Karter

Such a handsome little guy! He is all boy too, sometimes to his parents' dismay (especially mom). He loves dirt, rocks, sticks, bugs, making messes (despises cleaning up), and all things boy! His new favorite past time (much to mom's chagrin), is playing video games. Aaron insisted on getting a PS2 (to help entertain the kids in the van while we are traveling -- ha ha) about a year ago. Now Karter is hooked and we had to come up with a system that allows him to play but not too much (ideally). He has to do homework first, then some form of excercise, and then pay 10 reward beads for an hours worth of playing time. He manages to do enough to play frequently and is trying really hard to earn enough reward beads to be able to buy a game (Lego Star Wars) for the PS2. Again, Karter is ALL BOY! He is quick to follow the lead of friends at school when they show him they can make "farting sounds" with their armpits, belch on demand, chase the girls all around the playground like a monster, and all those other lovely things boys think are funny! Oh man! He is quite self-conscious about wearing things in public that he doesn't think he should. He wouldn't even wear his Halloween costume to the school Trunk-or-Treat until he got there to see that everyone else was indeed dressing up. Rylie went with Aaron to get some milk at the grocery store the other night after she's already changed into her pajamas. Karter was quite concerned about that and upon their return he asked if anyone laughed at her. Fortunately we see this in him at a young age and realize that social acceptance is very important to him. We will need to be extremely proactive in trying to teach him about not following the crowd for acceptance, especially if it leads to making bad/wrong choices.

Despite his "all boy" nature, Karter is extremely sensitive, although he tries hard to conceal that side of him. When it really matters to him, his feeling get hurt easily and he does cry (so sad to see).

Karter loves motorcycles. He likes to get a ride up the hill (driveway) when Aaron leaves for work.