The work on the house has definitely been a little slower than I had imagined, but looking back on the last couple of weeks, I’d say that there has been quite a bit done, so I can’t complain. With the exception of weekends and holidays, not a day goes by anymore where someone isn’t at the house. As of this morning, the heating and air duct work had been completed, the furnace and air conditioner had been installed and all of the heating and air system had been inspected. The electrical work is completed now and has also been inspected. The deck is installed except for the railing (which will be done after the siding crew finishes), the front door and the deck door have been installed, and the storm shelter has been covered with plywood (they will pour concrete over it later). Last, but not least, the shingles have been installed. Our builder also currently has the garage “soaking” with soaker hoses to get the dirt as compacted as possible before pouring the floor. Not sure yet when that will happen.

Today, the framing inspection was completed and the brick crew was there to get a start on the brick belt line for the house. The electricity company also ran the necessary lines to give electricity to the house. Matt talked with our builder today and got some decent news. He was told that insulation will go in on Friday or Monday and that drywall installation will begin the day following insulation installation, so hopefully that will begin next week. When Matt asked our builder if we’re still looking at a mid to late October finish date, he was told that if things go the way the builder plans for them to will go, the house will be completed sooner. I’m not going to hold my breath though.

We continue to make sure things are in order for vendors from our end too, and I’m very close to being done with decisions. We were able to line up a couple of rebates on our appliances this weekend, Matt picked up the lights we’re installing along the stairs, and I picked out towel bars for the bathroom yesterday. This week I’m working on finalizing paint colors…which is turning out to be more work than I thought, but hopefully after drywall is up I’ll get a better feel for what would look good in each room. And when the drywall crew arrives, I need to go to the countertop store to pick out our granite slab for our kitchen countertops. I think that’s the last design decision I’ll have to make.

So, we keep plugging along. If we are really still on track for an Oct 20th closing date, we’re only looking at 42 more days in the apartment!! Hopefully we’ll get a more definite closing date nailed down in the next couple of weeks too. I’ll keep you posted.

At 18 months old, Carter is still wearing size 18 month clothing and he’s in a toddler size 6 shoe. He has 13 teeth as of right now (one of them freshly chipped, thanks to me) and gets hair cuts by yours truly on a regular basis (probably every three weeks). I won’t have his official weight and height until after his appointment on Friday, but here are some of Carter’s habits and traits at this stage in his life –

* When playing with his toys that play songs and make noise, he’ll push the appropriate button over and over again (as if he’s flipping through stations) until the song he likes best starts playing. He’ll then turn around and look to us to sing the song. When the song is over, he does the whole routine over again.

* He can successfully complete a shapes puzzle, but is still working to understand the farm animal one.

* Carter will “count” for various reasons. A couple of examples, when he’s reading his counting book with us or when he’s preparing to go down a slide. His counting sounds something like “aahh uuhh EEEEE”. I was informed yesterday that he’s started to do this when playing hide and seek with his friend Griffin at daycare.

* When we get out his alphabet stacking blocks, I usually sing the ABCs to him while we stack them, but last night when I just got the blocks out and then starting talking to Matt, Carter started singing the song himself. Of course he doesn’t know the actual letters, but he was singing the tune with an ‘ah’ or an ‘ee’ or an ‘uh’ for each letter. He also will attempt to “spell” his name in the same way.

* Our little man loves to color and draw. He spends time on his doodle pad almost every night and jumps at the chance to get his hands on crayons or color wonder markers.

* Mr. Carter enjoys “reading” through his books. He’ll sit in front of his little bookcase with his book of choice and sign the animals he recognizes. Once he’s done with a book, he’ll reach up and grab another to read through.

* He hates having his teeth brushed and isn’t very good at picking up his toys.

* When we have been in the apartment for a little too long, Carter will retrieve our flip flops for us and place them on our feet.

* He still sleeps with Mr. Froggie (hasn’t slept a night without him since he was probably 3 weeks old) and will tell us “bye bye” as we leave his room at bedtime.

