Dectectives Binkie and Monkey to the Rescue

Cops Carter & Monkey are off for a ride


Fasten your seat belts, Carter is going REALLY fast



See....Noonie Cruz I REALLY DO play with my police car you and grandpa bought me for Christmas. It just took me 8 months to get around to playing on it.

Daddy's Turn

Carter sent daddy off to work today very happy. He gave daddy his special kisses today for the first time! xoxox

Momma's Boy Made My Day

Kisses, Kisses and more Kisses is what my darling son gave me today! Yep, after 17 months of me "loving" on him, he returned the favor. Now I have been getting not so "gentle" hugs now for awhile, but today when I gave a kiss to him, he gave me a wet one in return.

Carter you made my week. I love you to the moon and back xoxo

Pinned Down by Zippy

I swear this was not me trying to get a cute pose. This is more like Carter & Zippy (his favorite monkey pal) wrestling. Looks like Zippy won this match!!! Carter's arms are up in the air saying "uncle, uncle!" Typically the roles are reversed and Carter is chewing on Zippy's ears or tail while body slamming him.

Up to No Good

Well, I think we will be working on our table manners this week! Someone thought it would be funny to put his left over food on his HEAD! tisk, tisk....Mr. Carter.

This time it was behind daddy's back, NOT mommy's!

Brookfield Zoo

We met our friends the Minorini family (John, Mary, Olivia & Emma) at Brookfield Zoo today. The weather was absolutely beautiful out and the zoo was packed with lots of stroller and kiddo's. Carter took an unexpected nap while at the zoo, so he did miss seeing some animals. All in all though the ones he did see, he did really like! Sorry, we did not get a lot of good animal pictures! We were too busy chasing after our own little animal!





Carter & Daddy checking out the rainfall. Who needs animals when you can splish splash in the water?


Mommy & Carter checking out the BIG elephants. I think we just saw DUMBO!


Ok...so I had to sneak in one animal picture!





Monkey See...Monkey Do! Olivia is showing Carter a thing or two about monkey's!



Curious George "Carter" and his little cute side kick Emma walking around. The Curious George shirt deemed appropriate for wearing at the zoo. Emma is about 2 months younger than Carter. It was cute to watch them hang out!


The Sunday strollers.....Darrell, Carter, Emma & John on their way to the monkey exhibit


The carousel was Carter's favorite! He cried when our ride was over. Mr. Zebra was a cool animal to ride on !


Too cute! We took Carter's picture here last year as well. It is supposed to be a gorilla size t-shirt.


Beautiful Sting Rays swimming by...be aware of the little fingers that are trying to grab you!


Carter & Daddy are reaching in to touch a Sting Ray at the Sting Ray exhibit

Teeth, Teeth and More Teeth

Well poor little Carter had two more teeth pop thru tonight. He has quite the mouth full considering he was toothless up until 10 1/2 months of age.
Teeth status: 13 total
4 front top
6 front bottom
1 back bottom left molar
1 back bottom right molar
1 back upper right molar
Needless to say, Carty needed lots of mommy TLC tonight and tylenol!

More Pizza Please

Yum, Yum! Carter has found a new dinner he loves. Freschetta's Brick Oven 5 Italian cheeses PIZZA! He had almost 3 slices!!!

Walk Like An Unhappy Man

Thank you Noonie & Grampa for the Walk Like A Man shirt that you bought for me when you went to the Jersey Boys play. I wasn't too happy when my mom snapped the photo, but I love my shirt! xo Carter

Mom's Night Out

Once a month, it is a time to sit back and relax, enjoy adult conversation, good wine and let the daddy's do dinner, bath and bedtime! I have know this group of ladies now for over a year. They all have children the same age as Carter. It is a great group for both Carter and I to be a part of~

Memo to Mommy

After a weekend of trying to "reason" with Carter on why it isn't nice to squeeze all the juice out of his juice box onto the floor, why he can't eat potato chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner, why he isn't allowed to play with the DVD player and why he shouldn't throw food on the floor........I came across this memo in a magazine I was reading while at the gym having a much needed work out.
So, I dedicate this posting to all the "little" people out there!

MEMO TO MOMMY....

You have a lot of lessons to teach your little one, but he has a few words of wisdom for you too...


Stop freaking out about the mess! There's always time to clean-but how often do we get to make mud pie?

Love me, even when I'm naughty, I'll only be this age once.

Be patient. I do everything for a reason, but I don't know enough words yet to give you an explanation.


Let me do it. I know you can do it faster and better, but sometimes experience is the best
teacher.

Don't try to reason with me when I'm having a tantrum. Trust me--I can't hear you over my own screaming anyways.

Don't keep asking me if I've been good. I'm not even sure what that means, but if I was bad I 'd never admit it!


Set Limits. I can't actually eat a whole box of cookies--I just want to see if I'd get away with it!

Gymboree Class

Carter is currently enrolled in a Gymboree class every Thursday morning. Gymboree is a class that encourages development through play and learning with a 7 step level program. We are currently enrolled in Level 4, which is geared towards toddlers 16-22months old. This class does a lot of problem solving through games that uncover patterns and sequence. What I particular like about this enrichment program is that the children have the freedom to join in or go out an explore different areas of the gym on their own. It is a pretty physical class, so Carter is generally exhausted afterwards! He loves parachuet, bubble time and playing basketball.

