Happy Birthday, Carter Bean!

Today my little boy turns 3. We spent the weekend celebrating, with a party for his friends on Saturday and a family party yesterday. What a spoiled kid - we've got new toys all over our house! Carter has been the baby of our family until 5 weeks ago, so it seems like he's younger than three years old. On the other hand, he's been potty trained for at least a year, and he does pretty much everything his big sister does, so he seems a lot older than he is. But Carter is a true 3-year-old in his behavior. We've had a heck of a time with him since his baby brother was born. He's been pretty tough to deal with! But he's getting better and we love him to death even when he's being bratty.

A few things that I want to remember about Carter at this age:

• He's very observant. He asked me last week, "Why do you have holes in your ears, Mama?" Now he always wants to check out my earrings. I don't think Katelyn even knows my ears are pierced! He likes to compare himself to everyone else. He notices how big his ears/thumbs/feet/hands are compared to Aidan, and how little everything is compared to John and me. My favorite is when he sat on the floor next to me and said, "Mama, you have a big bottom!"
• He's much tidier than his siblings. He can mess his room up with the best of them, but when he wants it clean, he keeps it perfect. He woke up in the night last week and accidently knocked over his blocks on the way to the door. He came out of his room crying, "I messed up my room. I messed up my room." When we finish dinner, his shirt has less food on it than Katelyn's OR Tanner's!
• He loves his little brother to death. He would literally love him to death if we allowed it. We've been trying to teach him to be more gentle with Aidan so he doesn't smother him.
• He says the cutest things! On Saturday morning he was eating his breakfast and he said excitedly, "Cereal can swim, huh Mama? They can swim in milk!" I catch myself laughing at little things that he says all day long. I need to remember to write down more of them!

Here are some birthday pics:

The birthday cake - Thomas, of course!

Carter "unwrapping" his new bike. He's in love with it!

Carter is a little speed demon. It's so cute to see them riding together!

I just love this picture of Carter. He looks so old with one hand in his pocket.