Merry Christmas from the sleepy boy

After a late night "partying" on Christmas eve we heard Carter crying at about 4:00 am. His crying also roused Susan's sister Julie who had already scooped Carter up. As I plucked him out of Julie's hands he looked at me and said, "I want to watch TV." A quick reminder that it was far too early and he still needed to sleep was enough for Carter and he fell quickly asleep and didn't wake up until 9:30. Here's a Chrismas wish from him.

Let's Ride!

EJ, Olivia, Tracy, and Baby Piper came over to Susan's folks place for a little sled riding. The 10" of snow that fell last Thursday is still providing plenty of powder for the sledding run. Unfortunately on one of Olivia's first runs down the slope she had an tragic head on collision with a tree. This happened before I brought the camera out so what I ended up with are lots of pictures of EJ having a blast launching off of the jump we built at the bottom of the hill.

Carter's First Snowday

Thankfully we arrived in PA 1 day prior to the "shopper stopper" storm that hit the region on Saturday the 19th. Susan's sister Tracy brought over a snow suit and we put it to good use.

Grandpa Ed gave Carter and I a send off and whoosh off we went down the sledding hill in the backyard. Once was enough for Carter as he was not too enthusiastic about going again right away.

Susan suited herself up and made the trek up the hill to slide down with Carter. Grandpa gave them a push and off they went down the hill .... right toward the 4X4 post that holds up a birdfeeder. Susan, reacting to Grandpa shouting, "Bail, Bail, Bail", did indeed bail about 5 feet shy of the post. Unfortunately Carter took the brunt of the impact with a abrupt faceplant into the thankfully soft, fluffy, and forgiving snow.

Carter had enough of the hill and the family came down and frolicked in the freshly laid blanket of snow.

The snow accumulated in some of the oddest places... like Grandpa's eyebrows.

We couldn't even get into Chucky Cheese on Carter's birthday!

Carter turned 2 on Saturday December 5th. Susan had planned on the family getting together at Chucky Cheese's (the children's mecca of games, prizes, a large walking rodent, and cardboard pizza). Our plan was to meet at 4:30 before the place got too crazy. On our way there Carter was enjoying the mylar balloons that we got for him in the car.



We turned the corner to Chuck Cheese's and the first thing that that caught my eye was a line of about 10 people at the door.... not a good sign. Susan and I both let out a deep sigh when we saw that the line to get into the door actually snaked around to the side of the building. It was safe to say that it took about 15 seconds for Chucky Cheese's not to be an option for the party place. We saw Carter's cousin Jett inside in the mass of people waiting to get in and Susan jumped out to figure out another option. My sister, Jett, and my father were all inside in awe of the fact that Chucky Cheese was at capacity and it was at least an hour before we would even have been able to get in. My father was releived when we changed the location to a pizza place by our house. Jett jumped in the car with us to Carter's delight.



At the pizza place we had a great time. Carter and Jett went to town on the quarter machines and came out with all sorts of prizes and treats.


The pizza was great and everybody was happy. Carter and Sus had gone shopping for birthday supplies and Carter got to pick out what he wanted. He picked out a Micky Mouse cake, Cars napkins, and tractor paper for his presents. The cake was fantastic!


After cake Carter Jett and Grandpa had running races, climbed on the benches, laughed until they snorted, and generally had a blast. Carter's 2nd birthday was so much fun that he slept in until 8:00 the next morning. Now that is a sign of a happy 2 year old that had a big night.

Palm Springs Time!

Several weeks ago Susan and Carter accompanied me to the California Science Teachers Convention in Palm Springs. We had a great time! Here are some pictures.

Gobble Gobble

The Gladdings loaded up in the accord and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Castro Valley to spend Thanksgiving at Aunt Lorrie and Uncle Steve's. The family were there in full force with 4 little ones and 14 or so adults.

Carter had a great time with his cousins Liam, Kaylin, and Erin. They were running up and down the stairs, frolicking on the lawn, eating some straw, harvesting red berries, and entertaining each other with giggles, smiles, and lots of laughter.


