Cole Oliver. 8 months.

It has a been a month of giant changes in our house!  Cole decided all at once he was ready to grow up.  I'm not so sure how I feel about that though.

At 8 months old, Cole ...

• weighs 17lb.  He has a good amount of chub on his little body, but is very strong & even a bit lean given how much he moves around.
• is wearing size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night (because Mama hates changing diapers during the night)
• wears size 9 month clothes.
• sits up independently.
• crawls on his hands and knees very well.  He can get anywhere he wants to go now.
• pulls himself up to his knees and up to standing.  He's good at getting up, but we've learned he's not so good at getting down.  I've soothed lots of cries dues to bumps and bruises and falling down this last month.
• has climbed up a few steps and has fallen down a half flight of steps. We now own a giant baby gate that covers both stair cases and stock in our chiropractic company.
• celebrated his first Christmas at our house.  Grandma Marty and Papa Dave came to visit.  He loved eating the wrapping more far more than playing with the presents inside.
• always found a way to get to the Christmas lights and put them in his mouth!
• has tried a few more foods - carrots, squash, green beans & applesauce.  He doesn't love any of them.  He doesn't enjoy eating foods.
• still takes good naps during the day.  He's super flexible with our schedule, sometimes going all morning without a nap.  He'll just make up for it with an extra long nap in the afternoon.
• is the worst.sleeper.ever. at night time.  He STILL wakes every 1-2 hours at night to nurse.  I long for even 3 hours of consecutive sleep at night.  I don't even remember what that's like :/
• is developing a stronger tummy so I'm now able to add beans, broccoli, cauliflower and some peanut butter back into my diet.  He still cannot tolerate me eating dairy yet.  We learned that the hard way after I was accidentally "cheesed" at a restaurant and Cole was up every half hour that night crying in pain.  I've haven't seen him that sad in a very very long time.
• loves bath time.  And since he can sit up well now, I'm not as paranoid about him tipping over & drowning.
• can tell Mom and Dad's feet apart and will fervently crawl towards Dad when he is home.
• is starting to explore the kitchen cupboards
• puts everything in his mouth.  Well, except food of course.
• is drooling less and less these days.  He still only has the two teeth.
• is interacting more with his brothers.  It's fun to see his personality start to develop.
• smiles often.  He's a really happy baby :)

Cole Oliver. 7 months.

This has been a big month for Mr. Cole.  Lots of milestones,  Lots of changes.  My baby is growing up so fast!

At 7 months old, Cole ....

• is on the move.  Forward!  He's figured out army crawling and is slowly working on hands and knees crawling.  Nothing is safe on the floor anymore.
• took his first tumble off the bed.  (see above)
• loves to eat paper!  Sorry Siouxland Library :(
• cut his first two teeth in.
• still chews on everything.
• is babbling and cooing all the time.  We call him our little sheep "ba ba ba ba ba"
• loves looking at himself in the mirror.
• is a grabber!  Hair, clothing, your face!  He pinches (hard!) and tries to put it all in his mouth.
• takes great naps during the day.  He usually sleeps for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon.
• sleeps terribly at night!  He's my worst night sleeper by far.  I'm lucky if he'll sleep 3 hours at a time before waking to eat.  Usually he's up every 1.5-2 hours :(  It's like having a newborn all over again.
• tried his first foods at the end of November.  Avocados.  He wasn't a big fan.  I was hoping eating solid foods would help him sleep longer at night.  So far, no luck.

Cole Oliver. 6 month.

And just like that, our little Scooter is 6 months old.  He's growing and changing so much and I'm just soaking up all his baby goodness before I blink and it's gone.

At 6 months old, Cole ...

