Carter's Birthday Party

Sunday we had Carter's second birthday party at Peachtree-Dekalb Airport.  They have a playground right by the runway so the kids could burn off some energy and watch the planes take off.

Carter loves it!  Both boys got dressed up in their best airplane apparel for the occasion.  We tried to get a few family pictures but Carter was a bit too distracted by the airplanes.

Fortunately we were able to get the little cutie looking in the right direction.  Parker looked darn cute in his pilot hat!

We set up the food and decorations in a small hanger they have by the playground.

And to cap off the airplane theme, we found an airplane cake topper with Elmo and Grover in it.

We were excited to have some good friends join us to celebrate including Charlie...

Caitlyn...

and Cousin Samantha.

Dad was extra excited when Julian and Alexis got there because he got to hold a girl baby (no we didn't dress Parker up in an adorable dress!).

And Carter was extra thrilled when Uncle Micheal arrived.  I don't think mom or dad saw Carter after his arrival.  We were able to grab a quick picture of the pilots watching the planes.

Soon it was time to cut the cake.  We chose a cookie cake because we hoped Carter would be too scared of it (he still has that cake phobia!).  But he wasn't too excited about it even with Uncle Micheal's support.

Fortunately Samantha stepped in blow out the candles.

We were able to grab a quick picture with the birthday boy before he ran off to find more planes.

Meanwhile, Parker was getting lots of love and attention from Aunt Dee Dee...

and Samantha.  Parker loves to grab at things these days and the sparkles on Samantha's shirt were really fun!

If you notice in the previous picture, Parker had lost his pants by this point and Caitlyn was right behind him. Then Charlie one-up'd them all!

It isn't a great party until someone loses their pants and since we had three of them, we considered the party a huge success! So we said Bye to all our friends!

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Carter's birthday.  It was great to see you all.  And thank you to everyone who sent their well wishes from afar!

Don't Forget the Bread

Everyone was up early Saturday morning, so we decided to head over to the duck pond before Carter's gym class.  The weekend was really about doing whatever Carter wanted and he loves the ducks!  Fortunately we had some bread laying around the house because those ducks pounced as soon as walked in.  Carter wasn't nervous as all and went right to feeding them.

The ducks wandered right up to his feet so dad gave him a lift out of the danger zone.

 Sweet Parker was oblivious to it all and just enjoyed his nap in the morning sun.

There was all sorts of ducks but I think the baby geese were the cutest.  It was a great time of year because we got to see baby geese, ducks, turtles and fish!

There was definitely no shortage of ducks to feed.  Unfortunately we ran out of bread and had to hit the gym!

See you soon ducks!

Birthday Fun with the Fish

When Carter was under the weather Thursday, dad took him to the zoo.  So on Friday we packed up the whole family and headed to the Aquarium.

You wouldn't have any idea Carter was under the weather from all the energy he had.

 Parker loved getting up close to the tanks.  He would grab at the fish when they swam by.

 Carter didn't want Parker to have all the up close time, so we would climb up and join him.

We decided to give the dolphin show a chance.  We picked a seat close to the exit just in case one of the kids got scared.  Carter was super excited for the show.

Surprisingly, Carter loved it.  His lips started trembling when we told him it was over and he had to leave.  He kept talking about the "Dolphin Show",  "Dolphin Water" and "Dolphin Sky".  We'll have to try it again next time we are there.

It was close to closing time so we quickly ran through a few more exhibits making sure to stop at the big tank where Carter "Ohhh" and "Ahhh" over the big whale sharks.

It was a fun birthday with the little guy.  Despite his illness, it was great to spend so much family time together over the past few days!

When we got home "Grandma-ma" came over to give the little guy a birthday hug.  Unfortunately for her, she was soon recruited to help Carter with his dish washing.

We finally got the little guy to take a load off and rest.  Fortunately he had a new airplane rocking chair just for that purpose!

Happy Birthday Carter!  We can't wait to celebrate with you for the rest of the weekend!

Happy Birthday Carter

After several days of sick Carter, he seemed better enough to go back to school Friday.  So we made some cookies for him to take to his friends...

Carter was a bit confused when he came downstairs and saw his birthday decorations.

Carter soon got into his groove and jumped on the table to do a dance (Carter loves to hand dance!).

He had so much fun on the table he got to have his birthday breakfast (3 kinds of cookies) on it.  (Side Note: Don't worry, Carter nibbled on one cookie before devouring his yogurt).

