tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30860086152577631402024-03-13T07:30:19.671-05:00Carter Logan Smith29 Weeks and CountingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger424125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-64203896826905023692013-06-16T23:48:00.001-05:002013-06-16T23:48:10.325-05:00On hiatus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I meant to make this post about six months ago, oops.<br />
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This blog is currently on hiatus while we are spending this year traveling around the world! You can follow our adventures over on <a href="http://sevencontinentsmiths.blogspot.com/">Seven Continent Smiths</a>. :-)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-9924482608867365152012-11-19T11:54:00.001-06:002012-11-19T11:54:36.914-06:00Some notes about mathematical thinking It's been interesting to watch Carter's concept of place value begin to form. It's one of the most important foundational concepts for elementary mathematics, and so I've been really interested to see how it falls in place for Carter. <br /><br />Everything still centers around counting for him at this point. He can count to well over 100 and can correctly read numbers with up to 3 digits without assistance, but needs help when there are thousands (or more) involved. That is, he can look at 371 and correctly read it as, "three hundred and seventy-one," but if that number is, say, 49,371, he needs help. <br /><br />He can add and subtract on his fingers and has committed many of the within-10 addition and subtraction facts to memory. (Note that I don't believe in flash-carding kids; this has all happened organically and in a child-led way, as has all his learning.) He can use his fingers to add and subtract within-20, and I've been trying to guide him towards the counting-up strategy rather than the count-them-all strategy he uses now, but he is still a bit reluctant to try that without help, which tells me he's not quite ready. When the numbers get bigger than 20, we get out the place value blocks and use those to add and subtract -- and that's when I have to contain my excitement, because place value is so cool and so important!<br /><br />It's very clear what his ZPD is right now, and when I have a chance (and when he's in the mood) I will pose problems that push that cognitive ceiling up a bit. But he's so focused on writing these days that math has taken a back seat. We played with place value ideas this morning a bit, but what he really wanted to do was write numerals. So he wrote and I made representations with place value blocks, something that reinforces those concepts well. <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5812583999992140594'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri7zm6z2sglKfUA6LkH34whdgNfkexhbJpTmOmDnhnvT-GwYaZOFmLukfz2hILpRCBjF5kyeK8Y5RjgUpAWhq1vPg4WplA-p8xihUxcfkUy_3kxhRMWWIs5h0lupdU26kSO3qAriJPPMl/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />He does know how to represent numbers as sets of 100s, 10s, and 1s with the blocks, and he can decompose higher units into smaller ones - though not in the context of a computation just yet. Still, it's good to see that progress in his thinking. My goal is to help him have a very solid conceptual foundation for mathematics. And it's also fun to use his development as an example in the courses I teach, heh.<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-18967756345735055212012-11-14T21:37:00.001-06:002012-11-14T21:37:55.063-06:00Seriously?He has better handwriting at the age of 4 than I had at the age of 8. I don't even know.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5810878896371473122'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6v6wQNujyYz8Kygx_qROgSQbKzUVhRTzk5GaVZfAwYZ9TZHLNIj2Z8qYIN07h53gvvY5Pk84VSGGV20OdyfnGF57pyANC34Of2IKe2OejXRUFlbKJ_92yQcmeb_8ecuieDDroOVrRV5mj/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />And I was worried a few months back about his fine motor skills and the fact that he had never written at all. I guess that worrying was a bit premature. :-P<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-597522965840087572012-11-07T16:29:00.000-06:002012-11-07T16:29:16.547-06:00Notes from CarterOne of the cool things about Carter being able to read and write is that it gives us a whole new way to communicate. He has an email account and has been emailing Nana and his cousins, but he has also used it to email me. I was out of town last weekend and we were able to email each other. I loved it! I sent him little emails throughout the day, and he occasionally wrote me back. For example:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Mommy I</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Miss You</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hop</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Miss</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Me!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">From</span><br />
<span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Carter</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">To</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Mommy</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
So sweet! I love it the way he presses return after every word. ;-)<br />
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He also knows how to email me pictures from within iPad apps. Here is one he sent of Rainbow Dash. (Those things coming out of her head are tears. She's laughing so hard she's crying, apparently.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8n29k_PnricMZ4yXPF5L6Vztydb00AEUjkeH03EOJP2Wqs21_iWwDbRbDOJZsP2PxBqGOwm0CYVT7Mrd1hLNp4MZA4SEC-lThrIrh3K9bZk8dJab5SO-UPGVbc9YUdLFqHXUtU9iHLCKN/s1600/rainbow+dash.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8n29k_PnricMZ4yXPF5L6Vztydb00AEUjkeH03EOJP2Wqs21_iWwDbRbDOJZsP2PxBqGOwm0CYVT7Mrd1hLNp4MZA4SEC-lThrIrh3K9bZk8dJab5SO-UPGVbc9YUdLFqHXUtU9iHLCKN/s320/rainbow+dash.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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He also has a writing paper app that he can take screenshots in and email them. Here's one he sent me when I went to work on Monday:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-FlFs1JZqOIzLzUF0UVbvOhk0EvIe9YtZdNIEsyJHfKNQwmchFXsRvAvwQtpwSBGiHRTZiDNIXAKnh5CetQbxAnKJl9Fikr_UKBZkWLd4SuOoa7wA2VTJeBzxavKIuM8nZDFozuHIpHF/s1600/miss+you.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-FlFs1JZqOIzLzUF0UVbvOhk0EvIe9YtZdNIEsyJHfKNQwmchFXsRvAvwQtpwSBGiHRTZiDNIXAKnh5CetQbxAnKJl9Fikr_UKBZkWLd4SuOoa7wA2VTJeBzxavKIuM8nZDFozuHIpHF/s320/miss+you.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's so, so cool. :-)</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-20391041328737923912012-11-05T19:18:00.001-06:002012-11-07T16:29:51.617-06:00Handwriting practice Carter's handwriting has really come a long way. But then, he practices A LOT. ;-)<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5807503274035307906'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ea9ckM-x376bh3qmlwTPsxHVI8yVCtn0ODCSl_-sURLHf8XFiURtaITgq44B8YmHNUdEy3udZdhRZ6_NheFnlLrilAu6k8UW47V6R4AkZWm-z7dfbnfIVgql06ssHZj_PMwrtGB9PGsB/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-78092975142437854352012-10-26T12:26:00.001-05:002012-11-07T16:29:51.619-06:00Picture postMe and Carter a few weeks ago. Love this picture!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaLiqcrd-SWvbxzKG3trvcRjsnaZyjAE6gmWAz4pAwL3IxRN7C8kloQT91prx3NCq1iX5e1OYq3Umvxso_voAl9OHePkUba_cmh-3i-eHlff24cRut6HBWBoeHz82HrmjpzeXus2AUc4L/s1600/Carter-jenn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaLiqcrd-SWvbxzKG3trvcRjsnaZyjAE6gmWAz4pAwL3IxRN7C8kloQT91prx3NCq1iX5e1OYq3Umvxso_voAl9OHePkUba_cmh-3i-eHlff24cRut6HBWBoeHz82HrmjpzeXus2AUc4L/s320/Carter-jenn.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Compare to one of the first pictures of the two of us:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILzqSeLZwTXRX_2hPrvhCHjejiEuz0B6NJLkIxJITIcaSdTLhyphenhyphenn1xI-l1Uy7dBas6KQPOo2jC71dtFjIEuC8tNSO2hLoRk0629FnFN0ZyMZJ07IkwhDqX8wFVeO4WYwqil-ouUZWjVbap/s1600/Carter0010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILzqSeLZwTXRX_2hPrvhCHjejiEuz0B6NJLkIxJITIcaSdTLhyphenhyphenn1xI-l1Uy7dBas6KQPOo2jC71dtFjIEuC8tNSO2hLoRk0629FnFN0ZyMZJ07IkwhDqX8wFVeO4WYwqil-ouUZWjVbap/s320/Carter0010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Amazing, isn't it?<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-12714808559212488422012-10-23T10:46:00.001-05:002012-11-07T16:29:51.614-06:00Writing in cursiveA couple of weeks ago, Carter decided he wanted to learn to write in cursive. And so he proceeded to teach himself. I printed out a cursive alphabet and he spent hours copying it. When he'd mastered the letters, he started asking for examples of how to join up the letters to make words. He did this completely on his own, and it's just amazing.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5802531611239275394'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRYtvDpHvQsX3KNIUoSPcVb8AGMQ6_jB6gyxNFtMrPLyP6yX_P-5Voxi2xkOdeOLxagskGUhxSSKSiyhBM2vI1sUkmMxVinVKX3ZCAjd5FB5rsnz2iR69He-0GVYbUJGLEFBOUAZnvSgq/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5802531624990709186'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRo5THnHS8wFpcJJL3Z9FZ-ZpTjhcW-PK_gYM9KD7aTne_bD5hf7T4CmJhWKIoe5Zn9R390Y33MeLUOb1-KSqYj0ZaFeyTc2thYJvamo8ZJkoXP7rJGUmxgD46isYZE2tsRRJg5wMvaZ4Q/s288/1.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5802531639342988626'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJ_mF2X2JByRK5BBthyphenhyphenN5CgaLzo8TK5mVn7Mb81B5f4LWVkYDS6Zw-sV8ZS3Y_9hdv-yJ1fZMOjoufHUv_GzbyaXHP9aWTiVbJ33YchxedBKb0TN2OkOLzzPbQzJSpgVlGLV0AyUhZdwB/s288/2.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />It's definitely done in his own unique style, but it's readable! It's really cursive! The whole thing has kind of blown my mind, really. I'm not even sure kids need to learn cursive at all; keyboarding seems a much better skill. And then my 4-year-old goes and learns it on his own. <br /><br />Here are a couple of videos: <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5802531674244053810'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7c1ETKsxS5WDCqgucL5y-FTd7eMOdLBLj-dYIyzN3FwE4HMsO6syrla8xwVbToJoXGiJD3ucvxJTUw5hXpJEIJHhyw4GWiSxbyKA89AjUIHwPUpkSM9gemjJpf7RfosWq-VxKwwU8aio/s288/3.jpg' border='0' width='200' height='150' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><p align='center'><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/oYGTpX78ojQ" width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oYGTpX78ojQ" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><!-- Fallback content --><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYGTpX78ojQ"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/oYGTpX78ojQ/0.jpg" width="400" height="300" />YouTube Video</a></object></p><br />Crazy!<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-83274173404652127242012-10-13T14:17:00.001-05:002012-11-07T16:29:51.621-06:00WritingI haven't posted here in a while, I know! It sort of fell off my radar this year. Since I lat posted back in January, Carter has grown and learned so much! He's 42.5 inches tall now, apparently finally above the 50th percentile for height. <br /><br />He's also reading and writing now, which is quite amazing to watch. He's only been writing for a little over a month; prior to that he'd never even written a single letter of the alphabet! He became obsessed with the solar system over the summer and the desire to learn more about it seemed to be the catalyst for a huge cognitive jump. One day about 6 weeks ago, he picked up a marker and wrote "solar system" -- having never before even written a letter of the alphabet!<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/111685864410781649836/CarterLoganSmith?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv6g9CE7aGEnAE#5798874321274008482'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYyT8TVBGHVVyO65ZFfwS01-EycVm4HvUkzlB-eSQR8sKwoJi-0JatmU9TnPSFiWK6hHfpWrDZEKxq5mpU5Mc46wqNnmZrUUHsHOwOviyL7oKuPhXKlbCZvpGgRk9_EVLjwjTnw2gvw06/s288/0.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />And then writing became his obsession. He will seriously sit at the table for hours at a time, writing words over and over. He writes on lined paper, on the driveway with chalk, on the whiteboard in his room, with his finger on an iPad app. A pencil and paper suddenly provide hours of entertainment. <br /><br />Part of what has amazed me about this is how it's all come completely from him. We never pushed or made him sit down and do it. We don't really give him much guidance now about how to form letters or to spell words. He's learned to type words into the Google search bar to figure out how they are spelled! It's a fantastic example of whole language learning.<br /><br />He's also starting to write stories, which I love! Here is a video showing one:<br /><br /><br /><p align='center'><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/hQLWpFRl09I" width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hQLWpFRl09I" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><!-- Fallback content --><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQLWpFRl09I"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/hQLWpFRl09I/0.jpg" width="400" height="300" />YouTube Video</a></object></p><br />I love it! I can't wait to see what he'll become interested in next. :-)<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-28525128245728639262012-01-09T20:35:00.000-06:002012-01-09T20:35:36.947-06:00Birthday in Disneyland!Yesterday was Carter's 4th birthday. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years, though in other ways it seems like Carter has been around longer than that! Carter hasn't really expressed any interest in having a birthday party yet and so we really wanted to do something to make his birthday extra special. After thinking about a few different options, we decided to take a weekend trip to Disneyland to celebrate. <br />
