Carter turned 11 months old today which means that in just one more month he turns 1!!! He's got two teeth that have broken through in the top front of this mouth and there are some more that are starting to appear around the bottom front. He's been chewing like a wild dog on furniture, appliances, toys, shoes, blankets...EVERYTHING! He can say four words now: bye bye, Mamma, Dadda and whasis (what's this).
Carter is sweet, happy, smiley and chatty most of the time. When he smiles and laughs you can see his two shiny front teeth on the bottom of his mouth. He loves it when I give him “kisses” using my chin to tickle his underarms and soft round belly. I tell him that I think he needs “a kiss right here on this fat part.” He laughs a deep belly laugh when I give him my special “kisses.” Carter is the closest thing my eyes have seen to an angel. The sad thing is he doesn’t always act like an angel. He can be downright rotten. My baby has always had a temper and now when he doesn’t get his own way he does his ear piercing scream and throws himself down kicking his legs and beating his arms and fists into the floor. (Sigh.) I thought this kind of behavior was not supposed to happen until he reached the “Terrible Two’s.” My little feller isn’t even 1 year old yet! Carter has been having these little temper tantrums for the past few months, but it’s worse now that he is bigger and more mobile. After a recent revelation that things were getting out of hand, I’ve begun the process of curbing my little darling’s bad attitude. So far it has been kind of a painful process for both of us, but I can already see that my perseverance is paying off.
Carter is going through separation and stranger anxiety. He’s absolutely afraid of me leaving him behind and doesn’t want even my mother or sister to hold him. He follows me everywhere (even into the bathroom) and I tell him that he is my little shadow. When Uncle Matthew or another man (sometimes even Wilson) walks into the room he bursts into tears and clings to me in fear. He is absolutely petrified of my brother right now.
Carter loves to be chased. He thinks that it is especially funny when Wilson and I chase him as he makes a mad dash towards the top stair ledge on the second floor.
When he’s in the bathtub Carter loves to chew on the faucet and little handle that stops the water from draining out. He also likes to poke his finger down into the dirty drainer and pull out the most disgusting things – hair, slime, etc... Eww!!! No matter how much cleaning I do, he still manages to find something from down in that hole. I constantly have to drag him to the other end of the tub to keep him away from that area. Carter can make really big waves in the bathtub now. I like to see his little arms get tense and straight as he slaps the water to make the waves go higher and higher. He gets so excited and squeals in delight when he sees the water splashing midway up the walls.
A list of other things he can do:
- He points at interesting things to show me with his index finger
- He’s crawling really fast and getting into all kinds of trouble
- He’s pulling himself up into a standing position effortlessly and without help from me
- He’s practicing standing up with any support for a couple of seconds at a time
- He’s cruising between pieces of furniture that are positioned close together
