Cocoa Beach Day 3

Day 3 in Cocoa Beach was our 4 year anniversary. Lexie and Ciara offered to babysit so Monte and I could go out, but we decided to make it a family event and go out when we got home from vacation. We found a really nice (kid friendly) restaurant. There were big aquariums everywhere, pirate statues, and a man that made balloon animals for kids. AND, the food was great!!


Carter LOVED his puppy. He kept hugging it. (He's a cuddler.)



Purple and pink bears for the girls.



Outside the restaurant there was a neat little bar area. I think it is probably just used on the weekends because nobody was out there. It was a very fun looking area though. Very "beachy".

Happy Anniversary, honey! It has been a wonderful 4 years!!

(Since we got married at the beach, I think we should start spending every anniversary at the beach.)

Cocoa Beach Days 1 and 2

Carter has been very excited about going to the beach. (He saw an episode about the beach on The Backyardigans, and I guess that made him really want to go. ) I'd say, "Carter, let's go bye-bye." (Meaning, we are going to the store or something like that.)

Carter would often reply, "YA! Okay! Let's go to the beach!!" Then he would throw a fit when I would tell him we were not going to the beach yet. I don't think he actually knew what 'the beach' was, but he really wanted to go it. Although he did know that you go swimming at the beach.

We decided this year to let Lexie take a friend. I knew the beach would be much more fun if she had someone her age to hang out with. I think she has really enjoyed having a friend here with her. Fortunately I am so incredibly cool that they still want to spend time with me ;-) ha! Just kidding, but they have spent quite a bit of time with me. I'm glad because I want to spend our vacation together making memories.

I'm not going to waste space on my blog bashing Allegiant, but I will say the only good thing about it was the direct flight. Carter did great most of the flight. We did hit an air pocket and suddenly dropped. Lexie, Ciara, and I all yelled and threw our hands up (as did most of the passengers). It was scary for a second. Carter thought it was fun and wanted to do it again.

It was early evening when we finally made it to our condo, but we did get to go to the beach for a little while. Carter was very excited to finally get to go to the beach, and let me tell you he has NO FEAR what so ever of the ocean. (I wish he had some fear because he is wearing me out!)

Lexie and Ciara have been having a great time, too. They lay out and relax, and then they go play in the water like carefree kids. Lexie is also fearless. I have had to tell her many times to come in a little closer to shore. She is determined to make it out to the really blue part when I'm not watching. Geesh-with my two fearless children it's no wonder I have so much gray hair!

Days 1 and 2 were strictly beach days. We either had on PJs or swimsuits. Our condo is right by the pier, so we didn't have to change into real clothes to eat lunch and dinner.

It looks like Carter is really enjoying a movie, but in actuality he is enjoying putting the ear phones in and out of his ears. He also was entertained for a really long time by plugging the ear phones into the computer and unplugging them... over and over and over.

Ciara and Lexie are all smiles!

Monkey see...

Monkey do.

This picture is cloudy because my camera lens is still adjusting to the insane humidity. It is crazy hot and humid here!

Carter RUNNING for the beach. He runs as fast as he can along the beach yelling, "AAAHHH!!!" I thought it was odd until I saw an older boy doing the same thing. I guess it's a boy thing.

This little boy loves the ocean!!

Carter didn't leave his analytical side at home for vacation. He spent a lot of time observing the sand. The way it felt, the way it fell, even the way it tasted :)

Lexie getting some sun.

"I can't see. I can't see!"

-- Their eyes were still adjusting to the salt water.

Dreams

The past week Carter has been waking up at night (and once during nap time at school) screaming. Well, not actually fully waking up, but definitely screaming horribly. I knew he was having some sort of bad dream, so I told Monte we really need to watch what is on TV when he is awake. It's usually something like 'America's Got Talent', but there have been some pretty scary looking people on there =).

The first few times I got up with him, but then I just let him cry it out because I was afraid he might just be developing a habit of waking up to see me. We are on vacation right now. Carter's pack and play is our bedroom, so the cry it out method wouldn't really work last night when he woke up screaming. When he woke up last night, I picked him up and started trying to comfort him. Then he started talking in his sleep, so I finally figured out what his bad dreams have been about. "That's my ice cream! That's my ice cream!!" (Actually he pronounces 'my' as 'moy'.) Poor baby has been dreaming about someone taking his ice cream away from him.


**** Lexie also talks in her sleep. A few mornings ago when I went into wake her up, she told me, "It's okay! Go ahead and go to Zane's baseball game." She is always telling me crazy stories in her sleep.

Everybody Line Up: The Show Is About To Start...

That's the first line of a mix of songs that I have listened to nonstop for almost a week. It's that time of year again...Dance Team tryouts. I am excited to say that Lexie made the high school dance team!!! It is going to be a very busy year. The spirit squad athletic director wants to show support for EVERY sport. So not only do the cheerleaders and dancers perform at the typical football and basketball games, but they also perform at volley ball, wrestling, etc. We are super excited for her. She worked very hard.

WAY TO GO LEXIE!!!

The tryout uniform.

No, she's not channeling her inner Snooki. There is a shadow that makes her hair poof look bigger than it is. (But don't get me wrong; they do have pretty big poofs at competitions.)

