a boring update

Well, my baby is turning one this week, and I think I’m in a slight state of denial. It thrills me to watch Carson learn and grow and develop, but at the same time, it’s hard to give up my little baby to the world of toddlerhood.

Since I am far better updating this than Carson’s baby book, I thought I would do a little update on what Carson is up to these days. Warning: this will be exceedingly boring to almost everyone, but this is my blog, and I can do what I want. So there.

• Carson remains an overall very happy baby. He loves to wave at strangers at the grocery store, and he really is quite the ham. Behind the smile, though, lies the ability to let out some pretty impressive cries at the drop of a hat. I can’t blame him- Matt and I are both known to be a little sensitive, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
• Adios crawling! Carson is solely walking these days which means we are forever chasing him and preventing him from causing mass destruction or catastrophic injury.
• I think I should change his name to “Carson No” because that’s what he hears the majority of the time. The child has a fascination with anything he should not have… cords, the Xbox, anything breakable and valuable… and his stubborn streak is getting more and more noticeable. Matt cracked me up the other day as he tried his hand at enforcing time out. Carson had no earthly idea what was going on, but I got a good laugh out of it.
• Carson’s appetite is still unbelievable, and he never fails to surprise me with what he decides to like. Recently, I made a spinach couscous dish that I could not feed to him fast enough. I think his favorite food by far would have to be the good ol’ goldfish cracker. I tend to keep the bags hidden in the pantry, as he’ll throw a fit if he lays his greedy little eyes on the bag.
• Bottle no more! It was not an easy task, but I have effectively switched Carson from warmed formula in a bottle to cold whole milk in a cup. We have hidden all bottles now that The Switch has been made as I try to remove all reminders of his love affair with the bottle.
• Carson is still sleeping through the night wonderfully, but I am wondering if he is trying to give up his morning nap. We put him down yesterday morning and then listened through the monitor for 45 minutes as he jabbered to himself. Sunday naps are always a no-go because of church, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes. When I mentioned this possibility to Matt, he was visibly distraught and exclaimed, “But I neeeeed his morning nap!”
• Even over the past week or so, Carson has become way more vocal. He has been jabbering up a storm, but his words are limited to “mama”, “dada”, “uhoh”, and “baa” (for bottle… and cup… and, well, anything else). He has also started shaking his head for “no” this week.
• Bathtime is Carson’s favorite time of the day. The fun starts when I undress him and start running the water. It never fails that Carson will start running, stark naked, across the upstairs wanting to be chased. After his lengthy, toe-wrinkling baths, we have to endure screams and cries when we remove him from the apparantly thrilling nightime activity.
• Carson loves his teddy bear. I tried so hard to get him to become attached to his precious little blankie or monkey or stuffed dog, but noooo- he insisted on becoming BFFs with the big old teddy bear that had been hidden in one of his toy boxes. He cuddles up to it every night, and it just about makes my heart melt.
• Along with the teddy bear, Carson is still quite the mama’s boy. Recently, he has been letting the entire church know just how disgruntled he is with me leaving him in the nursery on Sunday mornings. In fact, he’s so onto our routine that he starts whimpering the moment we walk into the church doors. Miraculously, he is all-smiles whenever we pick him back up, so at least I can sleep soundly at night knowing that I have not permanently scarred him for life.

OK, that’s enough Carson trivia for now. If you just read through all of that… well, more power to ya.