18 months!

Its hard to believe its been 18 months since our little man joined our family. In some ways, it seems like he's been around forever, but in others, it seems like he was just an infant a few days ago. He just keeps getting more and more fun everyday. He brings us such joy and still continues to amaze us all the time. We just love watching him learn and explore and grow!

Carson has been getting his knees up to the edge of the crib rail the last few weeks, so we finally took down the crib last weekend and Carson is now sleeping in a toddler bed. Its a race car bed! Sara's friend Jaime's step-mom, Jennifer, gave it to us as her son has outgrown it. We weren't going to do a toddler bed since they seem like a waste, but this was free and it is the coolest little bed for a little guy! The transition went great! He did wake up the first night, but I really think he would have regardless... the way the thunder was booming so loudly and shaking the house. But other than that night of storms, he's slept perfectly every night!

Carson has also been trying hard to figure out his carseat lately. He has always watched what we're doing closely and always tries to push the red button (luckily it takes a lot of finger strength to get it to release). But recently, he has started moving his chest clip down to his belly while he's riding in his carseat. This worries me, and I try to explain to him why he shouldn't move it down. But its still usually down across his belly when I go to get him out anyway. We still have him rear-facing, but are wondering if he might leave his chest clip in place if we switched him to face forward... if its something he just does because he's bored or
something. Yet, if he doesn't then he's even more unsafe facing forward... so we haven't decided what to do yet.

We got the Play-Doh out a couple of weeks ago finally. I've had it sitting around for awhile, just had forgotten about it. Carson loves it! He will sit there for quite some time playing in it - patting it down, cutting out shapes with the cutters, taking it in and out of the the containers, and tasting it. :) He has wanted to play with the Play-Doh at least once a day every day since we started it. I'm glad he is enjoying it and it will be fun to see him learn all the different ways to manipulate it and make fun things from it. I think Kevin and I have just as much fun playing with it as Carson does!

Carson is still a decent eater. He has his days where he's very picky, but for the most part he still likes to try new things and eat most everything. He really enjoys all the fresh fruit right now - blueberries, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, and blackberries. He still isn't crazy about raspberries or strawberries, though he loves those flavors, just not the raw fruit. And he does pretty well with veggies right now, too. He loves green/yellow beans the best, I think. He'll eat them in all sorts of ways. He really likes "goo-kee-nee" (zucchini), too... especially when its baked as zuke fries! I really hope he continues to love the seasonal veggies from the garden and farmers' markets. He still loves to help cook and do things in the kitchen... I hope that continues, too.

Carson has been whispering things a lot lately. He will just walk around whispering different things, whether he's talking to himself, to Jet, or to one of us. He'll even sing in whispers sometimes.

Speaking of singing... Carson really enjoys singing. Especially the "pooooop-pee" and "peeeee-pee" songs that he made up. :) He will walk around singing those songs both before and after he does the deed. He also likes to sing other songs, too. One of his favorites the last few days has been "ro-zee, ro-zee, asses, asses, we down" (ring around the rosy... ashes, ashes, we all fall down).

Carson is a pro at opening and closing all of our interior doors now. He is also very good at twisting the tops off of things - jars, bottles, etc. And he is such a chatterbox. He rarely just jabbers sounds anymore, he's using so many words in many different types of combinations. Most of his words are very clear, but some of them are hard to understand sometimes. He is doing well with some opposites - open/closed, down/up, in/out, on/off. We're working on left/right at the moment. He still just will say all the numbers and is visually recognizing some of them - 1, 4, 8. He'll count with you, but not on his own yet. He's just so focused on physical things, even though he is very smart, too.... but he's also very stubborn and will resist things if he knows you're trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to do.

We had Carson's 18-month check-up with Dr. Akrawi on Friday afternoon. He is still ahead of all of his milestones and is growing well. He is barely 23 pounds (it kept going between 22 lbs, 15 oz and 23 lbs even), which puts him in the 10th percentile for weight. And he is 33.75 inches tall, which puts him in the 90th percentile for height. He eats well, but just burns it all off quickly, as active as he is. Being 18 months old now, its time to visit the dentist... I knew it was coming and know its recommended at the 1-year mark by many, but Dr. Akrawi suggests it at 18-months, or whenever all of the first year teeth are in (which Carson's are all either entirely in or protruding through the gums still). So we'll be making an appointment for Carson's first visit to the dentist soon. Fun, fun...

We'll be leaving Sunday for vacation. We'll be staying at Kevin's grandparents' trailer in Baldwin, MI up on Big Star Lake. We'll take some day trips to Ludington, Traverse City, and maybe to Pentwater or the Sleeping Bear Dunes. We're looking forward to it! It'll be nice to get away and spend some time in a boat on the lake again... I'm sure we'll return wanting a boat of our own even more than we do already! :)

Also, I updated the dino post below with a recipe for slime for those of you that are interested.