Weekly Recap

Carter (2 years, 4 months)

Carter is a crazy toddler.  He loves running around and getting onto everything.  His adores being the center of attention.  He is in a "mine" phase and believes everything is his, including Parker's toys that are obviously too small for him.  

We have been having a lot of fun with the boys during bath-time recently.  They love splashing and playing with all their bath toys.  Dad has become quite the expert bath-time hair dresser!

Carter has a lion flashlight that Memaw gave him and he takes it to bed with him so he can read books in bed.  It's pretty funny to sit and listen to him 'read' to himself.  It also keeps him entertained in his crib longer which is great for mom/dad.

Parker (10 months)

Parker is more animated and involved in things these days.  He loves to have "conversations" with people.  He has started with 'M' noises recently and is saying Mama occasionally.

He is also working on clapping and gets really proud of himself when he does it.  He equally enjoys crawling and being carried places.  He is very good at cruising and will hold on with only one hand while he takes a break.  

Like his brother, he loves the water (especially) on blue bath night!

North Georgia State Fair

After naps, we loaded up the whole family and headed to the North Georgia State Fair.

The boys had a great time exploring all of the animals on display.

Cows

Goats

Ducks

Rooster

Bunnies

There was even this extremely adorable, rare mammal...

Oh that's Parker!!!  The fair was extra fun because we met up with some friends, Stacy and Jay.  We rode a few rides and played some games before grabbing a bite to eat.

 Pretty soon the boys were beat, so we took one last picture of Carter with the cows (he asked)...

 And let Parker show of his touchdown...

 and clapping...

before we headed home.  It was really nice to catch up with Jay and Stacy and the boys had a blast with all the activity.

Touch-a-Truck

There were lots of things going on Saturday so we let Carter pick what he wanted to do in the morning.  And the winner.... touch-a-truck. The event brings a lot of trucks together and lets you walk around, climb in them, ask questions about them, etc.  It was a fundraiser for the Cobb County Safety house.  Tech had a home football game so dad went to campus while Mom and the boys checked out the trucks.

There were a ton of trucks.  Carter decided we should start with the garbage truck.  We were some of the first people there so the nice man took a quick family picture.

 Our next stop was the police helicopter.   

 Parker even got a turn in the back seat.

 There were lots of different vehicles and Carter explored them all...

Bomb Squad

Grader

SWAT Tank 1

SWAT Tank 2

Trying on a glove with the Utility Truck

Utility Truck

Front End Loaded

Firetruck

Attempt to get a picture of Parker

Police Car

There were also race cars, monster trucks, more construction trucks, a UPS truck, TV truck, school bus and more.  Carter's favorite was the animal control vehicle.  He went back several times to play with the snake grabber.

Animal Control

It was a ton of fun and fortunately there were lots of helpful dads and volunteers who helped mom get Carter in and out of all the trucks.  After we touched everything twice, Carter was ready to head home.  

A Busy Week

September came to an end as a very busy month for the Holden's!  Out last week was no exception.  We started the week with a repeat trip to the zoo.

Last time we met Carey and Charlie at the zoo, Carter got sick.  Fortunately this time, he was all smiles!

Carter has thrilled to have some buddies who enjoyed the reptile house as much as he did.

Tuesday we hit up the Food Trucks for dinner where Carter ran into several friends.  He had a blast running and climbing until he literally had no energy left.

Wednesday, we met one of Carter's new friends from school for a playdate and then went to Pop and Mimi's house for dinner.  Carter had a great time feeding the fish in the backyard.

And Parker crawled up his first step!

Thursday we went to the Botanical Gardens with the Junkers.  Carter had a great time following Julian around.

And Parker was super excited to see his pal Alexis.

He was a little aggressive and held her hand, sucked her nose and even planted a big wet on on her.  It was Parker's first make-out session.  Fortunately Alexis didn't seem to mind ;)

It had been a while since we went to the Gardens and Carter had a great time exploring.  We'll definitely be back here soon!

Weekly Recap

Here is a recap of what the boys are up to this week.  They enjoying interacting more and Carter is getting into sharing his food with Parker.  He is very careful to make sure people only give Parker "little bites"

Parker loves anything brother gives him!

We start most mornings and post-afternoon naps with the boys playing in the crib together.

Sometimes we even have extra visitors!

And while baby might play with his toys, try to drink his water and chew on his books, Carter still asks to hold him...

And loves it!

Carter's favorite non-family member this week is his next door neighbor Hailey.  He asks to see her everyday.  They have a blast playing tag (usually with dad), looking for bugs, playing ball, going to the playground, playing hide-and-go-seek, drawing with chalk and getting into all sorts of trouble.  Carter has recently been saying he wants to be a princess for Halloween and when he found out that is what Hailey was going as, his decision has been cemented!

As for Parker, he has been very smiley this week since his teeth popped through.  

He is making all sort of new sounds and imitating the sounds mom/dad/Parker make.  He likes to have conversations and finds it hilarious when you talk back to him.

Borrowing brother's football hair