Below are some of Carson's milestones and the wonderful memories we have had with him. Click on the link to the left to view the photos.
Carson: 13 Months Old: Carson is standing! He stares at his feet and really concentrates on trying to lift them up to walk. Every once in a while he takes one baby step before he falls. He has mastered crawling up and down the stairs. He loves to hold mommy or daddy's hands and walk around the house. Occasionally he can be spotted being a little dare-devil standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding on to the railing and dangling one foot off the edge! Freedom is just around the corner! Carson is truly understanding the power of the word "PLEASE". He now signs "please" by rolling his hands around each other with passion and keeps spinning them until he gets a response!
Early September, Carson boarded another airplane and flew with mommy and daddy to Portland to visit Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Meg, Uncle Ted, Emma and Anaya! We visited Canon Beach and had a picnic lunch at an orchard overlooking Mt. Hood. After watching his cousin run around the house, he took 8 steps! He is so ready to go, go, go! He has started to give kisses (both blowing kisses and open mouth kisses). His favorite words are "ma-ma", da-da" and "sssssssss" (for swing!) He also signs "help" anytime he needs it.
Carson: 14 Months Old: Carson is walking and he loves it! He has started to climb and stand on anything....toys, books, boxes. He has a wonderful guardian angel though who protects him over and over again. Carson falls occasionally, but rarely cries. He just gets back up on his feet, asks for "help" and tries again! His new words are "out" when he wants to go outside and of course "shoes" and "hat". He is quite happy playing with shoes anytime day or night. He walks into our closet and comes out with shoes on his hands and his feet.
October 15th we went to Burt's Pumpkin Farm and stayed at Big Canoe, GA for a family mountain weekend get-away. Carson loved the pumpkins, but was teething and not feeling quite himself. Just before he turned 15 months, Carson cut his two front bottom teeth! Yeah! TEETH! A few days later he got the Croup and was sick for a few days....
Carson: 15 Months Old: Carson loves music and now that he can walk, he is learning how to dance. We play a lot of music and dance around the house singing. Carson is talking a lot and learning to whisper. Here are just a few things he says:
"thank you: "tinks"
"kobi: ti-ti"
"tigger: ti-ti"
"1-2-3: uh-ti-tee"
"pacifier : pappy"
"hi: Hi-ee" while waving his hand backwards like a royal child
"baby" while rocking a baby in his arms (the sign for baby)
"help, please & more please: hep, sease & mo, seas" while signing as well
"bath: bas"
He is beginning to learn sounds of animals too:
"RRRRRRRRAAA" for a lion
"EEEEE-OOO-AH" for a monkey
"Sssssssssssss" for a snake
"Baaaaa" for a sheep
Carson really enjoys his bath time! He splashes and kicks and blows bubbles. He also loves swinging and going down the slide at the park. For Halloween, Carson was a tree monkey...and went trick-or-treating with Daddy and the neighborhood friends. He loved being in his costume (a one-of-a-kind Nana creation of course) and the red flyer wagon.
By the middle of November, we had spotted Santa and his reindeer. Carson sat on Santa's lap, talked with him and tried to figure out what the beard was all about. He was amazed by the reindeer too.
Carson: 16 Months Old:
A few more animal sounds have been added to Carson's entertainment performances:
"Eee-aw" for a donkey
"Eeeeeee" for a horse
"meeew" for a cat
"woof" for a dog
and he even tries to whistle for a bird. Oh yeah....and now when asked what Santa says. Carson replies, "HO.HO.HO!"
He has added new words to his vocabulary everyday. "Apple, Shower, Elbow and Airplane" are a few of our favorites. Carson is also beginning to recognize songs. He claps his hands, stomps his feet and shouts "hoooray" to the song, "If You're Happy and You Know It. "
We travelled again for Thanksgiving. Heading to Kansas City to spend a few days with some friends and then driving to Grant City, MO to spend time on the Belcher Farm. It was really cold! Carson got to see cows and horses up close and personal.
The beginning of December, Daddy flew to Seattle for business, so Mommy and Carson jumped on a plane with him. (Airplane trip number 4!) We spent time with Grandpa, Grandma and the Strand family who came into Seattle to see us. We visited the Space Needle, the Children's Museum and were frequent visitors of the Market. Carson loved to go see the fish (even though they were on ice and not swimming).
Carson's interest in hats has now officially become an obsession. He finds any hat and won't stop saying "hat, hat, hat" until either you are wearing a minimum of 4 hats on your head. He also will pile the hats on his head and walk around, laughing.
Carson: 17 Months Old: By December 22nd, Carson weighed 24 pounds. We were in to see the doctor because he caught a virus. By Christmas, he had wrapped it and gave it as a gift to mommy and daddy. We had a wonderful Christmas at home with Carson excited and anxious to open his gifts and everyone else's. He loved to watch the Christmas lights, play with ornaments off the tree and give kisses to Baby Jesus in the manger. On Christmas morning, Carson went straight to the tree and found a doggie (stuffed animal) and a ball. He was thrilled!
He is still obsessed with hats. And now, thanks to Nana has many more hats to play with....a baker's hat, a conductor hat, a jester hat, a safari hat, a sombrero....and he will wear them all at once.
Carson has started to tickle us, which is so adorable! His vocabulary has exploded. He has started to say many more two word sentences. He has also begun to give Kobi commands. "No" pointing his finger and "down" are his favorite to say with authority. His independence is on the rise. He lets us know when he wants something and when he doesn't. He is learning what "time-out" means and uses any cute act to try to get out of being in "time-out". His favorite tactics are standing up and saying "all done" or "hi" with a smile on his face. He also tries to run to you to give you a hug....amazing how they inately know how to "work us".
Somewhere around Christmas, without Mommy and Daddy knowing, Carson cut his third tooth. We didn't know it because it was a molar on the top right side (way in the back). So he now has two bottom teeth in the front and one molar in the back. Funny.
Carson loves to dance! We play music all day long and he spins, claps and sings. His favorite song is "Sing". He watches a version of it on a Sesame Street video with Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing "La, la, la-la", waving their hands and dancing. Carson dances and sings along with them....."Na, na, na-na". Anytime he wants to watch the video, he just sings "Na, na, na-na" waving his hands in the air....or just says Elmo!!!
This month, Carson started sleeping without his pacifier and has started saying prayers with us! We are so touched with his prayers. Before dinner and before bedtime, he holds out his hand waiting for us to hold hands and say the blessing/prayer. Then he shouts - "Ah-Meen". One day, I was in the kitchen listening to him in the living room praying. "babble, babble....mommy....babble, babble, daddy.....babble, babble.....Ah-MEEN". I'm sure he said a prayer for his mommy and daddy, although only GOD know what his prayer was.