Carter's Birthday

     For Carter's birthday, we woke him up by singing Happy Birthday.  Then we opened some gifts and skyped the grandparents.  We took Carter to McDonald's for breakfast and then went to the park by our old apartment.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Carter had so much fun walking and playing on the playground.  He even made a new friend, named Oscar.  Oscar would speak Chinese to him and then Carter would talk back in gibberish.  It was really cute.  I had to go to parent conferences after we left the park.  Later on I met Carter and Blair at Genki Sushi for dinner, which you know is our favorite.  After dinner we let Carter try his first ice cream cone ever.  It was a really perfect day!

 After just one year, you have changed so much!

12 months old

        Happy Birthday Carter!  It's official, my sweet baby is ONE!  I tried to take his picture each month, but missed 3 months along the way.  This has been the best year of my life.  Carter has made every moment more meaningful.  Watching him grow and learn each day has been incredible.  He literally changes every day.  This past year has flown by and I knew it would.  I've done my best to document every little thing Carter has done.  I'm just so proud to be his mommy.
        This month, he learned to walk and what a difference that makes.  Blair and I are running around like crazy to keep up with this boy.  He is really fast, but he doesn't know how to run yet.  He's pretty good at falling safely and doesn't even seem to notice.  We're having so much fun letting him walk in the malls, parks, and on the waterfront.  Everyone stops to watch because he holds his hands in the air and babbles the whole time.  Sometimes he just screams with excitement because he LOVES to walk.
        Carter knows 4 words now, daddy, dog "da", hey, and uh-oh.  He uses them in context, too.  The only thing is "daddy" applies to all humans.  If I drop something in the kitchen, then I will hear an "uh-oh" coming from the living room.  His favorite game is throwing his stuffed animals out of his crib and yelling "uh-oh" each time.  When he picks up the phone, he'll say "hey" just like I do.  Whenever he hears a dog bark, he will say "da".  One time I wasn't looking but I heard him say "da" and when I turned around, a dog was walking towards me.
        I knew it was time to get rid of the paci and I was a little nervous how he'd respond.  He only took it when we would go to sleep.  We stopped giving him the paci at bedtime first and that was not even an issue.  Next we stopped at naptime and he was totally fine.  Carter's officially off the paci!  
        He loves when I sing to him.  He will even clap and sing along.  He likes "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "I Love You Lord", "Jesus Loves Me", "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Rain, Rain, Go Away", and "If Your Happy and You Know It".  He loves to watch daddy play guitar.  He likes to touch the strings and the knobs.  He loves to play hide and go seek (he will really come find you) and peek-a-boo.
        He weighs 22 lbs. and I'm not sure how long he is.  I'm a little concerned because he hasn't really gained any weight in 4 months.  I stopped nursing the day after his birthday, he didn't even miss a beat.  He loves cow's milk and adult food.  He wants to eat everything I do, but Salt and Vinegar chips just aren't a good choice for Carter!  He will beg, scream, and whine until he has something to eat, too.  Since he's so independent, he prefers feeding himself and kind of uses a spoon correctly.  Thank God for our dog being on vacuum duty.
      I love you Carter, Happy 1st Year.  What an amazing adventure!! 

Love,
Mommy and Daddy
   

Carterpillar's 1st Birthday Party

     One of my favorite children's books of all time is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  We decided to use the book as our theme for Carter's 1st Birthday because he loves the book, too.  As Blair was making the invitations we realized that we could add an "R" and make it Carterpillar, which was just perfect.  We had the party a week before his real birthday because I have parent conferences next weekend.  After 2 months of dreary weather, the sun finally came out for Carter's special day.  All our friends showed up to help us celebrate.  Carter took a nap before the party and when I brought him in the living room, he started to cry because he was so confused why there were so many people there.  The rest of the day was full of smiles and excitement.  I was surprised to see Carter continually weave through the crowd to find me.  Our little house was packed.  Later that evening, right on cue, Carter walked the length of our living room and back without stopping.  He was so overstimulated that he walked all around the room, back and forth, until he was falling over from exhaustion.  It was amazing watching him walk for real!  What a perfect day!