First Hair Cut

Well, today was the day.  The day I knew was coming but kept trying to put off.  The day Carter received his first hair cut.  I've been coming up with excuses for weeks on why we should not cut his hair.  He's too tired to cut his hair.  He's too active now.  I'm too tired to cut it.  This is the hair he was born with.  We can't just cut it off.

His baby mullet had been forming over the last several months and although I didn't like it at first, I grew to become quite attached to it.  It was kinda blonde and when wet it was curly.  I'd play with his hair while he nursed, running my fingers through it and twisting it into perfect little curls.  And I figured, if there was any time in your life you could pull off a curly mullet, it's when you're 11 months old.

But it was starting to bother Chris.  Not the fact that he had long hair (ok yes, that bothered him too), but more the fact that folks were starting to mistake him for a girl.  When Carter was all tucked into my Boba carrier and no one could see his definitive boy clothes, they would sometimes call him a girl.  And, well, that just wasn't going to fly.  Not in this masculine household.  (sigh)  So it was time.  No more excuses.  It was time to cut his hair.

There it is.  One last look at the long hair.  It's so nice, isn't it?  I pulled out the scissors and brought in a ziploc bag - you know, to put the hair in.  And when I snipped off the first curl I almost cried.  And then I laughed because I was thinking "this is so dumb that I want to cry".  But then I started to cry again.  And then laughed again at the absurdity of it.  Oh I was so emotional.  And all over HAIR!  I don't think it was so much the hair that I was upset about, but the fact that my baby is growing up.  In a few weeks he'll be one.  ONE!  And this new "big boy" haircut is just bringing us one step closer to toddler hood. 

I did eventually gain my composure and finish the job.  Chris held him on his lap the whole time and was great at distracting him.  And how did Carter do?  I don't think he even knew what was going on.  He was so happy just playing with the toy cars on Daddy's lap, he hardly even noticed me slicing off his beautiful locks.  (Ok, I'm done now)  The result??

All in all there wasn't that much hair cut off.  And I do have to admit that he looks pretty handsome.  As the day went on I adjusted to it and have even come to like his new 'do.  I did still miss playing with it while we nursed, but I guess it's good that people won't mistake him for a girl anymore.  At least I hope not.

Watch Me Grow: 11 Months

Aaaaand in one more month we'll have a one year old.  (deep breath)  I think I'm ready for that.  I think.  Carter is such a wonderful little boy.  He makes us laugh and he always keeps us on our toes.  I'm remembering back to Brooks at this age when he wasn't mobile yet.  He wasn't even army crawling.  So the fact that my 11 month old can crawl, stand, walk with support and climb everything (and has for a while) is still kind of amazing.  Exhausting, but amazing.

Side Note:  The phrase "please sit still so I can take your picture" is totally and completely outside Carter's realm of understanding.  In fact, I'm laughing now just thinking that I even said that.  I mean, really.  This is Carter.  He doesn't sit still.  Ever.  So this is the best I could do.  We started with this picture...

 A little blurry and off centered, but not bad.  He has a nice smile.  Then he immediately stood up to give us this picture ....

And finally we ended with this.  Carter trying to climb off the chair and onto the desk.  Notice my hand there to keep him from falling on the floor.  These three pictures were all taken within about 20 seconds.  

And such is life with Carter.

Here's what new:

Eating:

• Carter has earned the nicknames "Shoveler" and "Scoop" in our house.  He loves to eat and food goes into his mouth by the handful.  Then he holds his hand in front of his mouth to keep it all from falling out.  Grace and tact while eating are not his strong suits.  But eh, he's 11 months old.  We'll let it slide.
• Carter started using the sippy cup more this month.  We introduced it a month or so ago and he didn't really seem interested.  But now during a meal we'll offer him some water.  He seems to like it.
• He still eats pretty much everything.  But, because he's so smart and just a bit stubborn, he's started to notice when we put something different on his tray than what everyone else is eating.  Last night Chris, Brooks and I had breakfast for dinner.  I cut up a nectarine for Carter until his eggs finished cooking and he had NO interest in it.  Not when he saw everyone eating something else.  He did eventually eat the fruit, but only after his eggs were all gone.
• We've given Carter tiny bits of dairy.  I mean, really tiny.  I'm super gun shy about giving him cheeses and such since I had to cut it out of my diet.  But I'm back eating all dairy now and the little bits Carter's had, he seems to do ok with.
• Carter's still nursing.  I don't know how often.  I stopped keeping track.  Probably a little less than last month, but I can't say for sure.  He does still nurse for comfort.  I have the nickname "pocket" in our house because when Carter needs a little extra love, he goes right for his mama kangaroo to be held.

