2 1/2 Years Old!!

Carson is now officially 2 1/2 years old, as of Friday the 13th. Its hard to believe that he will be three years old before we know it. He is turning into such a little man and he is so, so fun! We love watching him grow and mature.

Carson continues to surprise us with things he picks up on. He knows many of the road names near us and can tell you which road we're on and which way we'll need to turn onto what road to get where we're going - whether its home, or to a relative's house. He is just such an observant little guy.

He also pays attention to everyone's cars. I took a drive through the car dealership on our way home the other day. As we're driving through, Carson pointed out all kinds of cars that he recognized. We went by the Grand Prixs and he said "those are like Mama's car, but they're a different color." He said similar things about the extended cab pickups being like Grandpa's truck, the regular cab pickups like Uncle Mike's, the vans like Nana's, the Malibus like Uncle Danny's, the Enclaves like Aunt Jeri's, and a Jeep like Aunt Sharon's. He was not wrong on any of them. He is definitely his father's son. :)

Carson is back in a singing phase. He went a couple of months without really singing much. But now he is singing again all the time. His favorite songs to sing include the Alphabet Song, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jesus Loves Me, Deep and Wide, Row Row Row Your Boat, This Little Light of Mine, When the Saints Go Marching, and Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam. He loves to learn new songs all the time, too. This morning he was learning to sing some nursery rhymes - Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty. He really enjoys playing all of his instruments still, too. And he's quite good at playing parts of Mary Had A Little Lamb on his xylophone after he watches us play part of it. We're really looking forward to Miss Laura's Kindermusik class which starts up again in about a month. Carson is very excited to see her and his friends from class again!

Carson loves riding anything and everything - his bike, trikes, tractor, four-wheeler, cars, and he loves riding around on the bike four-wheeler and tractors. He is a pro at riding most of them and is getting so good at steering and making turns properly. He'll be ready for Mama's old little 4-Zinger gas powered four-wheeler pretty soon!

Carson has quite the imagination these days, too. He is so fun to watch play with his toys. He makes his guys talk and do lots of fun things. He changes diapers on his bears and pretends to feed them and care for them like a baby. He sends them to school while he goes to work, takes them for wagon rides, and takes them on lots of fun adventures.

We continue to enjoy lots of creative time this summer. Carson absolutely loves it! We've been doing lots of painting outside - both with brushes and finger-painting. We spend time coloring with crayons and markers everyday, as well as drawing on his easel. And we've been making some fun crafts with things we find outside (leaves, sticks, pinecones, rocks, etc.), too.

Carson continues to love learning his numbers, letters, and simple spellings of words. He is just a sponge, soaking everything up!

Carson got to meet his newest cousin - Haleigh Madison - about a week ago. Haleigh is Sara's cousin Megan's and her husband Marty's first child. They moved to Virginia last year and Haleigh was born in January, so we hadn't had a chance to meet her yet. They were home last week for Haleigh's baptism and to spend time with friends and family, so we got to finally meet her! What a beautiful little girl she is! She is such a happy little girl and Carson just loved her!

We traveled to the Thumb of Michigan to a little town called Forester yesterday afternoon for the re-wedding of Sara's great Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim. It sure was a hot and humid day, but it was good to see some of the Odykirk family that we don't get to see very often. Carson had a lot of fun playing with his new friend, Lili, who is six and lives in Portland, Oregon. They really had a good time together. Carson is quite the little story-teller these days, too. We were all sitting around chatting, watching Carson and Lili swing when, totally out of the blue (and quite loudly), Carson says "my mom hits me!" Haha! Its hilarious because I've never even swatted at his hands or anything remotely close to hitting. I have no idea where he got that from, but we've since asked him about it and he defiantly tells us that "no, my mom does NOT hit me, she loves me!" :)







Its been an amazing summer so far and we're looking forward to lots more super fun things coming up! We are leaving Friday for a vacation in Colorado! We can't wait!