The tryouts were done very professionally. During the clinic days and tryouts, the girls had a dress code. They all looked alike. I tried to pick up several girls when practice was over thinking they were Lexie :) The AD did a great job of keeping the pre-tryout stress to a minimum. All phones were taken up when they arrived, so parents like me couldn't text every 5 minutes and ask for updates. Also, when the girls completed their tryout, they were taken to a different area so they wouldn't freak out the girls that hadn't gone yet. I was very impressed with the way tryouts were handled.

Good Luck Goodies

Carter is Two

I started this post a few weeks ago, and I just remembered I didn't finish. Then I looked at all of the stuff (pictures) I was trying to pack in, so I decided to break it into two posts. Next up: the other parties.


We had planned on having the grandparents over for a small celebration on Carter's birthday. (His big party was going to be a week and a half later.) But... the first snow storm of 2010 hit, so it ended up just being Monte, Lexie, Carter,and I. We had a fun and relaxing evening.



Starting off the evening with a little birthday tickle.
(so much more fun than a birthday spanking!)

We had Carter's favorite food for dinner: cheese pizza. We ate pizza in the living room and watched The Letter Factory. (one of his favorite "movies")

I don't know why he eats his pizza like that. I guess it's easier to hold.





"That's good pizza!"




Lexie and I made cookies while Carter was taking a nap.


Look carefully at LeXIe's cookie.
(You had to load the letters and words into the cookie cutter backwards, so it was very easy to make a mistake.)



"CARS!"

"Mmmmm! That's heavenly."

He loves to help me blow out the candles around the house, so he is an expert.

He's just like me; we both prefer the icing.

Lexie showing him how to make a mess. Trust me, he really doesn't need anyone to teach him that.

Then he opened presents. Since Christmas was just 2 weeks before, he was practiced up and ready to go!

What Carter is doing now:

*He loves to help cook and bake cookies, but he wants to do it all by himself.

*He has a very good vocabulary (well over 100 words on his own) and he repeats EVERYTHING! He puts words together to make simple sentences: That's my color. Where's (whatever he is looking for)? There it is!

*Counts to 10 without skipping numbers.

*Knows a lot of his letters and sounds- T and O are his favorites!

*He loves to sing.

*He loves to watch sports, but his attention span isn't very long so we never make it through a whole game.

*He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES girls- mainly older ones wearing dance uniforms. He and the girls on Lexie's dance team adore each other.

*Every time we walk into the gym for Lexie's games, he starts waving and yelling, "LEXIE!!!! LEXIE!!!! HI LEXIE!!!" then he looks at me, points to Lexie, and tells me "There's Lexie." and then starts the whole thing over again. He loves Lexie.

*He tells me every morning that ,"Daddy go to work."

*He is fascinated with clocks.

*He likes to go to school and see his "frinz." At bedtime he tells me all about them.

*He really likes school and is learning so much. (At first, I used to call it a preschool just to make myself feel better about leaving him. But now I call it a preschool because it really is. I am amazed at how much he has learned! His teachers are wonderful. The main one is certified for PreK literacy, and the teacher in me notices the little things she does that make a huge difference.

*He is a very healthy eater. He loves carrots, and will willingly try new foods. I think one reason he stays so slim is because he does prefer healthy food. I have decided to keep him on whole milk because I think he still needs the fat. (That being said, he does have a big sweet tooth. He loves cookies and cakes, but I do limit what he gets in that department.)

*He is potty trained. His little booty looks so cute in big boy underwear. The lack of a diaper also makes it hard to find pants that fit. He wears boxer briefs :) --I am extremely thrilled that he is not in diapers anymore, but it also makes me sad. He is young to be a potty trained boy, so it's not like I struggled for a long time to get him out of diapers. (Actually, it was not a struggle at all. He knew what he needed to do and did it. I was VERY lucky.) I feel like him being in diapers still kept him a baby, and now that the diapers are gone (except at bedtime-- he wakes up dry, but I'm not that brave yet) I feel like he is all big boy. I know I am weird.

*He loves his sleep. When school doesn't effect his sleep schedule, he will sleep about 11-12 hours at night and take a 2 1/2- 3 hour nap.

*He loves chapstick! He is constantly putting it on. I swear this boy has the softest lips in town :)

BIRTH

ONE

TWO

Carter's growth chart:

birth- 7 lbs. 8 oz. 21 inches

2 weeks- 7 lbs. 13 oz. 20 1/8 inches (he had a cone head at birth)

2 months- 11 lbs. 6 1/2 oz (90th percentile) 22 in. (20 %)

4 months- 14 lbs. (40%) 23 in. (3%)

7 months- 17 lbs 26 in. (5%)

9 months- 18 lbs (10-25 %) 27 in. (10%)

12 months- 19 lbs (5%) 28 in. (5%)

15 months- 20 lbs 4 oz (3-5%) 30 in (10-25%)

18 months- 23 pounds 31 3/4 in

2 years- 25 pounds (25%) 33 in. (25%)

**I know it looks like his height and weight are pretty even, but I think most of his height is in his legs. It is very hard to find pants that fit him in the waist (he is lean) and are long enough for him. I know a lot of pants have the adjustable waist band, but they usually start at a size that is too big for him. Garanimals knit pants and Gap jeans are our best friends right now; most other pants (with a few random exceptions) make Carter look like he is getting ready to go wading in the water. ha!


Here is a picture of the growth chart I started in my closet right after we moved in.