15 Months!

Carsten was 15 months old last week. How is he growing so fast? It's a little out of control. We have another adventurous boy on our hands. He loves to climb. And to climb and climb some more. He also enjoys sliding off of furniture head first and if he was allowed to, he would happily play and roll on the stairs all day. He tries often.

Carsten loves to play basketball, go for bike rides and play at parks. He wants to do everything like Tyler does, so he is constantly "cooking" in their kitchen and bringing me food to eat. If Tyler decides to put on a winter hat and gloves on an 85 degree day, he does too. If Tyler is sliding down elaborate imaginary water slides so is Carsten. I often wonder if he has any idea what exactly he is pretending to do, or if he is just enjoying being like his brother.

He is not really talking yet, although there are a few words he says occasionally. But he is very good at communicating anyway. He points to tell us things, show us things and asks us things, and while we don't know what he's saying most of the time, he is constantly talking about everything he does.

He had his 15 month appointment today and it was the worst doctor appointment in the history of ever. He had to have blood drawn from his arm for his peanut allergy test. I wasn't really expecting that - I don't know much about allergy tests, but I thought it would be a little skin prick. I was very wrong. A blood draw is so, so, so much worse than shots! I had to hold down his legs and both of his shoulders while one nurse held down his arm and the other one took the blood. I felt so mean holding him down for so long while he laid there screaming. It was the worst thing ever. And then he still needed two shots.  He cried a lot, and it took awhile to calm him down, but he was a little trooper. And I am thankful it's over. I'm still hoping the results come back showing no allergy and that we won't have to go through this again. But the doctor made it sound like that probably won't be the case. We will see!

At fifteen months our boy is growing like crazy! He is 23 pounds (52 percentile) and 33 inches (97th percentile!).

I always think of Carsten as this perfect little mix of sweet and feisty. He is so loving and snuggly and sweet. But he also is very focused and determined when he wants to be. I love his passion and his enthusiasm. And I love all of the great big cheesy smiles that are constantly on his face. All we have to do is pick up a camera for him to come running over with that big grin. It's the best.