Sleeping

• Not much has changed this month.  Carter goes to bed around 8pm and it usually awake by 7am.  He'll wake once or twice in the night to nurse.  He still takes a good 2-3 hour nap in the early afternoon.
• I'm hoping this isn't a trend, but last night Carter decided sleeping in our bed was far better than sleeping in his bed.  He woke up to nurse as usual but when I put him back in his crib, he started crying.  I pulled him back into bed thinking he was still hungry, but as soon as he laid down (in my spot) he rolled over and went right to sleep.  Huh.  So this is how it's going to go.  We snuggled for a half hour or so before I put him back into his bed.  More screaming.  I let him cry for a bit thinking he'd go back to sleep in a minute or so.  Not the case.  Back in our bed he came.  And there he stayed for the rest of the night.  I wouldn't say that I hate having him there, it's just that Chris and I sleep terribly when he is.  That 20lb baby is a bed hog and we are both shoved to the edge of the bed.  And we hardly move all night for fear of rolling over on him, which leads to stiff necks and numb appendages.  Oh, and the fact that he mindlessly twiddles the back of your arm while he's sleeping??  Not cool.  Hopefully tonight he'll rediscover his love for his own bed.

New Discoveries:

• Preferences.  Carter is starting to figure out what he wants and doesn't want.  I want to eat. I want to play in the garbage can.  I want to climb in the cupboards.  I want to climb the stairs.  I don't want my diaper changed.  I don't want to get dressed.  I don't want to sleep in my bed.  I don't want to get out of the bath tub.  And Carter isn't shy about sharing his opinions either.  Trust me.
• Kitties.  Last week we went to my friend Katie's house and their farm cat just had kittens.  They're about 4 weeks old so she brought them out for the kids to hold.  I was surprised when Carter gently patted the kitty on the head.  I was not surprised, however, when he then smacked the kitty several more times on the head.  I then, proceeded to play keep-away until Katie put the kitties away.
• Toy cars and trucks.  And really, anything with wheels.  He LOVES to push the cars along the floor.  He loves to flip them over and spin the wheels.  It's so fun to see him choose a favorite toy.  Carter loves cars.  Fitting, huh?

New Abilities:

• Throwing.  Carter has learned to throw things.  Things usually don't go very far because he hasn't quite figured out when to release the object he is trying to throw.  But he will.  Oh, he will.  It probably wasn't such a good idea to buy solid wooden play food for the kitchen set.  Guess we'll be putting those up high.
• Drumming.  Carter loves to hit things.  He will take a brush, plastic spoon, bubble wand, pool noodle or any other long object he can hold and beat it against things.  Everything.  Most of the time it's not a big deal.  Until I saw him smacking one of Brooks' plastic golf clubs against the TV screen.  Not ok.

Carter was NOT happy when Daddy took away the golf club.

Carter drumming while Mama makes lunch.

• Signing "all done".  It's usually accompanied by screaming or smacking his hands against his tray, but somewhere in all the commotion I see the sign for "all done".  I'm sure it would be much simpler if he just signed it, but Carter seems to have a flair for the dramatic.
• Waving "bye bye".  When you wave at Carter he'll now wave back at you.  And it's so cute to see him wave bye bye with his chubby little hands.  So so cute.
• Talking .... sorta.  Carter says "mamamamama" and "dadadada" fairly often.  I'm still not sure if he can assign those words to the appropriate person, but it's fun to hear him "talk".  He's always babbling and jabbering.  He has lots of words to say and he tells all kinds of stories.  We just can't understand them ... yet.
• Pointing.  Carter likes to point at things.  Sometimes is something in particular.  Other times I think he's just trying out his pointer finger.  I try to see what he's looking at and tell him what it is.  I know he's starting to communicate and I want to "listen" as best I can.

Can you see why we're so busy in our house?  Carter is a very passionate little boy with strong opinions/convictions about things.  Which can be a good thing when that energy is channeled into something positive.  That's our goal anyway.  We pray a lot.

Carter is his "pocket" at Falls Park.  It's a nice place to take a nap :)

Juuuuuust tall enough to look out the window.

Most of the time Carter is not wearing pants around our house.  When I change his diaper I literally have to pin him down just to put on a new one.  And I'm usually too exhausted at the end of it to put his pants back on.  That, and he's usually long gone as soon as I let go of him.

Carter loves spaghetti!

Climbing.