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We flew to LA on Friday afternoon and checked into the Disneyland hotel, a place we've never stayed before. Though Doug and I used to go to Disneyland a lot back when we lived in Tucson, it's been more than a decade since we've been here. This area has changed a lot! The Disneyland park used to stand alone, surrounded by parking lots. Now there's another park and a Downtown Disney area, and it all looks so different than I remember. But it's very compact and that's a nice change from Orlando. It's a quick walk from our hotel to the monorail station, and then the monorail takes you right into the park, bypassing the entry plaza. That's nice first thing in the morning! We spent most of three days in the park (we spent one evening in the California Adventure park, but otherwise we stayed in Disneyland), and I took most of the pictures on Carter's actual birthday on Sunday.<br />
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Here we're riding the monorail at 7:00 am -- yay for Extra Magic Hours! <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670451619/" title="Carter_2421 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6670451619_126f1bfcc6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2421"></a><br />
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For some reason the minimum heights of many rides were different here than in Orlando, and Carter was able to ride everything except the Indiana Jones ride. He got to ride Space Mountain (which he's too short for in Orlando) for the first time, and he loved it! We ended up riding it 4 times over the course of a few days.<br />
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Carter also enjoyed riding Star Tours, the Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain (on which we got soaked first thing in the morning, brrr!), and Pirates of the Caribbean (the Disneyland version is the best there is, IMO). Two rides were completely redone for Christmas, to my surprise: It's a Small World (the characters sang "Jingle Bells"!) and the Haunted Mansion (reimagined as The Nightmare Before Christmas). Carter was a little perplexed that the Christmas decorations were still up and kept saying, "But Christmas is over." Heh.<br />
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After spending some time in the Magic Kingdom park in Orlando, this view of Disneyland from Main Street seems to be missing something: <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670452253/" title="Carter_2425 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6670452253_be147e4b25.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2425"></a><br />
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Sleeping Beauty's castle is puny compared to Cinderella's in Orlando! It's strange to look down the street and not see that huge castle dominating the park. Disneyland is far more compact than the Magic Kingdom as well, and that makes the park feel very different.<br />
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Carter liked riding rides, but Tom Sawyer Island is always a great place to spend time.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670451973/" title="Carter_2422 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6670451973_891efb3a10.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2422"></a><br />
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We never did ride the steamboat this time, unfortunately!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670452061/" title="Carter_2423 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6670452061_92efddfc03.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2423"></a><br />
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Carter also had fun playing on this fire truck.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670452125/" title="Carter_2424 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6670452125_ab856052f2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2424"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459783/" title="Carter_2439 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6670459783_fd35e85abb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2439"></a><br />
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We spent a lot of time in Toon Town, where there are lots of things to play on.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670452439/" title="Carter_2426 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6670452439_15d7187d6c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2426"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670452783/" title="Carter_2427 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6670452783_309b3ec135.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2427"></a><br />
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We did the mass birthday party at the Plaza Inn, which Carter was honestly too tired for. In retrospect we could have skipped it!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670453141/" title="Carter_2428 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6670453141_36b76a4d0e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2428"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670453233/" title="Carter_2429 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6670453233_aaa26d9418.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2429"></a><br />
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Everyone got a little cake to decorate.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670453269/" title="Carter_2430 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6670453269_446c31c9c1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2430"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670452881/" title="Carter_2431 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6670452881_75dae6e3ff.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2431"></a><br />
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Needs more sprinkles!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670453043/" title="Carter_2432 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6670453043_e954e9e15b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2432"></a><br />
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The final result, which he wasn't interested in eating:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459321/" title="Carter_2433 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6670459321_7890e590a8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2433"></a><br />
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And then there was a surprise visit from Mickey and Minnie!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459407/" title="Carter_2434 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6670459407_3c1d6ac000.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2434"></a><br />
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We ended the day early on Sunday and spent the evening in the hotel room. We can see the park's fireworks from our room, but Carter fell asleep an hour or so before, so he missed them. Doug and I were kind of glad to have an evening to relax, though! We pushed it too hard on Sunday and should have taken a break earlier in the day, in retrospect.<br />
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We decided to do the character breakfast in the hotel this morning. Here Carter is hanging out in one of the Autotopia cars in the lobby.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459507/" title="Carter_2435 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6670459507_a441e2ba09.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2435"></a><br />
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We got a picture with Pluto. There were lots of other characters roaming around, but somehow we didn't get any other pictures.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459565/" title="Carter_2436 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6670459565_f40466de29.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2436"></a><br />
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The Happy Birthday button got Carter lots of free desserts this weekend!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459629/" title="Carter_2437 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6670459629_d3871f053b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2437"></a><br />
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We rode lots of rides today and had fun in the park. He and I made our own lightsabers, and we're going to have a lot of fun with those when we get home! Carter seemed to be done in mid-afternoon, so we headed back towards the hotel. We took him by a make-your-own toy car store in Downtown Disney, and he picked out a flatbed truck with very basic features. (He named it Sally and says it's a space flatbed truck.) He had fun watching the guy put it together. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6670459919/" title="Carter_2440 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6670459919_34414168ab.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2440"></a><br />
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We've been hanging out in the room ever since, and he seems to be enjoying having some quality time with his toys. As Doug says, "World class amusement park: miss. $20 plastic toy: hit!" It's been a fun weekend, though. One of the things that's been really cool on this trip is that Carter is now old enough to ride some cool things, and he actually likes those rides. Space Mountain was one of the first rides he went on (which, for those who've never been to a Disney park, is a fairly fast roller coaster ride <i>in the dark</i>), and when he came off of that grinning, I knew he was going to be able to ride everything! It's definitely more fun for me and Doug than it was a couple of years ago.<br />
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Carter seemed to enjoy the trip, but on the actual day of his birthday he wasn't very happy about turning 4. He kept saying, "I'm not really 4 yet; I'm just <i>turning</i> 4." He also said that after he turns, 6, he'll turn 3 again. He seemed a little distressed about being a year older, and he seemed worried that being 4 means he's a big boy now. I think I may have stressed him out about this birthday! :-/ <br />
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And it seems like a big birthday, somehow. It seems like he's a big boy now in a way he wasn't before. 3 is still a baby in a lot of ways but 4 is a child, no doubt about it. But hey, he can still be a little boy for as long as he wants. I don't mind. :-)<br />
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And now, we're off to ride Space Mountain one more time before the park closes...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-53343867804493646612012-01-03T20:40:00.000-06:002012-01-03T20:40:02.252-06:00Christmas in NC, part 2Happy New Year! I meant to get more of these Christmas pictures posted before New Year's day, but didn't manage it. I'll combine Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so there will be a lot of pictures in this post. Fair warning!<br />
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We spent Christmas Eve at my Dad's and Barbara's house. My mom and Rick, Donna and her family, my step-sister Lynn and her family, and step-sister Nicci and her boyfriend and his parents were all there as well. The kids had fun playing together, and there was an impressive spread of food, as always!<br />
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Here is Emma all ready for Christmas:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567356925/" title="Carter_2355 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6567356925_33977f569d.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2355"></a><br />
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Carter and Emma played some "tunes" on the piano.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567357909/" title="Carter_2358 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6567357909_05b795c736.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2358"></a><br />
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All the little kids had somehow lost their pants once time to open presents came around!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567358559/" title="Carter_2360 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6567358559_e13e1a0669.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2360"></a><br />
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It was fun to watch them all open presents and get excited about new toys.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567358857/" title="Carter_2361 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6567358857_c6ab817769.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2361"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567359541/" title="Carter_2364 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6567359541_d7fdd2122f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2364"></a><br />
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Here is Carter with Uncle Chris, trying our a megaphone gift from Nana.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567359317/" title="Carter_2363 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6567359317_f0fc708317.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2363"></a><br />
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Carter opened one gift and would have been happy to stop there. It actually took a while to get him to open something else! Which says a lot, really. He wanted to open a little airplane playset while we were still at Dad's house, and we told him that we would open it when we got back to Nana's house. He fell asleep on the way back, and then slept until 9:30 on Christmas morning! When he woke up, Mom asked him if he wanted to see what Santa Claus had brought, and he said, "Did he bring my airport from Papa's house?" <br />
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Once in the living room, he completely ignored the pile of presents, went straight to the box with the airplane playset, and insisted that we open and assemble it. It was a good 15 minutes before he could be convinced to open any presents!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631997827/" title="Carter_2365 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6631997827_611ffd04eb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2365"></a><br />
