Runny Nose Syndrome & Bribing for Baths

We are back on the runny nose bandwagon. Carson has his usual low-grade running nose, cold. Not bad enough to slow him down... Not bad enough to keep him from school... Just bad enough to keep him (and me) up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night.

Poor little guy -- he laid down and couldn't really breath - so he'd sit and wanted to read... or do a puzzle. Poor little Momma. (it was 3:36am). Hopefully tonight will be alittle more peaceful.

Bathing: well a couple of weeks ago Carson had a little "accident" in the bathtub and got totally freaked out. Ever since then, he's very "apprehensive" about the tub. But the good thing is that this "potty" issue has made him very aware of his bodily functions and where he should and shouldn't go potty.

We'll see where this is all going and in the meantime, Carson keeps scoring new bath toys.

Boobie Traps & Bouncing

Carson's vocabulary and "conversation skills" are simply amazing me these days. The consistent and constant stream of communications is funny, smart and maddening.

Yesterday Carson was sitting in his rocking chair with his legs open so that I couldn't sit down. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Boobyshasp, Boobyshasp". I said, "Carson, are you saying booby shop?" Then he looked at me in a thinking way and said, "cant' go past, Mama".

I understood! He was saying "Booby trap"! Where did he learn that? (At school.)

Other interesting words and concepts he's expressed this week:
"Look at the tattoo on my arm" (he was talking about a decal on the arm of his sweatshirt)
"But it's funny..." (when he's doing something he shouldn't...)
"Look Mama, you're all wet." (when he got mad that I washed his hair, he doused me with water. Bad boy.)

Here's a few recent pictures and videos from last week...

Away from my Baby...

Being away from home proves to be alittle homesick-producing for this Mama. This is the first time that Carson has been away from me and its probably harder for me than him!
So I figured that I'd update his blog, upload some pictures, and enjoy looking at them myself (basically try to ease how much I miss him and Sam).

Last night we gave Carson a little haircut. Yes -- Mama is still cutting his hair. But look, you can see his sweet eyes!

Here are another few images of Carson on New Year's Eve -- The cute little red-head in bed with Carson is his little girl friend, Blake. They had a play date with a babysitter and naptime hit!

Carson's November & December, 2008

November was alot of fun.
It started getting cold and rainy which made for some good jumping in puddles, wearing our rain boots, etc.
We took Carson to Des Moines to see Great Gaga for Thanksgiving. Uncle Michael (carsons' favorite person) was there too. The trip got off to bumpy start but Carson rallied through our airport fiascos, and loved every minute of being in an airplane.

While we were in Iowa it snowed! That's a huge deal for us Santa Barbarians. Carson couldn't believe it (and neither could I.) It was awesome. Carson kept saying, "Mama, look at the snow, Mama. Its snow on the gwound, Mama!"

Then came December and it was awesome too!

December is always a fun month. Between hanukah and Christmas and holiday lights, its just a really fun time. This year, Carson definitely loved all the houses decorated with lights and blow-up Frosty the Snowmen on the lawns. "Look Mama, its Frosty!" Sam and Carson would drive around every night looking at the houses all lit up and we'd walk around the neighborhood to see who had the most lights.

We went to the SB Zoo one morning when they had brought snow in for the kids. Carson, already being an old pro in "snow" from his Des Moines trip, was totally stoked to sled down the hill (see picture below in "Welcome" post).

Carson's school had a holiday party and Santa made an appearance. That was fun, although Carson was not about to sit on his lap (which is fine with me).

Grandma Ellie and Grandpa Dick made an appearance for holiday dinner which was great!

We tried to do Hanukah candles but our only Menorah looks like blocks and Carson was more interested in stacking them up rather than lighting candles and reciting "baruk atah adonai..." Nonetheless, he got gifts... Books, Dora beanie babies, a camera, a big puzzle, a tool box and tape measure, trucks. He did well.

Through all that excitement, Carson started expressing his feelings more in words... "I miss you"... "I love you too."... "She's sad," or "he's sick"... Still our loving little boy with a wonderful willful, clever streak!

Welecome to Carson's World

As of today, our Carson is 2 years, 8 months old. I constantly ask myself things like "where did he learn to hold his hand up and say ' stop mama, I go, I be right back. you wait here.'" Or stomp his foot adamantly and say "No". Its quite funny to realize that he gets it from ME!

I took him to the park yesterday and while we were climbing around on the playground, he said, "slide down the pole, Mama. I catch you."
Then he held his hands out. So cute!

Carson has been taking pictures with his camera he got over the holidays. Some are quite good. Its interesting that most pics have our heads cut off or are only of waist lines. Its enlightening to see Carson's perspective.

This week Carson is on vacation from his preschool daycare. So we have gals coming here to watch Carson and his little girlfriend, Blake.

We'll use this blog to document his developments, growth and some of the funny things he says and does as he navigates his world.