The BIG Little Brother

To catch up on the past few days... Sunday we were all ready for church - we were even backing down the driveway when Charlie spit up (to put it nicely) a LOT - all over his outfit, blanket, carseat, etc. Alan went inside to clean him up, but because of the severity of the mess, it took about 10 minutes. We were already running late to begin with, so once again, we played hookey from church. Instead, we went to the Summit so that Alan could go to the Apple store (he has a new obsession with Macs - no, he's not getting one). After that, we had a never-ending lunch at the Macaroni Grill. People all around us came, ate, and left, all while our waiter took about 15 coffee breaks. I hate meals like that. Especially with two young children.

Later that night, Carter helped me make cupcakes. He loves to cook!

Yesterday (Monday), we played at home all day. Carter helped me clean the house a little - he loves my new Pledge duster, so today I had to buy him his own (he needs his own Swiffer vacuum too so I finally use one again). Last night, we went to the Galleria to buy a dress from Chico's that I fell in love with from their catalog. Of course I can't just go in and buy only what I came for, so 2 dresses, 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of pants, 1 necklace, 1 pair of earrings, and 1 hurting bank account later, we were ready to head for the carousel. Carter got to watch the carousel go around a few times before it was our turn, so he knew exactly which animal he wanted to ride. They have so many different ones to choose from - tigers, frogs, elephants, fancy horses with rhinestones and lots of colors, etc... Which one do you think Carter chose? The only one on the entire carousel without any decorations. It was a very plain brown horse - no rhinestones or anything. I guess I should be proud since he picked the least girly looking one! It's kind of surprising, since you would expect kids to go for all the bright colors.

This morning was Charlie's 2 month check-up. It was kind of a crazy appointment - it was supposed to be tomorrow (Dr. Smith is only in the well child clinic on Wednesday mornings). However, Alan couldn't go tomorrow and I really wanted him to go and help with the kids, so I changed it to today. Well, something else scheduled on his calendar and he couldn't go today either. I had made the appointment for an hour earlier, thus making me have to get up with an alarm clock - before either boy was awake. It takes about 25 minutes to get to the dr's office on a normal day, but given morning traffic I allowed an hour, and we left at 7:45 for an 8:45 appointment. It was raining this morning, so traffic was worse and by 8:30, we were still not too far from home... I called and told them we were running late, so they changed the appt to 9:15. Suddenly, all traffic dissipated and we managed to get there by the time of our original appointment. I knew I then had 30 minutes, so I decided to go through a drive-thru for breakfast since I hadn't gotten any at home. Carter suddenly decided he needed to go potty - urgently. I drove out of the drive-thru line without any food, and went straight to the dr's office, just a couple of minutes away. Of course when we got there, he didn't have to go anymore.

Did I mention that this was the first time I've been anywhere with both boys by myself (other than friends' houses)? I've been pretty nervous about doing so, especially with the new potty training now in the mix. It all went pretty well until the end. I had packed lots of Carter's favorite toys, books, etc., and even some items that had been put away for a while that I knew he would love. Well, he didn't want anything I brought, and only wanted the things I had left at home, so it was difficult to keep him occupied and out of trouble. Also, poor baby Charlie had to get 4 shots today! It's so difficult to see him in pain! He's been fussy all day as well, so hopefully he will feel better soon.

As far as the actual check-up - he's doing very well and he actually has a chance of being bigger than his big brother! He was 12 lbs, 8 oz and 25 1/4 inches long!!! That is the 73rd percentile for weight and WAY off the charts on height! It's hard to believe he's gained about 5 pounds and grown over 3 inches in just 2 months! Carter's height is predicted to be about 6'6" - I can't wait to see what Charlie's will be!

After we got home, we were all having a rough morning, so Holly suggested that we meet her at Wal-Mart while she did some shopping. I took her up on the offer, since Carter loves any chance to see Evan and Anna (Andrew was with his teacher again).

I didn't really think about the fact that it was Carter's naptime, so the trip wasn't so happy for him but we did get some more really cool craft items for project time! Before we left, Evan and Carter got to sit in the bus (one of those ride-on machines in all Wal-Marts). They had a good time pretending to drive the bus!

Tomorrow is our first "official" day of soccer with Carter's real class on Wednesdays - we can't wait!