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Days since Carson’s birth, that is. Two years and eight whole months.

I have known for a while that my firstborn was growing up, but the deal was sealed a few Sundays ago. That was the day he started in his new preschool class at church. No longer is he part of the nursery; instead, he will march down the hallway to “preschool worship” and make crafts and do everything that has replaced the ancient days of flannel board Bible stories. I had pumped him up for Promotion Sunday. Partially because growing up in a Baptist church, I have always viewed Promotion Sunday as a near-holiday. New classrooms. New teachers. Fresh Bible verse memorization charts. What was not to love?Thankfully, my boy humored me and shared in my excitement. When I picked him up, he jabbered on and on about the happenings of the morning. “Mama! Me singed songs! Me shared me toys! No cookies today. Just goldfish. Moses said ‘Pharaoh let my people go!’ See me art projects!” To say the lesson stuck is an understatement. And as I drove him home from church, it struck me it was official. Carson was no longer a baby.This boy of mine has been giving me a run for my money these days. As I have mentioned recently, he has been waking up ready to face the world before the crack of dawn for a few weeks. We have tried every tactic known to man to get him to sleep later, but to no avail. The kid is like me- once he’s up, he’s up. I looked at him yesterday morning as we toasted the morning together with coffee and milk and asked, “Hey buddy, why have you been waking up so early recently?” And he replied sweetly, “Cuz me like to read with you, mommy.” I looked down at my Bible that was open in front of us, sighed, and continued to read aloud to him. If he’s going to wake me up at the crack of dawn, at least he’s going to get a heavy dose of Scripture!Some other fun facts about Carson these days…

• He still talks like Cookie Monster. “Me” is his pronoun of choice, and I am working tirelessly to get him to use “I” and “my”. Matt shakes his head and mutters under his breath, “Carson, mama is going to be correcting your grammar your whole life.”
• He is just so sweet and complimentary. He is ultra generous with hugs and kisses and is constantly saying “mama, you’re a good cook” or “good job throwing daddy” or even “nice poopoo Mary Gracie.” Instead of “no thank you”, he says “no please”, which is so endearing. I credit his recent kick of good manners to a slew of books I checked out at the library on the subject this month. It worked, and I’m thrilled.
• When Carson grows up he wants to be “a fireman just like daddy.” I don’t have the heart to tell him that daddy is not a fireman.
• Thanks to one of the many educational books we have inherited from the Bakers, Carson is completely obsessed with street signs. He can name almost any sign he sees and could surely ace that portion of the North Carolina drivers license test.

• Other likes: animals, all sports, trucks, helping me cook, pirates, painting, yogurt, and popsicles.
• He is an absolute ham. He loves to “put on shows”, singing and playing instruments on a makeshift stage.
• Carson’s favorite places to be are Marbles Museum, the library, the pet store, and the park. He also is very fond of Target for which I am completely to blame.

• The kid’s imagination is amazing. I cannot dare call our couch a couch. No, it’s a cruise ship. He routinely makes me “turkey sandwiches” out of Cheerios. He freely improvises stories and songs. And when he’s outside, my children mysteriously morph into Captain Carson and Mary Gracie Princess. I love it.

Yes, two year olds can be challenging at times, but this child totally has me wrapped around his little finger.