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There were lots of toy tractors for him to unwrap:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631997981/" title="Carter_2368 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6631997981_02be60a996.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2368"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631997891/" title="Carter_2366 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6631997891_b5f6032ec6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2366"></a><br />
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And a big fire truck from Grandpa and Grandma Smith.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998069/" title="Carter_2370 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6631998069_074f42054b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2370"></a><br />
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John Deere was definitely the theme of the morning!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998111/" title="Carter_2373 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6631998111_9c0717147f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2373"></a><br />
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He also enjoyed this crane from Nana.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998263/" title="Carter_2371 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6631998263_6eec14e560.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2371"></a><br />
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We lounged around and had a brunch of red velvet pancakes. We headed up to Mount Airy in the early afternoon for the family gathering at my Aunt's house. My mom's parents and both her siblings and all my cousins were there. It was a big crowd, but fun as always!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998307/" title="Carter_2378 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6631998307_e438497da8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2378"></a><br />
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We got the kids to sing a little before we started opening presents. Sort of...<br />
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Here they are waiting patiently for the gift opening to begin.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998351/" title="Carter_2374 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6631998351_6058817bee.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2374"></a><br />
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Then it was a blur of paper and boxes for a while!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998393/" title="Carter_2375 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6631998393_7c473a7db6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2375"></a><br />
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After the presents were unwrapped and played with, one of the kids decided it was bathtime, and the next thing we knew they were all naked. So, into the bath they went!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998445/" title="Carter_2376 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6631998445_e02bd448f0.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="Carter_2376"></a><br />
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After that we all just hung out and enjoyed each other's company.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6631998485/" title="Carter_2377 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6631998485_e4f68f8dac.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2377"></a><br />
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Carter had a great time playing with his cousins. I have such great memories of these family get-togethers when I was a kid, and the Christmas ones were so very special to me! I can remember being so excited and everyone laughing and enjoying each other's company. I really hope Carter has similar memories of Christmases spent with family!<br />
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We lingered over conversation and full tummies, and then finally set out to go back to Greensboro to my Mom's house. I'm always sad that Christmas is over. It's a holiday I look forward to for months, and then it seems to pass by so quickly! And Mom and I realized too late that we'd forgotten to get a picture of all the kids with my grandparents, and we were both sad about that. It's so rare that ALL of us are together like that, and we definitely missed an opportunity to get a photo. :-(<br />
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The holiday wasn't over yet, though. We still had an awesome gift left: my dad and Barbara had gotten us a night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord as a Christmas gift! I'll write all about that in my next post.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-83868730178111840042011-12-30T21:47:00.001-06:002011-12-30T21:49:07.501-06:00Christmas in NC, part 1I meant to post several times during our trip to NC, but the time just got away from me. I'll try to catch up over the next few days.<br />
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We flew to Greensboro on Sunday the 18th, arriving in the afternoon. We spent that evening hanging out at my Mom's house, and my sister and her kids came over to play. Carter had a blast running around the house and playing with them, as usual. I think this was the first time Doug's really seen him playing with his cousins and he was surprised at how excited Carter was to play with them! <br />
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Unfortunately, Doug had to go on a business trip for a good chunk of the week, so he missed out on much of what we did. Even more unfortunately, he was sick with what we'd later learn was a sinus infection, so the time we did have he didn't even get to enjoy so much. <br />
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Carter and I spent Monday afternoon at the Greensboro Science Center, and we basically spent the entire time in the kids' play areas! In fact, we went back a few days later with the intention of going to the zoo there, and he was upset because he thought we were going to spend the entire time playing again. This is a picture from the five minutes he spent in the zoo before we headed back in to play.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567356109/" title="Carter_2351 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6567356109_c8f5997ea4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2351"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567356251/" title="Carter_2352 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6567356251_c0825838bb.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2352"></a><br />
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On Tuesday we went to the awesome Greensboro Children's Museum, where Carter had a blast playing. We had lunch with Nana and then went back to play for the rest of the afternoon. I basically had to drag Carter out of there! <br />
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On Wednesday we went to Mount Airy to visit my grandparents. We had lunch with them and then went to the John Deere toy store in downtown Mount Airy. Carter and I had been talking about going there for six months. The last time we tried to go back in October, they were closed, and Carter was devastated. This time I called ahead to check the hours first, and he was so excited! We walked in the door and he did a single lap around the store, picked out a toy, and said, "Okay, this is what I want to buy." I tried to convince him to keep looking, to check out the vast array of John Deere tractors, to just hang out a bit, but that was it. He was done. A couple of minutes later we were headed out the door again, purchase in hand. I couldn't believe it! We spent that afternoon hanging out at my grandparents' house and then had dinner downtown with my Uncle Scott and Aunt Pam before heading back to Greensboro.<br />
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On Thursday we hung out at my sister's house and played, and then we all went to see the Chipmunks movie. This was mostly a success, though Carter is still not quite ready to sit through an entire movie. Afterwards we played at Donna's house a little more, then went to the airport to pick up Doug and then on to the Greensboro Colosseum, where Donna had tickets for us all to attend a UNCG basketball game while enjoying a special lounge. We had a buffet of hot dogs and hamburgers in an area where the adults could watch the game and the kids could run around and play, and it was a lot of fun!<br />
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Friday was the first day I remembered to take pictures, somehow. It was also a dry day after several days of rain and it was even unseasonably warm, perfect for playing outside. Carter spent a lot of time playing with his cousins at Nana's house. They rode vehicles down the driveway, ran around in the grass, rode the zip line, and even found some dirt to dig in.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567353395/" title="Carter_2343 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6567353395_9c5f6099d8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2343"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567353667/" title="Carter_2344 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6567353667_b85b4d5753.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2344"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567354031/" title="Carter_2345 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6567354031_0c558162fd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2345"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567354253/" title="Carter_2346 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6567354253_dd22b092e0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2346"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567354683/" title="Carter_2347 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6567354683_6f3a115b8c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2347"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567355597/" title="Carter_2349 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6567355597_d6f649b2b1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2349"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567355827/" title="Carter_2350 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6567355827_12b4917ff7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2350"></a><br />
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All of the kids loved watching funny YouTube videos on Nana's iPad!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6567356489/" title="Carter_2353 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6567356489_d76262fc76.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2353"></a><br />
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That takes us up to Christmas Eve, which I'll post about tomorrow. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-82373539237647284622011-12-12T00:40:00.000-06:002011-12-12T00:40:09.228-06:00Various holiday stuff, weekend without TVDoug was gone this weekend (on the other side of the planet in Singapore and now India), and weekends without him are always strange. He's gone a lot during the week, but there's something different about the way it feels to not have him here on a weekend. It's a lot more intense for me, certainly. It's harder to get basic housework and errands done when you don't have a co-parent, for one thing. I don't envy single parents at all!<br />
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But we had a fun weekend anyway. It's our last whole weekend at home before we head to NC for Christmas, so I wanted to do some Christmas-y things. Carter, of course, mostly just wanted to play. He knows Christmas is coming sort of vaguely, but because we've carefully avoided placing any emphasis on it being about him getting lots of presents (he'll figure that out soon enough), he doesn't seem to be terribly excited about it. He loves the lights and the decorations, though, and so we've had a lot of fun with that. <br />
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One thing I decided to do this weekend was to keep the TV off the entire time. It wasn't nearly as hard as I expected, and neither of us actually missed it at all. We had some Christmas music playing off and on, but for the most part it was just quiet in the house. Except for when we were doing our own hard rock version of "Jingle Bells", with Carter on the drums. Definitely not quiet then!<br />
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We did a craft project I saw either in a magazine or online: a cardboard Christmas tree. I used an old box to cut out the pieces and we painted them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512521/" title="Carter_2329 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6497512521_135f2f7a59.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2329"></a><br />
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We talked about different ways of decorating the tree (Carter still wants to add lights, but I wanted something more simple) and we ended up using glitter glue to make ornaments.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512583/" title="Carter_2334 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6497512583_c580795898.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2334"></a><br />
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The finished product is really cute!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512619/" title="Carter_2336 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6497512619_b0b04918de.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2336"></a><br />
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This is a picture of Carter talking to Doug (who was in India at the time) on the phone tonight. He always likes to put the phone on speaker, for some reason.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512599/" title="Carter_2335 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6497512599_0965615229.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2335"></a><br />
