What's this??

Carson has learned the phrase "What's this?" and says it allll day long. It actually comes out more like "Wsss thssss?", it's so cute. However, answering to him constantly can test our patience! He has also learned the word "hot" and now everything is "hot", even when something is cold or has no temperature. Sometimes when I give him a snack he'll start saying "hot" and lift his hands up but his snack is a cracker or raisins. We are trying to teach him the difference but it's not working yet. He also loves to play with phones. He will use any object as one, holding it up to his ear and saying "hi" or "hey". He has two play cell phones and even one of our old cordless phones to use but sometimes he prefers random objects.
Carson still loves to read. We probably look at 15 books a day, most are repeats. He is learning animals and can recognize a lot through pictures. He can also make the sounds that cats, dogs, pigs and frogs make. He really likes to look at First 100 Words and anything with cars. He is also still into his mega blocks but now he plays with all the pieces and makes big towers/buildings, instead of using only the single ones.

Carson had his first black eye a few weeks ago! (I thought I took a picture of it but now I can't find one...) We were both in the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard him start to cry. I thought maybe Pete knocked him over or he hit his lip but then I saw the huge grape-sized lump under his eye and it was instantly black and blue. I was afraid he chipped his eye socket or something so I called the doctor. They couldn't see hikm for a few hours and since he had calmed down it didn't seem urgent. Within a few minutes he was back to himself, running after the dogs and playing. After talking to my mom and a friend I decided not to bring him to the doctor. I still don't know exactly what happened but I'm thinking he bumped his face on the window sill. He loves to stand on the radiator and look outside. The bruise stayed for about a week but then disappeared and now everything looks fine!

Last month we went to the Rochester Fair and Carson loved the petting zoo. He fed goats and a giraffe! We walked through all the barns and saw horses, cows, chickens, pigs, rabbits, llamas...the list goes on! He even "won" a prize playing a game and we all enjoyed the fair food!

This year we are going to dress Carson up for Halloween, he is going to be a shark. We also want to take him trick-or-treating. This will be our first time out in Sanford. We haven't figured out where to go because no one on our street participates. The first year we lived here I decorated and bought a ton of candy but only 6 kids came, 4 of which lived on our road at the time. Last year I didn't bother getting candy or dressing Carson up so we'll have to ask around to find out which neighborhood is best.

I'm really looking forward to the holidays this year. I think it's going to be so much fun with Carson. He is growing up so fast! We love to see how he changes each year and gets more enjoyment out of things.

Quick Update

I try to create a new post every month but I have been so busy there is no time to sit down and write. I wanted to make a quick note to let everyone know that we are all doing great.
Carson is now a pro at walking and he is everywhere! He has no fear and loves to climb on everything, including the stairs - good thing for baby gates! He has also started saying a few words. In addition to "mama" and "dada" we've heard "car", "cat", "hi"/"hey", "bye" and "Pete" (which comes out like "ete", with no P).
Right now Carson really likes playing with his mega blocks. He uses the single pieces to make tall towers to carry around. He also likes to knock over whatever anyone else is trying to build. Recently he has started to enjoy being read to. I had been trying to get him to sit so I could show him a book but he would close it on me or try to turn the pages really fast. Now he'll bring books over and sit for a whole story. His favorite books are "Where Are You, Pooh?" and "Cleo's Color Book" (this is where he learned the word cat).
We are still dealing with teething too. I can't wait for this stage to be over with. Not only is the drool out of control but he's been fussy. Carson did great for the eight teeth he currently has but now he's cutting his one year molars and those seem to really bother him. He has been using the baby teething rings we still have in the freezer and gets extra popsicles.
As summer comes to an end we are really looking forward to fall. We want to take Carson apple and pumpkin picking.

Family Vacation

We are back from our first annual family vacation and it was so much fun! This year we went to Georgetown Maine where we rented a beach house with my dad, step-mom (Joyce), sister and her boyfriend (Chris). It was very relaxing and low-key. The weather was decent, we only had two good beach days but at least there wasn't rain. 

We ate tons of delicious food. Joyce is a great cook and made plenty of awesome meals. My favorite dinner was our seafood night. We had lobster, scallops wrapped in bacon and steamers. We didn't give Carson any of the seafood but he did have corn on the cob for the first time. He cleaned off an entire ear (or two) no problem! 

He also had his first bubble bath. I have no idea why I've waited so long to add bubbles to his bath water but he loved it. He was putting his face in them and trying to eat some.


