Pooh.... Then and Now!

The very first toy that I bought Carson was before he was even born. I fell in love with Pooh, the baby one, and I knew that he was going to be Carson's crib friend. I have many pictures of Carson and Pooh, but most were before digital. I found this one of Pooh and Carson along with Carson's other favorite thing.... his bankey. Carson was so in love with Pooh that I was really concerned for a while about him losing Pooh... so I bought a spare. Pooh went on trips with us to visit his cousins in El Paso and to the grocery store and to Mother's Day Out. Pooh had a place of honor and was very very loved. Fortunately, Pooh never got lost.

In the past year or so Carson and Pooh grew apart, and Pooh had to sleep in the wagon with the other stuffed animals. I guess little boys do outgrow somethings and he would tell me that Pooh was for babies, not big boys. He said he still loved Pooh, but he didn't need Pooh to go to sleep at night. Bankey is another story. Bankey has NEVER slept without Carson and I do have a slight worry of bankey going away to college with Carson, but that is another story.

When Wayne moved ahead of us to Virginia, Carson seemed to need a little extra attention at night. One night I discovered that Pooh has regained his place of honor, keeping Carson company at night while he dreams. I personally am glad to see him there, and you can tell Pooh is a little worn, a little dirty. But he is still Carson's best friend.

A Very Special Lady!

Today Carson and I ran to the mall to get a few errands done (Bath and Body Works had Wallflowers on sale, but don't tell Wayne). We planned on going in and eating a quick bite at Chik Fil A. When we walked in the first person I see is Carson's birth mother and her husband. We walk over and talk for a few minutes, getting caught up on things. Wayne and I run into them quite a bit, but Carson is usually not with us. Fortunately today he was. After we got our food, we went out and sat in the food court and I asked Carson if he knew who that Special Lady was. He said, is she the one who grew me in her tummy cause yours was broken? I said yes. He went on to ask if I ever had a baby in my tummy, and a couple other questions that pertained to the subject of adoption. I was impressed by the fact that he completely understood who she was and how special she is to us. While we were eating, I was thinking how cool would it be to get a picture of Carson and his birth mother, so I checked back where we saw them, but they were gone. I was a little disappointed, but prayed we would see them again, and she would be agreeable to a picture. We hadn't gone ten feet after my quick prayer... and there they were coming around the corner. I asked if I could snap a quick picture, and she said sure. (Wayne if you are reading this.... this is a HUGE hint for Mother's Day). I only had my camera phone with me..... I did not have my digital SLR, which is a little too big to schlep all over the mall. It really would have been nice to have a small inexpensive point and shoot camera... Like the Nikon Cool Pics... or something along those lines. But I digress, today Carson was able to put a face to the Special Lady. As soon as I have her permission to post the picture I will (talk about spitting image). She gave us a gift like no other, and this Mother's Day I want to honor her as my son's birth mother.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin!

Carson had a pair of hand me down boots from my nephew that he wore when he was about two. He wore them occasionally but never really seemed to like wearing them. A couple of months ago, we were invited to a couple of birthday parties, and they were both cowboy themed birthday parties. I found a pair of cowboy boots at Payless Shoes and convinced Carson to try them on. He loved them! We now wear our cowboy boots with everything. My favorite "look" is the shorts, t-shirt, and cowboy boot look. It is oh sooo very West Texanish and very Carson! Now I can't get the boots off of the boy! I expect that this will become a huge fashion trend in Virginia once we get there. You can all say you knew Carson before he was such a trend setter.

Getting Ready for Work - Commuter Style

This mornings commute was a little slower than normal due to not 1 but 2 accidents on the route that I take. The 2 accidents were about 5 miles apart, 1 was at the approach to the multilane I-95, I-495, and I-395 interchange. The other was at the on I-395 near Seminary Road. Thus this mornings commute I had the time to look around and I had the opportunity to visually see first hand a woman, a woman driver no less, in the car by herself getting ready for work. Now I'm not talking about applying mascara, or any other form of makeup, and no I'm not talking about her getting dressed while driving. Although it would not surprise me to see that at some point. I'm talking about this driver doing her hair. She must have been running really late this morning because the first thing I saw were these HUGE plastic rollers all throughout her hair. They weren't hard to notice see she was also driving a convertible and the top was down, and NO she wasn't a blonde. As the commute progressed and our vehicles would peridocally pass each others I could notice progress on her doing her hair a la commuter style. I did not see any curling irons (guess with the HUGE rollers) a curling iron is not needed. The last time she passed me as I was about ready to exit she had about half of them out. Eventually I had to exit and I'm not sure where she was headed to but I will admit that it did provide a great bit of chuckles not only for me but for other drivers. I wonder what tonight's ride home will offer up to keep me chuckling.

