My BABY is a year and a half already – where did time go? I swear it’s gone even faster the second time around. With Collin I kept saying, “now THIS is my favorite stage” surprised that each stage came with a new set of joys and challenges. The second time around I think I may be enjoying all of it even more because I know how short each stage is. I try to relish each moment since I know it will be over soon…I’m so thankful to have this time home with him! Now that school has begun I’ve enjoyed being able to have time with Carson alone while Collin’s in school until 3, and then some time with Collin alone when he first gets home if Carson is napping rather than trying to meet both of their needs all day.
Carson continues to be such a delight – he continues to have such an easy-going personality and is happy nearly all of the time. He is fairly independent and occupies himself surprisingly well (I wonder if Collin was EVER like this and we forgot, or perhaps we never gave him the opportunity to play on his own). Carson loves his toy lawnmower and pushes it around everywhere…it’s amazing at how well he navigates the difficult terrain of our yard. It’s too bad the lawnmower doesn’t actually work or we’d have to consider hiring him out!
Carson is also quite expressive and he knows what he wants. He is very picky ab
out his shoes – either wanting them on or off, usually on because he wants to go outside. He also has definite ideas about what we should be doing, and directs me with his pointing and “Ehh Ehh” that I should (put on my shoes/sit down beside him/take a drink of water) or whatever he thinks of.
He is doing great at signing and learns new signs quickly – usually after one or two demonstrations. Although he’s pretty vocal, he speaks in a language we can’t understand (Mike calls it Ton Ton talk from Star Wars). He does say a few words quite clearly, most of them beginning with the letter “b” (ball, bye, bug, also Hi, MaMa, Mom, Da Da, Pa Pa. He tries to say “truck” and a few other words too but he prefers to sign. He signs “more, all done, please, thank you, milk, grapes, bananas, hot, cold, and made up signs for juice and yuck since I didn’t know the real signs.
He wants to be part of conversations, but doesn’t quite know how to contribute, so sometimes he begins the signs for “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, wanting us to sing along with him. He enjoys praying before meals and if we forget he reminds us by putting his hands together, and then doing the sign of the cross, which looks most like imitating a chicken rather than crossing himself.
He’s a pretty good eater, and his favorite foods are pizza, pasta, grapes (and most fruits). He’ll eat two slices of pizza along with his milk, even after grazing on Cherrios for hours waiting to eat. He loves feeding others as much as feeding himself and often tries to give us soggy Cherrios to eat. Perhaps his most favorite is feeding the cats, which he learned by watching this father. Carson LOVES the cats and tries to pet them often. They are much more tolerant of him than they were of Collin at this age but I wouldn’t say the affection is mutual. How blessed are we!
We survived the first month of Kindergarten! For the first few weeks all we heard about was Boosterthon.com – a fundraiser where they ran laps at school. Collin seems to be adjusting well and enjoys his new friends. Carson loves getting Collin from the bus stop, but occasionally he is still asleep from his nap. The boys are enjoying their time together in the afternoons. It’s fun to watch the kids together, but it’s been nice to have the time to focus on Carson while Collin learns at school. One of Carson’s favorite things 
to do is to give kisses and hugs. He will often pucker up to give kisses spontaneously or on command – adorable!
