Project 52, Week 8: Yuck!

So it has finally happened. And it only took 8 weeks. I don't have a picture I love from this week. Carter was sick with a cold and super fussy all week long. As any mom knows, this does not equate with good pictures. It was also rainy and cloudy, so light was not on my side. Since I don't like to use my flash unless it's just a cute moment I want to capture, I didn't have many opportunities for great photo ops. I loved his expression in the picture I decided to choose because it's his genuine smile. It looked good on the camera but is soft when it's any bigger than 3 inches! Oh well, we'll chalk this one up to a bad week. I did include some more that are sharper and show him playing, but I just don't love any of them. I have 44 more weeks to do better!

I just love this look!!

Just doing a little reading...

We see this face a lot

Had to document Carter actually sitting and playing

Another face we see a lot

Have a wonderful week!! And I hope to do better this week...

Black and White Wednesday

Carter is obsessed with dogs, so you can imagine his excitement when two of his Valentine's Day cards had dogs on them! All week he would point to our mantle and say "dog." He walked around with them and "read" the cards over and over!

Happy Wednesday! We're going to enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day outside!!

  

Project 52, Week 7

So this project has turned out to be a little harder than expected! I thought it would be easy, since Carter always has a camera in his face, to get one picture a week. Sometimes it is easy. Other times either I don't really have one picture that I love, or in the case of this week, I can't decide between several! I guess that's a good problem to have. It's not that each of these pictures are amazing pictures capturing great smiles or scenery. The finalists were all so different, and that made it a hard decision. My goal is to have a glimpse back into Carter at this time, but I also want interesting pictures. So I think the picture this week meets that criteria. I shot it from above him to give a different perspective, and this is what he does all day long. He loves to drive cars on the bench of our kitchen table. He usually does it with his very loud monster truck, but on this day we were blessed with the very small and quiet Lightning McQueen.

Usually Carter runs away from me when I get the camera out, or he just turns his back to me. So today I decided to just let him play and capture the moments as they happen. Karli over at The Bonnie 5 gave me this idea. If anyone is interested in bettering their photography skills or just reading a mom's hilarious stories, I highly suggest checking out her blog! I am a faithful reader and love the tips and anecdotes she shares. 

In addition to driving Lightning on the bench, he also loves the kitchen table. And please excuse the temperature gauge in his other hand. It was the object of the day he chose to love!

I was working with depth of field and not always having Carter be the main focus. In this first picture the previously mentioned monster truck is in focus:

In this picture Carter is the focus with the truck blurry. It's fun to play with depth of field and just see what images I can create!

And this last picture is included because I think it's hilarious! He loves playing with his Leapfrog Alphabet Magnet set. It plays music and says each letter as you put them in the space. Today Carter decided he could hear it even better if he put his ear right next to the speaker. 

Thanks for reading and have a great week!!

Play Clay!

This post is a bit late considering we broke a record with our warm weather yesterday, but better late than never. I'm sure cold weather is coming our way again anyway! When it's cold outside, Carter and I get bored VERY QUICKLY. We are always looking for something to do because the same toys get old fast. I bought Carter some play clay (similar to play dough) last fall at Holiday Galleria. He was a bit young for it when we first got it. All he wanted to do was eat the clay! Each color is scented so I'm sure they smelled delicious to a then 14 month old. But now that he's a bit older he loves it! And he usually doesn't try to eat it either.

The scissors are plastic, so he shouldn't cut himself on them. Carter doesn't really get the scissors yet. He mainly just pushes the pointy end into the clay. He does get a little picky with colors. He is very specific about which ones he wants. He also wants to push the cutters down himself, but he doesn't have the dexterity to get the shapes out of the cutter yet.It is fun to see how much more interested he is in it now than he was six months ago. Let's hope it keeps his interest for a while!

Project 52, Week 6: Concentration

Week 6, here we go! Carter loves to rock in his chair. He climbs up in it and rocks like a maniac! This requires a lot of head banging. I think his head moves more than the chair, but maybe that gives him the illusion of rocking! As you can see, rocking in one's chair requires a lot of concentration. I love his expression in the picture of the week. I see this face a lot; he uses it to work on puzzles, his shape sorter or any other occasion requiring his full attention. And of course, he's wearing his "Sir Rocks a Lot" shirt while rocking!!

As always, here are a couple runner ups from the week. I included the full body because I love his shirt and wanted to show it off. Carter is a big music man, so it was only appropriate that he have this shirt. Anytime music comes on, his head starts bobbing. Sometimes we get his latest dance move, which is a cross between skipping and some country western move! 

A few of my favorite things (about Carter)

Carter is at such a fun (but trying) age right now. He is 20 months old and has been Mr. Independent for the past six month or so. He has some funny quirks about him that I think are hilarious! Since my hope is to have a place to document our lives, I wanted to share a few so I will be able to look back and smile. He is changing so quickly, and I'm sure I have forgotten so many of the funny things he has done or said. Now I will have them on record to remember always.

