Carson Anthony: 23 Months

I've had this post semi-drafted for a while but finally got around to finishing it up to publish.  Funny how a newborn and toddler have been keeping me busy, huh?  :)

Carson is a month away from turning TWO!  I honestly have no clue how this is happening so quickly.  He is SO much fun right now, a chatterbox and a wild child.  He's totally full of energy and has the personality to match!  He hates anything out of place and he refers to a lot of those things as "fuzzies".  If he finds a little scrap of paper on the floor, it's a fuzzy.  If I leave a string on his banana, it's a fuzzy.  If there's a sticker on something that shouldn't be there, it's a fuzzy.  Silly boy!

What Carson Loves Right Now: 
-Carson still loves balloons ("boons!")  He loves pointing out the colors of balloons and if we go somewhere that has balloons and he can't have one, he is NOT a happy camper!  We keep adding air to this balloon from Valentine's Day and he's obsessed!

-Carson loves building with blocks.  He usually uses his Mega Bloks.  He likes to dump out the whole bag and roll around in the blocks before building sometimes.  Lately he's been into building a "garage" for all of his trucks and cars.  I have no idea where he got that idea but it's pretty adorable.  

-Carson also loves "hi-seek" (aka hide and seek).  He's getting better at finding hiding spots but sometimes he'll just cover his face and stand in front of you.  The other day he actually just got down on the floor on his belly and covered his head.  It's so adorable when he comes to me and says "hi-seek Momma!"  He usually wants me to hide because he's too impatient for people to come find him.  :)

-Carson also loves playing outside!  Now that the weather is nice (hello, spring!) and we have an awesome yard at our new house, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors!  

-Carson also still loves reading.  He is constantly bringing me books to read and he gets really excited about new books.  He loves the library, too.  I love walking into a room and finding him reading alone with a pile of books by his side!

-Carson also loves his piggy bank!  He calls it his "money piggy" and he loves getting coins to put in it!  We bought Mason the same one for his room.  Here's Carson adding some change to his money piggy that he found in an egg from his Easter egg hunt!

-Carson's favorite foods haven't changed much.  He still loves chicken nuggets (and veggie nuggets), peanut butter sandwiches, bananas ("beh-lah"), any fruit, and "temmy grams" (aka Teddy Grahams) or "bunneeees" (Annie's Bunny Grahams).  He's hit or miss with veggies.  This month we got him a booster seat for the table and he LOVES it!  We ordered this Turtle Booster from Amazon because it had great reviews and it was super affordable.  Carson thinks it's so cool!

What I Love Right Now: Carson is a chatterbox!  He can say pretty much anything and talks all day long.  I love that he can totally communicate with us now by asking for things and telling us about things.  I also can't help but smile when he's chatting away in his crib or in the backseat of the car.  I also love seeing him be such a great big brother.  He's done a GREAT job with the transition and I couldn't be more proud!  I was so nervous about everything but he's really impressed me.  We're still working on being gentle, but he really does love his little brother!  He's still a snuggle bug and loves to run and get blankets and "sungle bankee Momma" (snuggle blankie, Momma).  It melts my heart every time!  

Some of our Biggest Struggles: I was worried that the transition from only child to big brother would be a big struggle, but like I mentioned, Carson has been a super star brother!  One of our struggles has been that now that Carson is so verbal, he is also very stubborn.  He will tell us when he doesn't want to do something and if we try to get him to do it, he throws a little tantrum.  Here's a picture of Carson throwing a little fit when we told him we had to take those balls back upstairs.  I don't know if this makes me a bad mom, but sometimes I can't help but laugh when he throws his tantrums.  Toddlers are so dramatic!  :)

Exciting Milestones & Physical Changes: Carson added another tooth this month!  He got one of his bottom canines (cuspids).  Now we have one canine and the dreaded 2 year molars left.  I hope they aren't too rough for him.  

Carson got his 9th haircut this month!  He did GREAT and the hair dresser kept commenting on how well behaved he was.  She said "I hope all of my clients are like Carson today!"  

We celebrated Easter and Carson got to see the Easter bunny twice!  We went to the mall to visit him and then we saw him again at a brunch we went to with family.  Now every time Carson sees a really bunny outside he calls it the Easter bunny.  :)  Carson also participated in his very first Easter egg hunt!  We just did it in our backyard since I was about to pop with Mason, but he had so much fun!

Besides his first Easter egg hunt, Carson had a lot of other firsts too....

He got his first big boy pillow!  I had a small travel pillow in his crib but he never used it.  I think it was too fluffy.  We bought a cheap regular size pillow and he's still getting used to it.  Sometimes he'll end up on it, but most of the time he just plays with it before falling asleep!

Carson also got a new tricycle and went on his first bike ride (on his own bike)!  I found the trike for a great deal on a local buy sell trade board and we can already tell it was a great purchase!  The bike has a handle for parents to push/steer which is the way we use it now.  Carson isn't quite tall enough to pedal yet but he's SO close!

Carson took his first bubble bath this month!  I know that's silly but he LOVED it!  At first he was a little hesitant but then he got into it.  I think he honestly thought his foot disappeared because when he raised it up out of the water, he looked so surprised!

Carson also started telling us when he had to potty sometimes!  Disclaimer: We are not starting to potty train nor are we close!  We just have a potty seat for him to get him used to the idea and be comfortable with it.  For the most part, he loves his potty seat.  

Carson got a little foot stool for the bathroom this month and he loves getting up to "wash hands" or "brush teeth"!  He is becoming more and more independent.  Obviously he still needs our help for these things but he wants to do it all on his own!

Carson is a color pro!  He points out the colors of everything - even without prompting from us.  He'll point at cars and say "red car!" or point out colors of balloons, toys, etc.  He knows blue, yellow, orange, green, pink, black, and white.  He knows red and purple but sometimes mixes them up.  

Carson's speech is pretty awesome.  Everyone comments on how he's "such a talker" and how he "speaks so well!"  This makes me so happy since a few short months ago I was concerned enough to look up information on early intervention!  He uses 4-5 word sentences on a regular basis and has even started using PLURALS!  His words have become a lot clearer this month as well.  Last month he called Mason "Mah-deh" and now he says "Baby Mason" very clearly!  He has some pretty funny phrases like "Oh my gosh" which just cracks me up!  He's definitely a little parrot!

Things We're Looking Forward To: As sad as I am for my baby to be turning 2, I'm really excited to see what's to come.  Carson has such a huge personality and he's SO much fun right now!  I'm in the early stages of getting things ready for his second birthday so that's fun too!