18 months!!

My baby isn't much of a baby any more. Carter is a year and a half old! Where has the time gone?? The past year and a half have been full of so many different emotions as I'm sure any parent can agree. But thankfully the good times our weigh the bad and make it all worth it! Having a little child love you fully and completely is pretty much the best thing in the whole world. When Carter says Ma, Ma! it melts my heart. No matter how upset I am about something he has done, it's all forgotten in a second when I hear those magic words. Carter is definitely a mamas boy and I love it! But he loves his daddy too! The other day the mailman knocked on the door and Carter's face lit up and he ran to the door yelling Da! Da! Needless to say, he was a little disappointed when it wasn't his daddy at the door. I love watching Carter run around showing off for Rory when he gets home from work. He always cracks me up. :)

Carter is one strong willed little boy. He definitely wants what he wants, when he wants it. I'm hoping he'll mellow out a little as our communication improves. We're also trying to work on not throwing things in frustration. Hardwood floors make for some loud bangs when he throws things. So far the best technique I've found to get him to stop doing something is just to distract him. Nothing else really seems to work. He is very one track minded and focused on what he wants to do. But sometimes I can find something else he likes and distract him. Otherwise we have a screaming fit. We're both learning together. :)

Since Carter turned officially 18 months old he has finally decided to start talking. Wahoo!! Until then he really only said, mom, dad, and shoes. But it seems like overnight his vocabulary exploded! He is also finally repeating things we say. Granted, he's only saying the first syllable of words, but we're on the right track! He now says water, monkey, Mickey, peaches, neigh (horse), duck, bat (the animal), giraffe (this one you can only understand if he's pointing at a giraffe), ball, bath, na (bird), car, no, yes, hello, and happy. Those last two I think he says cuz he thinks they sound funny. I'm not sure he actually knows what they mean. He thinks it's hilarious when we say hello and he loves to repeat it over and over. I'm sure he says other words too, but those are the ones I can think of at the moment. It's so nice to understand some of the things he says now.

Carter started nursery at church a few weeks ago. For the most part he's done pretty well with it. One week he had a little melt down when we left him, but when we went to pick him up after church he didn't want to leave. Silly boy! Thankfully he loves his nursery leaders. One of them has a little girl Carter's age so he already knew her. That made the transition easier. I think it's also helping him break out of his shell around people a little more. He's still shy around most people, but I've seen some improvement. :) Carter's favorite part of nursery is snack time. He loves his food! I swear he is always hungry!

Carter is the sweetest little boy. We love him to pieces! We have been so blessed to have him in our lives and are excited to  watch him continue to learn and grow. He is at such a fun age. I love watching his face light up as he experiences new things. Life through a child's eyes never gets old! Everything is new and exciting. We love our little dude!