New Buffalo, Michigan: Family Vacation

Carter & Mallory on the cool Fire Truck at a restaurant

Maureen, Mike, Darrell, Me & Kevin had a child "free" evening out at Timothy's restaurant. Great seafood, wine & company!

The whole vacation Carter loved to walk, run & check out what Michigan had to offer. Here he is at least willingly holding daddy's hand.

Carter & Mommy at the Harbor

Carter playing in the homemade bathtub that daddy & Uncle Kev created

Brady, Callie & Carter playing

Darrell's masterpiece. GO CUBS!

More chips please! Mr. Pringles is almost out!

Carter was here!

Our first family vacation

Carter's first experience with the waves. He wasn't too sure of them just yet!

Daddy introducing Carter to a whole new world, playing in the sand!

Musical Cards: A HOT Commadity

I believe the Hallmark musical cards came out on the market last year. Well, my mom "Noonie" thought it would be so cool to get Carter one since we all know he loves music. The first of the $5 musical cards was definitely a hit and since then we have received NUMEROUS more from my mom, Aunt Rene, Aunt Kinny, Ya-Ya Jan and mommy of course! These cards are for sure worth the five bucks because of two reasons. 1. The battery live span is at a minimum of 6 months, I kid you not. 2. Pure toddler entertainment and just fun to watch Carter "boogie."

The CD boys

Perhaps this blog entry should be titled "Mission Impossible." Trying to capture the perfect picture of the two the them, just wasn't working. So, the mommies are in the picture as well! Carter David & Chase Daniel (hence, the CD's comment) had a playdate yesterday. Chase's mom Tricia and I are good friends and we like to get together with the boys anytime we go back to our home town for a visit. Chase is 9 months younger than Carter and now that he is mobile it is fun to see the boys play together. Oh, and yes they are both majorly teething........hence the fingers in the mouths!

A Mommy and Me Day at Millenium Park

Chicago's weather was absolutely gorgeous today, so I decided to venture downtown with Carter and take him to the well known Millennium Park. During the summer they have a tent set up for children to do arts/crafts and always have some sort of musical entertainment going. We checked out the Cloud Gate sculpture or what Chicagoans know as the "Bean" and then heading down to the fountain area. Oh course, Carty loved the fountain area and so did about 1,000 other kids because it was packed. Carter as always was fearless of the splashes and fountain. He lined right up with the big kids to run underneath the fountain. I wasn't about to try and capture many pictures as I was chasing a very wet and squirmy Carter around and getting soaked myself. We had a very nice outing though and went for lunch afterwards. Below is a video pic of us in front of the Bean. For those of you that are interested in checking out some professional pics of Millennium go to this: http://www.gallagher.com/photos/2004/Chicago_Millennium_Park/

The Pea Smasher

Do you recognize these chubby little fingers? Yep, they are Mr. Carter's. Well, let's just say my child HATES peas and every other green vegetable for that matter. If anyone has any advise on how to sneak a pea in ones mouth, I am all ears!

The River Walk

As many of you know we live in a 5 story, 32 unit development called Rivers Edge. What many of you my not know is that we have a "little hidden gem" or a river walk behind our home. The River Walk is a perfect area to get fresh air, take a short walk and see the ducks swim in the river. There is a nicely paved sidewalk and we always run into a friendly neighbor and a puppy or two along the way.

Carter ALWAYS gets so excited when the ducks are within his view. He claps his hands and quacks back at them.

Now and Then.........

The "Now" part......

Our baby is now a toddler! Today Carter turns 17 months old. Happy 17th month Carty!!!!
Mommy & Daddy love you LOTS~

Now and Then........

The "Then" part.......

One year ago today this was baby Carter! Time sure does fly and hair sure does grown in fast!!

Stevie Wonder Impersonation

You are the Sunshine of my life.............
Yep, enough said. Carter knows mommy loves Stevie Wonder so he likes to wear his cool shades and sing to me every now and then~

The Button Pusher

Are you going up or down? Carter will be happy to press the elevator buttons for you or the alarm for that matter! This kid LOVES elevators. Well for those of you that know me, he definitely did NOT get my claustrophobic traits. Thank God! Now.......if I can just figure out a way to get him to LOVE getting off the elevator??? It seriously is a special treat for him to do daily elevator "riding." Ah, the joys of living on the 3rd floor I guess. Whatever you do though, DO NOT press the buttons yourself, that is HIS job!

2 for 2

Well, we are 2 for 2 on haircuts now! We had our SECOND positive haircutting experience. As long as Carter is able to sit on my lap, he can tolerate the snips! Although he was acting "very serious" while getting his hair trimmed, not one tear was shed!
Hooray for Carty!

The Choo Choo Restaurant

Darrell & I decided to take Carter on a road trip to a well known restaurant out in Des Plaines, IL.
It is called the Choo Choo Restaurant and basically it is a diner built in the 1950's that serves burgers, fries and shakes. The "catch" is that your food is delivered to you by train. Everyone gets a train whistle and it is simple entertainment for little kids! Carter decided to wear his Thomas the Train t-shirt that makes the "choo choo" sound when you press the railroad crossing sign on it! Carter LOVED watching the train go back and forth from the kitchen to the eating area.