quotes and sweetness

Carter:
Every night lately Carter has a new ritual for giving me good-night kisses. He used to just start kissing my cheek a bunch, then ask me, "How many was that?" Now, though, he tells me how many he wants to do. He holds up the number of fingers, and then he started saying, "Oh, wait! Let me get my toes out too" and gets his feet out from under the covers. So, we've always got at least 10 kisses (toes) plus however many fingers he's holding up. As I'm leaving his room he'll want to give me one more, so I say blow it to me. He does and "Now, how many is that??"

Before bedtime kisses, we do prayer. Carter picks the order. Usually, I go first, but sometimes he switches things up. If Jon isn't there for bedtime Carter says his prayer for him. I think it's so sweet because he prays from Jon's point of view. He'll say, "Ok, this first one is daddy, then the next one will be me" with hand gestures, of course.

He noticed the new growth tips on the spruces in our yard and said, "Mom! That tree grew cactuses on it!" The new tips are a different green than the rest of the tree and do look like little cacti on the ends of the branches. I thought it was a pretty good observation from my Mr. Observant.

Graham:
He is finding his voice more and more. Sometimes when he yells "mommmmy!" from his bed in the mornings, I can't tell if it's him or Carter now.

He loves going out on the boat. Going down the river there are tons of boats docked at houses along the way. Graham seems to point out every one and we hear, "ohhh, ohhh" or "bot" during a lot of the ride. And, if someone has a dog on their boat, he gets excited "puppy, puppy" and waves to the people. Carter likes to wave at people and say hi as we pass, too.

He can give great snuggles and kisses, but boy, can he throw a fit!! It usually has a reason, I just have to figure out what that reason is. Sometimes, I can give him what he needs (a toy, food, or something's out of place), but if it's an off limits item or not something we can do at the moment, I just have to ride the fit out or reason it out with him.

Graham does not like it when I wear a hat or ponytail. Or, if my hair is wet or in a towel after a shower. Sometimes, I just take off the hat or take my hair down because it really bugs him. During a recent diaper change I had on a hat, and he was crying having a fit. I asked if he wanted my hat off, and yup! that made him happy and calm.

Monkey see Monkey do:

Carter's kicking his feet under the counter during dinner--Graham kicks the counter.

Carter's splashing too much in the tub--Graham splashes.

Carter's blowing bubbles in his drink--Graham blows bubbles.

And, the list goes on and on...

I'm really working with Carter on setting a good example for his little brother. Fingers crossed :)