1. He loves to go bye bye. Every time I open the door into the garage, he runs over to it and says "bye bye?" He usually wakes up from his nap and I hear him say "bye bye?" He says it no less than 10 times per day. And it is always a question, never a statement.

2.  I may be biased, but I think he has the best giggle ever! It doesn't take much to get him going either. And I will call it a giggle, not a laugh, at this point. Tickling, his cousin Cohen running around, and any other slightly amusing activity throws him into a fit of giggling. And this is before even reading The Belly Button Book or Yummy Yucky, two books to insure a giggle or two three!

3. He loves to brush his teeth and wash his hands. Everytime we go into the bathroom he tries to do both. I keep waiting for the novelty to wear off (and I know it will) but we're going on several months of him loving his personal hygiene activities. I'm enjoying them while they last.

4. He is a boy of routine. He knows the order of how we usually do things and doesn't always do well if we deviate from it. He knows to get his toothbrush and comb out of the drawer after bath. He knows when I start to let the water out of the tub to pick up his toys. He knows we read his prayer book before bedtime but not naptime.

5. Everytime I let our dog Billy outside, Carter says potty. He runs over to the door yelling "potty, potty!" And if he misses the opportunity when I let Billy out, he says it when I let him back in.

6. He has to sleep with his turtle, puppy and blanket. We also have to read books and rock with all three. And drink milk. It's getting a little crowded in the rocking chair. He then serenades turtle once he is in his crib, saying "Turtle. TURTLE! Turtle? Turrttle." Each time has a different inflection, and it's adorable to listen to. We do have to sneak in and take turtle away at night. Otherwise Carter wakes up at 3 am to play with turtle. At least he goes back to sleep afterwards!

7. If you lay down on the floor, he will sit on you, and giggle! He thinks it's hilarious, and I'm not sure why. He tried to do it to his cousin Cohen (who is about his age), but Cohen did not appreciate this affection.

8. He loves to sit on ride on toys. Not actually be pushed while sitting, just sit. He also likes to sit on things that maybe look like ride on toys (see pictures below). He played with his Little People Farm Set the "correct" way for a while. Now he just sits in between the silo and barn. As a side note, he does love to also push ride on toys (or anything that can be pushed for that matter) around the house. Chairs, stools, baskets and toys all get pushed around on a daily basis.

Almost done, I promise!

9. Everything goes woof. Woof is also a question much of the time when he says it. Dogs of course go woof, but so do cows, horses, cats and goats. He usually says, "Billy, a dog, woof?"

10. Carter says "a" in front of lots of words. A show, a dog, a book, a chair. Everytime the TV is on, he says "a show?" then signs excited. He used to get especially excited for The Ellen Show and danced with her every day, but the novelty has worn off.

Thanks for staying with me through such a long post. And of course, here are a couple pictures of my little man. He just woke up from his nap, and I have already heard "bye bye" twice and "turtle" once!

Project 52, Week 5

I had a hard time coming up with a favorite photo of the week. I don't necessarily want this project just to be posed cute pictures. I want them to represent our lives and the people in them. With the horrible weather we had this week, I just didn't have the motivation to take a lot of pictures. We were stuck inside for three days and had the winter blues.  Spring please come quickly!!
With that being said, I did finally get the picture on Saturday. The first picture below is the official shot of the week but I included two more. This is a picture of Carter holding Papa's hands. My parents came over Saturday night to watch the WSU game, go Shocks! Carter loves his Grandmari and Grandma A LOT, as lots of you already know. But tonight, he wanted to sit on Papa's lap. It was just so precious I had to snap some photos. We went to Papa's office today and Carter wanted Papa to hold him! I love that Carter loves all of his grandparents so much. Last weekend his Great Grandma came over, and when he saw her at the door, he ran over to her yelling "Grandma!" It was adorable. He is fairly outgoing; when he decides that he likes you, he really likes you and can get slightly overbearing. I'm sure the grandparents would never admit it though :).

I also had to include this picture from the week, although the lighting in it is horrendous. I mentioned that Carter loves all of his grandparents, but he also loves his Daddy. He loves to read books and will sit on our laps to read his stories over and over and over again. Here is a glimpse into our evenings when Carter is not running through the house yelling turtle, or bye bye or any other phrase of the week. 

DOWN!!!!!

Carter is a pretty fearless little boy. He will climb on just about anything and walk right off just about everything. There is one thing he doesn't like to do on his own: get down from a chair!! I don't really understand this. Usually his feet are about 3-6 inches from the floor, but he will sit there screaming "down!" until I give him my hands to hold onto and hop off of the chair.  He also has discovered how to climb onto and sit upon our bar stools. This is terrifying!! He is just so proud of himself when he gets up there and doesn't appreciate my concern for his safety. At least he doesn't try to get down on his own :).

Thanks Trev for taking these pictures! I'm usually not in the pictures, so it's nice to have some documentation that I am actually Carter's mom!