Okay, now our vacation has finally started. Lucy is back to normal and we all got a really good nights sleep last night, so our day was on the easier side today. It would have been perfect if Carter would have napped.
As we are entering into the terrible twos, we have started to give Carter small time outs where we put him in a chair, hold him sitting there until the count of ten, and then transition activities. The past few days have been on the tougher side between a new place, new routine, no sleep, and I think he is still trying to cut teeth. Carter’s decision making hasn’t been the best and well, we have been doing small time outs to help him stop whatever it is he shouldn’t be doing.
The time for his afternoon nap was upon us, so I took him into the bedroom and tried to get him to lay down for some quiet time. He had other ideas and thought it was funny to throw himself around in the pack-n-play. Literally throw himself into the sides and fall down. I finally pulled him into bed with me to hold him still so that he would calm down a bit and he screamed his ‘ax murderer is coming to get me’ scream. Jeremy finally came in to help out and put Carter back in the pack-n-play and every time Carter would go to stand up, Jeremy would count to three and then go physically lay him down again. This is all extremely trying to deal with since he only napped for 45 minutes in the morning and was clearly overly exhausted. However, our son got the best of us when he would stand and say “One, Two” and grin. Jeremy had to look away and I had to muffle my laugh and we realized there was an up side to the time outs – our kid is learning how to count. He did finally fall asleep with me and I got a snuggly nap.
We are trying to do something new each day with Carter while we are here and today we tried a mile and a half hike to Hidden Lake. Photos are below (I bought the new PSE 8 and am too used to Lightroom, so please excuse my crappy editing). The hike was lovely as it wandered through the forest and in the distance you could hear a running stream. As you rounded a corner, the lake unfolds before you. I imagine this is gorgeous in the winter time with snow all around – it would be a fun ice skating lake.
At the beginning of the hike, Carter left his hat alone:
Watching some other hikers pass us, Carter wouldn’t look at me. The backpack set up was awesome!
And now the hat comes off… We are trying the “Happiest Toddler On The Block” method of dealing with all the new tantrum situations. You feel ridiculous speaking ‘”toddler-ese” saying, “Carter says NO HAT. NO HAT NO HAT NO HAT. But Mommy NEEDS Carter to wear his hat.” I am sure you can imagine that it takes everything in me to do this, and sadly I am willing to try anything. Scariest part: It is working. DAMN IT. Now I have to continue sounding like an idiot.
Here is Hidden Lake.
We had to take a break at the lake to let Carter run around a little bit. His new favorite outdoor thing is sticks. Nothing like running around with a stick to give me a heart attack.
My dahlia’s weren’t blooming yet at home when we left, but the warmer weather earlier on the east slope of the Cascades has given the neighbor a jump start. I went and took this as the sun was coming up this morning.
