Our Journey to Carson

A Weekend of Firsts...

Here we are...Day Five since arrival home from China. Friday morning, we took Carson's picture on our stairs (much like the pics of Kevin and I and Meggie on the side of the blog). He started off being a goofball -- cheesy face and a wink -- but eventually cooperated. The pic has been on the side of the blog, but you may not have noticed...take a peek...
Isn't he ADORABLE?? Carson had a weekend full of firsts, starting with Friday morning when he had...

...his first jump on the trampoline......and his first "car date" with Tori!!

Needless to say, our house has been somewhat like Grand Central Station this weekend, with friends, family members, and neighbors coming over to meet our Little Man. Friday evening, there was a knock on our back door...it was a group of some of the neighborhood kids wanting to meet Carson. He acted so shy, hiding behind Kevin's legs while the kids peered into the family room at him. They left pretty quickly and right on their heels was another small group wanting to meet him. When they knocked on the door, this time Carson was enjoying the attention...he walked right to the door, opened it up, and said, "Hello!" The kids were cracking up!!

Saturday, Carson and Daddy went to the grocery store and then off for another major first...

...his first haircut!

He did a GREAT job with the haircut, cooperating like a champ! Later that evening...hard to believe...ANOTHER first...

...he attended his first birthday party with his CRAZY cousins!!

He took quite a while to warm up to the crowd at the birthday party, but once he did he had a great time!

Sunday we took him to Church...and he charmed the pants off of everybody! Kevin and I took him to our Sunday School class...he ended up trying to lead the class by the end (sorry, Chris!). We really appreciated everyone's patience with our squirmy guy! After all the attention he got in Sunday School, he was WAY too wound up to go to the Service, so Kevin took him home. They came back at the end of service so Carson could meet our friends who missed him earlier in the morning. He thoroughly enjoyed the attention and was performing for everybody...high-fiving and "How you doin'?" left and right.

Another first on Sunday...
...watching football with Daddy! (Special thanks to Sharon and Terry for the awesome football jersey -- fits him perfectly!)

We also discovered that, while he'll car date with Tori, he's actually a big fan of "older" women...

...especially Meggie's friend, Sarah. Actually, Sarah spent so much time at our house this weekend, he started calling her "Jie Jie" -- "sister" in Chinese!

The language barrier -- which one would presume would be our biggest obstacle -- has been a non-issue! Carson really seems to understand nearly everything we say and is learning more and more English every day. He is also picking up things like coughing into his sleeve (instead of right in your face!), covering his mouth and saying "Es-cuse me!" when he burps, and mimicking facial expressions. Look at him with a quizzical look, and you'll get this in return...
When he's being extra silly and you shoot him a skeptical you-think-you're-SO-cute look, you'll get this...
I think maybe Carson has been taking acting lessons from his big sister!! Hey, Carson, you think you're pretty funny, don't ya??
I'll take that as a "yes"!

Our biggest issue, hands down, has been sleep. Carson is NOT a fan of his room (probably being alone in his room is the problem) and has yet to sleep through an entire night! Friday night, he got up at 1:30 and 4AM. Saturday night, same routine. Sunday night he only got up at 4:30...progress. Last night, he slept through from 9PM to 5:15AM!! Not that I'm a fan of getting up at 5:15, but he's definitely getting the hang of it!! We are determined for him to stay in his room...if we stick him in our bed, I fear we'll never get him out! As each day gets better, I think we may have a successful night of sleep by week's end.

Yesterday Meggie went back to school and today Daddy went back to work. Carson keeps walking through the house, shouting for "Baba!" After Carson's pediatrician appointment this morning, we're going to meet Daddy at work and go out to lunch...I definitely see Carson in withdrawal, missing his playmate from the past two weeks! Overall, though, my first day solo with Carson has been good...I had a nice, long phone conversation with my brother, Mike, and have been able to empty the dishwasher and blog while he plays with his toys.

Now I have to get motivated to write my paper for school...it's due Thursday and I haven't even started!

Getting pictures of Meggie and Carson together will be harder now...she's back to her schedule, her friends, her dance team, and her homework. I did manage to get these...

...as they shared some ice cream Friday night. Check in on us later this week!