height 30in (95th percentile).  While he's no Carter at 9 months, he's still pretty freakin' tall!  The doctor was very pleased with everything and our little baby is growing up really fast.

He Crawls!

Home!

Rachel recently did a nice post detailing her work travels, along with what her family was up to. I left town last Monday with aspirations to do a similar post about my 6 day, 5 night trip this week (my longest since John was born). Alas, much to Carter's chagrin, I neglected to take any photos, so I'll just say this:

I was in San Diego all week for the annual Boys & Girls Clubs of America national conference. I presented, networked, had a lot of meetings, went to a Padres game and saw several famous alums accept hall of fame awards (a few from this year: CC Sabathia, Ne-Yo and Cuba Gooding Jr). At one point, I snuck out to get a much needed massage. I returned home with the most milk I've hauled to date, and the San Diego airport didn't even screen it! I'm very happy to be home, and I'm also happy that John didn't start crawling while I was away. He did, however, start pulling up!

Look who tied his shoes!

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John Recents

John is doing well. He has three teeth now (all on the bottom) and we suspect a couple more will be making an appearance soon. Probably on top. 

John can't get into a sitting position on his own, but if you sit him up, he can stay up pretty well by himself. It can be a challenge to sit him down, though. He much prefers to stand (which requires someone to hold him) and he does NOT want to bend at the waist.  

He's getting up on his hands and knees, but doesn't care for it (especially because he only goes backwards), so he tends to get where he needs to go by using a barrel roll or his vocal chords. 

He continues to love to eat, but, given that he's a member of this family, he much prefers feeding himself to being fed. So, he really loves eating puffs (baby crack) and has developed the fine motor skills needed to feed himself very quickly. He's up to about 85% accuracy. We're also trying other easy finger foods. Tofu seemed to go over pretty well recently. 

Teeth

John has two! Both on the bottom.

Carter also has a new one on the bottom -- and a crisp one dollar bill that the tooth fairy gave him for the one he lost this week!
(Which happened while I was traveling, which makes me a sad mama).

First Mush

It was his first try with "solids", and he did great! He ate the whole bowl and really, really wanted more!