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Last night I had planned for us to go to the Wildflower Center to see their Christmas light display, which is only this weekend. Carter loves Christmas lights, and he was really excited. We had dinner first at one of our favorite restaurants and then headed down there, about a 35 miles drive from our house. The parking situation was insane, though, and I drove around for a good ten minutes trying to find a place to park. I finally looked back and saw that Carter had fallen asleep, so I decided to just drive home. It was actually nice to have a quiet evening to myself - something I hardly ever get these days!<br />
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Today we finally got our own Christmas lights up, and Carter asked if we were going to see any lights tonight. I thought it would be fun to put on our pajamas and drink hot chocolate and ride around in the car looking at lights, and he completely vetoed the pajamas idea. He was adamant that pajamas are only for sleeping in! But that was just as well, because our plans changed a little anyway.<br />
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Here he is in the car, all bundled up with hot chocolate, ready for lights-viewing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512653/" title="Carter_2337 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6497512653_a27196d411.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2337"></a><br />
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We drove around our neighborhood for a while, and we saw some awesome light displays. It was still early, so I decided to drive down to 37th street in central Austin, where there is a street that always does an amazing light display. We found a place to park and walked around, and Carter really loved it. In fact, he spent most of the time with this expression on his face:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512809/" title="Carter_2338 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6497512809_2ddd4b9de9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2338"></a><br />
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The displays were awesome and kitschy and so <i>Austin</i>. Many of the displays were interactive:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512707/" title="Carter_2340 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6497512707_91fc8ff25a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2340"></a><br />
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A fascinating array of objects were lit up:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512755/" title="Carter_2341 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6497512755_4832f5957f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2341"></a> <br />
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This giant pterodactyl was amazing!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512779/" title="Carter_2342 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6497512779_23175e2867.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2342"></a><br />
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The owner of this house was out front flying a remote control shark balloon around in the air. Yes, a shark was swimming in the air over our heads! <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6497512843/" title="Carter_2339 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6497512843_13e7dbf71f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2339"></a><br />
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I had to drag Carter away, literally, and promised we'd come back later in the week with Daddy. On the way home he said he wanted to go to the Galaxy cafe and eat dinner (though it was 8:30 pm by then and we'd already had dinner) and then go to Krispy Kreme, and <i>then</i> go back to look at the lights again. This kid is a total night owl! Wonder where he gets that from? ;-)<br />
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It was a fun weekend, even though we didn't do most of the stuff I'd planned. But that's how it seems to go these days, and it's all good. For example, I'd planned to go to a play this afternoon, a children's theater improv show that seemed like something Carter would like. But then the time came to leave and he was having so much fun just playing that I couldn't see the point in going somewhere else to do something completely optional that he might not enjoy as much as just playing.<br />
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Another example of fun in surprising places came when he accidentally knocked over a tub of popcorn we'd gotten as a gift from my aunt and uncle in Iowa (thanks so much, if you're reading this!). Half the popcorn, three flavors mixed together, was spread all over the hardwood floor by the Christmas tree. Carter and I just stared at it for a moment, and then I thought, well, what the hell? And I sat down and said, "I guess we'll just have to eat it off the floor, won't we?" And we sat there and ate popcorn for a while, and when we were both full of popcorn, he went and got some little diggers and dump trucks and hauled popcorn all around the room for a solid hour. He loved it! And after he went to sleep I swept it all up and threw it away, which was super easy. I would never have dumped it over on purpose, but it turned out to be something really fun, and it was so unexpected!<br />
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I guess that's one of the things I've really learned about parenthood that I didn't have a good handle on before -- how to live in the moment. There's something about having a baby that completely changes your perspective on time (or did mine, anyway), and I've been able to just stop and <i>be</i> in these last few years. Sometimes I just look at carter and what he's doing and think, Wow, how amazing is this? And I drop whatever I'm doing and sit down on the floor with him and play. Not as often as I wish I did, of course, and I could always be better about seeing the world from his perspective, but I try. And it gets easier all the time.<br />
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Especially now that we've hit the "why" stage full on. Tonight we came back from Christmas light viewing and he said he wanted to leave the garage door open, and I said no, we have to close it at night. So he asked why and I said that it was for safety, that we didn't want anyone to come in the middle of the night and steal things, and he said, "What would happen if they took our things?" and that started this whole conversation in which he seemed to be pushing me to talk about what would really be the worst thing that could happen if we lost some of our material possessions. He says so many things that make me stop and think, that surprise me, and I love that. I know that part is just beginning, too. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-63105414784027248742011-12-04T19:35:00.000-06:002011-12-04T19:35:16.855-06:00Yo Gabba Gabba!We tried about a year ago to go see "Curious George Live", and Carter didn't make it all the way through. So we decided to wait a while before trying again, and "Yo Gabba Gabba Live" today was out next attempt. It was cold and rainy here today, a good day to be doing something inside. <br />
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We decided to splurge and get good seats and the "Party Package", which meant we got to go to a special character meet & greet after the show. The seats were fantastic and the after-party was fun, though it was more fun when about half the people left. Here are some pictures from today.<br />
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Here we're waiting for the show to start.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437667/" title="Carter_2315 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6456437667_4e85f7a9e0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2315"></a><br />
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In that picture you can see he's holding a spinning light toy. That thing cost $20! In comparison, we got him a Buzz Lightyear spinner at Epcot that is a lot bigger and we only paid $15 for it!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437711/" title="Carter_2316 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6456437711_40eeceac5e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2316"></a><br />
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Carter really seemed to enjoy it, though I think he was a little overwhelmed with the lights and sounds for a while. He spent the entire show in my lap, and most of it alternately burying his face in my chest and then peeping shyly at the stage. At the intermission I asked him if he liked it, and he said he wasn't sure, that it was really loud and bright. But by the end he was standing in the aisle and dancing, and later said that he really loved it!<br />
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Having close-in seats was really cool, mostly because we were in the confetti zone. Confetti and streamers spewed forth at least four times during the show, and it's always cool to be in the middle of it rather than watching it from the sidelines. The show itself was great, and they did all of their "greatest hits" songs. It was staged more like a concert than like an episode of the show, which worked really well with the format. It was great for the attention spans of the kids in the audience as well! Everything was really upbeat, and there were lots of opportunities for the audience to get up and dance along.<br />
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After the show we headed over to the party. At first the crowds were daunting and we started to wonder if the extra cost was even worth it. Everyone was waiting in line for a photo op with the characters. The first line was loooong. Here Carter is entertaining himself with a balloon. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437879/" title="Carter_2319 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7023/6456437879_5f70e97e24.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2319"></a><br />
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Then we finally made out way up to where the characters were. Carter enjoyed the hugs and high fives!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437773/" title="Carter_2317 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6456437773_e25c9d0674.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2317"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437837/" title="Carter_2318 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6456437837_bd300eaee6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2318"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437919/" title="Carter_2320 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6456437919_afeba05300.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2320"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456437985/" title="Carter_2321 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6456437985_afeba05300.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2321"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456438021/" title="Carter_2322 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6456438021_3a29285e9e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2322"></a><br />
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We were the LAST people to go through the line! We'd stopped to go to the bathroom before hitting the party, and so we arrived when the line was at its absolute worst. But then sometime while we were finishing up our pictures, half the people left, apparently thinking that nothing else was going to happen. They definitely missed out! <br />
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We had some snacks and settled on the floor for storytime. And guess who turned out to lead storytime? DJ Lance Rock and Leslie!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456438163/" title="Carter_2325 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6456438163_58fd15d7ce.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2325"></a><br />
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Carter got high-fives from both of them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456438067/" title="Carter_2323 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6456438067_cf2d3713cc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2323"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456438115/" title="Carter_2324 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6456438115_0188327085.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2324"></a><br />
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And then after that, Biz Markie came out! Carter got a bunch of high-fives and a hug from him.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456438287/" title="Carter_2327 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6456438287_03d42c7646.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2327"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6456438383/" title="Carter_2328 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6456438383_2b2260b516.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2328"></a><br />
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In the end, the party turned out to be a lot of fun! Carter said he really enjoyed it, and when we asked him what part he liked best he said, "the show and taking pictures with everyone". So basically, he liked the whole thing! I think we'd now feel confident taking him to other shows like this.<br />
