Carson Anthony: 19 Months

It's hard to believe Carson is 19 moths old.  That's MORE than a year and a half.  His personality shines through more and more each day and I just love it!

  

What Carson Loves Right Now: 
-Carson loves still balls (I don't think this will ever end).  He's becoming quite the pro basketball player, even making one-handed shots!  He also loves playing "catch" with Daddy with a football!  
-Last month I mentioned how Carson loved playing with his Leap Frogs Letter Factory toy.  He still loves it and also loves his magnetic letters.  Here's a video of him practicing some of his letters.  It amazes me how quick he catches on!

-Carson still loves books.  I have some Christmas books I get out every year and he loves that he has some new special books!  usually I give him a book to take in his crib during nap time and my heart melts when I see him "reading" on the video monitor!

Reading during nap time!

He covered himself up this night! :)

-Carson also loves coloring!  So far he's been pretty good about only coloring on paper (knock on wood) but I still don't trust him alone with crayons yet!  I bought a pack of Crayola crayons to put in his stocking but I couldn't resist giving them to him early!  

-Carson has really gotten into his puzzles this month, too!  He liked them before but now he's a pro!  We can dump out the pieces to any of his puzzles and he can put the shapes back into the right spaces.  Proud momma right here!  Here some of Carson's favorite puzzles (click on picture for link):

-Carson also loves music and dancing!  When we were in Fort Lauderdale for vacation in early December he heard some music and started busting out he moves at the beach:

-Carson's favorite foods are still very similar.  He loves his fruit and will eat almost any kind!  Applesauce is a favorite and he now will ask for it without even seeing any!  He still loves chicken nuggets (but only veggie nuggets or Tyson), peanut butter sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, Annie's mac'n'cheese, etc.  He has also discovered he loves grilled cheese but always insists on peeling the bread apart before eating it.  We tried craisins for a new snack choice and he loves them!

In Florida with his friend Hallie!

Practicing his big bro status with friend Sadie!

What I Love Right Now: I'm loving watching Carson explore.  He is at the age for some separation and stranger anixety, but he does pretty well normally.  Sometimes he'll act a bit shy, but eventually comes out of his shell.  The thing that's funny is if we're with a big group of adults he'll start out shy, but if we go to a place with tons of kids, he's totally comfortable right off the bat!  I love how Carson wants to show me the world.  He takes my hand and leads me where ever he wants to go.  I also love when he brings me a book and plops down in my lap.  Melts my heart!

Random reading pit stop in the middle of the hall!

Exploring Fort Lauderdale Beach

Checking out the first big snow of the year!

Some of our Biggest Struggles: I think our "struggles" are the same as last month.  Carson is still a fairly picky eater and it's hard to get veggies in him!  He still eats pouches and he'll eat veggie burgers/nuggets so at least that's one way!  I'm going to try a few new recipes this month with veggies incorporated so I'm crossing my fingers he'll like them!  Carson also still has little "tantrums" or melt downs when he can't do something on his own.  He's at the age where he wants to be able to do it all himself and he gets really frustrated when he can't!  This usually results in a high pitched shriek or scream.  It's hard that he can't communicate what he wants all the time too, but we're fortunate that he knows words/signs for important things like eat, drink, help, etc. 

Stranger danger! 

Exciting Milestones & Physical Changes: Carson has added a few more words and even a sign for "I Love You".   

He also has yet another tooth!  He got his second lower lateral incisor which puts him at 12 teeth total!  He just needs his fangs (haha) and 2 year molars now....no rush though!

Carson also got yet another haircut! 

19 Month Word List:

• "all gone"/"gone" (always with upturned hands and a shrug)
• "done" He hasn't been using this word anymore, he usually just says "gone"
• "up" (sometimes sounds like "uhhhh")
• "Mama" He has said this in the past, but it's not consistent enough to make the list!
• "Dada" and "Daddy" (so cute!)
• "duh" (dog)
• "bird"
• "book"
• "ball"
• "vroom vroom"
• "duck"
• "wawa" (water)
• "shoooos" (shoes)
• "puh" (pillow)
• "tuh" (truck)
• "trsssh" (trash)
• "mm-bah" (apple)  Not sure where he got that pronunciation!
• "yea"
• "boo!" (are you surprised he learned this around Halloween?!)
• "whoa!"
• "cah" (car...with a Bostonian accent, haha!) 
• "Ho Ho" (he loves Santa in books but not in real life!)
• baby

**This past month Carson started saying "Daddy" (but still says Dada most of the time) as well as car, "ho ho" for Santa, and baby!  

Animal Sounds (11): Cow, Elephant, Pig, Fish, Duck (although it doesn't sound like a quack...more like "duck! duck! duck!"), Sheep, Chicken (which really sounds like he's clearing his throat for some odd reason!), Snake, Dog ("bow-wow!"), Owl, and Cat (sort of sounds like he's saying "awww" in a high pitched voice, haha!).
*He can sometimes roar like a tiger/lion!

Body Parts He Can Identify (16): Head, Hair, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Cheeks, Mouth, Tongue, Hands, Fingers, Feet, Toes, Tummy, Belly Button, Knees (he usually thinks I say "sneeze" so he'll give me a fake sneeze and giggle!), Shoulders.  
*We're practicing elbows but it's very confusing!

Signs Carson Uses: eat, more, milk, all gone, help, "I love you" <--- TOO CUTE!
*We haven't been teaching new signs since he's starting to verbalize more!

Things We're Looking Forward To: Christmas for sure!  Last year Carson was fun because he was interested in his presents enough to tear some paper and pull out tissue paper.  This year he understands the concept of actually opening a present and has a genuine reaction about what's inside.  I can't wait to see his face when he opens gifts!  I also am really excited to visit with our family and see how he does in the group settings with tons of attention on him!  

Here's a throwback to Christmas last year: