NaBloPoMo 17/30: A day with Mimi

I'm a day behind now, but I think I'll be able to catch up over the weekend. I had long days every day this week, and by Wednesday I was really feeling it. I'm just not used to being away from Carter that much, and I left the house that morning feeling depressed. I texted Michelle and asked her to send me lots of pictures of Carter that day, and she did just that. Here are the pictures she sent.

Carter was asleep when I left, but woke up soon after. He likes to play a little while before breakfast.



And here he is having a yummy breakfast.



They headed to his swimming lesson, which Michelle reported he really enjoyed. After that they went downtown and had lunch on the roof of Whole Foods, where there is a patio and a playground.



He apparently played with these other boys, who had some cars and trucks. Though he doesn't exactly look like he's being social here, heh.



After lunch Carter and Michelle went to the Austin Nature and Science Center, which I did not even know existed until she sent me these pictures. It looks like so much fun! Carter apparently had a blast, and we will definitely be going back there soon.







One of the highlights for Carter was the Dino Dig, a big sandbox with fossils to be dug up.









She said he fell asleep in the car on the way home, having worn himself out. He didn't wake up again until after Doug and I were both home. I was sitting on the couch when he came around the corner, and when he saw me he grinned and said, "Mommy!" and ran to jump in my lap. I hugged him and started crying -- I'd just missed him so much! He looked up at me and his eyes got teary, and I just hugged him tighter and told him I was sorry I had to be away from him this week.

We had lots of fun last night, and this morning I didn't have to head out until 9:00 am. That meant we got to wake up together, have breakfast, and hang out a little bit before I had to leave. Just having an extra 2 hours really recharged my batteries! Michelle said Carter really missed me today, though, and by the end of the day didn't have much enthusiasm for anything. It's interesting how much we're used to being together, and how hard it is when that typical schedule changes.

Tomorrow we have a whole day together, and I'm looking forward to it!

NaBloPoMo 16/30:

First of all, here are the pictures I was unable to post from my phone yesterday. These were from Waterloo Ice House, where we go frequently because Carter can play and Doug and I can relax.







I was away from Carter again all day today, and that makes it harder to post here. It's a busy work week (my student teachers are in the field), which means I'm away from Carter 10-11 hours each day this week. We're just not used to that, and it creates a strain. Michelle has noted that Carter seems a little sad these last two afternoons, and when I come home, I'm not getting the normal enthusiastic greeting from him. I can feel the disconnect between us when we spend so much time apart, and it just keeps growing. It's especially hard when he doesn't nap, because then he's tired in the evenings and that much harder to connect with. I'll be glad when this week is over and we can spend time together again!

I had a little time over lunch today to go look for an outfit for Carter for our holiday card pictures (which we'll take this weekend). I had looked at a bunch of possibilities online, and decided to go to the Janie and Jack store to see what they had. I ended up buying several shirts and pairs of pants for Carter in addition to the holiday picture outfit! I really love the clothes they have there, though, and I've bought them before so I know the quality. It's so ridiculously hard to find cute boys' clothes, so when I find something I like, I jump on it. :-)

Julie suggested I post pictures of Carter modeling his new clothes, and I tried to imagine doing this. Carter would be utterly miserable if I made him put on all of those clothes and pose for pictures! He hates being dressed as it is, and we have to play games just to get him changed into his PJs at night. He's definitely not into fashion! So I'll have to figure out another way to get pictures of the clothes posted. Next week -- for now, I'm exhausted. Good night!

"No problem!"

It's been busy since my summer class started, and we're now halfway through. It's been hard to be away from Carter so much, though I really love teaching in the summer. The first week of classes was hard on Carter. He just wasn't used to me leaving every day, and he would pretty much wrap himself around me and cry. Michelle would have to pry him off me, and he would scream and sob while I drove away. But after a week, it's much better. Now he walks me to the car, and though he's sad to see me go, he talks about where I'm going ("Mommy go to teach her students"), and knows that I'll be coming back soon.