Carter was still a bit under the weather so we dropped off Parker and the cookies and headed home.  Carter wasted no time diving into his presents. 

 He worked out a lot on energy on his new trampoline.

 And pulled his kitchen helper right up to the sink where he proceeded to wash some dishes (seriously).

Carter was in a water sort of mood so we went outside to play with his water table for a bit before taking a nap.

But first, Carter was soaked from all his water play so he had to change clothes.  He picked out an outfit to wear.  Unfortunately it involved two shirts but he insisted so mom improvised.

It was a fun start to Carter's birthday.   But we have a whole day planned so stay tuned!

Scary Episode at the Holden House

Everything started out normal Tuesday evening.  We did our typical routine but as the night went on Carter seemed a little "off".  We had a slight fever and wasn't hungry so we put him to bed a bit early.  After dinner, mom had the baby monitor when she heard a strange noise.  Carter was having a seizure in his crib.

We rushed him to the ER where his temp was 104.  A lot of tests were done and everything came back normal.  We saw the pediatrician several times over the next few days and it was finally determined that Carter had a viral infection (probably a cold).  He had suffered a febrile seizure caused by a quick spike in his temperature.

The "good news" is that there is no long term damage from the seizure and they are relatively common among kids this age.  The "bad news" is that there is a 20-30% chance of reoccurance before the age of 5.

The whole episode was extremely frighting for everyone and one we hope doesn't happen again.  But we definitely feel better prepared to handle the situation if it does happen again.  And Carter got a new art smock in the process!

And he got to spend several days hanging out solo with mom and dad while we got him healthy!

Weekly Recap

Parker (5 months)

Parker was a drooly baby this week and wanted everything in his mouth.  I'm not sure if it's teething or just a love of eating.  I guess we'll know soon enough!  Here are a few pictures of the cutie pie this week.

Wrestling with the dragon

Wondering why mom dressed him in these silly pants

Everything in the mouth!

Carter (23 months)

Carter had a good week being a toddler.  He still loves to be outside and has been enjoying playing with all the big kids in the neighborhood.  One of his new favorite words is "watch".  When he sees someone doing something cool, he will request we "watch" them.  Since we have pulled put his water tables, he has come home every way and asked to play with "water".

As you can tell, Carter's vocabulary has grown quite a bit and he loves to repeat what mom/dad say.  He has even developed a new habit of talking himself to sleep.  Usually after we put him down, he will start chatting for a while.  It's pretty funny to listen to the baby monitor and hear him counting.

Brothers
Carter was definitely in a big brother mood this week.  Here are a few pictures from one morning where he asked me to take their picture before we left (yeas he actually asked me to take his picture).

Proud big brother

Giving the baby a kiss

Giving the baby a hug

Taste of Marietta

We didn't get our festival fix Saturday, so Sunday we packed the kids up for the Taste of Marietta.  Parker was really excited for the fun.

Carter was on board as soon as we got him some watermelon (which he devoured in 2 minutes!).

After sampling a few things, we got to the main event... the kids area.  Carter was immediately drawn to the inflatable Pirate Ship.

Cater recruited dad to join him and the were off on an adventure.

The adventure involved lots of sliding for Carter...

and dad!

After the boys had their fix of the pirate ship, Carter convinced mom to try the big dump truck slide.

After lots of sliding, we decided to head home.  Carter wasn't leaving before he got a new balloon.  And lucky for him, this one came with a sucker!  It was Carter's first lollipop and it was a hit.

Sunday Morning

Everyone woke up early Sunday morning so we ran errands and grabbed a quick bite at Waffle House (Carter's favorite restaurant).  Then we hung around the house which might sound low-key but that's not the case with two little ones!

Carter was very into hanging out with his little brother.  We put Parker on his play mat and Carter had to join him.

He then decided Parker needed a hug.  And Carter hugs his brother with his whole body!

Parker wasn't quite sure about this new hugging technique.  But he loves his brother so he didn't object.

After the hug-fest, Carter proceeded outside to play with his new balloon and his water tables....

and don't forget the bubbles!

After some messy outdoor fun, we changed clothes, napped and decided to try our hand at some indoor activities.  Carter helped Parker take his first golf shot!

He was really proud of the little guy!

The Parker tried his hand at another Carter favorite... the drums.

It was time for Parker's tummy time so Carter decided to join him and show him how it's done.

Big brother made Parker much happier during tummy time!

Well... the cuteness only lasted so long until Carter decided he wanted to wrestle with the baby.  Fortunately Parker is a good sport!

Just another fun morning with the Holden boys!