Friends?

It would be interesting to know what babies and toddlers really think of the kids their parents make them play with. For instance, Colter has spent a lot of time with one of my best friend's sons, Carter. Our boys were born within eleven days of each other and have been hanging out since birth. They've always seen each other at least once a week, usually more, and because of their mommies' friendship, have been forced on each other.

Look, we even made them wear coordinating outfits. Okay, not really. That was just a cute accident.We think the boys like each other; they talk about each other and ask to go play with the other, but do they really? Is the laughter apparent on Colter's face laughter of the joy of playing with a fellow nine-month-old, or was he making fun of Carter's carrot-tinted nose?

A month ago, our two families got together for dinner and the parents attempted to play cards while the kids played. Not long into our game, Colter and Carter came into the room quietly like something was up. Colter fell over holding his head, and instantly Carter started to cry. At first, I thought Carter had been injured, but John quickly pointed out the blood on Colter's forehead. Colter had a cut on his forehead, not a bad cut, but bad enough that the possibility of an E.R. trip to get stitches crossed my mind, but after we cleaned it up, it really wasn't much of a cut. It did swell up later and spread apart, so we put one of those butterfly bandages on it to try to prevent a scar, so it looks worse than it was.

When we asked the boys what had happened, we didn't get a straight answer. Colter wasn't talking and Carter's story didn't necessarily make sense. Probably because he was crying. Carter's brother Evan said he thought Carter hit Colter with a toy, and Colter pushed Carter down, but he didn't act absolutely certain that was what happened (I wasn't totally convinced anyway). Well, as soon as we got in the car, Colter came clean and said, "Carter hit me, Mommy, so I pushed him." I got the story out of him, and apparently, either Colter tried to take Carter's toy, so Carter hit him in the head with it, and then Colter pushed him down. It was so funny that Colter wouldn't tattle on Carter.

The point to this story is that now, there's been a couple things happen that make me wonder what's going through these kids' heads. When we went to play at Carter's house a few days ago, Colter proclaimed, "If Carter hits me, Mommy, I'm going to push him." Yesterday, we met up with several different families at the park, and after playing with a little girl we know, Colter said, "Scarlet is nice; she doesn't hit me." I think Colter may be holding a grudge. Perhaps. Today, I had a substitute teaching job and Colter spent the afternoon with Carter. Colter shut Carter's fingers in a closet door and wouldn't say he was sorry! Is it wrong that all preschooler drama makes me laugh?

Most of the time, the boys have a ton of fun playing together and get along really well. At least I think so...I'm not sure about this look on Colter's face, however.

Maybe we should work on the "A friend loves at all times" Proverb...

In Sync

On Thursday mornings, Colter's friend Carter often comes to visit for a little while. The boys have really started to get into mischief together as they get older and actually play together more. On this particular Thursday, the boys appeared to be playing peacefully with Little People, so I went into the kitchen to do some dishes. When I started to hear lots of giggles and banging noises, I ran back to Colter's room and discovered this....Two monkeys jumping on the bed! One of which, Carter not Colter, is picking his nose by the way (I'm sure Carter's mommy loves me bring attention to that). They had filled the crib with toys and climbed in. I didn't know HOW these wild apes got into the crib so quickly; Colter had only climbed into his bed a few times before, so I got them out and stood in the hallway peeking in to see what they would do.

They moved Colter's toy piano right by the crib to use as a step. Colter climbed into the crib first, and then Carter climbed up on the piano. Carter lifted his legs up to climb over the crib, couldn't quite make it, so Colter pulled Carter the rest of the way in. What teamwork!

Check out this series of pictures taken one right after the other. Did they plan this?

Eyes closed...Mouths open...Serious faces...
Seriously? How did that happen? Can you imagine what these guys will pull off when they're in high school?

The Preggo Lady Is Faster

Or she just has a trouble-maker for a husband! Grr....Joey. :)

My friend Gina organized the Carter Ryan Run for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society on May 2nd (go here to read Carter's story). There was a mile walk, a 5k run, and a 10K run. Although I could have run the 10K in record time and amazed all the onlookers with my speed and grace of course, out of the goodness of my heart, I decided to have pity on my friend Rachel and walk the 5K with her as she is preggo and didn't feel running a 10K would be in her baby's best interest.

It was a cold day for a walk, but look at our smiles. And look who is winning! Colter!Our families had a great time walking together and visiting, UNTIL the end of the race! Look at me casually walking with Rachel thinking we're going to have a six-way tie. Oh, the innocence! Little did I know Rachel and Joey had an evil plan!
Suddenly Joey grabbed my arm, and Rachel took off!Grr!Look at the expression on Rachel's face! It's obvious this was her plan the whole time. The little sneak. :)
The preggo lady crossed the finish line first! At least I got ahead of Joey. See how John is behind us? He just watched the whole thing and didn't rescue his wife. I hope I don't ever get attacked for real!
We finished the race in an amazing 52 minutes! We are speedy. :)The man of the hour with his mommy!

Thanks, Mike, for taking great pictures! I love how you captured the turn of events at the end of the race! :)

Trick or Treat!

Look what we found on our doorstep on Halloween. A cute, little puppy! He was so darn cute with his floppy ears and freckles that we decided to keep him. He's the best puppy ever--he doesn't bark in the middle of the night like our neighbor's dogs, he doesn't shed, and he is the most well-behaved puppy I've ever seen--if bribed with Dum Dum suckers. Although, after bribed with Dum Dums, the puppy's drool becomes quite sticky.
We took our puppy out for a walk and ran into a sticky lion! A.K.A. Carter. They were both loving the new world of candy that was opened up to them. We also saw Carter's brother Evan the Amazing Walking Lego Boy. Who ever heard of being a Lego for Halloween? How creative!Our little puppy just loved Halloween! He had a ball at our church's Trunk or Treat and also had a lot of fun going to a few friend's houses. He loved carrying his pumpkin full of treats and was very protective of it. At the end of the evening when he was dragging a little bit because he was oh-so-tired, and his pumpkin was oh-so-heavy, he got upset when I tried to help him carry it. He let me know real quickly that it was HIS PUMPKIN and that I needed to keep my hands off HIS CANDY! Greedy little puppy. If he only knew how much of the candy I ate after he went to bed...

Favorite Foto Friday-Friends

Today's Favorite Foto Friday theme for today is Friends. Hmm...do one-year-olds have friends? Probably not. They love their mommies and daddies and that's about it. That's Colter's attitude about other people right now anyway. He adores us, and he is totally indifferent about anyone else. One of my best friends, Gina, does have a son, Carter, that is only 11 days older than Colter, and we call the boys friends. I'm not sure how much Colter and Carter like each other though. In fact, only yesterday, Colter shoved Carter down when we were playing in the pool, and Carter tried to steal Colter's binky. They also like to take each other's toys. Oh, and Carter was amazed by Colter's hair and kept trying to pull it! So Colter whined and shoved Carter down again. I suspect my son may be a bully. Their interactions are pretty funny! Maybe someday they'll be friends, but since Gina and I want them to be, they'll probably hate each other. :)

I don't speak baby, so I don't know what

Colter is showing Carter, but it's cute!

Playing a few months ago.
Colter' best friend right now is his Lambie.