Carson at 3.5 years old

My sweet, sweet Carson!
Even at 3.5 years old Carson continues to simply be a joy.
He has such a fun, sweet personality!
I wish mine was as pleasant as his! :)

Carson is going to preschool 2 mornings a week.  He really likes school and is doing well.  He is more outspoken than Erik and Lainey are/were and is affectionate and silly towards his teachers and classmates.

Carson has never liked loud noises or big crowds (museums, weddings, birthday parties, etc. are not his thing) so I was worried that he wouldn't like the busy preschool class.  Thankfully, he has had no issues and his teachers had no idea he didn't like loud noises or crowds. Ha!

While Carson doesn't love big crowds he does love being around his friends and family.  He excitedly refers to all of his babysitters, teachers, grandparents, uncles, siblings, etc. as his friends.   He knows how to make someone feel special!

Carson is very sensitive and sweet.  He is a peacemaker and wants everyone to be happy.  He hates conflict immensely. 

Carson is very smart.  He can count to 100 by memory and is able to count up to 100 objects (for example, dealing out 100 cards).   He does need 2-3 cues to get to 100 but basically does it on his own.  He can count to 100 by both 1's and 10's.

He knows all the upper and lower case letters and is starting to know the sounds they make.  If you show him a list of 10 one syllable words and ask him to find cat vs bat vs hat vs pan vs can vs ran vs car vs jar etc. he can correctly identify the words most of the time by figuring out the first and last sounds.  (He can not read them independently, but will point to the right word when asked.)

He has figured out how to draw pictures of people and includes eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hair, head, arms, and legs.  They are very cute!

He writes his name fairly well and uses scissors without any problems.

Carson is very physical.  He played soccer this fall and loved it.  He also loves to run and has participated in two 1 mile races and a kids triathlon. He can ride his two wheel bike, without training wheels, but still prefers the balance bike. 

Carson also loves music and sings almost every second we are in the car.  He seems to have good pitch at this point.  It's fun to hear his little singing voice.

Carson can be grumpy but it is most often a reaction to Erik pestering him.  They get along well overall, although it does seem that Erik will intentionally annoy him (rather than anyone else).   That is very annoying.

Carson and Kyle have a special bond.  I think it's because they've been the two primarily together since Kyle was born.  Kyle loves Carson more than his other siblings (sorry guys) and multiple times a day with run to Carson and lay his head on his shoulder.  So sweet!

Carson is growing up fast!  He feels like a big kid now, closer to a school boy than a toddler.    He is such a sweet little boy.  I am so thankful he is mine!

Fun Runs

The past two weekends we have participated in two local races as a family.   Erik and Lainey were part of a running club that met once a week this fall.  Most of the kids that participated in that club also ran in a kids race last weekend.

There were two options - either a 5K or 1 mile.  Erik and I (and Kyle) ran the 5K.  My sweet little runner crossed the finish line in 31 minutes!  It was a VERY hilly course so I was quite impressed!

Lainey, Carson and Victor did the 1 mile race together.  Lainey cried off and on, Carson ran happily.

This weekend, there was a fun run at the kids school.  There was a 1 or 2 mile option, untimed.  Erik, Kyle and I ran the two miles - around 20 minutes, but not sure exactly.

Victor, Lainey, and Carson took the 1 mile option.  Unfortunately, Lainey and Carson got tangled up during the first 10 feet.  Carson pouted most of the race, walking a fair portion of it.  Lainey, after a whiny race last weekend, was determined to beat Carson this time (ha!) so she ran most of it happily.

I love, love, love having a fairly fit active family!  I hope Erik will keep running 5K's with me and hopefully, when he is eventually faster than me, I will be able to run with one of the other kids.

Kyle - 14 Months

Kyle has changed a lot during the past month.  He is now walking everywhere, very rarely crawls.  He likes being played with/attention, playing outside, playing peek-a-boo.  He has a sense of humor and even if you aren't playing/talking to him and laugh about something, he almost always chuckles quietly to himself (in response to your laugh).  It's very cute!

He understands a fair amount of what we are saying.  He says/signs... no, all done, yes, more, bye, hello, hi, Erik, momma, dada, uh-oh.  He also loves music and sings along to the VBS CD we play in the car.

He is transitioning from 2 naps down to 1 and handling it fairly well.  He seems to nap best, if he gets a cat nap in the morning and then a late afternoon nap (2pm-4:30pm).  If he only takes one nap, it is usually from 11:30 -2:00ish.

He eats very well and isn't very picky.  He drinks rice milk (refused cows milk).  I will probably switch him to Almond milk soon, so he is drinking the same thing as Lainey and Carson.  I stopped nursing him about 3 weeks ago, no problems there.

He sleeps quite well at night too.  He goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up between 6:30-7:30.  He occasionally cries at night, but usually sleeps through. 

He is a climber - loves to climb up and down the stairs, fling himself down slides, climbs onto benches, chairs, couches, tables, etc.   He will climb upstairs without supervision but won't go down them unless I am next to him (thankfully!).  If he goes upstairs without me (not often) and wants to come back downstairs, he sits at the top of the stairs and calls/yells loudly for me.  Pretty cute!

He is also a messy baby. He loves messy foods, paint, dirt, sticks, sand, water, etc.  

He is a LOUD and spirited baby!!  He KNOWS what he wants and protests loudly if he can't have it.  Multiple times a day, he throws himself onto the ground in a heap of tears because he is mad about something.    This seems to go in streaks - 2-3 very feisty days, followed by a couple quiet(er) days.

He had pneumonia this month.  He had had a low grade cough/cold for 4-5 weeks, then suddenly two weeks ago had a fever and respiratory stress.  So I took him into the ER (Victor was out of town, of course).  The X-ray showed pneumonia.  Thankfully, he responded very quickly to Augmentin and now feels better than he has in many weeks. 

Kyle is a sweet baby.  He gives really great hugs (pats you on your shoulder) and likes to be held.  He has a great sense of humor and a great little laugh.  He is feisty, determined, and loud - I am quite certain we will never wonder what he wants/needs.  Ha!  He keeps me on my toes for sure, but I am so thankful for our affectionate little guy.

more photos of Kyle