More climbing.

Still eating non-food.

Saturday Adventures: The Outdoor Campus

It was a beautiful Saturday night last night and we decided we needed to get out of the house.  Chris wanted to go the Outdoor Campus, so we made that our destination.  The OC is run by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks department.  They have an indoor building with different activities and learning stations for kids and they runs all kinds of outdoor/nature classes.  When we arrived the building was closed but we walked around back to their outdoor activities and walked along some trails.  There's also a small pond on the grounds.  First we started by picking rocks on the "beach" and tossing them in the water.  Then we had our shoes off and were wading in the water.  Then before we could stop it, Brooks was sitting in the water.  With his clothes on.  I wanted to be mad but he was giggling and laughing so much I could hardly be upset.  Carter would have plunged in too, but I kept him at a dry distance.  We had a lot of fun and captured some pretty good photos too.

Notes from our Vacation

We spent Wednesday through Saturday at my parent's house in Green Bay last week.  For the last two years I've made a trip home, just me and Brooks.  But this year Chris decided he didn't want to miss out on the fun.  And, well, since we had one more baby since last year, that made 4 us.

It's an eight hour drive to Green Bay, so we decided to start our trip after Chris finished work on Tuesday.  The plan was this ... leave by 5:30pm, drive until 9, stop and prepare the boys for bed (go potty, jammies, diapers, etc), and drive the rest of the way there while the boys slept.  Here's how it actually went .... left at 6:30pm, stopped at 7:30 because the baby was literally screaming to get out of his car seat, stopped again at 9:30 for the bedtime routine stuff and then finally drove all the way to Green Bay.  Oh, and the sleeping part?  Carter caught on and snoozed the whole way there.  Brooks, however, was awake until midnight.  Mid.night.  At which point he was so tired he was crying to go back home and sleep in his bed.  After about 30 minutes of "shhh, don't wake the baby" and "it's ok if you fall asleep here", he finally gave in and slept.  We arrived at 3:30am.  Oh, so late.  I mean, I see 3:30am all the time while feeding a baby, but there's usually several hours of sleep beforehand.  We tucked the boys in, said good-night to our parents and fell asleep at 4am.

So the driving through the night thing was not such a hot idea.  But there were two good things about it.  1. We didn't waste a whole day driving and 2. Grandparents are great at playing with kids while mama and daddy sleep.  We did a lot of playing while we were there and there's so much to try to remember.  Here's a few observations I made during our trip ... in no particular order.

It takes a full two days to recover from staying awake until 4am.

It's so nice to wake up and have breakfast made for you.  That's my kind of vacation.

My dad has a stuffed bear cub named "BooBoo".

Carter loved BooBoo.

I really miss my mom.

Toys from 25 years ago are still fun to play with.

I love my parent's house.  It's quiet and there's trees.  (two things our current house lacks) And it smells nice.

Brooks insisted on wearing his Boston Red Socks t-shirt, just so he could show Uncle Adam.

Uncle Adam was very proud.

Wisconsin makes the best.cheese.ever.

Eating a fresh, squeaky cheese curd just minutes after it's made is an experience everyone should have in their lifetime.

Chris loves cheese.  Perhaps a bit too much.  I caught him putting cheese curds on top of his ice cream.

It's fun having geese eat out of your hand.

My dad makes the best grilled salmon.  Ever.
No, seriously, it's amazing!

It rained in Green Bay.  I miss rain.
Carter was not very interested in nursing during our vacation.
Cribbage is a fun game.  Even when I lose.

The children's museum is really cool.

I don't recognize most of down town Green Bay.

Without help, I would totally get lost driving in Green Bay.  Still.
There is no such thing as a nap schedule on vacation.
Brooks is much better behaved at Grandma and Papa's house.
We should spend more time at Grandma and Papa's house.
The Olympic opening ceremony was really weird.
I like cupcakes.

I haven't been to a baseball game in a long time.  They're fun.
When the sway bar on your van breaks it makes a loud clunk followed by a grinding noise.
My dad is really good at fixing sway bars.
I love my dad!
Bay Beach is still a really cool place to go.
Bay Beach is not, however, a good place to go on a Saturday morning.
Carter NEEDS to move.  As in, he will scream at you if confined too long.
Almost everyone we spent time with commented on how well behaved and polite Brooks is.  That makes me proud.

