Eleven.

Dear Joe,

Almost one! We're just 1 short month away from your first birthday, and we can hardly believe it! This year has absolutely flown by. Each month, you've just plowed through milestone after milestone as far as your physical development goes. This month was no different, as you are now running all through the house and are figuring out how to go down stairs. But this month has really highlighted just how smart you are becoming. You now use 5 signs (please, more, milk, ball, all done) and can say 4 words (mama, dada, ball, milk). You point to things that you want & understand simple instructions ("Joe, get the ball"). You know what comes next during our different routines each day; for example, you start asking for your milk the moment we come downstairs in the morning because you know you get a bottle first thing. You're just wowing us with what you know and can do at just 11 months old! Here are a few of the things you prefer and others that you just don't care for this month:

Favorites
The Kitchen - You just looove to be in the kitchen! You like to play with the magnets on the side of the oven, pull all of the Tupperware out of the cabinet, and get into all the food in the pantry. You like to throw balls all throughout the kitchen, probably because the tile floor is more conducive to bouncing than the carpet. You climb around the chairs at the table trying to get to toys or dropped food, which sometimes results in you getting stuck under a chair. Mommy is constantly stumbling around you while trying to make dinner!
Daddy - Your obsession with your Daddy has gotten even stronger this month. You run around saying "Da Da Da" all day long. The excitement you have when you see Daddy for the first time in a while is just completely precious. You just run to him, wanting to be picked up and hugged immediately. So sweet :)
Dancing - You've shown a real interest in music this month. But not calm little lullabyes or nursery rhymes; we're talking about dance songs! Between your big sister's love of pop music and Mommy's appreciation for oldies, we have a lot of dance parties in this house. You love to join in! If we ask you to dance, you bend your knees and bounce up and down, all the while shaking your fists in the air. It's basically the most adorable thing ever.
Peek-a-boo - This has become your favorite game! You think it's so much fun! You try to play yourself, but your hands usually go up on your head instead of over your eyes. And you often try to repeat us and say "boo!" when you pull your hands down. Very fun!
Exploring your body - That is the nicest way we could come up with to explain your newest interest. You have discovered that you have a body with lots of, um, parts to it, and you just want to explore! With every diaper change, your hands immediately go down to inspect your...boy parts. That's like a boy rite of passage, right? Even though it makes Mommy cringe/blush every time you do it, there isn't much harm in letting you figure out what you're working with. But it has become a challenge to keep your hands out of that area when you have a dirty diaper and need to be wiped!

Not-so-favorites
Getting out of the Bathtub - Same story, different month. We always get you out first before we clean your sister because her soap irritates your skin. You hate to miss out on the extra bath time! (Sidenote: we have this big pink cup with a flexible rim that we use to rinse hair. If anyone tries to take that away from you, you throw the biggest fit!)
Being confined - Now that you are 100% mobile, you hate being confined. You try to climb out of the stroller after being in it for about 2 minutes. You want to get out of your crib the second you wake up (and let us know by starting to fuss immediately.) You had to be held down for both your allergy testing & to check for your ear infections this month, and you were an angry boy both times! You do tolerate the high chair, but we all know that's just because you like to eat :)
Clipping your nails - You really dislike having your nails clipped! The trouble is, it's nearly impossible for Mommy to do it when you squirm like you do. We do it as infrequently as we can get away with, but when they get so long that it starts to pinch us, we settle in for the fight.

You have so much personality, buddy. You certainly have a bit of a temper. If your sister bugs you or we won't let you do/have something, you get very mad. But, honestly? This is pretty rare. You just love life, kiddo. Everything makes you smile and giggle, which then makes us smile and giggle. You're just such a happy little guy!

Thanks for making each day with you full of so much joy. We love you to the moon and back!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Messy, messy.

I am soooo not a fan of messes.

I'm just not. A high school friend posted a picture on Facebook the other day of her boys playing outside in a giant mud puddle - covered head to toe in it - and I almost had a panic attack just looking at it. The husband's not cool with messiness either, so you can imagine how much cringing happens around our dinner table while our little munchkins eat.

Unfortunately, messiness comes with learning how to feed yourself. Spaghetti, bananas, yogurt - some things are worse than others. Trying to figure out how to eat with a spoon is no easy task when you're not even one. So needless to say, all kinds of messes are starting to be made around here while our little buddy is figuring it all out.

Joe just loves to have access to a spoon! He doesn't even care to really get food from it; he just likes to be able to hold it and chew on it. This was only the 2nd time that I gave him a chance to try to feed himself. Oatmeal is the perfect food to help teach kids how to use a spoon because it's thick enough to stay on the spoon a really long time when they flip the spoon upside down (as all kids do) to try to put it in their mouth. Or, you know, when they flip the bowl upside down...

