Whew. I'd like to blame my lack of blogging on the fact that Karter is a walking machine and a busy little guy. But in actuality, it's like due to the fact that this season of Bachelor Pad just ended and now I have more time on my hands. You decide.
A few weeks ago, I took Karter to his one year appointment. Out of the pages of paperwork I had to fill out, I remember one question..."what do you enjoy most about your child?" Much to my dismay, they only gave me a few lines to explain. It was probably a lame answer, but my genuine thought was "everything." Sure, it's not so much fun that he only takes one 30 min nap a day and yes, my abs have been getting a workout from bending over 10 times at every meal to pick up his overthrown sippy cup, but I truly enjoy everything about this stage he is in.
Obviously, I wouldn't be able to express my love for 13 month old Karter if it weren't in list form.
13 Month Old Karter, The Things I Enjoy Most About You...
- You are all boy. You are happiest when we are outside digging in the rock pile, playing ball or helping daddy with a project. You love tractors, trucks, trains...if it has wheels you love it. You are now starting to see that daddy is a little bit cooler than me (though I obviously disagree.) Seriously, though, why do you cry when I talk to you in the car, but when your dad talks to you you converse with him?
-You think you're cute when you're being "bad" (fyi-so do I.) Ever since your dad told you it was "bad" when you threw your sippy cup on the floor, now when you do something you know you shouldn't you say "bad." At every meal time, you now throw something on the floor while looking me straight in the eye, then say "bad" and then finally you look down longingly at the object as if I were the one who threw it down. And I, being the sucker that I am, pick it back up for you and then we repeat this process. Several times.
-You have quite the green thumb (and face.) Some of my favorite mental photographs of this age are our walks to the garden. Your dad walks in front with the big tools, I walk behind him with the smaller tools, and you walk behind me with a little shovel. We walk along in a line of decreasing shortness out to the garden, where you usually find a green tomato and bite into it. You usually decide you don't like it (except for today when you took a bite, spit it out into the freshly cut grass and then picked it back up and ate it) and throw it over the fence to Katrina. It's kind of adorable.
-Your hugs and cuddles. Though you are growing up (too quickly if you ask me), you still love me. You love to back yourself up so that you land in my lap, where I smother you with hugs and kisses. And I have now figured out that if you refuse me a kiss, if I fake cry, you'll change your mind.
I feel like for the last 4-5 months I keep saying to myself "I love this stage, I wish I could bottle this Karter up forever", but each month keeps getting better. Let's hope I can continue to say this through the age of 2...