We went on a double date for the first time since Brooks was born.  It was fun.
My best friend, Theresa and I don't see each other nearly enough.
I am incredibly proud of her.
Her fiance is perfect for her!
Carter does not like to ride in the van during the day.
Brooks does great riding in the van during the day.
Brooks hates long trips at night + Carter hates long trips during the day = no more long trips for the Anderson family (at least not for a while)
A portable DVD player and lots of snacks were our saving grace during this trip.
Despite our road struggles, it was still totally worth it to spend time with my family.
On the way home, we considered moving to Wisconsin.
Probably won't happen.
I still giggle when I stand under the Jolly Green Giant statue and look up.
We weren't really ready to come home.  Could have spent a few more days in Wisconsin.

Well, that's about it in a nutshell.  Here's a few pictures from the week!

Scray's Cheese.  Where the magic happens.

Carter and Papa Dave

after watching Uncle Adam play softball

The ONE thing Brooks wanted to do on this trip was ride the carousel.  And ride it he did!

Carter rode along too :)

Riding the train with Grandma Marty

All this playing wore Carter out!

Me and Theresa.  I love that girl!

BooBoo

See?  I bet you're giggling now too!

Saturday Adventures: Hot Harley Nights

We love Saturdays in our house.  I mean, really love them.  It's the only day of the week when we're all home and have no regularly scheduled plans.  Some Saturdays are filled with house projects and running errands, but lately we've been tossing productivity to the wind and just playing!  All throughout the week, the boys and I do all kinds of fun things ... the zoo, the park, play dates, etc.  And Chris was feeling a little, well, left out.  And so began the adventures.


Yesterday morning we went to Arrowhead Park to feed the ducks and fish.  If you live in Sioux Falls and haven't fed the fish there yet, trust me when I say that it's worth your time to do so!  But don't toss it in the first pond by the parking lot.  Follow the path up and around to the upper pond.  Just past the fence there's a small slope that goes down to a tiny rock peninsula.  Grab some old bread, head to that spot and toss it in the water and watch the madness ensue.  It's hilarious!


This weekend was also Hot Harley Nights.  A three day gathering of all the tough Harley dudes (and gals) from the area and around the country.  We obviously didn't participate in the hoop-la happening downtown, but last night there was a motorcycle parade.  Over a thousand bikes riding through the streets of Sioux Falls.  Fun!  We packed up the boys, grabbed some ear plugs (Brooks HATES loud noises) and set up along Kiwanis Ave.  It was a lot of fun!

Even with earplugs, Brooks still covered his ears. But at least he was able to enjoy the parade.  Carter, however was completely un-phased by the bikers revving their engines.  I think I better prepare myself for the fact that he'll probably ride one some day.

The most interesting thing for me, was seeing all the different motorcycles and the people driving them.  Because it was Hot Harley Nights there were mostly Harley Davidson's.  But there were also some Hondas, Suzukis, trikes and even a few crotch rockets snuck in (which seemed terribly out of place).

Most of the folks driving were your typical biker dudes (complete with tattoos and leather), but there were also some more "unexpected" drivers.  Like the 70ish year old couple.  It looked like Grandma might have gone home to weed her garden and bake a pie after riding on her hog :)  I also enjoyed the gentleman whose beard was flowing in the breeze behind him.  Or the guy riding his bike with a zebra paint job while wearing a matching zebra print outfit.  The guy with a skeleton riding as his passenger was interesting too.

And I've also decided that I have a lot of respect for chicks who ride motorcycles.  I mean, I'm sure they're lovely people and all ... I just don't think I'd ever mess with one.  When I was in high school, my best friend Theresa and I planned on owning and riding motorcycles when we "grew up".  We wanted to show our awesomeness to the world.  The only thing is that she actually did it.  I didn't.  I think I would except I can't quite figure out how to strap two car seats to the back of one :)  Maybe someday.

Watch Me Grow: 10 Months

Carter turned 10 months this week and he's seeming less and less like my baby and more like a toddler.  (sigh)  I knew it would happen, but given our many struggles during the first 6 months of his life, I wasn't quite sure what this age would look like.  I just couldn't imagine us making it this far.  But here we are!  Carter is very active, very "talkative" and loves and loves to laugh.  He brings so much joy to our home and we are so very blessed to have him in our family!  Here's what's new ......