• is still wearing size 3 diapers and 6 month clothes, although they're both fitting more snugly than last month.
• is very efficient at getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth, but still isn't crawling yet.
• still chews on everything. Paper is his favorite. Nothing is safe on the floor.
• drools constantly.  Still no teeth.
• has become a hair puller.  And a cheek pincer.  (isn't that supposed to work the other way around??)  He has a very strong grip and whatever he grabs on to, he will NOT let go of.
• nurses every 3-4 hours during the day.  Sometimes life gets so busy that I just forget to feed him.  Even when he starts squawking and crying I think "Good grief, why are you so fussy??"  Oh. right.  You're hungry.  Poor 4th kid.
• has been sleeping a little longer at night.  Lately he's been going to sleep between 8-9pm.  He'll wake to eat around midnight, again around 4ish, and then up at 7am.  Sometimes he'll go back to sleep after I nurse him, but usually our day starts around 7am.
• usually takes a short nap in the morning (30-45 minutes) and then a longer nap in the afternoon (2-3 hours).  Sometimes he's squeak in a short early evening nap, but not very often.
• threw a few 4am parties this last month.  I knew I shouldn't have said anything :(
• has the best smile and giggle.
• received his 2nd hair cut at the beginning of October.  The crazy newborn hair got chopped :(  Part of me wanted to leave it since it was the hair he was born with, but we ultimately decided to cut it since we had family pictures coming up.
• talks and coos all the time.  He focuses so hard on making "words" come out.  My favorite sound so far is "mumumumumum"!  We'll just go ahead and say that's his first word ;)
• takes a bottle really well.  That makes it easier for this mama to be away from him.
• prefers to be bounced to sleep.  Or sometimes nursed to sleep on the bed.  He does NOT like to be rocked when he's tired.
• holds on to his blankie and sucks on it while we're bouncing him to sleep.
• is tolerating being worn in my carrier, but only if I'm constantly moving.  That's made running errands and trips to the park so much easier.

Cole Oliver. 5 months.

These months seems to be going by faster and faster.  Cole is definitely on the move.  He's very proficient at rolling over both ways, pulling himself side to side to reach toys. pushing himself up on his arms (and thereby pushing himself backwards) and even getting his butt in the air to all fours!!  Full on crawling is not too far off  And part of me wants to cheer him on because I know he's so much happier when he can get to the things he wants to.  It's fun to watch him explore new things.  But part of me wants to yell "SLOW DOWN!".  Being my last baby, it's bittersweet to watch him fly through these milestones knowing it'll be the last time.  Plus, I hate baby proofing!

At 5 months, Cole ....

• is wearing 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• loves playing with toys, especially ones that make noise.
• is very good at getting toys, blankets, paper, and his fingers into his mouth.  Everything goes in his mouth!
• loves sucking/chewing on blankets.  It's like his pacifier.
• gets bored easily.  With 3 big brothers around, he's used to constant entertainment.
• likes playing in his excersaucer.
• nurses every 2-4 hours during the day.
• spits up a lot more than he used to.  That plus the drooling make bibs a requirement every day.
• smiles and laughs often. He's having so much more happy awake time during the day.
• loves to look at and play with the shower curtain.
• will either nurse to sleep or likes to be bounced on the big ball until he falls asleep.
• sleeps great in his own bed, but doesn't sleep well on mama anymore.  Usually there's too much going on for him to sleep on my chest during the day.
• naps inconsistently.  Some days he'll only take 45 minutes naps.  The next day he'll sleep for 3 hours in the afternoon.  It makes planning the day difficult, but at least he sleeps.
• wakes up every 2-4 hours at night to eat.  I really miss those 6-8 hour stretches of sleep :(
• will wake to nurse and then go right back to sleep.  I think it's been several weeks since he's thrown a "let's be awake for an hour at 4am" party.
• still loves being naked and bath time.  It's the easiest way to calm him down.

Cole Oliver. 4 months.

As much as I love my newborn babies, I just love when they get a bit older and their personality starts to show.  They become more interactive, smile more and you can actually put them down for longer than 30 seconds without them screaming their ever lovin' head off. haha!  We're loving our Cole baby.

