Carter at 3

On April 4th we had Carter's well visit at the doctor's.  I was super nervous about how he would do, but he did awesome!  He weighed almost 34 lb. (72%) and was 3'1" tall (31%).  Caleb received a shot at his 3-year-old appointment, and it was very traumatic.  It must have been a flu shot, however, because Carter didn't need to get a shot at his appointment.  (He is up to date on his flu vaccine, thanks to the flu mist!)  He did great with his blood pressure, which is probably the scariest part.  When the doctor was trying to get him to talk by asking questions, he clammed up and became real shy.  So she wasn't able to gauge the level of his speech, but I think Carter speaks really well.  He uses complete sentences and is able to share his feelings really well.  There are still some words he says that are tricky to understand, however.

Carter's personality at three years old is feisty.  His mood is directly affected by how much sleep he gets.  If he does not have enough sleep, he is super cranky and whiny all day until he can take a nap.  We're constantly working on accepting a no answer, using nice words, and choosing to be happy.  Carter can also be very stubborn and does not give in easily.

We all get a good laugh at some of the things Carter says and does.  He can be so cute and adorable!  Some of his common sayings that I have recorded in his journal lately include:

Me: Carter what are you doing in there?
Carter: (innocently) Nupping!

Matt or I will read books to the boys each night before bed and try to fit one adult and two kids lying side by side on a twin bed.  Sometimes if an adult and Caleb are already lying down, Carter will say, "But there's no room for Carter!"  I think it's so funny when he talks about himself in third person.

Carter likes to do some "daring" things lately like climbing on some bars at the playground.  Whenever he is doing something that is challenging, he'll look at me and say, "Mommy, you can't do this because you'll fall and hurt yourself, but I can because I'm big."

If Carter naps during the day, then going to bed on time at night is a challenge.  His favorite stall tactic he uses to get out of bed is to come up to Matt or I and ask, "Why do bad guys fight?"  Matt and I think it is so funny every time he does it.  I always answer, "Because they're mean."

Carter is really into good guys and bad guys right now.  Sometimes, to my embarrassment, he'll point to someone while in public and say loudly,  "Momma, is he a bad guy?"

Another stall tactic Carter uses if he knows we're nearing bed time is to say, "Can I watch a movie just 10 minutes?"  If we give in and so okay, of course after the 10 minutes is up he says, "But it's not over yet!!!" And the tantrum begins. :o)

Usually when he asks that question to me, I'll say no.  When he starts throwing a tantrum lately I've said, "Why don't you go ask your Daddy and see what he says?"  (In other words, go be Daddy's problem.)  Each time I've said that though, he says, "But Daddy will say no."

He wanted an Incredible Hulk birthday cake for his birthday.  He picks up on some of these things from his older brother or cousin.  We compromised on a Captain America cake since his shield is round and therefore easier for me to make.

If you say no to Carter or he doesn't get his way, he stomps off and says, "Then I won't be your friend anymore!" And then some sort of crying fit ensues.

Carter's little trademark was his missing upper left lateral tooth.  I had x-rays done on it when he was two, and we discovered that the baby tooth is there, but it was likely that the parent tooth was missing to push it down.  (The x-ray couldn't show the parent teeth for the front teeth since they were so high up so we are not sure if it is there or not.)  We discussed that he would have to wear retainers starting in about 2nd grade and eventually get a permanent implant.  On April 5th, I discovered that his missing tooth is coming in!  I'm not sure if this means that a parent tooth is there or not, but I think it's good news that it's coming in at all!

Carter LOVES bananas.  He eats at least one every day.  He also really enjoys grapefruit.  Quite often we'll split one for breakfast along with some toast or a bowl of cereal.

Caleb and Carter can get along great as long as Caleb is in the mood to be patient with Carter.  They can also fight great too. :o)  It's funny to observe the differences in their personalities.  Caleb wants to obey and choose the right because he knows that makes us happy.  Carter wants to obey if there is some sort of tangible reward attached.  Caleb is a builder, Carter is a wrecker.  (For the first time the other day, however, Carter actually sat down by himself and tried to build some train tracks.  It lasted about 10 minutes!)  Caleb likes to save all his Halloween/Easter candy and just eat one or two a day.  Carter tries to eat it all in one day.  They're so different!

Carter knows his shapes and colors really well, but knows next to nothing about the alphabet.  I'm learning as a parent that how early a child knows these things is not important, just that he eventually learns them.  As a new mom, I felt that how early my child sat up or walked would prove their genius.  I now realize that whether your child walks at 10 months or 14 months doesn't matter.  I'm learning not to stress the small stuff anymore.  Carter has two years of preschool with me coming up where he'll know everything he needs to before school starts.

And after three years of mixing up Caleb's and Carter's names, I'm very much regretting that their names both start with C's.  I thought that it wouldn't matter what I named my kids figuring that I'd mix up all their names anyway.  I think it's much worse with starting with the same letter though!

He's feisty and cranky, but it's all just part of the terrible twos threes, right?  He'll grow out of it, we keep telling ourselves. Until then, we'll keep him around. :o)  We love our little Carter!