Eating:

• Carter is eating all finger foods/solids now.  I still have some baby purees in the freezer I'm slowly using up, but it's much easier just to feed him what we're eating.  And Carter will eat anything!!  Which is good when it comes to food, not so good when it involves non-food items.  More on that later.
• Favorite foods: Um, everything?  Does that count as a favorite?  He really will eat anything.  This month he had his first taste of grain foods (other than cereal) - pasta, bread, muffins.  I try to give him mostly fruits and veggies, but I think he likes the variety.
• Not-so-favorite foods:  I can't think of any.  He'll even eat bananas now and applesauce.  He just likes to put things in his mouth.
• He's nursing just a handful of times each day.  Lately, with the 100 degree temps, I've been trying to nurse him more to make sure he stays hydrated.  He's an efficient little eater, but he's also very active. When he's just about done eating, he'll often try to turn, wiggle, crawl and stand up .... all while being latched on.  Ouch!!  "You know these things aren't portable, right kid??"

Carter's first time eating spaghetti!  He was also VERY tired and not interested in pictures.

Sleeping

• Not much has changed this month.  Carter still takes an afternoon nap around 12 or 1pm.  I'll nurse him before nap.  Sometimes he falls asleep while nursing, sometimes not.  If he's still awake, I'll lay him in his crib, sing him our bedtime prayer song and kiss him good-night.  He may fuss for a minute or two, but then falls right asleep.  So nice.
• Carter goes to bed between 7 and 8pm and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30am.  He's an early bird for sure.  The nice thing is that Chris will take him downstairs with him while he's getting ready for work so I can sleep a bit longer.  That's really nice!
• Carter usually wakes up around 2 or 3am to nurse, then falls right back asleep.  He may wake up again around 5 to nurse again, but then goes back to sleep for a few more hours.  I'm finding I'm only up for less than 10 minutes when he wakes up to nurse, but I'm looking forward to the day when he'll sleep all the way through the night.  That's a good goal for his birthday, right?

New Discoveries:

• The kiddie pool.  As I mentioned earlier, for the last week or so the temperatures have been in the 90's and sometimes have even broken 100 degrees!  Ish, that hot!!  So the other night we filled up the kiddie pool and both boys were able to splash around and cool off.  Carter loved it.  It was just like the bath, so why wouldn't he?  In fact, it was so much like the bath that Chris and I decided just to wash up the boys while they were in the pool.  We brought out the shampoo and some rags and cleaned 'em up.  Worked out pretty well :)
• All small objects.  Carter has a very keen eye for small things on the ground.  He observes them, picks them up and immediately shoves them into his mouth!  I try to tell myself that that's his way of discovering his world, but does he really have to put everything into his mouth?  I mean, it's great at mealtime.  He'll eat anything we put on his tray.  But his loves of tasting things reaches far beyond food to things like grass, sand, crumbs on the floor, stickers, wood chips, game pieces and rabbit poop.  Yes, rabbit poop.  Ew.  Chris and I have become very good at the "finger sweep" to remove the many objects he places in his mouth.
• Kitchen cabinets.  You know those doors on the lower cabinets?  Did you know they open??  Carter realized that they, indeed, do open and there's a whole host of treasures inside of them.  Pots, pans, lids, toaster, strainer.  Oh, the fun!

please don't look too close at my ugly cabinets!

• Bike Riding.  Last week we hooked up the trailer to the bikes and went for a ride.  Carter loved it.  Or so I was told - I couldn't see behind me.  And my discovery while doing this?  That I'm horribly out of shape.  After 20 minutes, I was out of breath and ready to head home.  Baby steps.

• Camp.  At the beginning of June, we all traveled out to Deadwood, SD for Adventure Camp.  I was the speaker for the camp for K-3rd graders.  It's the second year I've gone, but the first that my family could come with me!  I loved having them there.  Carter explored the camp grounds, played in the sand and water at the beach and hung out with all the big kids.  Before we headed home, we stopped at Reptile Gardens for a few hours.  Carter touched a big tortoise!  We had a lot of fun!

New Abilities:

• Crawling, standing, climbing.  I know he started doing all these things last month, but now he is much faster!  I'll move him out of the bathroom and into the living room and by the time I walk back to the bathroom to shut the door, Carter is right on my heels.  It's hard to keep up with this kiddo sometimes.
• Flushing the toilet.  I know this isn't a typical "milestone" for babies, but Carter discovered the neat little handle on the toilet and realized it makes a fun noise when he pulls it down.  I'm still shocked that he's even tall enough to reach it!
• Walking with help.  Carter has figured out how to use a push cart, laundry basket, large bucket, etc to push as a he walks.  He walks all over the place ... well, at least until he runs into something and can't go any further. Then he sits down and cries.  It's pretty cute.  So one of us will help him "steer" toward an open area where he can walk again.  I have a strong feeling he'll be walking by his first birthday.  Always on the move!!!