* Carter can name everyone in his household – Dada, Mama, and Aaaeeee!! When I pick him up from daycare, he’ll start saying something to me, stop in mid-sentence and say “Ma?” just to make sure he has my full attention. He uses this attention getting technique any time he wants to make sure I’m listening. He’ll repeat himself, “Ma?” – silence – “Ma?” – silence- “Ma?” until I respond to him and he knows I’m listening.

* While our little man has his head shaking down to a science and is quick to remind us he knows exactly what the word ‘no’ means, the poor guy still can’t nod his head.

* Just in the last few weeks, Carter has taken more interest in dancing. While watching Dora or Yo Gabba Gabba, he’ll stand up and start dancing when a familiar song is used. He mainly just swings his arms around, but it’s cute to me, so I usually dance with him.

It’s hard for me to believe that in only six more months he’ll be two years old. I can only imagine what he’ll learn between now and then. He’s learning so quickly these days!!

Yup, that’s right, Carter’s smile is no longer perfect, and I have nobody to blame but myself. Each time he giggles, smiles, or even cries, I’m reminded of how horrible I felt (and still feel) when his head hit that zebra and chips of tooth were left on his lower lip. I figure I’ll feel bad for the next five years until he loses the tooth, but the incident really got me thinking about whether or not we should have another child. I mean, if child protective services were to read this blog, I’m sure they’d be knocking at my door to check in on the little guy on a regular basis, and if I can’t even keep track of one child, how will I ever keep a watchful eye over two?!?

Matt read up on tooth chips in toddlers and he says we’ll need to call the doctor or dentist tomorrow, but there’s a good chance that there isn’t any damage to the permanent tooth or nerves since the chip doesn’t bother Carter at all (he didn’t shed even one tear over the incident) and there hasn’t been any blood. It still hasn’t made me feel better though. I feel just awful about the event.

On a more positive note, we had a nice relaxing weekend. Yesterday morning we went to the farmer’s market and then out to the house to check the electrical work (plumbing is finished now and inspection has been done). Then in the afternoon we got our appliances ordered for the house and found the mirrors we want to put in our master bathroom. This morning I went for a long walk/jog so I could take Carter to the park (which totally backfired), and then we spent the day at the apartment doing laundry, cleaning, and relaxing so we’ll be ready for the work week tomorrow. Matt’s Steelers are playing the Broncos tonight in a preseason game, so Matt is happy. I’m hoping that a good night’s rest will help me to feel a little less guilty about the tooth. I need to keep reminding myself that nobody is perfect, but I can’t help but feel bad that my imperfections are affecting Carter in terrible ways.

Maybe Monday will be a better day…

Signs he knows –
More
All Done
Drink
Milk
Monkey (says oo-oo-oo)
Chicken (tries to say bawk-bawk-bawk)
Fish (puckers his lips to make a kissing sound)
Cow (says ooooo)
Sheep (says ba!)
Cat (says mea-mea)
Pig
Dog (pants)
Bird (says be-be-be – for peep-peep-peep)
Duck (says cack-cack-cack)
Elephant
Frog
Butterfly
Ball
Book
Flower
Banana
Apple
Hat
Bowl
Bath
Shoes
Airplane
Hungry
Help
Please
Thank you
Light
Toothbrush (this one is new this week)

Words he says –
Mama
Dada
Ace (EEEeeeee)
Baby (bebe)
Ball (bah)
Book (bu) – does the sign with this too
Cracker (cacuh)
Bath (ba) – does the sign with this too
Bye bye
Will gobble when shown a turkey picture (kaba-kaba-kaba)
Bear (bee)
Yellow (ello)
Gone (Ga) – uses this to tell me when his food or juice is all gone
Boat (bow)
No, no, no – will shake his finger when he says it.
Rock (gock)
Deer (dee)
Truck (cuck)
Bubble
Star
Choo Choo (doo doo) – will say this when he sees a train
Dude – courtesy of our daycare ladies
Dora – (Dor)
Backpack (ba pa)
Map(bap)

Thank goodness for a nice cool down that’s here this week. It’s a refreshing break from the humidity…I think I’m just ready for fall.

Only 56 more days in the apartment. My countdown is officially beginning.