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On another topic entirely, Carter's favorite Christmas song is "Jingle Bells" and he sings it all the time. Here is a video I took yesterday of him singing it. The noise you hear in the background is his train set.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dNumy9bMpHc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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So he doesn't really know all the words yet, but close! ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-74905753509190281032011-11-30T23:55:00.003-06:002011-12-01T00:01:48.725-06:00NaBloPoMo 30/30: Potty accidents, play, and some parenting lessons I've learnedYay, 30 posts in 30 days! This is the 4th year in a row I've done this, and I'm always pleased at the end of the month that I managed to post something significant almost every day. It's a good reminder that there is a lot I could post about Carter and what he's currently doing, but so much of the time I never get around to it. This is one month a year when I really do keep a good record of Carter's life. I want him to be able to read this blog when he's all grown up and see pictures and read about these parts of his childhood that he won't remember. And hey, considering how old I'll be when he's all grown up, I may not remember either!<br />
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Today, like all Wednesdays, was a work-from-home day for me. We had a few hours in the morning to have breakfast and play, and we ended up spending a good chunk of that time sitting in the front room by the Christmas tree, playing and listening to holiday music. I'm loving having the tree in there instead of in the foyer. It encourages us to hang out in that space that otherwise so often goes unused.<br />
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I worked during the afternoon while Michelle and Carter played. For the last two days, he's basically wanted to play in his playroom all day. She tried to lure him outside this afternoon, but he wasn't interested! They put up some holiday decorations in the playroom. Here is the window, which has sort of turned into a bulletin board:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6434245599/" title="Carter_2314 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6434245599_0182c425ab.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2314"></a><br />
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Yesterday I posted pictures of the ornaments they made. Here they are on the tree:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6434245635/" title="Carter_2313 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6434245635_61ccb25ab8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2313"></a><br />
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I'm really loving the way we're using the tree to display the seasons and holidays. It's something we'll be able to do year-round, and it's a lot of fun. <br />
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This evening Carter and I went to McDonald's for dinner and then to Target -- I was desperate to get to the grocery store, and this was the only time we had to do it. At McDonald's we played and fed a chicken mcnugget to a stray kitten who came to hang out on the playground. It wouldn't let us come near it at all, poor thing. Something I would love to do when Carter is older is foster cats for the Humane Society. I would love to take in a stray and help it learn to adjust to life with caring people before it finds a permanent home. I would especially love to foster a pregnant mama cat sometime. I have such good memories of seeing my cats raise kittens when I was little, and since it's fairly irresponsible to fail to spay and neuter cats these days, the only way for Carter to experience that would be in a foster situation. Maybe someday... <br />
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We then went to Target, where we got some (caffeine-free) yummy drinks at Starbucks and then did the necessary shopping. We always end our trips to Target by spending some time in the toy section, where Carter loves to play with whatever he can get his hands on. After playing with some trains for a while he said, "Mommy, come here. I did something." I wandered down the aisle to where he was to see a puddle on the floor next to him. For the first time in a long time, he'd wet his pants. I opened up the package of wipes that was in the cart and cleaned up the mess, then we swung by the kids' clothing area and I picked out a cheap pair of sweatpants. I don't usually carry spare clothes anymore, so I wasn't prepared for this! I bought the pants and then changed him in the bathroom, and we headed back over to the toys. So yeah, Target was a convenient place for it to happen!<br />
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The whole potty learning thing has been really interesting. We're coming up on a year out of pullups, and though it's generally gone well, there have definitely been particular periods where he's regressed for a few weeks at a time. During the last regression, we learned by trial and error that we had to just back off and let him sort it out. Reminding him to go to the bathroom would just frustrate him, and he'd end up holding it even when he was clearly uncomfortable, and would inevitably have an accident. Reminding him to go had worked in the past, but suddenly it only made things worse! So we learned to just wait him out, doing no more than gently observing that he looked like he might need to pee, and accepting his "no" without argument. And when there are accidents, it's no big deal -- we just clean it up without comment and move on. As soon as we all started doing this, the regression ended within a matter of days. So we were clearly making it worse when all he needed was a little space!<br />
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He's still pooping in pullups, but we've been saying for months now that when he turns 4 he will have to start pooping on the potty. He seems to accept this, but I'm not sure he's aware of how soon his birthday is coming up! I've told him we'll have a special party when he starts pooping on the potty -- which he's never really done. We'll see!<br />
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Speaking of pee, this evening when we got home he stripped off his new pants and ran around half-naked for a while. I'd just gotten off the phone with Doug when I looked over and realized he was peeing into his hand, and then drinking the pee! I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so I decided to not make a big deal out of it and hope for the best. I asked him if he thought pee tasted yummy or gross, and he made a face and said, "Gross!" and then spit into his hand as if trying to get the taste out. And that was it -- he didn't do it again. I even asked him about it after his bath, and he said it was gross. :-P<br />
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Here he is sitting in a basket at Target while we were checking out. He said it was a boat.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6434237781/" title="Untitled by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6434237781_2aa1b6058e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><br />
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He started to get really loopy after the pee incident, and I realized that it was 9:00 and he was overtired. I'd lost track of time. One thing that I've learned in the last few months is that under these circumstances, rushing bedtime is NOT a good idea. Despite the fact that he's tired and really needs to get to sleep, these are the times when the bedtime routine is super important to get him wound down. It's also really important to connect with him during bedtime, and that really helps him stop whining and acting crazy. <br />
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One of the big parenting lessons I've learned in the last year is that the times when kids are most annoying, when you really don't want to deal with them, are actually when they need your full attention the most. Their brains are still developing and changing all the time, and they just can't regulate their emotions like adults can. They desperately need help to get themselves back to normal. Conventional parenting "wisdom" would say that you should ignore or even punish them at a time like this, and to actually give them love and attention would only reinforce the wrong things. But you know, kids are not puppies, and that sort of behaviorist thinking is not a good basis for a parenting philosophy. Kids need <i>parenting</i> then far more than they need it when they're happy and not being annoying. This has been a great lesson for me, and you know what? It totally works. <br />
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So the bedtime routine took its usual 45-ish minutes, and it was completely pleasant and fun. Carter only made it through one story before he decided it was time to go to sleep, and he was out in a minute. If I'd tried to rush things at any point, it would have been a disaster (as I've learned from prior experience).<br />
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Another thing that's changed in the last month is that Carter has suddenly become more interested in understanding the rationale behind rules and actions. We've always provided the rationale and he's seemed to just ignore it, but in the last few weeks he's started pressing for more information. And it's really making me be more careful and thoughtful about my own actions.<br />
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For example, a constant battle we have at bathtime is over the "keep the water in the tub" rule. Carter takes baths in the big garden tub in our master bathroom. For some insane reason, the people who built this house decided that the master bathroom should have carpet on the floor, which means that we have to be careful about stepping on bathmats when we get out of the tub. Carter likes to pour water onto the carpet, unfortunately -- not the bath mat, or a plastic tub placed there for just this purpose, or even a pile of towels, but the carpet itself. There has been much discussion of this rule and nightly taking away of water-containing vessels at bathtime, but it's a rule that he just doesn't seem to be able to follow. There is something about pouring water on the carpet that he finds incredibly appealing. <br />
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So once again tonight, he poured water on the carpet, and I reminded him about the rule. And this time, he asked, "Why?" He's never asked <i>why</i> about this rule before, but this is a new trend, so I wasn't surprised. But still, I mentally went through a list of all the reasons why I don't want water on the carpet to really push myself to understand why this rule was so important. Clearly Carter doesn't yet believe it's important, and this was a chance to convince him. I finally picked one: I'm worried about the carpet getting moldy and becoming a health hazard. We talked about this for a while, and he really seemed to listen and think about it. I told him that mold is especially bad for people who have asthma (like him), and that we could all get very sick if our house got moldy, and that it would be difficult and expensive to fix the problem. Only time will tell if that explanation helps him understand the rule, but I really think that was a turning point.<br />
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I'm liking this new phase, though. It's pushing me to be honest about why we do things the way we do, rather than just arbitrarily choose to stop him from doing something because it's inconvenient. I think he's almost ready for us to start talking about formulating a set of house rules that we all agree upon and follow. That should be really interesting!<br />
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And I'd better stop writing now so that I can get this posted before midnight. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-37311348839888854772011-11-29T20:03:00.000-06:002011-11-29T20:03:20.661-06:00NaBloPoMo 29/30: Reading, craftsI've been meaning to post about our "Word of the Day" project for a while now. We started doing this back in October, and it's been a lot of fun. I bought some word strips at a teacher store and we've been using them to write down a new word about every day. Carter helps choose the word, and it's usually something relevant to what we did that day. Michelle does them many days she's here, and it's fun to come home and see what the new word is.<br />
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Carter doesn't write the word, but he can usually tell us how to spell it. We sound it out and write all the letters, and sometimes add a picture. We then tape them on the pantry door (which is getting full). Carter likes talking about them, and almost always recognizes them in other contexts when he sees them, so I think it's really helping his reading along. <br />
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Here is a video I took tonight of him talking about his words. You can tell that he knows a lot of them by sight, but he's also pausing to sound out some of them.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TMjFnbnOcP4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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I was on campus all day, and when I came home Carter and Michelle had a craft project spread out on the kitchen island. They'd made ornaments for his playroom tree! I thought they were really cute. I'll post a picture of the tree when they get it decorated.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6428306373/" title="Carter_2311 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6056/6428306373_2cf8cd29ca.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2311"></a> <br />
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You can see that today's word of the day was "glitter".<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6428306467/" title="Carter_2312 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6428306467_bc0bfc7399.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2312"></a><br />
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That's it for today. One more day and I'll have done NaBloPoMo once again! :-DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-57956768163931026922011-11-28T20:05:00.001-06:002011-11-28T22:01:03.478-06:00NaBloPoMo 28/30: Orlando Day 4We're home in Austin now after a relatively uneventful travel day. I'm sad the trip is over because we had so much fun, and I'm not exactly sure when we'll be back in Orlando. I don't think we'll go on Thanksgiving weekend again; we're definitely ready to see the parks in a less crazy state!<br />