What is it about Little Boys and Mud Puddles???

A couple of weeks ago I posted about how much Carson loves to play in the dirt, and how he prayed to Jesus, thanking Him for dirt to play in. I don't know what kind of strange magnetic force calls to little boys compelling them to run through any mud puddle that they come across. It can be the only puddle in a parking lot, or a small drainage ditch. This boy has never met a mud puddle he didn't love.

Carson seems to be inexplicably drawn to water, whether it be a bird bath, fountain, water hose (don't get me started on this one), sprinkler, anything. You name it he WILL find it. With Spring comes the need to water grass and such, and since the common areas of our development are still under construction, there is a lot of dirt, and when water is added... of course we have mud.

Cut to this morning, I was watching my nephew, and Carson was playing outside. It was a beautiful morning, a slight chill to the air, but nothing... I repeat NOTHING will keep the boy from the alluring call of a distant mud puddle. I peek outside and the boy is practically knee deep in mud, and soaking wet. Does he like being dirty? Not really, he will actually wash his hands constantly if he gets something on them. But mud does not seem to bother him at all. I remember as a child loving the feel of warm mud squishing between my toes...perhaps that is what draws him. I convince him, after I snap a few pictures of course, to come to the garage and strip down and get in the bath. He reluctantly agrees and washes up a little at the water spigot... this is the result after washing up.

Vocabulary Lessons..... Carson Style

This is the dictionary of words very common in Carson's vocabulary. He had a significant speech delay and while we are beyond that, many pronunciations are not quite right. Language development is progressing, but sometimes he still struggles for the right word to convey his thoughts.

speed lemon n. meaning to drive the speed allowable by law.

juicy hill adj. n. A water filled pustule that forms under the skin when skin is irritated.

eye bobs n. The place where mommy puts her contact lenses.

1,2,3's Lunchables... when Carson was little we got some lunchables and I counted the meat and crackers etc. He has called them this ever since.

Bite You's. When Carson was 18 months or so, he developed a fear of the ceiling vents in his bedroom. To this day he is constantly looking up anywhere we go to see how many there are. He is no longer really afraid of them, but he counts them wherever we are.

Dumpter n. Anything can hold water and be dumped out. The best dumpter is the one at Splash... you know the dump tank.

Coppee n. Mommy drinks coppee every morning.

Just so you know.... we do correct his language mistakes, often times the word just sticks..and it becomes part of our vocabulary as well. 1,2,3's is a prime example.

Just Playin' Around

Tonight, Carson and I had the privilege of attending a good friends surprise graduation party. Of course I took the camera, and I took some pictures of the boy and all the kiddos rolling down the hill. My very favorite time of day to take pictures is in the evening when the shadows are longer and the sunlight is golden. It really intensifies the colors and it isn't as harsh.Carson is such a poser!I really like the pictures where I catch him a little off guard.

Like this one below.

Carson sitting in the field ... he was looking for ladybugs, and butterflies. I am sure I will have to give him a dose of zrytec tonight.

Having a ball rolling down the hill

Christian and Carson... two sweet boys!

Red Dye Update... scroll down

I started a post yesterday and left it in draft mode.. so it posted below the picture thread... scroll down for the update!

Posting a random picture or three or four ;).

I was going through some pictures for a friend and ran across a bunch of pictures of the boy in his younger days. Kinda makes me sad....

All of these are about 12 months to two years of age.....The first one is of my niece and Carson

Update on Red Dye Experiment.

On the 8th of April, I tried to removed all red dyes from Carson's diet, and I noticed a dramatic improvement. His impulsivity was much better, as was his general overall attitude. When I say I tried to remove it... it wasn't for a lack of trying. On Tuesday of this week Carson found the fruit snacks that I had yet to get rid of in the pantry. He had two packs before I knew it. He had his best friend over to the house that evening, and he was very emotional, and impulsive with him. The boys both fought a lot more than they normally do. He just seemed out of sorts with everyone, and anything.

I thought if I removed foods that obviously had red coloring in it I would be doing good. I found Red Dye # 40 in Pillsbury crescent rolls, Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, Pillsbury vanilla frosting, and Jello chocolate pudding. These aren't even remotely red in color. Benadryl, the little pills as well as the liquid have red dye in it. I am sure it is even in the coating on some of Carson medications that he has to take every single day.

Obviously, I don't think I will be able to totally eliminate it from his diet. We have made tremendous strides in greatly reducing it, and in my opinion, it has shown a great deal of promise. I am planning on taking things a step further and try to eliminate yellow dye#5, which has been thought to have adverse reactions in children with hyperactivity disorder. Time will tell on this one.