One, Two, 3! Happy, Happy Birthday, to You!

Carson turned 3! What the heck? Where in the world did my little baby go. I feel like it was yesterday, then sometimes I think, no it wasn't -- it really has been three long years. Carson loves Happy Birthdays'. He loves the singing, attention and presents. And I really wanted to make it extra special for him. A few weeks before his birthday, he saw a bounce house in the neighbors backyard leaving my parents. He asked Jordan what it was, and he responded with it's for a Happy Birthday, someone's having a party. The conversation ended and we went on about our night. Fast forward a couple weeks and I started asking Carson what he wanted for his birthday and his response was "a jumper and slide." He was referring to what the neighbors had in their backyard a couple weeks before. I didn't really think he was serious, but oh no, he really was. I asked him several more times, and his jumper and slide answer never wavered. Now I had to fulfill a mission. A bounce house? for a three year old? really?! Then, even if I did get it - would he just jump all by himself? At that point I wasn't really planning a party for him. But then I decided it would be fun to invite his little nursery friends over to jump and have pizza. As luck had it, I borrowed a jumper and slide from my aunt, invited some nursery friends to bounce on over for fun with friends and had a little party for Carson during the day. He was basically on cloud-nine with all his friends over. Maybe a little too excited, he was a little rougher than normal but it was fun as a mom to do and see pure joy on Carson's face. He had a smile from ear-to-ear the whole time. The celebration continued that night, when we invited the family & cousins over for ice cream cake and presents.

Carson, Laila, Rylee, Macie & Elizabeth
Other fun guests included James, Katelyn, Julia and Parker

Carson is full of character. He reminds Jordan and I of Zack. But I also notice alot of Jordan's qualities in him, and some of my own. He functions best on routines, and schedules, maybe even a little too OCD on routines but that's just him. He has a particular way for almost everything. He's talks really well for his age, and can put sentences together. He asks an outrageous amount of questions, about anything and everything sometimes I think just to hear himself talk. He also seeks reassurance and praise alot. He loves to perform, craves being center of attention, and is fascinated by music. His two favorite songs to sing (at the top of his lungs) are "We are Never Ever Getting Back Together," and "This Girl Is On Fire." He loves watching movies. His favorites include Peter Pan, Up, Buzz (Toy Story), and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He enjoys watching Curious George on Grandma's iPad, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Max & Ruby, and Scooby Doo. Recently, he's taking a liking to Full House (thanks to Jordan).

 

 

 

Carson still is fascinated with BASKETBALL, along with any other sport that involves a ball: football, soccer. He has pretty much outgrown his Little Tykes Basketball Hoop even though he still shoots hoops on it all day, everyday and now begs to go to Grandpa & Grandma Shields so he can shoot on their big hoop outside. He went to a few Rebel games this season with Grandpa Marx and when he didn't go Jordan introduced him to watching them play on tv. That lead to him wanting to watch basketball all the time, and now he's an avid watcher. I'm not sure what we'll do when March Madness is over and games aren't on all the time. I'm sure we'll have to record some. It just blows my mind that at 3, he is so obsessed with the game: he dribbles, yells defense, backs em down, shoots from downtown and yells airball. He has added flopping on the floor to his skill play as well. Who's 3 year old requests to watch basketball and then actually sits down and watch it? I guess my little Carson man does.

He loves church and nursery. It was a little rough for a few weeks while we transitioned to a new ward. It's his routine, don't throw a wrench into it or man, he's like a lost sheep. We finally got it all figured out with a new class and a little transition plan and so far so good. He's back to loving nursery again, and that makes my heart happy. One of my favorite things about being a mom is asking him about nursery and having him tell me all about all the fun things he did, like toys, coloring, Jesus, snacks - even how he doesn't like their snacks, singing time and then he tattles on the other kids that don't share, haha! Last but not least, he gets so excited about his favorite part... bubbles! He continues to say the dinner prayer every night, unless he picks someone else for a turn. It's short and sweet but so genuine and I love it.

I can't get enough of Carson. I really love being his mom. He makes me smile, laugh, cry, and scream all at once. I could go on and on about his fun loving spit-fire spirit, but he'll always be my sweet Carson bug.