Observed via Baby Monitor

Give it about 15-20 seconds to get going.

So glad we didn't learn this lesson the really hard way

Here's a photo of Carter with the candle that he made last weekend at a fun event with his Cart Cart. Carter and I had a nice, candlelight mother-son dinner last night after John was in bed and while Thomas was out. Thanks, Cart Cart!

I didn't take a photo of tonight's attempted reprise, in which Carter sneaks the candle and a match into his room, uses the (somewhat rough) chalkboard paint on one of his doors to strike the match and then throws the match into his trashcan after he fails to light the candle.

Pro: Our boy is smart and resourceful

Con: He could have seriously burned himself

Pro: He comes to his parents when he gets scared/in over his head (he reported said incident to us right away - his room still smelled strongly of struck match)

Con: He could have seriously burned the house down

Pro: The matches are now stored where he can't reach them -- as easily (and in the future we'll only buy strike on box matches)

Thanks, Cart Cart.

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. 

Spring Break

Carter spent spring break in Arkansas with his Mama Helen and Daddy Phil. In order to get him there, we met up in Tupelo, Mississippi at the beginning and again at the end of the week. I took the first shift to hand Carter off, taking John along to Tupelo, and staying overnight at a hotel with mom and Mimi. Thomas did the pickup, driving both ways in one day. 

The week before spring break we all came down with something (all except Thomas). As a result, Carter spent some time at urgent care the day before his trip to make sure he was okay to travel. 

When we stayed overnight in Tupelo, Carter got to show of his swimming and John got to go for his first swim. He seemed to like it. 

Mama Helen and Mimi were both happy to get to spend some time with John. 

Carter had a great time with his grand parents. Here, he's been mini golfing. 

At the playground in Hot Springs Village. 

More mini golf fun

Easter

Carter got to do a lot of egg hunting this year. Also, the Easter Bunny provided Carter with a tooth pillow so that his buddy the Tooth Fairy will have an easier time finding his tooth next time he looses one. The EB brought John some peach flavored puffs.

More Fun with Food

When I was in Chicago recently, Stubbie said something to me like, "You guys sure do have fun with food." It occurs to me that that's very true. We like to celebrate holidays with food and enjoy coming up with ways to make cooking and eating fun for Carter. (Plus, I enjoy making foods into colors they shouldn't be.) In any case, that comment reminded me that I've been meaning to post these pics of some fun we had with food a couple of months ago. I can take no credit for the idea. Thomas found it on a blog. But it was fun. Carter thoroughly enjoyed helping to prep - and eat - this!

Wrestling

John is getting to be sturdy enough for some gentle wrestling with his big brother. They both seem to have fun with it. I love hearing them enjoy each other.

John Recents

I have been known to say, "He's lucky he's cute". And he is. SO very cute! Right?!

Tour DeCatur 2012

Thomas and Carter ran in the Tour DeCatur today. They did a 1 mile fun run together and then Thomas did the 5K. Carter did a GREAT job on the mile! He ran the whole way, and they clocked in at 10:28. Pretty impressive for less-than-6-years-old. He now wants to run the 5K next year. I told him if he runs a couple more 1 milers, we'll do it!