Unfortunately, he didn't really care for the taste of the oatmeal. So while he concentrated hard to get some on his spoon and then into his mouth, he stopped after 2 or 3 tries because he knew he wouldn't like what was on that spoon.

It really is a shame he's not a happier kid, isn't it?

It's also a shame he can't clean up after himself...

The babes.

My favorite boy.

- Tested for food allergies last week. Allergic to eggs & tree nuts, which is a big bummer. We'll now be carrying around 2 Epi-pens (one for each kid) & having to be twice as careful whenever we eat outside of our own home.
- Has started dancing. Dances like his Daddy.
- Finally recovered from his double ear infection 2 weeks ago.
- Gets in trouble pretty frequently while in his high chair. Likes to spit out his food, which he's not supposed to do, and flip the plastic tray onto the floor, which he's definitely not allowed to do. Bursts into tears when he gets a stern "Joseph Carson!" We're thinking he might be our "doesn't like to get in trouble" child, which is refreshing b/c his sister sure isn't bothered by our disappointment.
- Goes to bed without a fight. (You guys, THIS IS MONUMENTAL. I feel like this is a bigger milestone than walking. It used to be that the second you put him in bed and turned to walk out of the room, he popped up to his feet and began screaming. Now? We walk in the room, sing a little Twinkle Twinkle, lay him down, and he just stays there. It's like he has finally accepted his fate. It is glorious. It elicits a pretty massive fist pump each time I leave the room in silence.) He also pretty much sleeps through the night. HOT DOG!

My favorite girl.

- Looks like a bona fide kid in this picture. Sigh.
- Starts preschool in 6 weeks. We're on a mission to find the perfect backpack to carry home all those art projects.
- Finally realized that boys & girls are different while watching me change her brother's diaper this morning. "What's that?" Only took her 10.5 months...
- Is pretty jazzed about the "'Lympics" starting tomorrow (even though I'm fairly certain she has no idea what they are...) I'm hoping to pass on my eternal love of all things Olympics to my kiddos.
- Has recently become obsessed with Band-Aids, or as she calls them, "bandages". Thinks that when it starts to fall off that means she's "all better".
- Oh yeah, and she can do this now:

Pop diva.

Um, I'm not ashamed of this. Not even a little bit. It's an upbeat song with G-rated lyrics (that she doesn't even understand anyway). So inappropriate? No. Adorbs? Undoubtedly. In fact, my little teenybopper heart is bursting with pride. And a tad bit of jealousy that she gets to grow up with the likes of Call Me, Maybe and Party Rock Anthem. (Although, I did have Oops I Did It Again and Bye Bye Bye, so really, I'm not too jealous...)

Here's the thing: we don't listen to the radio very often. 9 times out of 10, a CD called 50 Silly Songs is playing in my car (just ask the husband, he loooooves it.) She heard this song twice and knew the words immediately after that. This girl has an insane memory.

For those of you that didn't have the privilege of watching me grow up, well, you just had a taste of it. This is me circa 1988. I had a love affair with the "stage" just like Brooke, only mine was bench seating in my parents' family room instead of a fireplace. And I, too, sang along to the whole song even if I didn't really know all the words (and still do.) She may have gotten a lot of my unfortunate traits (sensitive skin, stubbornness, & an aversion to melon, just to name a few) but I am soooo glad she inherited my love for dancing & performing.

Dance on, girl. You'll always have an audience with me.

10 months.

Dear Joe,

Well, you are officially a toddler now, kiddo! Just like we thought you might, you took off walking this month and haven't looked back! In just 8 days time, you've gone from 3 or 4 wobbly steps to walking from one room to the next to the next. Your steps are still very wobbly, but you manage to stay on your feet quite a bit. Even though we're in awe of how big & old you seem now that you're walking, you often remind us that you're still every bit our baby boy. You love your bottles - you learned how to sign & say the word "milk" this month and you come zooming over when you see us making them. And you would sleep forever if you were being held; at least a couple days a week, you end up in our arms at about 5 or 6 a.m. in order for us to get you to sleep a few more hours. Sleep in general is getting much better, though, making for 2 better-rested parents. And you're still developing great eating habits, munching on almost anything we put in front of you. Here's a taste of what you're into these days:

