Our boy turned four yesterday! It amazes me that it has been four years already since this amazing little man came into our lives. He is a true blessing. I have never felt this kind of love. This is a love that only a parent can understand. Every year and every phase with our Carter man is amazing but it also makes me extremely sad when I think about how fast he is growing up. I miss holding that precious newborn baby boy. I miss those mornings when it was just him and I home alone and I would give him a bath in the kitchen sink every single morning...you know because I was a first time mom and thought he needed a bath seven days a week, 365 days a year. Ha! Poor Madelynn! I miss the nights that we would just snuggle in his rocking chair in the middle of the night when he wasn't wanting to sleep in his crib but would gladly sleep on me. I miss when he called elbows "belbow" and amen was "ameeen." I miss the days when he was still a baby and a toddler but I LOVE these days so much too! He is changing so much and so fast and I really do love it all. But I miss those early days too.
Carter is funny, spunky and stubborn. He is extremely funny and loves to make us laugh. He is always asking us to watch him so that he can do something silly that he thinks will get us rolling! He is obsessed with all things trucks, construction, fire, ambulance, police, cars, etc. Seriously, obsessed! He is always playing that he is a fireman putting out a fire and that he is going to rescue me. He tells me almost every day "mama, you can't go in the kitchen right now because there is a fire that I need to put out." Or he plays that he is a police man and he is going to take care of the bad guy. Today (and many other times in the last few months) we had this conversation..."mama, I want to be two things when I grow up...a construction worker and a garbage truck driver. Oh, and a fire truck driver. So that is three things. And a police man. So that is four things I want to be when I grow up." Seriously, this is one of my favorite conversations to have with him because he wants to be so many things when he grows up! He often says truck driver and ambulance man too. He has dreams and I love it! And I think it is adorable that being a garbage truck driver is so fascinating to him and something he strives for. Precious. He has an imagination that melts me. He is very creative in his play and comes up with the best ideas and most fascinating stories. He is great at playing alone and can create a whole story with multiple people involved all by himself. He has always been great at playing alone which I am thankful for. This gives me some time to get things done. He loves playing with his friends too and will take anyone willing to jump into his imagination with him. Especially his buddy Owen. Oh my, these two are two peas in a pod. We had Owen over for a play date recently and they both put on construction hats and had flashlights and pretended they were going out on a hiking adventure. It was awesome.
My little blond haired blue eyed kid is also extremely stubborn. I would say that his year of being three was way harder than his year of being two. He has an opinion about everything and doesn't always have the maturity to express his opinions in the most kind or appropriate manner. We are working on that and we often see great improvement. Other days we feel like we are failing as parents. Isn't parenting about that most days? Great highs and sometimes some really low lows. It is nice that he is older now because we can reason with him a lot more now and explain why a behavior or a choice is not okay. He understands things now. That doesn't always change his behavior but we hope and pray it will eventually sink in and be a growth in progress. We are always talking to him about talking kindly no matter how upset he is about something...this typically is an issue with his sister. Having a little sister to get in his stuff is hard! And also an amazing opportunity for him to learn great life lessons and grow so much. He absolutely loves his sister but they still fight like siblings do. Again, we continue to work on that.
He is about 39 pounds which means we are really close to switching his car seat to a booster seat. He does know how to buckle himself in with the five point harness though which has been nice for us. He is very independent now and gets himself fully dressed everyday often even picking out his own clothes. He puts his own shoes on, brushes his teeth (with a quick finish off by us to get all the nooks and crannies), he gets his own snacks out of the fridge and cupboards and even helps Madelynn do things when she needs something. It has been a joy watching him become independent and enjoy doing things for himself. He was potty trained right before his third birthday and was even completely potty trained at night just a couple months after. We have been beyond blessed with how easy he was to potty train. Such a blessing! He still loves his blankie and needs it every time he gets hurt or goes to bed. He is basically done with naps :( This was a hard transition for me because nap time was when I did my homework. However, bed time was becoming quite awful at night when he did nap during the day and we decided that just wasn't worth it anymore. As soon as we cut out naps, he was a dream going to bed! Bedtime at 7 and he was asleep within minutes. He stopped coming out to the living room 20 times and would actually stay in his bed. Miracle! And totally worth giving up naps for! He still does quiet time but it looks different everyday depending on his mood, his behavior, and what I need to do that day. Sometimes he does quiet time on his bed with books or a couple cars, sometimes on my bed watching a movie, sometimes in his room just playing quietly or sometimes snuggling on the couch with me and a movie. I am so thankful for the 7pm bedtime and that he sleeps until 8:30 most mornings! If he goes to bed later he sleeps in even later! It's fantastic. His favorite food is still mac and cheese and his new favorite cartoon is Paw Patrol and Walikazam.
He did swim lessons this year, started preschool this year and started cubbies at church this year. It was a big year for him! He is a good friend but often struggles sharing his toys. He loves having play dates with his friends and even had one over for our first play date without the friends mommy. They did really well! He is memorizing Bible verses every week for Cubbies which makes me so happy. He cares about people and will pray for someone randomly if he knows something sad is happening. He has a sweet soul.
Carter man...
You make us so incredibly happy. We are blessed to be your mama and daddy. I know we make mistakes sometimes but you are the first to forgive if we ask for forgiveness. You have a sweet spirit and yet a spunky wild side as well. You melt my heart faster than I knew was even possible. When you look at me and sweetly say mama because you missed me I am instantly brought to tears. We are so thankful for you buddy! We are proud of you and who you are becoming and we know that God has incredible plans for your life. These have been the best four years of our lives! We thank God for you everyday!
Love, mama and daddy.