At 4 months old, Cole ....

• is still wearing 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• drools constantly and chews on his fist like it's his job.  Still no teeth.
• has started showing interest in toys. His squeaky moose is his favorite.
• found his feet :)
• has a fantastic smile.
• laughs! But what makes him laugh changes from day to day.

I spy dimples!

• gets the hiccups every time he laughs.
• got his first hair cut. The mullet had to go!

before

after

• has started going to the church nursery on Sundays.  He'll join us for worship, but then he gets too bored and noisy to sit through the quiet part.
• rolls over to his tummy very easily.  Then rolls to his back.  Then to his tummy.  He's always moving.
• can pull himself in a circle when on his tummy to reach a toy.  Seriously, this kid needs to slow down!
• will take an hour-ish long morning nap and (on a good day) will take a 2-3 hour afternoon nap.  Then he'll usually sneak in a short nap in the evening.
• falls asleep for the night around 9pm.
• will usually sleep 6-8 hours at night, but hit a growth spurt this month which included more night time feedings.
• sleeps in his own bed well, but still enjoys snuggling with Mama too.
• has started tolerating being worn in my Boba carrier.  But only if I'm moving.  Constantly.

five

And so it happened.  My dark, fuzzy headed, chubby cheeked baby who I knew for sure would be my baby forever turned five yesterday.  FIVE.  Five years ago I couldn't even imagine this day coming.

But it came.  And I couldn't be more proud of the young boy he's become!!

At five years old Brooks ....

has a tender heart

loves Jesus and going to his classes at church

is a great big brother

is a rule follower

does most things slowly

loves to ride his bike, play tennis, baseball, basketball & in general play outside

is very inquisitive

loves learning & reading books

plays often with his best friend, Jake

has an extensive vocabulary

adores his Daddy

approaches new things with caution

is very independent and loves to help around the house

is quite sensitive, both emotionally and physically

wants to be a "construction guy" when he grows up

is a "saver"

dives whole heatedly into things that interest him

is very friendly and sociable

loves going out and "doing things"

likes to watch movies and play video games

is really fun to talk to

Favorite things:

color green

hot dogs, chips, pineapple

candies & sweets

the Vikings

all things Mario

going to the arcarde

wearing no-sleeve shirts

Happy Birthday Brooks David.  I love you with all my heart and I am very proud to be your Mama.  I'm so glad that God made you a part of our family!!

Things I don't want to forget

I've noticed as I'm writing in Bennett's baby book that there's places to write down when his teeth came in, how much he weighs and what his sleeping & eating patterns are.  And while that's all well and good, there are lots of other things I want to remember about him that have no place in his book to write about.  So I'm going to write it here.

4 months

• Bennett snorts.  He snorts when he laughs.  He snorts when he cries.  He snorts when he takes a deep breath.  It's hilarious.  He's done it since the moment he was born.  Literally.  When Chris lifted my freshly hatched baby boy onto my chest, he started crying ..... and snorting.  I love that about him.
• He has many nicknames.  Chunkamonk.  Chubbers.  Benny.  Dr. Cheeks.  (It's funny to hear Carter call him that!)
• The first few months of his life we called Bennett "Grumpy Cat", because all he did was scowl.  All the time.  Scowling.  Even when I'd nurse him, he would scowl.  I was truly afraid that we were going to have a little pessimist on our hands.  I didn't even know babies knew how to scowl like that.  Thankfully, he's turned a corner and smiles and laughs all the time now.

