crafts and clothes.

Our little boy is growing up.  On Thursday (5/3/12) he came up to me, gave me a hug and said, "I wuv you Mama, I wuv you."  It melted my heart.  He has said this before after I've asked him to repeat me, but never just on his own.  

He has started to count to 10 (sometimes even up to 13!) all.the.time.  Anything he can count, he does.  

He loves to sing Happy Birthday.  To anyone.  For any reason.  In fact, he pretty much just loves to sing.  His favorites right now (besides Happy Birthday) are Baa, Baa Black Sheep, ABC's, If your Happy and You Know It, The Wheels on the Bus, Barney's Theme Song and a really annoying song from a Barney episode he is obsessed with simply called, "Elephant."  

And, he is finally enjoying arts and crafts.  Carter likes to color, play with stickers or the occasional play-doh, but usually for only 2 minutes before he has broken a crayon, ripped up the sticker or eaten the play-doh.  I decided to try something new last week.  Lucy was down for a long nap so I knew I could let Carter get a little messy without being distracted.  It was time to finger paint!  He listened so well to all the important directions (like no painting mama, the floor or the walls).  And, he lasted over 10 minutes just painting away, making handprints, mixing colors and laughing and grinning the entire time.  It was so fun to watch my little artist.

After we got cleaned up, which surprisingly didn't take long, it was time to get dressed.  Another thing that Carter is obsessed with right now.  He wants to do it himself.  Sometimes it can take over 10 minutes to get 1 little sock on, but he is determined and only asks for help when he really needs it.  That day he got his socks on (apparently he thought they needed to be really stretched out and go up to his knees!) and then it was time for the shirt.
I think he needs a little more practice!

Haha....he was so confused trying to figure out his arm holes.

I'm just amazed sometimes at how big he is.  Everyday is a new adventure and I'm totally loving this stage.