Towards the end of the week Carson started walking on his own! He just got up and started talking steps. He has been very close for so long that I knew it would happen any time. He's been doing really well with it at home, he can cruise around the house with no problem. I sometimes think he prefers to crawl or forgets that he can walk because he still uses all fours. He is already into everything that I cannot imagine how much more he'll discover walking. His favorite things are the dogs water, which he thinks is hilarious to splash in. I repeatedly tell him no and he laughs at me! I know he's too little to understand time out or anything but we have to find a way to discipline him where he won't laugh at us. He also loves the laptop. Anytime I'm on it he tries to pull the screen backwards. I've heard it crack a few times that I'm just waiting for the whole thing to come apart. He is a very busy boy and it is definitely a full time job chasing after him. He hasn't said any words other than "mama" and "dada" (although I don't know if he really knows what they mean) but he definitely has the high pitch scream down. He shrieks when he can't get what he wants. I have no idea where he got his dramatic side from ;) Carson is also obsessed with our dogs, actually, I think it's any dog. He loves to pull Pete's tail and grab at Mia's face. Fortunately both of our dogs are very patient with him. When we were at the beach he couldn't get enough of another family's dog that we actually had to take him back to the house. He would only crawl towards this other family and shriek when we wouldn't let him harass someone else's pet.

I can't believe August is right around the corner! This summer has been pretty busy for us. I'm looking forward to having no plans next month, we are going to relax as a family. Our last event is this weekend, a friend's wedding in New York. 
I'm going to try to get a video of Carson walking so I can post it on here. He is just too cute!

Happy Birthday!

Carson is officially a year old and I cannot believe it! We had a wonderful birthday party for him on Sunday, which was also Father's Day. We invited family and friends over for a BBQ and were lucky to have beautiful weather.
Carson woke up Saturday morning with a fever and was sick all day. He was still sick into Sunday but did great for his party! I know he has some new teeth coming in but I also think he picked up a cold/virus (probably from daycare) because he has a pretty yucky nose! I was able to bribe him with popsicles to keep him happy and was sure he had plenty of tylenol. 

 Surprisingly he wasn't a big fan of his cake! He poked at it and spit out whatever we put in his mouth. I don't know if he genuinely didn't like it (he's never had cake before) or if it was because he wasn't feeling well. Either way, it was funny to watch his expressions and play around with the frosting.
He loves all of his presents and we thank everyone for coming, it was a great day.

Now that the weather is nice we've been spending a lot of time outside. We filled up his little pool and he loves playing in it. He also loves to sit outside on a blanket and play with his beach toys.

Carson is still learning to walk on his own. His does fine holding onto one of my hands but as soon as he realizes he has no support he plops right now. Trapper and I have been trying to get him to walk back and forth between us, showing him that he can take a step on his own. Since he's already so mobile (he's a speed crawler) I'm eager for him to walk because that will make things easier on me. I can't wait to take him to the playground and even the beach. It's a little harder to go to certain places when he's still crawling. 

Only 3 more weeks until we're at the beach for a whole week! I can't wait to have our first vacation with Carson. I'll be sure to update! Happy summer!!

Play dates!

We have been having so much fun lately hanging out with our friends. Carson has a best friend named Cameron, my friend Courtney's son and they have a blast!
We usually get together every Thursday and take walks in the park or play at the gym. This Thursday we went to the beach and had great weather! This was Carson's first visit to the beach and he loved it! I think he was eating sand within the first 5 minutes! He loved sitting in the sand and playing with his beach toys.

He also has a ton of teeth! He has his four front on top and on bottom. I'm sure his one-year molars aren't too far behind. Fortunately he's done really well with teething. With his new teeth he's eating all sorts of food. Carson is officially off baby food (and has been for about a month) and eats everything! He loves grilled cheese and fruit. It's so much easier feeding him this way because I can give him whatever I'm eating. By the end of next month he'll be done with formula and on to whole milk. We're down to two bottles a day, one in the morning and one before bed. I'm trying to get rid of the morning bottle but he's on such a schedule I think it's going to be hard. We're still practicing with the sippy cup. He can definitely drink from them but he doesn't always feel like holding it up on his own, so he just throws it on the floor.  

Next month we're having a birthday party for Carson. I can't believe he's going to be one! So exciting! He's also very close to walking and I think there's a chance he'll be walking by his birthday. He can cruise around holding on to my hand or furniture but hasn't taken a step by himself yet.
Summer is approaching and I can't wait! There are so many fun things I'm looking forward to doing as a family. Once Carson is walking we'll have a lot more going on!