Mpls

We were in Minneapolis for two weeks and did lots of stuff, learned new things, tried new things, etc.

New things:
Airplane ride
Eating with a spoon
Rice cereal
Sippy Cup
Swimming
Hammock
Grass

Things we learned
Carter - learned to blow raspberries and is doing a lot more vowel/consonant combo talking. Joe and I swear he said "ahh-mom"
Starting to copy movements - specifically drinking beer
Grabbed his feet for the first time
Pack more than one bottle top

I'm not really sure where to begin to describe an awesome awesome two weeks. It all started the morning we left Flagstaff - at 7am which meant we were up at 5am. Hence this sleepy boy

We tried to time it so he would nap on the way to Phoenix. It worked!

Here's Carter at PHX for the first time. We went and had some lunch and hung out before we got on the plane.

just before we got on the plane

Carter did really really really well on the plane. We were super lucky in that we had an empty seat in our row so we had a full row and extra space. It was awesome. Anyway Carter slept through take off, woke up and ate a bit, we played and talked and then he napped again. The only frustrating part was that they made me take Carter out of the k'tan for take off and again for landing, and of course he was sleeping during both of those.

chilling on the plane

What continues to amaze me is how much more people talk to you when you have a baby. Most of it is super nice and friendly. Although some people should keep their comments to themselves as this momma bear is super protective of her little cub. If you tell me "wow he doesn't miss a meal" don't be surprised if I give you the look of death, and if you weren't a person that could keep me from getting on the plane I would have totally called you out. Rude people drive me insane.

As we stood on the curb at MSP waiting for my dad to pick us up, it felt like home again. Minneapolis hadn't felt like home during our previous trips, but this time it did. As my dad pulls up Joe laughs and says "Did you see his face?! He is grinning from ear to ear."

We jump in the car and head to Shoreview. Carter is babbling the whole way there - pretty sure Papa's smile continued the whole way to Shoreview.

When we arrive in Shoreview my dad grabs the car seat and Joe and I grab our bags. As we're wheeling our bags up the drive way my dad is already walking inside with Carter. He walks in and the door slams. Joe and I both laughed and I said "well I guess it's not about us anymore!" It was a pretty funny moment and I cannot blame them one bit. I'd want to scoop Carter right out of the car seat too.

We spent the first Saturday hanging out with my fam and brother as my brother was about to leave for a crazy vacation. Jason was a natural with Carter. Joe goes "do you want to hold him?" Jason says "Yeah, but I've never held..." and Joe plops Carter in his arms before he can even finish his sentence :)

Carter took a liking to Uncle Jason. He was totally enthralled with what he was doing and wanted to copy his movements.

Jason and I have always gotten along really well and I think I'm pretty lucky to have an awesome brother. He proved his awesomeness again by getting Carter a teddy bear that looks like the teddy bear he had growing up. It was so cute and thoughtful. Carter now has his own very own Radar. Don't let the single, going out type guy facade fool you. He's a super thoughtful and family kind of guy too.

The outfit in this picture is also from Uncle Jason, and Ribbits feet are visible. Ribbits is a frog that Jason got for Carter. We told Jason he had to name the frog. When Jason was little he liked to name things after their sounds or what they were, and thus the frogs name became Ribbits.

Cute outfit from Uncle Jason

Carter giving Ribbits some love

Hmm... all that and I'm only two days into our trip! This is going to be a multi part post. That is all for tonight. The rain is falling and the air is chilly and my bed is screaming for me to jump in and enjoy every minute of it.