We are trying to teach Karter how to feed himself using a fork and spoon. So far it is going pretty well, and he makes it to his mouth about half of the time!
We had mashed potatoes and gravy the other night for dinner, and it was the perfect time for Karter to practice his skills. He loved the potatoes and would get so proud of himself when he would make it into his mouth. The next step is to teach him how to put it on the spoon himself!
We couldn't wait to take Karter out to the beach. As soon as the cars were unloaded we went for a family walk.
Karter enjoyed many snacks that are no-no's in our house while on vacation! Aunt Emily introduced him to Twizzlers and boy did he love them!
One of my absolute favorite pictures! I'm not sure what was going on, but I'll venture to guess Grandpa Kim was doing something funny!
He was such a happy boy all week!
Karter trying to work the hose.
Grandma Terry and Karter bonded on vacation!
Grandpa singing to Karter.
Smooches for Grandpa!
One day Kristoffer, Kim, Kyler and Grandpa Bud went deep-sea fishing. Unfortunately, Kristoffer's big catch was 1-inch too short!
While they were fishing, the rest of us went to Beaufort. Karter enjoyed getting to spend time with his Great Grandma Lois.
My boys being silly on the stairs!
It rained our first full day at the beach, so all of us "kids" went to the Aquarium. We were able to use our zoo pass to get in free.
Karter and Mommy at the aquarium.
Karter and Daddy at the aquarium.
Vacation was Karter's first trip on an airplane. He loved to people watch while we were waiting to board our flight.
We eat very well while on vacation, and this is my favorite meal...crab legs!
Speaking of eating...Karter loves junk food! Here is is with a slice of pizza in one hand and a cookie in the other! He is the poster child for healthy eating.
How precious is this....Karter's little trunks hanging on the line!
Karterman is a beach baby, he absolutely loved our week at the beach!! Before we had Karter, Kristoffer and I preferred to be beach bums, however with a VERY active one year old, our days of laying on the beach all day are long gone! Although, it is a lot of fun watching Karter explore the beach.
After Karter would wake up from his nap, we would get him all lotioned up and then head out to play.
Karter would get so excited when he would see where he was headed!
This boy had NO fear when it came to the ocean. He would run out as far as we would let him. Even when the waves would splash on his face, he would just like his lips and continue on.
He loved the ocean, but I think his favorite thing was the dig in the sand and collect shells. Karter was always covered in sand.
Daddy liked to dig holes with Karter.
How cute is this picture!? My 2 favorite boys!
Sometimes while they were digging a wave would come up and surprise them. Karter wouldn't mind though, he would just start splashing around!
Another thing that Karter loved to do was point at and chase the bird on the beach. Thankfully he never actually caught up to any of the birds, but he loved to watch them.
Karter and Daddy splashing away!
By now you are probably thinking..."wow, she has a lot of pictures today!" Sorry, there are still more to come. This is the problem you run into when you have such a cute babe!
Whenever a wave would hit him, Karter would let out the cutest laughs.
Karter smiling at Grandpa and Grandma while digging in the sand with dad.
Whenever Karter was walking on the beach, he would talk the whole time. He was just SO excited to be at the beach.
Sometimes I think that Karter thinks his life is a parade! While on vacation he started waving at everybody, he made so many new friends on the beach! Now that we are home, he still waves all the time, and most of the time there isn't anyone around!
Karter and Mommy both enjoyed having a week of Daddytime!
Karter also enjoyed spending the week with most of his Gray family. Grandpa Kim and Karter became real buds last week and they loved to sit and let the waves crash on them...and of course wave at the waves!
When playtime was over and the swim diaper came off, Karterman had to be hosed off because his little body was covered in sand!
Thanks for having us Kim & Terry, we loved every minute of it! 
We still have a lot of unpacking to do and a lot of photos to go through, so I am delaying our beach posts for one more day! Yesterday afternoon Karter had his 13 month well-baby visit (his doctor doesn't do a 12 month visit) and boy is this little guy growing! He weighed in at 24.3lbs which is 61% for his age (his weight has steadied out since he is walking/running everywhere), his head was 48cm which is 85% for his age (he has a big brain!), but his biggest change was in his height, he was 34.5in....are you ready for it...99.5%!! He is going to be a tall boy! Dr. McKenzie was very impressed by his development and for the first visit ever he wasn't scared of her and actually smiled for her. He showed off a little and pointed to all of the things he learned while on vacation. That was about the end of the good news...he then had to get 2 shots and have his blood drawn. He had just calmed down from the shots when we had to go to the lab, and he had the tech that always leaves me with bruises and she wasn't any more gentle with Karter either. All in all it was a good visit for Karter and we will be going back in 3 months for more shots!Sunday night we decided it was time for Karter to give up his nightly bottle, and replace it with a sippy cup. With vacation coming up, we thought the timing would work out and it would be better to not have to pack bottles too. It was rough the first two nights, but the last couple have gone really good. He doesn't drink nearly as much milk before bed as he did with the bottle, but he still sleeps the same...so I think he is doing ok! He looks pretty happy with his sippy cup!
We had such a fantastic week last week with my brother and his family. Surprisingly though, I actually didn't take that many pictures, but if you want to see some good ones, check out Jake's flickr account...he took a lot! Here are a few of the random pictures I do have though...Jonah and Karter all ready to head to the park. Karter wasn't too sure about having someone else in his wagon though!
Karter always loves to swing!
Jonah and Karter playing in/with the swings.
Last Wednesday while Kristoffer was at work, the rest of us headed out to the zoo. It was in the sixties that day, so as we were picnicking outside we were second guessing our idea to go to the zoo. We went in anyway and it started to warm up. 
Instead of loading 2 strollers into the car, we rented one at the zoo. The boys thought it was pretty cool to be riding with each other.
The aquarium is always a hit!
The boys started to let us know when it was time to head home! We tried all the usual mommy tricks and none of them worked for that long...but not before I could catch Karter sharing his snack with Jonah!
Thursday morning was pretty hectic trying to get everything packed for our camping trip. The boys tried to help out as much as possible, unfortunately, they aren't that great of helps when it comes to packing!
They may not be much help, but they sure are cute!
Jonah hamming it up and Karter being a zombie!
