What have I been doing!? I'm literally kicking myself for missing several months because I feel like so much has changed (even though I said I wasn't going to do an update every month after his 1st birthday).
If you're interested in the series, it's called Watch Me Grow. I've documented his growing and changing since he was a newborn and it's seriously one of my favorite things on this blog.
Call me narcissistic, but I'm a proud mama. I love going back and reading these posts. I love looking at old pictures. I love reading what I wrote about his development. And I love experiencing it all over again.
What I was feeling at that moment.
Carson, you are officially a crazy toddler. When I said you were all over the place a few months ago, boy was I wrong. You are really all over the place now. You are a handful, but so much fun.
Your smile and laugh are so infectious and we just light up when we are with you.
I can't get enough of your kindhearted spirit and innocence. Don't get me wrong, you have your ornery moments, but your affection and love is simply addicting. You've become extremely snuggly in the past few months and will give us open-mouth kisses all.day.long. I love it. Please don't stop until you're at least ten. Mmmkay?
Our time on the weekends is always special because I get to fully experience you. I know that sounds weird since I'm your mom and all, but I miss out on so much time with you when I'm at work.
Sometimes, I wish I was a stay-at-home mama, but other times I appreciate the things you are learning at school and the independent toddler you are becoming. It's pretty common for you to come home with a new trick and show off for us. I'll say "Wow, good job buddy, I definitely didn't teach you that!"
You recently went through a phase (about 2 weeks) where you cried when we dropped you off. Leaving you when you are upset is hard, but I think the arrival of some new teeth were contributing to your fuss-pot-hold-me-all-the-time attitude.
You now have 12 teeth buddy! All your first molars are through, and let me just say, we had some extremely sleepless nights because of it! As I already mentioned, you went through quite the needy phase, but seem to be back to your normal self...waving bye-bye to us and saying it as we exit your classroom.
Speaking of you saying things...you finally say and use mama correctly! You have said here and there for quite sometime now, but instances were few and far between and you never said it in the right context.
Well my sweet son, you now say it to me when you want something, when I'm not in the room and you want me, or when I'm gone and you are looking for me.
I was feeling a little left out with all your "da-da" talk, so I may or may not have teared up when you said it over and over a few weeks ago.
And yes, I caught it on video. I was seriously so overwhelmed with happiness at his moment.
I'm not gonna lie, when you say mama, it just melts my whole heart. I can't wait until you can tell me you love me back. Until then, I'll continue to tell you ten thousand times a day. And kiss you all over. Are you sick of my overly obsessed affection yet? Good, cause I'm not either.
Other words in your vocabulary include da-ga (doggy), more, yeah, no, go, duck, ba-ba (for your sippy cup, water bottles and regular cups) cracker, bubble, ball, book, uh-oh and yellow. An older girl in your class loves the color yellow and always points it out, so I think you picked up on it from her. You also moo, baa, quack and roar. My fave is the roar. Carson, what does a lion say? And you'll let out a low growl. I die every time.
Playing outside, bath time and reading books are by far your favorite activities. After dinner we say, "Carson, do you want to go take a bath?" And you'll run down the hallway screaming with excitement to the bathroom. It's the cutest.
Story time has become quite the family soiree. Most nights, we settle down in your room (Jakey boy too!) and struggle to escape without you trying to get us to read every book on your bookshelf. You're so intrigued and curious by the images, and taking in every word we read.
You love turning the pages and pointing out things you know. Sometimes you say them. Favorite things to find and point out are dogs, or "da-ga" as you call it. Your receptive language has really taken off. You can point out a bird, duck, dog, sheep, fish, cow, lion, zebra, giraffe, baby, sun, crab and ball.
The routine goes like this: you bring me a book, climb into the chair on my lap, we read it, you get down to get another...repeat, repeat, repeat.
Every time we finish you say, "mama, more." I think you know how to work things in your favor because I always give in.
You would stay outside all day long if we let you. You love the park. You love the driveway. You love the deck. Heck, you even prefer the garage over playing inside. You cry when we go inside.
The park is a new adventure for us. Sure, we've been going to the park since you were a baby, but you can now climb the stairs of the play equipment all by yourself (without giving me a heart attack) and you go down the slides by yourself. Oh, and I can't even try to help you or hold your hand...or you throw a hissy fit.
Mr. Independent I tell ya.
Doing things on your own is all you want to do these days. And you want to do it just like the adults do.
Remember when I wrote about you loving the stairs so much at 12 months? Well, yeah, that hasn't changed one bit. You.Love.Stairs.You've mastered going down them by yourself on your belly (feet first of course), but have thrown a wrench in our progress by trying to go down like we do. Living in a split-level house doesn't come easy, and you've definitely taken some tumbles, but I'm glad you've found something you love so much. Stairs. How exciting son.
I think everything you come in contact with screams at you "Hey Carson, climb me!" You climb on everything. And every time I see you climb something, I see an ER trip flash before my eyes.
You're pretty opinionated these days. You aren't shy about telling us yes and no. Carson, do you want to take a nap? No no. Do you want to go outside. Yeah Yeah.
It's all happening too fast for me.
Everybody talks about how fast they grow up, but I really didn't know what that meant until now. All these memories and moments I already cherish so very much and you're only 16 months.
I can't imagine what's in store for us big boy. My heart is happy.
Love, Mama
Carson at 16-months:
In the Closet: Mostly 18-24 months Diapers: Size 5
Teeth: The number of teeth you have has doubled since the 13-month update. You have 12 teeth! Six on top, six on bottom.
Grub: Anything, but peanut butter. You are getting really good at using a spoon, but primarily still use your hands. You love dipping. Pita Chips + Hummus, Chicken Nuggets + Ketchup, Chips + Salsa. You want to do everything just how we do it. Favorites: any fruit (clementines are a new fave), meatballs, mac and cheese, spaghetti, string cheese, green beans, sweet potatoes, marshmallows (oops), chocolate bunnies (double oops), yeah, Easter was not the best for your eating habits.
Sleep: My good little sleeper is missing. In fact, it's been about a month since you have slept through the night. You still sleep 10-11 hours at night, but with at least one, sometimes two wake up calls. Teeth? Training us to have your way? I don't know, but will my good sleeper please come back?
New Activity/Development: Lots of babbling/talking, pointing for communication, knuckles, jumping (it's so cute to watch you try and jump), pointing out not only your belly and your foot, but now your head, nose, fingers, toes, ears, mouth tongue and teeth!
Loves: Being outside, bath time, story time (your favorite books are Goodnight New York City and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?), stairs, Jake, playing chase, being tickled, sweets, balls, babies, dancing, jumping
Hates: Haircuts, getting dressed, getting diaper changed, coming in from outside, daddy's drill (figured it out while he was putting together book case)
