Childress Family: October 2012

Well, it's fitting that this post comes almost 3 months after the last one, posted right after his first steps. Carter is on the move...we officially have a toddler, and it's awesome. He is so much fun! He went from walking one day to running the next! He falls a lot, but gets back up laughing, most of the time...and those other times, when he gets mad that his legs won't move as quickly as he would like, we just try to distract the cries away. We went to visit his aunt and 4 cousins in Dallas, his grandma and grandpa in Indianapolis, and his GG and grandpa in Seattle right after he started walking, and he spent every possible moment outside, watching for airplanes, throwing rocks, and just enjoying the cool Northwest air! He did really well on all the flights until the flight to Seattle....he gave his mom and dad quite a time on that plane ride, and we now know what those parents with the inconsolable child feel like, hiding in the gally of the plane, pulling out every possible trick to get their smiling happy baby back! As soon as the plane landed, our little flirt started waving and smiling at the other passengers, and didn't even notice that they wanted absolutely nothing to do with the toddler that had ruined their flight! Ha. Oh well, we still love him to pieces, and life goes on! We had an amazing trip, soaking up all the love...and babysitting... of his sweet grandparents that are currently located way too far away from us! And he had quite an adjustment to life with just mom for entertainment when we returned! Although we considered taking a bus home... we survived the flight back without any issues. So we will just blame his molars coming in for the horrific flight out there!

He is growing so quickly and learning so much every day...and he has started intentionally hugging us... which is the absolute sweetest thing in the world! He is a bit attached to his mama these days (and after all the time we've spent together these past 15 months, I have to admit I'm a bit attached to him too!), but we're working on getting him comfortable with other caretakers, and as long as he doesn't see me leave, he's fine with anyone. He is talking ALL the time, and I am in a constant struggle to decode the "words" he creates. "ba" (ball) and "da" (dog) and "peeza" (pizza) are his favorites...but here are just a few others:
"Minnana" = Banana
"ooo-ba" - Football
"ama ama"= his Llama, Llama, Red Pajama book
"weeee"= swing
"da!" accompanied with two arms in the air= touchdown
"mo"= more
"nanana" while pointing emphatically= do what I am pointing at right now, or I will continue to point and raise the volume of my voice until you do.
And of course... "NO"... he figured that one out right away ;)

But he has a number of other sounds that are clearly words to him... I just haven't figured them all out yet! Thank goodness he has become such a good sleeper at night (and he naps 2-3 hours in the afternoon! at least he has for the past few weeks....) because we need the rest to keep up with him!

Here are some pics from our travels.

DALLAS: