There is one thing from his party that will forever be sketched in my mind as the sweetest and almost saddest picture of his personality... its no secret that Carter loves to be outside but this July has been incredibly hot and dry so we wanted to have his party inside. After the pizza and cake was done, Carter, who was happy to have family and friends there, started to get a little quiet, and ask us if he could go outside. We all tried to redirect him to play with his friends and toys some more. He made his rounds asking Mitch and I, my parents, and Mitch's parents if he could go outside to play. After several redirections, he went to the little shelf in the kitchen where his shoes are kept, put on his tennis shoes by himself over his bare feet, and found my brother. Putting on shoes by himself is something he just recently learned how to do, so for him to do it without help shows the urgency in his mind. He stood next to my brother (Uncle Alex), in his bright blue tennis shoes, held his hand, looked up at him and said "Uncle Al-wex... wan' go outside with me?". It melted my heart. This whole big party with unopened gifts and friends everywhere and what he would really rather do is go outside and play with his uncle in the sandbox. Such a sweet picture of my little boy's heart and personality. He tends to take after his mother's shyness and his father's love of the outdoors, but he is particularly unique and continues to amaze me as I get to know him more intimately. I will never forget looking down at his bare feet stuffed into those blue tennis shoes and feeling such a swell of love for him.
We got him to open his presents and he was okay with being inside after that. It wasn't too long though before he was asking to take his shiny new trucks and tractors outside to play in the sand. In the days that followed his party, he would ask "Where friends go? I see friends again please?" He also thanked God for his party and his toys during the blessing a few times. Love that sweet boy.
Uncle Al-wex