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Here are some pictures from Sunday. We decided to take it easy in the morning, and then went to brunch at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We stayed there the first year and really enjoyed it, though it was insanely expensive. Our brunch was good and Carter ate an insane amount of food. I'm still not sure where he put it all! Afterwards, we walked around the hotel and let Carter play some.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421882673/" title="Carter_2295 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6421882673_4b1c946354.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2295"></a><br />
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As usual, he was far more interested in climbing on the rocks than looking at the animals.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421882761/" title="Carter_2297 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6421882761_55dc36e37b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2297"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421882829/" title="Carter_2298 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6421882829_90956783e1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2298"></a><br />
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One thing I love about the Disney properties is that all the bathrooms have kid-sized sinks. What a great idea! <br />
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I also love that this hotel has a playground. I wish ours did!<br />
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Carter also got some good Daddy time.<br />
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We went back to our hotel for the afternoon. Here is a picture of one of the pools at the hotel. The water was a little chilly even though it was 80 degrees, so we never actually got in.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421883019/" title="Carter_2301 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6421883019_930e10cbdf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2301"></a><br />
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The hotel had an awesome little beach though, and Carter had a great time playing there.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421883043/" title="Carter_2302 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6421883043_facabdb53d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2302"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421895591/" title="Carter_2304 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6421895591_b64be374ac.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2304"></a><br />
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We also saw some skywriting! We've actually seen skywriting every trip, and the messages are always religious. I'm guessing it's the same guy?<br />
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That night we went to Epcot for the evening. We ate Japanese food and walked around the world showcase area. Every time I go to Epcot I enjoy it more. There's still so much I haven't seen there. I think it's my favorite of the Disney parks!<br />
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Here is the big Epcot Christmas tree. Carter and Doug are in front of it, but you'll have to take my word for it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421895619/" title="Carter_2305 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6421895619_df13fc3199.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2305"></a> <br />
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Here we are waiting for the fireworks.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421895667/" title="Carter_2306 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6421895667_63e45993a3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2306"></a><br />
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I took some pictures of the fireworks, just for fun.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6421895689/" title="Carter_2307 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6421895689_fdf48359cd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2307"></a><br />
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It was a nice end to the trip! I'm already looking forward to going again. I've always loved amusement parks and there's definitely something special about the attention to detail in Disney parks. Amusement parks can often be grimy places, but not Disney. I have no idea how they keep everything so sparkling and perfect! And I'm not sure I want to know how they keep the bugs away. Seriously, people screen in their entire back yards in central Florida, but there is nary a flying insect to be found around the Disney parks. It can't be pretty.<br />
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It's time to get Carter ready for bed and for me to start thinking about getting back to work tomorrow. I hope those of you following this blog enjoyed our pictures from Orlando!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-18210089336790920952011-11-27T22:02:00.002-06:002011-11-27T22:02:47.006-06:00NaBloPoMo 27/30: Placeholder postI have pictures to post and things to say about today, but I'm exhausted and really want to sleep. So they will have to wait for tomorrow. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-13302109669589155812011-11-26T21:56:00.003-06:002011-11-26T22:31:01.603-06:00NaBloPoMo 26/30: Orlando Day 3I'm not sure if it was that we all hit our stride today or if Doug and I just planned the day well, but this was one of the best amusement park days I've ever had. It was SO much fun, truly a magical day!<br />
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We got up this morning and decided to have the hotel's expensive breakfast buffet. We'd tried to avoid it the last two days with varying results, and Carter didn't really have a good breakfast until this morning. We then headed to the Magic Kingdom, and we stayed until 8:00 pm, much to our surprise!<br />
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Carter was well rested and well fed, and Doug and I were both relaxed and happy (and feeling much more patient). We decided to start in the opposite direction as we had the morning before and went to Tomorrowland first. We started out riding the Speedway cars, which Carter loved.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408960371/" title="IMG_3345 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6097/6408960371_ea56bb3ccd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_3345"></a><br />
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He did a lot better driving this year than last year. He's had a lot of practice with his tractor, though.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408965901/" title="IMG_3349 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6408965901_8c2c18d6d1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_3349"></a><br />
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After that we headed to Fantasyland and rode the Teacup ride, which Carter had really been looking forward to.<br />
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Again, he had a blast! We rode several other Fantasyland rides and generally had a great time. We then made our way over to the steamboat, which he always loves.<br />
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We had lunch and then rode a bunch of other stuff. We rode It's a Small World, Snow White, The Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, and did the Tiki Room. Here Carter is playing with some remote control boats.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408915491/" title="Carter_2288 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6054/6408915491_cbacb96e13.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2288"></a><br />
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We rode the Jungle Cruise, always a favorite.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408915605/" title="Carter_2290 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6408915605_f519c0ffa2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2290"></a><br />
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There is a little playscape by Splash Mountain, and he enjoyed playing there for a while.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408915047/" title="Carter_2287 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6408915047_aeedaa4f53.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2287"></a><br />
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Here he is eating an ice cream bar.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408914167/" title="Carter_2285 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6408914167_763f61be51.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2285"></a><br />
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And here is the final result. <br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aQdAtmVJWyc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Yep, pretty messy! You can imagine the looks of the people walking past. Most of them were smiling, though. ;-)<br />
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When it started to get dark we decided to get some dinner and then see if Carter was game to stay a little longer. Here he has a blue tongue from a slushie. He thought this picture was hilarious!<br />
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He loves the People Movers ride, and we ended up riding that one twice. After that we crossed back over to Frontierland and stopped to look at the beautiful lights on Cinderella's castle. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6408916927/" title="Carter_2292 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6408916927_9edb17eb9e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2292"></a><br />
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We rode Pirates of the Caribbean again (Carter knows the song now), and at the end of the ride Carter wanted to buy a pirate toy in the shop. He'd already asked for a spinning light toy, and we had to sit down and have a talk about what single thing he was going to choose. I mentioned that there was a toy monorail in the gift shop that he could get at the end of the night, and his eyes lit up. That was it -- he didn't ask for another thing for the rest of the night. We stopped at the gift shop at the end of the evening and got him a little toy monorail and a few feet of track. He was SO excited! When we got back to the hotel he played with it for a solid hour.<br />
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The last thing we did at the park was ride Splash Mountain. We had been trying to ride it for days, but every time our fast pass came up, the ride broke down. It happened again this afternoon, and so at the end of the night we walked past to see if it was running, and it was. So we finally got to ride it. Carter was a little worried about getting wet, but very excited for the big hill. He loved the ride, and it was even better than I remembered. (It's been a decade since I've ridden it, and that one was in California.) <br />
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It's really interesting seeing how differently he's responding to the rides this year. He's noticing lots of details that he didn't seem to notice before, and he enjoys different things than I expect. He really likes the animatronic characters and likes the slow-moving rides that take you past them slow enough to see what's going on. I think I wrote yesterday that I have a whole new appreciation now for Disney-type rides (as opposed to the thrill rides of other amusement parks), and it's all because I can see them through Carter's eyes.<br />
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Doug and I were talking today about how the fast pass system has completely changed the amusement park experience. When we were younger and spent a lot of time in LA amusement parks, it was not big deal to stand in line 3 hours for a popular ride. It was just what you did if you wanted to ride that ride. Now I can't imagine waiting more than 20 minutes! I'm really glad amusement parks everywhere made that change. The other thing that has changed the amusement park experience is the ride time apps available for phones. A quick glance at my phone told us what the wait times were for all the rides in the park, and we could make decisions about where to go next accordingly. That really helped us plan our days.<br />
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When Doug and I were in our 20s and doing all of that amusement park line-waiting, one of the things we did to pass the time was talk and snuggle together in line. We had so many great conversations while waiting in line for roller coasters. And the interesting thing is that we're doing something really similar with Carter. We take turns holding him and playing games with him, and it's a lot of fun. <br />
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A game we played a lot these last few days is the "Crazy Rules" game. It's a game I read about on a parenting website, and the idea is to take turns making up crazy rules. The idea is that since kids have so many rules they have to deal with in their lives, they really enjoy making up rules that sound completely ridiculous to blow off some steam from the frustration of having so many rules to deal with. Carter LOVES this game, and we have a lot of fun with it. The rules range from just plain silly ("No eating bananas on the ceiling") to gross ("No drinking pee with a crazy straw") , but we really have a lot of fun with it. It's a very portable game as well, so very handy for waiting in lines. <br />
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On the way back to the hotel we asked him what he enjoyed the most about the day. He said, " Riding the parking tram and the monorail, and buying a toy monorail." So yeah, not much has changed since that first trip in some ways! ;-)<br />
