Daddy's Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

August 29th was Steve's birthday. He is one year closer to becoming an "old man", as I endearingly call it. He turned 34 this year. This is Carter and Steve on his birthday morning. We all had to go to work (and Carter to daycare to play), but Steve and I went out to celebrate that night at a restaurant called P.F. Changs. It was the first time in awhile we had been out to dinner with out the "little man." It was very nice.

On Saturday, we went to my friend Shawn's wedding. Shawn and I were college roommates, and we share many embarrassing stories and some wonderful times. She has been dating her now husband for over 9 years! So, it was about time they got married. The wedding was about 2 hours from our house. My parents were supposed to watch Carter, but Steve and I couldn't part with him for all of Labor Day weekend. After all, we have just gone back to work, so we don't see him as often. The wedding and the reception were beautiful. The reception was outside and very hot, but Carter did great!

Steve and Carter at the wedding.

(We were smart and brought his high chair to keep him strapped down. Now that he can crawl, he wants to be on the go constantly.)

Erin and Carter at the wedding. Shawn's wedding theme was butterflies. During their first dance, the wedding party let go of monarch butterflies. It was really pretty. We tried to take pictures of Carter with a butterfly that landed near us after it was released. But, no picture. Carter wanted to grab it, so Steve kept having to move his hand away. So, here is the wedding favor, a cookie cutter. This was the best butterfly picture we could get.

Shawn and Ken entering the reception.

This was the only decent picture I got of the whole wedding.

On Sunday, we went to my parent's house, well, boat. There isn't much room for Carter to crawl around, but he finds lots of things to do, as you will see. This is a picture of a onsie my dad bought him of Jeff Gordon from NASCAR. I couldn't resist a picture of his little bootie while he was crawling around. This picture is why he wears this onsie a lot. It's so adorable!

So, Carter has learned to crawl over, under, through, and around things now. At daycare, he crawls over the soft gym set, and even sits still in a regular kids chair to eat his lunch. We can't even get him to sit still and eat his food strapped in his high chair (or keep him from throwing food he doesn't like on the floor). Anyway, this is a stool at my parents boat. Carter sat in front of the stool for a little bit, examining it, deciding if it could be fun. The chronicle of pictures shows the order of events with the stool.

Carter was playing near the stool. I asked Jamie to hold the stool in case Carter decided to play in it. Good thing I did.

Carter studied the bar and thought it would be a good starting point for this climbing adventure. He grabbed hold of the bar and contemplated his next move.

Carter then decided he should move into the stool. Still gripping the bar, he slowly moved one foot, then the other foot into the stool. He bumped his head a few times, but this did not slow him down. It only made him more determined.

Then, Carter thought it would be great fun to crawl out of the stool, over the bar. This took some concentration and problem solving. Both feet are still in the stool, and his hands are on the ground. Keep in mind, that Steve, Jamie, my mom and dad, and I are hysterically laughing through this whole event. Carter was taking this so seriously. There were only a few frustrated yells from him. At this point, Carter was perplexed. He had his hands out, but his darn feet wouldn't come out. So standing on his head, he stared at his feet for a moment wondering what was wrong and why they wouldn't get out of that dumb stool. He stayed in this pose studying his feet for about 30 seconds. (We are still laughing at him, and Carter is still taking this adventure very seriously.)
He figures out how to remove one foot, but now the other one is stuck. This took some concentration as well, but he freed himself in no time.
He is so proud of himself! Of course, we all cheered for him, and he gave a huge smile to his Uncle Jamie. Then, he went back and did the whole thing again.
On Monday, we spent the day shopping for Carter's one year birthday party. I can't believe how much work (and money) goes into such a thing! I hope the party is memorable...

By the way, my cousin's little girl, Maddie, who had heart surgery is now home and doing very well. We will miss the twins at the party, but I hope we can have them all celebrate together another year.