Sneak Peek

Tonight is the real spectacle, as this little lion will meet up with his buddies the monkey, bear and elephant, but I wanted to give him a chance to give the costume a test-run.

8th Annual Thompson Harvest Party

What kind of freaky trick is this?!

I forgot to write about a hilarious moment at Carson's first first birthday party. (No, that wasn't a typo.) Charlie (pictured) is Trent's grandmother's husband, and he is such a neat guy. Carson had warmed up to him and was sitting in his lap, when he reached in Charlie's mouth and his teeth came out! Carson, who had, up until that moment, been restless and chatty, held perfectly still and stared at Charlie and those teeth like he didn't know if he should laugh or cry. He stared at Charlie for several seconds waiting to see if the teeth were coming back out, then slowly slid down off of his lap. It was too funny.

The apple doesn't fall far from the Playstation.

Somehow I don't think this is what the Scripture was referring to when it says "Train up a child in the way he should go."

How Many O's in Zoooooology?

Saturday was a gorgeous day, so the three of us decided to go to the zoo, which we had been wanting to do for a long time. We kind of had to lower our expectations for Carson's first encounter with all the animals. I had imagined him staring, mesmerized and filled with joy by the tigers and polar bears and giraffes. Well, most of the time the animals were so far away from where we could stand, that trying to get a one-year-old to find the center of the attractions was like asking him to find Waldo and be excited about his hat. Often he was much more interested in the little kids around us than the actual animals. (Which, someone pointed out, we could have done at the mall and saved ourselves the $10 tickets.) But he could see big things like the elephants, sea lions (bottom pic), and gorilla, and a few of the exhibits had little windows into a "nest." The Merekats (sp?) were busy in their small nest and less than a foot away from the window, so finally Carson was really intrigued. (Although every animal that he was actually able to focus on he called "dog.") He did love the train ride, which is always a crowd-pleaser. Oh, and what do you think of my new 'do? :)

Scabbyhead takes a bath

Poor C-dog took a header onto the back patio the other day and now has a nice scab on his forhead. After the initial tumble it hasn't seemed to bother him much.

Funny story--yesterday at church we were down in the kiddo-land, and when someone asked about Carson's owie Trent said he fell and hit his head on the cement. About 20 seconds later, as we were walking up the stairs, this little girl (maybe 5?) said to Trent with a concerned look: "What exactly did you mean when you said he fell and hit his head on the cement?" Trent said, "Well...I meant that he fell...and hit his head...on the cement." Evidently, she had a similar experience and it resulted in two stiches, so she was worried for Carson. Too cute.

Who needs clothes?

New tricks, new loves, new stuff

"Please" in sign language. It's really only supposed to be one hand, but the double hand action indicates a silent, urgent whining: "Puleeeeeheeeheeeeeheeeeeeese!!!"

TaDa! Superman showing his supersmile.
Oh, Dryer, I love you so! Why don't you hug me back?
Ah, the first tent is the start of a true outdoorsman. Except, you know...indoors.

My strength and my downfall....

...is my addiction to pictures. I constantly am reaching for the camera, mediocre as it is. I know the joy I get from looking at these pictures, sharing them with all of you, and being creative as I scrapbook them. However, sometimes I'm so focused on getting the perfect pictures that I can't just enjoy a moment. The other day Carson and I were laughing and reading a book inside his little pup-tent set up in the living room. It was so fun. But I was obsessed with getting a picture of it. When Trent got the camera, it was too slow, Carson moved too fast and before I knew it, the moment was gone and I was frustrated that my expectations weren't met. I wish I had just enjoyed the time and not worried about capturing it on film.

Then again, sometimes this kid can be my downfall too. He has learned to say "please" in sign language, and it is pretty darn endearing. It's hard to say "no" to. I must have let him hang on to the camera recently, because when I turned it on the other day, the LCD screen was completely destroyed. You could kind of see little bite marks in the corner where it had "shattered" digitally. Grrr! I was frustrated with him, but I knew it was also my fault for not keeping it out of reach.

Back to pictures, I also have to let myself enjoy pictures that aren't perfect. For instance, these pics below would probably get deleted soon...they are out of focus, too close, or they don't show his face. And yet they all capture a bit of Carson. Maybe I just need to have a collection of imperfect pics...in honor of an imperfect photographer.