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Tomorrow is our last day in Orlando, and we've decided to spend it at a more relaxed pace. More pictures and updates to come!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-11874649739325438622011-11-25T22:02:00.002-06:002011-11-26T22:29:23.281-06:00NaBloPoMo 25/30: Orlando Day 2We slept in a bit this morning after a late night last night and didn't get to the Animal Kingdom Park until around 10:00. After getting fast passes for the safari ride, we took a train ride up to an area we hadn't been to before.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6401825629/" title="Carter_2270 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6112/6401825629_fc1566c565.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2270"></a><br />
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The area was a conservation education area with a petting zoo. The petting zoo was what we went for, and it was honestly disappointing. There are petting zoos in Austin and in Greensboro that are much better than this one was. I actually felt sorry for the animals, who were basically being chased around by small children wielding brushes. The animals (all goats and sheep) ran from one fenced enclosure to another, chased by packs of small children. It was kind of sad, really. <br />
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The safari ride, as usual, was lots of fun. It's incredibly authentic, and Carter really enjoyed it. I somehow always end up taking pictures of animals, which is silly because seriously, do you know how many pictures of elephants I've taken in my lifetime? But hey, I took even more today.<br />
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Here are some rhinos:<br />
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This is actually the first time I've ever seen hippos on this ride.<br />
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Here are some crocodiles.<br />
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And elephants.<br />
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After that we walked down to the Asia area of the park. Here is me having a margarita, woo.<br />
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Carter was tall enough this year for the river raft ride, and so we finally got to ride it. He really enjoyed it, and if we spend another morning at that park we'll definitely do it again. We then headed to the dinosaur-themed playground, which Carter always loves.<br />
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Later when we asked him what his favorite part of the morning was, he said he liked watching a particular roller coaster. He stood there and watched it for a good ten minutes, and I happened to take some pictures.<br />
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He loved watching it! It's interesting how such simple things make him happy. Doug and I talked a lot today about the fact that though Carter is having fun, he'd have just as much fun if he just hung around the hotel all weekend. He's at an age where he's really easy to entertain, and he's happiest just playing. Every time we travel with him, we question ourselves and wonder if he's having as much fun as we'd hoped. <br />
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I tried to take a picture of him in front of this big Christmas tree, without much luck.<br />
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Of course, as soon as another family came over to take their pictures, he was all smiles. I love the looks on these little girls' faces!<br />
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He kept saying he wanted a "blue and yellow spinny thing" and we had no idea what he was talking about until we finally walked past a display of these spray bottles. He loves battery powered fans (again, easy to entertain) and so we got one. It has a carrying strap, and he thought this was the best thing ever. He spent the next hour pretending to be an exterminator and spraying water on pretend bugs.<br />
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We went back to the hotel to rest our feet a bit, and then decided to go to Epcot for the evening. There were some rides there that Carter was tall enough for, and we were excited to try them out. He really enjoyed the "Spaceship Earth" (aka History of White People) ride and we had decided to get some dinner before riding a few others.<br />
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So first, I should say that this is the third year in a row that we've gone to Orlando on Thanksgiving weekend. We've also gone to the same parks on the same days, for some reason. This year everything is <i>noticeably</i> busier. The parks are far more crowded, and everything is just a bit more of a hassle. The last two years, we've come to Epcot on this Friday night after Thanksgiving, and we've been able to walk into a restaurant without a reservation. In fact, though reservations are recommended for all of the Epcot restaurants, we never had a problem. Tonight, everything was full, and the standby wait was 90 minutes everywhere we tried. It's been like this all weekend, and the contrast to the last two years is really stark. If that's not a sign of economic recovery, I don't know what is.<br />
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And around the time we decided we were just going to have to eat street food for dinner, Carter fell asleep in the stroller. He'd been grumpy all evening, and in retrospect he was just really tired. So we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. He's still asleep, and we had room service for dinner.<br />
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We spent some time talking about whether or not we'll come here again on this weekend, and I'm not sure we will. We're thinking about finding another non-holiday weekend to do this trip in the future, like maybe Carter's birthday in early January. It's just so crazy crowded this weekend that it's a lot harder to have fun than it was the last couple of years. I'd love to know what these parks are like when there's not a 90-minute wait for everything and tremendous crowds everywhere you turn. It's still fun, but the crowds make it a lot more stressful than I prefer my vacations to be.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-84595802211467243232011-11-24T22:55:00.000-06:002011-11-24T22:55:51.284-06:00NaBloPoMo 24/30: Orlando Day 1We woke up early and headed over to the Magic Kingdom park. It's crazy how big the Disney property is. We're staying <i>just</i> outside an entrance to the property, and we left our hotel at 8:00. A drive of a few miles, a tram ride, and a monorail ride later, we finally arrived at the park just as it opened at 9:00 on the dot. Crazy!<br />
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We had decided to have breakfast on the way, but somehow missed the McDonald's just down the street, so we arrived at the park and had to eat first. After that we got fast pass tickets for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. While we were waiting, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and the Aladdin Flying carpet ride. Carter seemed to like both of those a lot.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6396232375/" title="Untitled by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6396232375_d7cc339970.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><br />
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We got lots of cuddle time while waiting in lines.<br />
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Here Carter is controlling the flying carpet.<br />
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We hardly ever use the stroller anymore, but in a place like this it's still really important. There are so many people and there's so much going on that it's easier on us all if Carter spends a lot of time riding. He's not very good at walking and holding hands, and we don't actually spend a lot of time downtown or in places where hand-holding is necessary, so it's not something he's used to like city kids would be. He's also in a "carry me" phase right now, so without the stroller I'd spend the entire day hauling him around. He's just too big for a backpack now -- at least, he's too heavy for me. <br />
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Happily, he likes the stroller. If he gets tired and whiny, he can pull the cover down and have a little private space. It's also nice to have a place to put all of our stuff. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397053521/" title="Carter_2262 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6059/6397053521_25711b8419.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2262"></a><br />
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We finally had our turn on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is a mine train roller coaster. I've only ridden the one in California, and it's been a decade since I've ridden that one, so I'd forgotten how fast it is. This was the first year Carter was tall enough to ride, and we were really excited.<br />
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There was a group of teenaged girls in front of us that shrieked the <i>entire</i> ride, and that kind of freaked Carter out. The coaster does go quite fast, which I think he was okay with, but he really didn't like the sharp turns where you get thrown around in the seat. By the end of the ride, he'd decided he didn't like it. He didn't get upset or anything; he just said, "I don't like this ride." He said he liked the kiddie coaster we rode last night better.<br />
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So that didn't go as well as we'd hoped, but honestly, that's a pretty crazy roller coaster for a 3yo! It's funny that Doug and I always used to go to LA amusement parks together, and though I enjoyed Disneyland, I always found the slow rides a little baffling. I preferred the thrill rides at Magic Mountain so much more. Now that I have a small child, I have a whole new appreciation for those slow rides! In fact, when we asked Carter what his favorite rides of the day were, he said the parking tram and the monorail. LOL.<br />
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We had a snack and then headed over to use our fast passes for Splash Mountain, but the ride was temporarily closed. So instead, we took a raft over to Tom Sawyer Island to let Carter run around and play for a while. He really needed some run-around time by that point anyway, so this was good. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397053909/" title="Carter_2264 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6397053909_00261bb889.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2264"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397054211/" title="Carter_2263 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6397054211_6386966f35.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2263"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397054547/" title="Carter_2265 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6397054547_eefa7e293b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2265"></a><br />
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We didn't get around to riding the steamboat today, but we'll definitely do that. Carter really likes it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397054835/" title="Carter_2266 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6397054835_91f8600f7d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2266"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397055245/" title="Carter_2267 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6107/6397055245_e98a1118ce.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2267"></a><br />
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Carter and Doug spent some time exploring this fort.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397055501/" title="Carter_2269 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6397055501_abe0bc7696.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2269"></a><br />
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After that it was nearly 2:00, so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest. We had planned to eat lunch at the park, but we decided to get something on the way back instead. We ended up eating our Thanksgiving lunch at McDonald's!<br />
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The hotel is really nice. The lobby has a huge gorgeous atrium. We haven't explored it much yet, though Carter really liked this gingerbread village display with a train. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6397055775/" title="Carter_2268 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6397055775_d54c83feab.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2268"></a><br />
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Back at the hotel we all took a nap (Carter took some convincing, but he really needed one!) and when we woke up it was dark. We decided to go find a place for dinner at Downtown Disney. We went to a dinosaur-themed restaurant called <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/t-rex/">T Rex Cafe</a>. It was pretty crazy, and definitely not the kind of place you could go if your child had sensory processing issues. Carter enjoyed it and we had a decent, if not great, dinner. <br />
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When we got back to the hotel, Doug went right to bed -- he's finally got the cold Carter and I have just gotten over -- and Carter and I went down to find the hot tub. The pool complex at this hotel is pretty awesome! I can't wait to see it in the daytime. There's a little beach and everything. <br />
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Carter had fun walking across the suspension bridge over one of the pools. It was interesting that when we saw it he said, "Look Mommy! It has a bridge just like San Francisco!" And I said, "Yes, it does," and he said, "Well actually, San Francisco has TWO bridges like that, but the hotel only has one." And I thought, yeah, I guess that's true. There's the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge, both of which (I think) are suspension bridges. I have NO IDEA how he knows that!<br />
