We finally went ahead and got Carmine a good old-fashioned buzz cut last week, and as a stranger in the grocery store pointed out to me, he looks like "a real bruiser." I'd have to agree. But somehow he also looks even cuter, too.
He's a champion jumper and particularly loves to jump in puddles, while yelling "Carmine SPLASH!"
All of his words are coming out a little bit more clearly now, and I can understand nearly everything he says. I think people who don't know him are still only able to understand about 50% of what he says, but that's a step up from the 15% it was a few months ago.
And whether you understand him or not, he does. not. stop. talking. And he gets so excited sometimes, he can barely get the words out fast enough. And when he does finally proclaim, with great enthusiasm, whatever it is he wanted to tell me, he follows it up with a "Right, Mommy?" Of course I answer "Right, Carmine," even when I'm not entirely sure what it is he's said.
The other day, Scott was sitting at the table eating a granola bar, and Carmine walked up, leaned over, took a bite out of it, and then went on his way into the living room to play.
We've been taking advantage of Scott's iPad lately - it provides very valuable entertainment if I have to bring Carmine along to a doctor's appointment - and the other day, Carmine was playing a game, and Gabe came over to try to 'help' him, and Carmine pushed Gabe away, yelling "No, no, no, no - MINE!!" He is NOT going to be pushed around by his older brothers - he's making that abundantly clear already.
He is a force to be reckoned with when he makes his mind up about something, and we wage daily battles over many, many things. But I'm doing everything in my power to remain calm and not give in on the things that matter (holding my hand in parking lots, getting buckled into shopping carts), and letting go and not fighting over the things that don't (stopping to jump in the puddle 5 times, even though we're running late and really should get in the car and get going).
The truck obsession is still going strong, and I love when we're driving along and he shouts out from the backseat "Whoa!!!! Carmine look BIG truck!!!" We have a whole library of truck-themed books that we read just about every single night at bedtime, too. And tonight, he was reciting part of one of those books as he sat at the dinner table.
He'll also open his books, flip through to random pages, and read what's on those pages. Clearly he's just remembering what the page says, and not actually reading, but it still impresses me that he can do that.
His new trick this week is singing the ABCs. His version goes something like "A, C, M, O, P, now sing me!" followed by lots of clapping and yelling "YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!" He also likes to sing a song called "Apple Tree," which is him hopping around the room yelling "Apple tree, apple tree, apple tree, apple tree."
Gabe and Dante had a patriotic concert at school yesterday, and Carmine was the most enthusiastic audience member there. He sat in his stroller and clapped and yelled "hooray!" after every song. It was fun to see him truly enjoying watching all the kids sing. And he got especially excited when he saw Dante get up to read an introduction to one of the songs (a privilege Dante was pretty excited about, too!).
Another morning this week, I was sitting at the table reading the paper, and he climbed up into my chair and put his arms around me and said "Mommy, hug." Sweetest. Thing. Ever.
He's a funny, ferocious, loud, crazy little man, and I cannot believe how lucky we are to have him : )
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