He also knows where Doug goes ("Daddy go to work in the office building" or "Daddy fly to New York in the airplane up in the clouds"), and always makes a point of noticing which car he drove to work. It's interesting that he's now old enough to understand things like that. We can tell him something that's going to happen tomorrow, and the next day he'll start to expect it to happen. His concept of time doesn't seem to extend beyond tomorrow, though we talk about things happening next week and such.

His language is always growing, but something that seems new lately is that he is able to reason through lots of fairly complex situations. He can remember things that happened several weeks or even months ago, and will talk about them at length. He'll talk in long run-on sentences that encompass several topics, and you can almost see the wheels turning in his head. He will now answer direct questions with verbal responses, which he didn't really do before. He will also hedge his answers with things like "No problem" when the answer is actually yes but he wants it to be no. For example, if he has a poopy diaper or if it's bathtime and he's not quite ready, he'll say "no problem!" instead of refusing outright. It's interesting that he's already learned that it's impolite to say "no" when it's clear that the other person really wants you to do something.

As I'm writing this, he's alternately singing songs and reciting dialogue from his favorite TV shows. It's especially interesting that when he says words in Spanish, his accent is perfect! We're going to South America in August, and it will be interesting to see if he picks up any more Spanish then. I'll also be interested to see his reaction to seeing me speak Spanish! I don't think he's ever heard me speak Spanish, other than the occasional counting.

He has no real interest in the potty yet, so we're waiting. People keep telling me that when they're ready to do it, it's easy, and I am far too lazy to push it before he's ready. We don't have any outside reasons to push potty training, so we're still in diapers. Since we use cloth, it's not like we have the extra expense of buying them, so it's not a big deal. :-)

Here are some pictures from the last week or so. This one was posted on Facebook last week, so some of you have seen it. I heard this little voice saying, "Mommy, I'm stuuuck!" and when I came around the corner I saw Carter with the potty seat around his neck!



It was hard to get off, too. Here is the obligatory messy face picture. I never got why these pictures would be cute until I had a child of my own! He likes my Bucatini, which makes me very happy.



He's still very interested in construction, lawn, and farm equipment. Home Depot provides lots of free entertainment along these lines:







We recently got him a bubble mower, and he LOVES it! The first day we got it, he wanted to sleep with it. He even wanted me to nurse it! He loves this thing.



He loves machinery and will spend as much time as he can studying it and messing with it. This sometimes has unexpected results, as I found yesterday morning. I'm not sure when he managed to pull the keys off of this laptop, but he did a good job:



I love that he's so curious about things! It was kind of fun to figure out how to put it all back together, actually.

I'll finish up with some pictures from the 4th of July. We went to a party where there were lots of kids around Carter's age, and he seemed to have a good time playing.





Happy July!

New York City!

We travel to NYC a couple of times a year. Doug and I are huge musical theatre fans, and we enjoy making these trips to see as many Broadway shows as we can manage. We take Michelle along, and she hangs out with Carter in the evenings while we're gone. This time we also stayed in a hotel near Central Park, and that turned out really well for us. Central Park is a wonderful place to take a child, and it was really nice to have it just a few blocks away.

Here are a bunch of pictures of Carter playing in the park over the days we were there.

A the Tisch Children's zoo:





There are tons of areas for rock-climbing around the Park.







It's a great place for exploring.





There are lots of great playgrounds, too:



Though Carter was ultimately interested in pushing the stroller around.



On another morning we went to the Central Park Zoo.









We also rode the carousel in the park one day:



And took a carriage ride around the park, something I've always wanted to do!





Of course, there are many parks in New York. One morning we took Carter to Washington Square park to play. He loves riding in taxis!



There was a toddler playground in the park, which he enjoyed.



At least, until he decided that pushing the stroller around was more fun!



