Simple Suburbia: Carson Anthony: 13 Months!

Carson is 13 months today! I think I'm finally (almost) coming to the realization that he's an official toddler. Almost. Obviously he'll always be my baby, but now that he's 13 months I might have to admit I have a toddler. Anyone else in denial like me!?

Feeding ducks in our backyard!

What Carson Loves Right Now:

Carson still loves balls. He says "ball" now and anytime he sees some sort of sphere-ish shape (balloons, watermelon, street lamps, etc.) he goes NUTS pointing and saying "ball! ball!". It's super cute, but it's getting tricky when we go to the park and someone else has a ball. Carson thinks all the balls belong to him. :)

Carson is also loving his "first words" picture books. He loves looking at all of the different photos and finding the things we ask him about. He loves to point to things and turn the pages. Carson's favorite first words book is the First 100 Words by Bright Baby.

As far as food goes, Carson is loving fruit and cheese. He obviously takes after his Mommy! His favorite fruits are probably strawberries and blueberries, but he's not too picky. He does okay with veggies, but it's hit and miss and depends on his mood. He also really seems to like veggie burgers and still loves peanut butter on toast!
Some random things that Carson loves:

-When I unbuckle him from anything - carseat, highchair, stroller, etc. He gets a HUGE smile and starts to giggle and launch himself toward me. So fun!

-His blankie! He's been sleeping with his blankie for months now but he's starting to show more interest in having it outside of the crib, too. Since it was a homemade gift, I'm starting to get nervous and thinking maybe I should request another one for Christmas that we can use as a backup!

-Playing with our dogs. He loves to watch them play fetch. Carson is learning how to throw their toy to play fetch with them, but he only throws it about half the time. The other time he just hands it to Chip. Always Chip. Poor Dixie! He also loves chasing them around and he cracks up the whole time! He also loves giving them treats before bed and before we leave the house.

-Waving to ANYONE and getting a reaction. Carson has been waving for a while but now his favorite part is the reaction he gets from people. He'll wave and wait. If he doesn't get a reaction, he waves again. And again. And again. Until he gets a reaction. He doesn't always understand that people have to be looking at him to wave back (ha)! Sometimes he'll wave at someone who is facing away from us. Once someone waves back, he gets SUPER excited and waves very frantically, haha!

-Music class! I signed Carson up for a music class with one of my friends and her daughter and he has so much fun! They sing cute songs, dance, and let the kids use instruments! He loves to socialize with the other friends and he really enjoys hearing a nice singing voice for a change, haha!

What I Love Right Now: I'm loving this stage! I say that every month but I think I love every stage when it's the current stage. Does that make sense? I love that Carson is so independent. It's so cute to watch him walk (run!) around, find his sippy and take a swig of water, and continue to run around from toy to toy. I love watching him play independently and try to problem solve and figure things out. It's adorable to see him running toward me with a book or toy so that we can read/play together. He's figuring out SO much right now and it's so fun to watch. I really am having fun with working on his speech and comprehension with him. I also love that it's summer time and we've been staying busy going to tons of parks, the pool, the zoo, and walks outside!

Some of our Biggest Struggles: I wouldn't say we have any actual struggles, but a few minor bumps in the road. When we first started Carson on whole milk, he didn't seem to like it at all. That only took a few days of offering it frequently and now he seems to enjoy it! He's been quite the wild man lately which has led to a lot of (very minor) injuries. He has a few bruises on his legs from running into toys, a scrape on his head from falling when running down the driveway, and a cut on his finger from my Dad's cat who BIT HIM! Poor Carson. All he did was point at her and she's old and grumpy and snapped. Luckily it was just a surface wound (I hate to even call it a wound) but it was still traumatic for both of us!

Getting stuck under chairs = every day occurrence.

Exciting Milestones: Saying his first official words! He now says quite a few words! At 12 months we didn't really have any consistent words. Now Carson says "Da!" for Daddy/Dada, "dog", "Ma"/"Mama", "ball", and "duh" for duck. He also understands SO MUCH! His comprehension is awesome and he follows so many simple directions. He is also able to point out SO MANY things in his 100 first words book. He also has started to do his own version of the sign for "more". (He claps once.) It's pretty funny and even though it's not the true sign for "more", I go with it. He also has learned to shake his head "no". We have started giving Carson a fork with his meals. Usually we stab the food and he brings it to his mouth, but sometimes he'll stab it himself!

Physical Changes: Carson is about due for another haircut. It's not in his eyes yet but it's going over his ears and getting long in the back. Carson's 5th tooth broke through just a few days ago! It's one of his upper lateral incisors.

Things We're Looking Forward To: I'm looking forward to Carson learning more words and talking more. I know there is so much he wants to say right now and sometimes he gets frustrated so I'm really excited for him to be able to communicate his wants and needs! I'm also looking forward to some more of his teeth popping through! I feel like he's been teething for a while and I just feel so bad for him! I'm also looking forward to LOTS of fun summer activities. Yesterday we signed up for the summer reading club (his sheet is for 0-4 year olds, haha) and we're planning on going to tons of story times at the library! We also have a lot of zoo, pool, and park days in our future!

Carson also went on his first bike ride this past week! We had him all strapped in safely and looking snazzy in his new helmet. (If anyone is wondering, we got a Schwinn infant helmet from Target.)