Friday, November 30, 2007

Thanksgiving Aftermath

This is the second meal of Thanksgiving at 6:30 pm. Carson is in the very back, clothed and ready to eat another meal at Nana & Poppa's with Aunt Liza & Uncle Jeff.

Here's the aftermath of Thanksgiving . . . the clothes didn't find their way back on!


Turkey Trot

I just discovered some pictures on our "travel" camera from Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving was a bit of a challenge because the first meal was scheduled smack dab in the middle of Carson's daily nap. So I decided to try to play sleep God and manipulate his schedule to accomodate ours. Here was the plan. Carson and I got up early at 6 am and headed to the Oregon Zoo for the annual Turkey Trot race. I was worried about parking and it was way to hard to keep Carson quiet in the living room while Daddy, Aunt Lori, and Uncle Brian were still trying to sleep so we got to the zoo at 6:45 am. It was only 34 degrees out. BRRRRR!!!!

Toddlers don't keep gloves on so I had to fold over the sleeves of his coat to keep his hands from freezing. Did I mention the race didn't start until 8 am!!! There were supposed to be other people there from Baby Boot Camp, however none of them showed up until 7:45. Carson ran laps at the World Forestry Center to keep warm.

The race started at the Forestry Center, headed down the road to the Japanese Gardens and then back up to the Zoo. We finished the race running all the way through the zoo to the elephant area. Fun but cold. And in the end, our plan for changing Carson's nap time backfired. Instead of waiting until we got home to fall asleep, he fell asleep sometime during the race!?!? So then I had to walk around for another 30 minutes after the race so he could keep sleeping. Oh brother it was cold.

Who is this turkey next to us?
Oh! We're going to eat you later?
Brr . . . Mommy it's cold!
Totally blurry picture but you'll notice Carson doesn't appear to have any hands!
Post race smile! Carson was hidden behind the weather shield so well that he fell asleep warm and cozy!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Cheapest Toy of All

Four cubes full of toys, a huge book box, and countless ride-ons and push toys but what entertained five toddlers at play date today? A plain old cardboard box! Hilarious.

Sydney, Natalia, Mason, Carson, & Kinley, anyone else?

Please make room for Kinley! Carson don't hit the window with your shovel.
Mason & Carson tug o war over the shovel. The girls each brought their own toy up on the "stage". Kinley's still trying to make her way in.
The three on the left are jealous of the sweet coat on the right ;-) Notice Mason & Carson's big boy haircuts! Mason has a cool faux hawk but poor Carson inherited some mean cowlicks. He'll have to wear his a little longer to avoid the Alfalfa look.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Mommy Messed Up!

So I never dress Carson in onesies because it's such a hassle to snap them. But this morning it was pretty cold and we were low on clean clothes. So I grabbed a onesie to layer him. No sweat. However, in my hasty diaper change in the back of the Pathfinder after Baby Boot Camp, I obviously completely forgot about the onesie. It wasn't until we were in Target later that I noticed my son had a blue tail!! How embarrassing! I snapped a few pics of my faux pas when we got home! BTW- Carson does not have jam on his face but yet another scab from a nasty fall.



Tuesday, November 27, 2007

When Did He Grow Up???

It seems like overnight Carson has become a toddler. He understands so much, "go get Mommy's slippers", "put your dirty clothes in the hamper", "time to help me feed Jackson"! Yet things like, "please stop whining" and "no more throwing your food" are still a foreign language to him. I think he is learning the fine art of manipulation. The dinner hour of 5-6 pm seems to be his training time for trying to make Mommy crazy!! He is demanding 110% of my attention or else!

But there are fun moments too! He is a reading maniac! He is signing up a storm, although we haven't been very good about continuing to teach him. He loves all of the toy catalogs and magazines that are arriving in the mail. He studies them as if there will be a test at the end of the night. It's hilarious! Here are a few pics of his studious behavior.

Notice the pointing at the best item!
Carefully turning the page!
He also recently discovered a fun machine in Daddy's play room! The funny part is that he's never seen it before, never really watched Daddy play, yet it was like an instinct took over and he was drawn to the machine like a duck to a decoy. I dragged a stool over and he stood and played the game for 10 minutes. Keep in mind, I have no idea how to turn the dang thing on so all he did was move the joystick, hit buttons, and watch a black screen. Once Daddy came home, the real fun began!
Look closely at their faces! It's just precious! We have decided that once Carson is old enough, he will earn quarters for good behavior and getting his chores done. Those quarters will let him play the game!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Carson's First Haircut

In the last few weeks, more than one person has commented to me that Carson's hair was in need of a haircut. But I was really struggling with the idea of his little whispy baby hairs getting trimmed. I was fearful that the scissor marks would show up terribly and it would look terrible. I kept putting off the haircut. But then suddenly one day I saw it. Our poor child looked like a cross between Donald Trump with his long comb-over and country bumpkin with a mullet. It was long all over and hanging over his ears. I realized that it was time. Here is the evidence. Upon seeing this picture, I could no longer put off the hair cut. Look closely at the wings on the sides!