He enjoyed running around in the park, and even charmed his way into an NYU student film. They have my email address and said they'd send me a link when it was ready. Hopefully they will!



On yet another morning we went down to Chelsea Market, which was not a big hit with Carter. The High Line, however, was definitely a hit. It's an old elevated train line that is being converted into a park.



Carter liked being able to run, and there was only one direction he could go!



It's really a lovely park, and I can't wait to see more of it as they continue working on it.



He spent his evenings (and a couple of afternoons when we when to matinees) with Michelle. SHe took him to the park and to other fun places, like FAO Schwartz, where she took this picture of him on the famous big piano:



She also took him out to several restaurants for dinner, and strolling around in Times Square. I think they had a lot of fun together!

Overall it was a great trip. Doug and I saw several Broadway shows and even went to the Tony Awards, and we also got lots of fun time with Carter in the city. It's a great place to go with kids -- especially if you have a babysitter, heh.

Lots of pictures!

Warning: This is a photo-heavy post! These are some pictures from the last few days. We've finally gotten a break from the rain, which has allowed us to play outside some, even though it's still chilly.

On Sunday we went to a local park with a duck pond, and talked to Carter the whole way there about how we were going to feed the ducks. He was totally excited about it and kept saying, "Feed ducks!" We got there and the entire park was under construction -- apparently it's being rebuilt. We managed to park and make our way over to the duck pond, and the ducks totally ignored us! They swam the other way when we threw bits of bread at them, even. Ah, well.



So we decided to go to a local bar and grill that has a playground out back, the Boat House Grill. Carter had fun playing, and we still got to spend some time outside. These pictures show him rolling gravel down the slide, which was apparently even more fun than going down it himself.





That was basically our Valentine's Day outing! I'm glad we went outside when we did, because the weather turned on us by the time Carter's afternoon nap was over.

On Monday morning it was in the 40s, but clear. After Gymboree class we headed to a favorite local park to spend some more time outside. We bundled up in our coats and had the park to ourselves, despite the fact that it was a bank holiday. The park was muddy and wet, and of course the first thing Carter did was wade through a puddle, getting wet up to his knees!



It was chilly out and he was wet and I didn't have a change of clothes for him, but I decided we'd stay and play for a little while, at least. He really had a lot of fun! The great thing about this particular park is that it has a lot of natural space to explore, which is perfect for Carter right now. Instead of a playscape, there is a big rock-climbing area:



As I snapped this photo, he was saying, "I go this way!"



This park also has a HUGE sand play area with lots of little trucks and digging equipment, and some concrete dinosaur "bones" hidden in the sand for kids to excavate. Carter had it all to himself for almost an hour, and he loved it!







His jeans were dry by the time we left. In the car, I pulled off his shoes and his cold, wet socks, and his feet were perfectly warm underneath! He definitely got Doug's warm-bloodedness. My toes would have been blue by that point.

Carter's getting more and more verbal all the time. His 3-word sentences are starting to turn into longer sentences, and they sound so strange coming out of his mouth. He'll say, "I need some juice," or "Let's go upstairs and play!" This morning he woke up before I left for work, which always makes for a tough goodbye. Michelle was making him breakfast while I packed up my bag, and he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I want go out (with) you!" I picked him up to hug him and he whispered, "Bye-bye, Mimi" while looking over at where she stood. It is SO hard to leave him on those mornings.

She said he started asking about me about an hour before I usually come home, so he knew it was almost time. When I came home he ran over to be picked up and said, "Mommy time!" :-)

I'll wrap up with some family pictures we had taken at the end of January. Some of you already saw these on Facebook, and family members got these in the mail for Valentine's Day. I really like them!



Carter is playing a pitch pipe in these shots. It looks like a family jam session, LOL!





Doug doesn't like this picture, but I adore it! All three of us look so completely happy in this shot, and it's hard to get a family picture like that! Doug and I have been together for more than 20 years, and I think this is one of the only photos I have of him in which he is genuinely smiling. :-)