Grumpy Cat - 2 months old

• He's a thumb sucker.  But he will only suck on his left thumb, which I think is funny.  At first I was very against allowing him to suck his thumb.  "That will be a terrible habit to break" I kept telling myself.  But then I noticed that when he'd start to fuss in his crib (usually right after laying him down), he'd pop his thumb in his mouth and fall right back asleep.  Yeah.  This kid can keep sucking his thumb. Plus, he's my third and all my preconceived ideas regarding raising kids are slowly disappearing.  I'll probably regret it later, but for now I'll enjoy the sleep it brings.
• He went through an awkward phase.  He was born with a genuine mullet - loooong hair in the back and almost nothing on top.  Then, what little hair he did have on top all fell out.  And around 10 days old he developed some of the worst infant acne I'd ever seen.  Poor kiddo.  (Maybe it would be ok if I did forget this phase.)  Thankfully, his face eventually cleared up and his hair grows super fast.



1 month old

• Bennett hates lying on his back.  We call him our Turtle.  When we hold him, it has to be upright.  Not even reclined on our lap.  Bolt upright.  If we do cradle him, it has to be on his side.  And even then he's not a super big fan.  And he sleeps on his tummy.  (shhhh, don't tell the AAP) He will lay on his back on the floor, but only for short periods of time.  Unless he's in the bathroom ....... because
• He loves the shower curtain.  Loves loves loves the shower curtain.  I lay him on the bath mat and he just talks and coos and plays with the curtain.  I don't know if it's the colors or the patterns or the fact that it looks 100 feet tall from his perspective, but I'm usually guaranteed at least 15-20 minutes of happy baby time if I lay him down in the bathroom.  

• He recognizes his brothers.  And he knows them well.  Whenever Brooks comes by, he smiles and laughs and talks to him.  When Carter comes near, Bennett almost always scowls.  But that's probably because Carter is the one who pokes his eyes, bites his fingers and rolls on top of him. (true story)

Brooks LOVES Bennett :)

• Bennett loves to be moving.  Whether it's in the car seat, stroller, or in my carrier, he wants to be moving.  He will loudly inform you if you've stopped moving.
• To date, I've lost 20lbs since he's been born.  (see above)
• Last weekend, his first two teeth came in.  At 4 months old.  I may have cried ... just a little.  My other two boys got teeth rather early (between 5 and 6 months) but never at 4 months!  My baby is just growing up too fast!!  Plus, now with two little razor blades in his mouth, I have to be extra cautious while nursing him.
• Bennett will take a bottle, but only if there's fresh pumped milk in it.  He does NOT like drinking milk that has been previously frozen.  High maintenance, much?
• He likes to sleep by himself.  It took me a while to figure this out, but at night I'll lay him in bed to nurse him.  And normally we would should both just fall back asleep.  But when Bennett's done eating, he'll start kicking me and fussing.  So I'd pull him in closer to try and settle him.  Then he'd start screaming at me.  Finally, I'd back away to see what the matter was and as soon as I wasn't touching him, he'd roll over and go to sleep.  Oh.  I guess you don't want to snuggle.  So I'd lay him in his bed, he'd stick his thumb in his mouth and go back to sleep.  I guess it's a good thing.  I really do sleep better without a tiny human attached to me.  But I kinda miss the squishy baby snuggles.
• Bennett won't comfort nurse.  With the other two, whenever they were sad or hurt or upset for any reason, I'd latch them on and all would be well in the world.  But not Bennett.  If he's not hungry, he won't nurse (which is hard to believe, really, given that at 4 months old, he already weighs 17lb!)  That also makes calming him down more challenging.  Nursing was my trump card ... the "easy" way to get my babies to sleep.  Now we have to bounce and rock and pacify and use white noise and do whatever else it takes to calm him down to sleep.

Watch Me Grow: 13 months

Yes yes, I know.  I totally skipped the 12 month update.  And it was never my intention to do monthly updates past a year, but since the whole month of September literally screamed past me not allowing me time to post an update, I feel I need to finish off Carter's first year (or so) with this.

Carter has grown and changed so much in these last two months, it's hard to remember what happened when.  But I will do my best.  I will highlight in blue the things I know are new to him just this last month since he's turned one.

This was at a friend's birthday party.  Isn't he cute??