The adults without the small children kids very intelligently seated themselves at table separate from the parents and their children. Thus giving themselves a nice buffer from the hands in the cranberries, regurgitated mashed potatoes, and whining about trying a bite of the green beans. We fed the young ones and then shipped them off to the babysitter... aka "Little Einsteins.:


It was great getting to see the cousins, aunts, and uncles and letting the little ones play. We stayed the night, had a nice relaxing morning, and enjoyed some extra time to hang out with the McCoins.

The Mountains

Carter and Daddy took advantage of having Veterans day off and we headed to the Sierra Nevada's for the night. We stayed in Huntington Lake where the temperature was in the low 40's and the air had the fresh scent of the controlled burn that was posted about every 5 miles on the drive up.

When we woke up in the morning Carter began his favorite mountain ritual.... climing the stairs. The condo has two sets of stairs inside and one set of stairs outside. Carter loves to go up and down the stairs and, as it turns out, this was the most hiking he did on our trip.

I was originally hoping to do two short hikes with Carter but the cold temperatures and the temperamental two year old quickly put a halt on that idea. Carter and I took a short hike to Indian Pools where Carter proceeded to pick up every rock in the area and return them to the river.

The highlight of the hike was Carter learning to put his hands in his pockets. His little digits were cold so I shoved them in his vest pockets to his delight. He was smily happy when I realized that this was a first and I should snap a pic. As soon as the camera came out Carter tripped on a rock in the path and CRASH down went Carter. As I was dusting him off and calming him down he kept blubbering a word I couldn't make out. After he calmed down enough to get the word out I realized that he was saying "pockets" and he wanted me to show him how to put his hands in his pockets again. Which we did and this picture is from about 30 seconds later.

Halloween Turtle

For weeks Susan and I have been talking up Carter's turtle costume for Halloween. When the time finally came for him to put on the fabled costume he donned it with glee for about 3 seconds... just long enough for me to get his turtle head on. He was NOT a big fan of the turtle head and he spent the next 20 minutes or so while he and Susan were getting ready to go over to my sisters saying, "Wanna take it off."

Unfortunately my Halloween plans were sidetracked by a case of H1N1. So while Carter and Susan were out going door to door with a superwoman and three batman's I was holed up inside the house entertaining myself with "tricking" the kids at the door. I put a basket of candy right out front of the door that lured the kids into the small cramped entryway. I would wait for the tell tale chatter of glee with the cornucopia of candy laid out in front of them and then... WOOF WOOF WOOF. Oscar would bellow from 1 inch behind the door and about 10 inches from their heads. The chatter of glee turned into a louder chatter of surprise and expletives as they careened off of each other and the walls to get a candy and get out of there.

Carter and Susan had a great time going door to door. His slow deliberate movements gave him turtle like movements as well as a turtle like costume. Carter walked right up and said his "Trick or Treats" and "Thank Yous." Scattered reports from the trick or treaters confirmed that he got into his turtle character with his slow deliberate movements.

The next night he said "Wanna go trick or treat again!"

Trick or Train.....

Choo! Choo! Carter rode the Halloween train in Reedley a few weekends ago. He picked a pumpkin, played in a castle, jumped up and down on a swinging bridge, and had an all out great time.

Carter Sings Twinkle Twinkle!

22 months old and already a ham!

Let's Go For A Hike!

Carter and Dada went for a hike up the San Joaquin River Trail today. Dada really wanted to get Carter out of the Burbs for a bit and Carter, as always, is eager for an adventure. Before I loaded him up in the pack he had a quick snack of goldfish as he watched some fisherman in a boat plugging away for bass. Carter proclaimed, "BOAT!" and then he proclaimed "BOAT" once again... and so on for the next hour or so. The highlights for Carter were the boats, a hawk, a plane that flew by, his goldfish, and getting to walk some. He only puts up with the carrier in short spans of time. After a few minutes he spouts, "Wanna walk Dada." To which the answer "Couple more minutes" always buys a little time.

On the way back down I was bounding and he was bouncing with glee and gut laughing until he snorted. When I said, "Bounce" he replied "like a horsey, like a kangaroo, like a camel." So, for the duration of the hike I was Carter's camel... a word that I didn't even realize that he knew.