Big Ol' Jet Airliner

Last weekend we took Carter on his second plane trip ever - all the way to California. There will be a post to follow soon with more from our adventures. These three shots of Mimi and Carter horsing around just seemed like they needed their own post. He was surprisingly good on the 6 hour flight...whew.

Dude's Weekend

Mimi had to work this weekend so Carter and I were on our own for a 3 day guy fest. Saturday morning over breakfast I asked Carter what he wanted to do, and he answered, "Make big boy bed."  We were thinking of waiting for a couple weeks since we have some trips coming up and didn't want to jinx our normally solid sleep routine, but how could I resist a little guy who wants to put stuff together?

Carter showed remarkable patience and managed to get 5 of the screws put in (by himself!) before he was off to do other things like "cook cake in pan" leaving me to do the rest.  (Thanks to Ikea for making little allen wrenches that can be turned by eager toddlers.)

He slept like a champ in the new bed and we seem to have made the transition easily - whew.    

We cleaned out a fireplace and Carter told me, "No me like orange robot.  Too loud." referring to the shop vac.  It was also a complete surprise me when he reminded me,  "Dad, get egg boxes" on the way out the door to the Farmer's Market.  Thanks little guy -- I would have completely forgotten!

We got together with friends and brewed some beer, fixed lots of little things around the house, had tons of play time, and squeezed in some Sunday night nachos.  

He seems to surprise us every day with new words or phrases but here are a few that stand out from the weekend:

"Watch out" - pushing us aside

"Better hide" - covering us with a blanket

"Dad, be right back down, no need help" - going upstairs to get a book

"Me make cupcake [with] bacon and peas" - maybe cupcake carbonara will be the next big thing

Big Boy Bed!

We went to Ikea today so Carter could pick out a new bed. He displayed a clear preference for the one in these pictures, but we can't be sure that he didn't just like how it bounced...

Home for the Holidays

Mid-December, the packages started arriving.  Carter loved looking through all those boxes.

But then, we headed north to Syracuse for Christmas this year and were rewarded with a white Christmas.

With family all around the surprises were spread over several days, but the the big morning was still magical.

For the first time Carter understood the idea of opening presents...

like a fastener board from Aunt Jenn,

and his first pillow made by Grammy -- he's slept with it every night since, 

and a great new book from Gram all about Carter at the River, 

and magnetic dinosaurs from Marni -- awesome!

Of course there was lots of family playtime, like hanging out with Aunt Jenn,

and horsing around with Grandad, 

and showing uncle (cousin) Kyle how to play a game.

There was musical entertainment provided by Aunt Jenn and Gram.

Carter was pretty even tempered through it all which made for a happy Mom and Dad.

We had a great holiday and hope all of you did too!