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It's almost midnight, so I'd better hurry up and post this. More to come tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-33616404865081774092011-11-23T22:16:00.001-06:002011-11-23T22:17:34.221-06:00NaBloPoMo 23/30: Travel dayWe headed to the airport this morning for our annual Thanksgiving trip to Orlando. This is the third year we've done this trip, and I think it's going to be even more fun this year.<br />
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Today was mostly a travel day so I don't have much to post about yet. Carter always travels with a little Thomas roll-aboard full of toys, and this morning at the airport he dumped them all out on the floor to play. This got the attention of every other small boy in the area, of course, and when they wandered close he invited them to play with him. It was really cute!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6392556137/" title="Untitled by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6392556137_4ac07718e2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><br />
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He's always so generous with his toys. It's not something we've impressed upon him; it's just the way he is. He is always happy to share!<br />
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The flight went well and we arrived in Orlando around 4:00 pm. We got in the rental car and headed straight to Universal Studios for the evening. Unfortunately I forgot my camera in the car and it was too dark for pictures with my phone, so there are no pictures of the evening. <br />
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We had dinner at the Hog's Head in the Harry Potter themed area and rode the small roller coaster there. We first rode it with Carter last year (it was his first ever roller coaster ride), and it goes surprisingly fast. He seemed a little shocked after the ride tonight, but later he said it was his favorite part of the day!<br />
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We rode some other rides in the Dr. Seuss themed area and wandered around a bit more. We had intended to stay until closing, but Doug has a cold and was starting to feel tired, and then Carter asked if we could go to the hotel now -- he was getting tired too. We arrived at the hotel around 9:00 and had fun just hanging out in the room. Here is the first thing Carter wanted to do:<br />
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Our plan for the morning is to get up and head to the Magic Kingdom. We'll see how it goes! We may end up just relaxing at the hotel instead. I can't wait to check out the pool and the grounds. I'll remember my camera tomorrow too!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-7128910117768712032011-11-22T21:29:00.000-06:002011-11-22T21:29:16.847-06:00NaBloPoMo 22/30: Orlando!Super quick post to say that tomorrow we're heading out on our annual Thanksgiving trip to Orlando! We're super-excited and have been looking at videos and pictures online the last few evenings. <br />
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This year we're staying at the <a href="http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp?null">Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress</a>, which looks like a fantastic hotel. And believe it or not, it's the lowest rate we'll have ever paid in Orlando! The first year we stayed at one of the Disney resorts and it was SO expensive. Last year we stayed at a Hilton (that was more expensive than this Hyatt, though closer to Disney) and the price of our trip was nearly a THIRD of what it had been the year before. Lesson learned! This place looks fantastic and has a gorgeous pool and even a little beach and a lake. :-D<br />
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We're also excited because Carter is now 40 inches tall (and almost 41" with shoes on), so there is a whole new set of rides he'll be able to ride. He's also very interested in riding rides this year and is very excited about all the roller coasters he'll be able to go on, so it should be a lot of fun!<br />
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I just finished packing and it's time to get Carter out of the tub and ready for bed. There should be lots of pictures in the next handful of posts!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-1633178507596206632011-11-21T23:05:00.000-06:002011-11-21T23:05:50.840-06:00NaBloPoMo 21/30: Writing. Or not writing, rather.I wrote a few days ago that I was concerned about Carter's reluctance to write letters. I tried a few things in the last few days to encourage him to write, including giving him a maze to draw a line through and making a connect-the-dots picture. In both cases he preferred to use his finger to trace the lines instead of a crayon or pencil. When he did use a crayon, he held it awkwardly and the lines were shaky. <br />
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He doesn't really draw pictures or anything recognizable yet. He has been able to identify the alphabet, numerals, and a dozen geometric shapes since he was 18 months old, but he can't write any of them. I haven't done enough research to know if this is out of the realm of the ordinary, but I suppose I had assumed these skills would develop more in tandem than they have. Most kids I know his age can write some letters now and most draw pictures, but not him. I guess I'll mention it to his pediatrician in January, and in the meantime I'll keep working on it.<br />
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One thing I want to try is to find an iphone app that will let him "write" letters with his finger. That may help him get used to the motion of writing. The other thing I decided to do was to open a word doc on the computer, change the font to something huge and colorful, and just let him type. (I figured that in his lifetime being able to write by typing will probably be a more valuable skill than writing by hand anyway.) This turned out to be a lot of fun. <br />
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I asked him to write some words he knew, but what he really wanted to do was type random letters in long strings and make up his own words. We had a lot of fun trying to read them, and I realized that we were actually working on reading in a unique way through that activity. He would type a letter and we would pronounce it, and then he would add another and we would pronounce those together, and then he would add another, and we kept going, trying to pronounce more and more crazy-sounding nonsense words. It was a really cool way to see what the impact of a single letter could be on a word. Occasionally I would go backwards and add in a vowel to make the word more pronounceable (giving us a chance to talk about consonants and vowels and how they affect words). <br />
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This one was a keeper, and I'm definitely adding it to our list of reading activities. My hope is that he'll at least be able to type his name soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-17770233679296964192011-11-20T20:36:00.000-06:002011-11-20T20:36:47.275-06:00NaBloPoMo 20/30: Christmas treeWe're heading to Orlando next weekend and then Doug will be traveling a lot in the first few weeks of December, so we decided to go ahead and put up the Christmas tree today. It can be a little bit of a challenge to get in the Christmas spirit when it's 80 degrees, so we headed to The Domain for lunch to see the big Christmas tree they put up there every year.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6373658951/" title="Carter_2260 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6212/6373658951_e8cd3f755e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Carter_2260"></a><br />
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After that we went home and got the Christmas tree out. This is the tenth year we've put up this big tree, and for the first time ever we couldn't get some of the branches to light. It's been a great tree, but maybe next year we'll finally get a new one. I also decided to put it in the music room for the first time. We usually put it in the foyer, but I wanted to do something different this year. I wanted the tree in a spot where we could could sit around it and listen to music and hang out without the TV on. I also wanted to have it visible through the front windows, which it isn't when it's in the foyer.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6373659101/" title="Carter_2257 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6213/6373659101_dd0d54a098.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2257"></a><br />
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We took our time with it, and decorated it after dinner while listening to Christmas music. Then Carter got an early Christmas present: a Christmas train set! I got it on clearance last year and have had it in a closet for months. I wanted him to have a special toy to play with by the Christmas tree. He loved it, of course. It's really cute! It's the GeoTrax Christmas train, if you're familiar with that brand.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6373659149/" title="Carter_2258 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6373659149_675d5c505e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2258"></a><br />
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After the tree was decorated, Doug opened a bottle of wine and we sat by the tree and talked and listened to music and it was just what I'd hoped for: a beautiful family night with no TV, no phones, and no computers. ;-)<br />
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Our tree is decorated with ornaments we've collected over the years, many from our travels, others gifts from people in our lives. There is a story behind every single ornament on the tree, and so decorating it is a chance to tell stories and remember things from our more than 20 years together. For me, Christmas is a celebration of family and friends, a time for celebrating the beautiful things in your life. I feel like we got a good start tonight. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086008615257763140.post-82793186395240068812011-11-19T19:58:00.002-06:002011-11-19T21:32:43.767-06:00NaBloPoMo 19/30: Bucket crane!Today we finally did a project in the playroom that I'd been wanting to do for a while. We engineered a bucket crane line on the ceiling.<br />
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Here is Carter's playroom. We spend a lot of time in here.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376511/" title="Carter_2249 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6221/6366376511_8a9cc004cf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2249"></a><br />
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The plan was to rig up a crane across the ceiling so we could hoist up a bucket, pull it across, and then lower it again.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376545/" title="Carter_2250 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6224/6366376545_6934b804d1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2250"></a><br />
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Here are the supplies, plus a couple of caribiner hooks.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376583/" title="Carter_2251 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6213/6366376583_cea6c711c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2251"></a><br />
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I wanted a little device to roll on top of the rope like you'd see on a zip line, but they didn't have anything like that at Home Depot. Instead, I used two small pulleys upside down and duct-taped together, with the pulley attached below. This is the finished product.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376643/" title="Carter_2252 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6111/6366376643_0c6620daef.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2252"></a><br />
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We attached clothesline to the ceiling to run it on, and here is what it looks like altogether.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376731/" title="Carter_2254 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6093/6366376731_f87e4fc379.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2254"></a><br />
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Here Carter is filling a bucket to take across the room. (That's rubber mulch in a big plastic bin for digging indoors. We call it the "Rock Quarry".)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376695/" title="Carter_2253 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6054/6366376695_4f37566108.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2253"></a><br />
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It works pretty well! Here is a little video of the crane in action. (The clicking sounds you hear are him. He's a clicker!)<br />
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When we're not playing with it, I have a hook on the wall to hang it on.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376759/" title="Carter_2255 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6235/6366376759_44286983ff.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2255"></a><br />
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Finally, here is a picture of the Thanksgiving display we put up in the playroom. The turkeys are made from our hands. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennchsm/6366376807/" title="Carter_2256 by jennchsm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6212/6366376807_962e6d9c70.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Carter_2256"></a><br />
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Sometime I need to do a post on how the playroom is set up like a classroom...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0