Favorites
Walking - Well, like we said, you haven't stopped walking since you started a week ago. You walk whenever you can, that is, when you remember you can. And you can stand yourself up in the middle of the room, which is pretty incredible for your age. We are on a mission to find you some sandals and good walking shoes now that you need some with real rubber soles!
Meat - You haven't met a meat you didn't like. Chicken, steak, pork, hamburger, meatballs, ham, turkey - you devour all of them! We cannot give you little bites fast enough! And, luckily, you got 3 new top teeth this month that are helping you chew it all up :)
Cozy Coupe - The little red & yellow Cozy Coupe is your favorite spot in the playroom. You can get in and out of it by yourself, and you can even make it move backwards. Your face lights up when Mommy asks you to beep the horn, and you wildly pound it with your hand! You get a little frustrated when you're on the side without a door because you can't get in. It also makes you mad when you reach out the side of the car to grab the giant ball but it's too big to fit through the window (this happens often and it's pretty adorable for us to watch!)
Climbing - You are quite the little monkey, climbing just about everywhere. We always find you up on the fireplace, Brooke's little chairs, even on top of your toys! You think climbing up the stairs is like a game: see how far up you can make it before Mommy & Daddy stop you! You're really, really good at climbing up, but you haven't quite mastered climbing down just yet. Until you figure that one out, we'll have to be diligent in keeping the gate at the bottom of the stairs - sorry, kiddo!
The Bathroom - What is the fascination with the bathroom, buddy? You make a beeline for that room every chance you get. As soon as you see us coming to stop you, you start giggling and try to walk/crawl even faster to get in there first. Inevitably, we find you standing at the potty, getting all sorts of germs on those chubby little hands of yours. We figure you must be jealous of your potty-training sister or something...
Watermelon - Your new favorite fruit: watermelon! The cold fruit feels good on those aching gums of yours and you love that you can hold a big chunk and take bites!

Not-so-favorites
Being told No - Nobody likes to be told they can't do something, & you, sir, are no exception! You're constantly getting into things you aren't supposed to. When we reprimand you, it's now met with a bit of a temper. We try to remove you from the situation, but you often speed right back to whatever it was you were trying to do, eliciting yet another "No!" from us. You haven't started full-blown fits yet, but we're afraid this little temper of yours is a bad sign of things to come...
Departures - You love when someone new comes over or enters a room, but you hate when that person leaves! From your high chair, you have the perfect view of the door to the garage, so you can easily see all of the comings & goings of the house. You get really excited when Daddy comes home for lunch or Grandma stops by...& then get equally upset when they leave.
Getting out of the Bath - You are a huge fan of taking baths. So it's no surprise that you hate getting out! As soon as we lift you out and wrap you up in your fish towel, the tears begin. You then spend the next few minutes - while we're attempting to put your meds, lotion, & jammies on - trying to get back into the bathroom. Whenever we let you crawl around upstairs, you always go straight into the bathroom to stand next to the tub.

The most delightful thing you've learned this month, even more awesome than the signs you've learned (more & milk) or the fact that you've mastered giving high fives, is how to give hugs. If we ask for a hug, you lean in and wrap those arms around our neck and make this sweet little "mmmm" sound. It's beyond precious and just makes us melt every time. You were even giving your teddy bear some good little hugs the other day. It really is just the sweetest thing.

Thanks for being such a happy, even-tempered baby. You really make things pretty easy on us! We can't believe you'll be 1 in just 2 months - time to start planning your birthday party!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

No longer a baby.

Introducing the latest and greatest in WALKING babies!



He's walking, you guys. Walking. He's been taking 1 or 2 steps here and there, but never really on purpose. As you can see in the video, these steps are definitely on purpose considering the boy just stands himself up in the middle of the room to take them! This started on Friday, so we'll call 6/29 the day he took his first real steps. Not even 10 months old yet. Holy moley.

It's hard to describe the amount of pride felt when your little one reaches a milestone like this. It's a very distinct feeling. It's the same feeling as when he smiled for the first time. Or the first time he crawled. It's the same feeling we'll have when he puts 2 words together or says his ABC's for the first time, just like we had with his sister. I imagine it'll be the same feeling as when he reads a book by himself for the first time or writes his full name. My heart is just exploding with excitement that my boy is growing up. Tears started filling up in my eyes as I watched him on Friday. Bittersweet that my baby is not a baby anymore, but thrilling at the same time.

Welcome to your first week of toddlerhood, buddy. On to new adventures!

p.s. Disregard the extreme crabbiness that is happening in the beginning of this video. Homeboy has some killer teething happening in that mouth of his right now. He just got his 3rd tooth of the month this morning, meaning it was trying to bust out of his gum yesterday when this video was taken. And yes, 3 teeth in 1 month is as hellacious as it sounds. I feel like a margarita is in order after surviving yesterday's crabtasticness.