So this morning we headed down to Little Clippers in Lake Oswego for his first cut. A very sweet and patient stylist, Nicole, was the unfortunate gal who got to trim Carson. I should probably mention that he is a bit sleep deprived and is STILL cutting his second molar. So in spite of a healthy dose of Motrin, Carson was NOT in the mood to get his hair cut. Here is his before picture at the salon. It all went downhill from there. First we tried letting him sit in the yellow car. No good.
Plan B?
Okay- Mommy will hold you. Is this any better? Nope.
Crying
More sobbing. Not sure if you can see in this picture but the tears are so big they have streamed all the way down to his chin.
STILL crying but looking much better!
Mommy can't stop laughing and Nana is in the background video-taping and trying to cheer up her miserable grandson.
This is hilarious. Post haircut. Poor Nicole is just trying to roll off the leftover hair and Carson will have nothing to do with it. He is still screaming at the top of his lungs. Even the yellow Hummer couldn't make him smile.
Calming down now. But he wouldn't let go of me.
The end result is spectacular!! He is sitting in a large plastic camper, much happier and much cuter! I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner!
Little Clippers was fantastic! Highly recommend it to all! They let the kids pick out a video to watch during their haircut (unfortunately that did not help us at all), there are 7 or 8 different vehicles to sit in for the haircut, and the waiting room is a huge playground. The stylist was extremely patient, dexterious, and sweet. They gave us a little baggie of hair for his hair box thingee and made a cute little certificate with Carson's name on it with another lock of hair. Very thoughtful!

Cowboy Carson- Then and Now

Carson has a renewed interest in his rocking horse now that he can climb on without assistance AND (much to our dismay) he figured out how to activate the sounds and motion. I found the pictures of him last December when his Great Aunt Pam gave him his first horse! It's amazing how much he has changed in just 11 months.


Month 17- Trip to the Fire Station

Ian's daddy is the fire chief at our local Skyline Fire Station and was kind enough to invite us up to play. The boys had a good time running around checking it out but Carson was a little scared of the trucks at first. Once he realized the truck had a steering wheel, he was just fine!

Sitting on the back of the antique fire truck, smiling so hard that his eyes are squeezed shut!

Aunt Lori & Uncle Brian are visiting for the holiday!
Uncle Brian likes to rough house!
Punching bags are way cool!
Running on the treadmill!
Ian and Chief Daddy Jeremy
Look closely and you'll see Carson squealing with delight!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Worst Mother of the Year- Nominations Accepted

Here are the terrible things I've let happen lately earning me several nominations for Worst Mother of the Year!

#1- I let go of Carson at Trader’s Joes to swipe my ATM card. He took off at top speed . . . heading right for the wine section. I begged the cashier to hurry, hurry, hurry, waiting any minute to hear the sound of breaking glass, wondering how many bottles of wine I was going to have to buy. It felt like forever and I couldn’t see him anywhere. Then I heard a clinking sound. Scribbled my signature on the receipt and ran as fast as I could.

There he was. Unpacking the Charles Shaw wine display. He had carefully pulled down three bottles of wine and lined them up bowling pin style in the aisle. I didn’t know whether to run faster and risk scaring the heck out of him, or slow down and risk him dropping the next bottle. Got there just in time to wisk the bottles out of harm’s reach and saving myself embarrassment and money.

#2 Totally traumatic event last week. Carson fell down with a toy in his mouth (a tube about 15 inches long and ½ inch in diameter). He landed on it, which forced it down his throat!! Had to pull it out. Blood coming out his mouth, gurgling sounds from his throat. And of course, screaming. Almost thought we were headed to the hospital for a puncture of his throat. It was awful!! We kept checking on him during the night while he was sleeping to make sure he was breathing!! He kept waking up in pain so we gave in some Motrin. Seemed to be fine in the morning. Thank God!

#3 He picked up a piece of dog poo on the lawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fortunately he did NOT try to eat it.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Boys Only Playdate at Pirate Park

Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do! Carson, Mason, Ian, & Luka enjoyed a boys bonding afternoon at Pirate Park! They probably didn't even notice that the girls were missing but did have a great time on the slides, swings, and playing in the wet sand!

It's a race!
Happy happy boys! Luka, Ian, Mason, & Carson
Smile for the camera!
Slides are so fun!
This park is huge!
My first time all by myself!
This is grrrreeat!
Ian's an old pro!

A little off road exploring!
Perfect light but couldn't catch a smile.
Boys will be boys!
Sand is cool!
Dig, dig, dig!


How Old is Carson?

How Old is Keaton?