19 months old!

Carson is now 19 months old. He continues to learn so many new things each and every day. His speech is getting better... more precise... and he is putting more and more words together. He's using prepositions and adjectives with his nouns quite often. We're having fewer and fewer tantrums due to communication frustrations/barriers these days, which is nice! :)

The little man is becoming more and more strong-willed every week. He is constantly testing his limits to see what and how much he can get away with. Some days it is an almost constant struggle of the wills. Thankfully, he's also a super sweet little boy and the sweetness definitely far outweighs the strong-willed part of him. But, from what I've heard, every toddler goes through these phases at some point or another. Right now, we're up against biting and hitting. I've definitely seen way worse in children, so I'm not concerned about it, but it does get old... and fast. :) We just do our best to hold our ground and teach him that biting and hitting are not nice things to do. He understands this, but he still pushes his limits. Right before he'll slap my leg or something, he'll say "no, no hit - no nice." But he'll slap anyway and then look right at you to see what you're going to do about it. And he is very good at giving us the puppy dog eyes and making his little lip quiver when he doesn't get his way, too. Its hard not to laugh sometimes. :) I do hope we're through the worst of it at least, because it does seem to be becoming a lesser thing the last few days... let's keep our fingers crossed!

Carson has been making lots of progress this last month with his shapes and colors. His favorite colors seem to be red, yellow, and green - in that order. He is growing more and more independent about things, too. He likes to pick out his clothes, PJs, and socks almost everyday now. And if he can pick out something that is red, his day/night is made. Especially if his red socks are clean and in his drawer. :) Carson does not want to wear his red socks rolled over or under his clothes... he likes them pulled straight up and over top of his pants. He likes all of his socks pulled straight up, but only his red socks have to be on the outside of his pants. He's a quirky little one, already. :)

Carson is such a great helper around the house. He loves to do his "chores" and takes great pride in helping out. He helps pick up his toys and blocks, he puts his books back on the bookshelf, he helps empty the dishwasher (he will pull out a clean dish one at a time and will hand it to Kevin or me to put away and he helps sort the clean silverware in to the drawer), he helps wipe the counters (he gets a rag and I get a rag, he sits on the counter or table and helps me wipe up messes), he helps switch the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer (I hand him the wet clothes and he puts them in the dryer), he puts his laundry away (he knows where all of his stuff goes and can put everything away on his own, with the exception of the hanging stuff in his closet), and he makes sure all the doors are closed and locked if they're supposed to be (he has some obsessions with locks, doors, and lights still). Carson even helped me clean out the refrigerator this past weekend - I would give him the stuff to throw away in the trash or put in the compost bucket and he helped me wipe down the shelves.

Carson is doing great with his personal hygiene these days. He absolutely loves to brush his teeth in the morning and at night before bed. We're very thankful its not a daily fight to get this done! He asks to get up on his stool and brush his teeth many times a day, instead. He is very good at washing his hands and also asks to do this quite often in the day. Hopefully this habit will help fend off some germs and sickness this winter!

We have been thoroughly enjoying this summer and are looking forward to the fall. Although, we've been making the most of the warmer weather this week and have been heading to the park almost every evening after dinner. We've all loved it! We are continuing to just have as much fun as possible and enjoy every minute we have with our little man!