1/2 birthday girl :)

Happy half birthday to my lovely little lady! I can't believe we've hit 2 & 1/2; before we know it she'll be a preschooler! It's been a long time since I've given a good Brooke update. So here's a half birthday synopsis of our favorite girl :)

- This girl is just hilarious. She makes us laugh on an hourly basis. The things she says are just fantastic. Also hysterical is her dancing; this chica is an awesome dancer! She has no shame, shaking her booty like the little rockstar she is. And she really seems to love music; she sings allllll day long. Scratch that - we sing alllll day long. And it's so funny to listen to her version of a song, botched lyrics and all :)

- Brooke does everything passionately. Spunky, sassy, Little Miss Attitude - all are good ways to describe her! I'm not ashamed to admit that she gets most of it from me; we're like 2 peas in a pod. She knows exactly what she wants and isn't afraid to tell you. And when she doesn't get her way, things can get dicey (I say can because it's only about half the time.) But she really doesn't like time out, so a warning is usually all she needs if she starts to throw a fit. On that note, she's been spending much less time in time out lately, which is good news for all of us!

- She's quite the conversationalist. She uses big adjectives that are just hilarious to hear coming out of a 2 & 1/2 year old's mouth (e.g. wonderful, awesome, gorgeous, incredible, etc.) She asks appropriate and meaningful questions while talking to someone. She is always asking Daddy how his day was, which is just 50 shades of adorable if you ask me. Just today, the husband & I got home from an overnight stay in South Bend for a friend's wedding. After we asked her all about her time with Aunt Sus while we were gone, she asked us "How was your wedding?" It blows my mind that, at 2 & 1/2, she understands that being in a conversation means you have to be a listener sometimes, too.

 - She wants to do everything by herself. "Can I do it all by myself?" This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the following: going potty, shutting the car door, buckling the top buckle of her car seat (which she can also unbuckle which is very unnerving so we've had very extensive discussions about only being allowed to do so when the car is turned off), putting on her bib, getting dressed, making her lunch, etc. The independence is pretty exciting for all of us (especially the going potty thing...if she was a little taller to reach the cold water handle to wash her hands, I wouldn't have to go in there at all!) And I bet the list of things she can do herself will really blossom when preschool starts in September!

- Potty training is going pretty well, considering she is just now the age they recommend for starting potty training with girls. She wears Pull-ups most of the time, and manages to keep them dry about 75% of the time. She enjoys using public restrooms (super fun for Mom) so she usually stays dry when we're out and about. I think she gets pretty distracted while she's in her playroom so that tends to be when she has the hardest time staying dry. And, as I said earlier, she can do almost the whole process by herself. And I know she'll likely give me grief in the future for taking/posting this picture, but I think it's adorable. Plus, everyone needs a few non-revealing, mildly incriminating pictures from their childhood, right?

- She has gotten very imaginative lately. She loves role playing! She & her cousins play (in her words) "the Mommy & the Honey". (I think 'the Honey' refers to the pet name the Mommy calls the child while they play; "Let's go, honey.") She's finally taking an interest in her baby dolls & always wants me to babysit for them for her. The one she plays with the most has been named "Baby Aunt Nicole Carson Reeder" (and she's very consistent with this name; poor baby's gonna have a heck of a time fitting that on a Scantron.) Another example: one night this week, she told me she built an airplane to take us on vacation. So she, Joe, & I got into her airplane and took turns being the "take-off-er" & the "co-pilot". When I asked her where we were going, she said "Walmart". Such a glamorous vacay, no? Another game she plays all the time is Blues Clues. She has a little notebook, her "handy dandy notebook" of course, & will walk around spotting clues & singing the songs from the show.

Some of Her Favorites:

• Favorite TV shows: Doc McStuffins, Team Umizoomi, Blues Clues
• Favorite books: Anything Fancy Nancy or Pinkalicious
• Favorite foods: Mexican (she loves tacos, rice, and salsa!), corn on the cob, raisins, popsicles, graham crackers, apples
• Favorite things to play: Legos, "grocery", tea parties, Blues Clues
• Favorite songs: songs from her TV shows - especially Doc McStuffins & Fresh Beat Band, Party Rock Anthem (sung by Alvin & the Chipmunks)

About 24 times a day I utter the words "Oh my goodness, you're so old!" Because she is, you guys. She's not a toddler anymore - she's a full-blown kid! I can't even handle it. 2 & 1/2 years of loving this girl with so many more to come! :)