Eating:

• Carter still loves to eat, but he's becoming a bit more discerning about his food.  He used to shovel anything (literally, anything) into his mouth.  Now he's starting to develop preferences.  For instance, he loves breads and grains and cereals.  Carbs.  Who doesn't, right?  He still eat his fruits and veggies just fine, we just make sure to limit the amount of starchy foods we put on his plate to keep him from filling up on just that.
• Carter nurses a handful of times a day.  Usually right away in the morning, before nap, post nap and at bedtime.  And sometimes an extra morning nursing session makes its way into our day.  Sometimes I'm annoyed at how often he nurses still, but other times I try to remind myself that this is just a season and to try and enjoy these times together while I can.  Soon he'll be off and too busy to snuggle with me.  Plus, with the winter month coming up, I know it will help keep him healthy.
• Carter pulls my hair when he nurses.  That does annoy me.

Sleeping:

• Carter's nap schedule hasn't changed.  He still goes to sleep around 1 or 2pm.  He used to sleep a solid 2-3 hours every day, but sometimes now he'll only take a hour and a half nap and he still does ok.
• Night time sleep also hasn't changed.  But that's not so great.  I'm really ready to start sleeping a solid night through.  He goes to bed around 8pm and he'll usually wake around 3am to nurse, and maybe again at 5 or 6.  The good news is then he'll usually sleep in until 8 or so, but I'd prefer to have him up earlier for the day and sleep the whole night.
• Carter has slept through the night once.  Just once.  One night last week (on September 26 to be exact) he went to bed at 8pm and slept until 6:45am!!  It was amazing!  Well, sort of.  My nursing body wasn't used to him sleeping that long and I kept waking up thinking he'd be up at any time wanting to eat.  So I guess it still wasn't good continuous sleep, but now I know he can sleep that long.  The only trick is how to get him to do it again.  Hmmmmm.......
• Carter's bed is still in our room.  Thankfully he sleeps awesome in his bed (and not in ours) but we're hoping to eventually move him into Brooks' room.  But again, that whole night waking thing is holding us back from doing that.

New Discoveries:

• Books.  This topic really deserves it's own blog post, so I won't say much here.  But I will say that Carter.loves.books.  Totally loves books.  And it's so cute to see him toddling toward us with a book in his hand saying "book book".  I can never resist.
• Pots and Pans.  Every kid at some point in their lives totally disassembles the pots and pans cupboard. Carter is no exception.  He pulls everything out piece by piece, throws them all on the floor and then climbs in the cupboard.  It's a fun little fort, apparently.  The funny thing is that Brooks can't stand the mess, so when Carter is done Brooks comes in and puts everything away.  Works out nice for me.

• Shoes.  Carter love shoes.  We often find him carrying them around the house.  And when I tell him we've leaving, he'll (sometimes) walk to the back door, pick up his shoes and tap his feet with them in an attempt to put them on.  Then he'll pick up Brooks' shoes and hand them to him.  So helpful.

New Abilities:

• Standing.  One day as the boys and I were playing on our front porch, Carter just stood up.  He wasn't holding on to anything.  He just stood up ... right in the middle of the porch.  I was super impressed.  And he seemed fairly impressed by himself too!
• Walking.  Carter took his first "real" steps on his birthday.  How fitting.  He loved it!!  The week or so leading up to his birthday Carter was crabby crabby crabby.  And now I'm convinced it's simply because he wanted to walk and couldn't.  Once he became mobile on two feet, he was a much happier boy.  Each day after that he took a few more steps, walking more and more.  And about two weeks after his birthday he became a full time walker.  He thinks is great being able to get around while holding stuff!  And since he's still so little, it's absolutely adorable to see him toddle around.  Now he's really steady on his feet and can catch himself when he trips up a little.  I'm so impressed.
• Hugs and Kisses.  At random times Carter will toddle over to me, throw his arms around my neck and then give me a kiss.  A big, slobbery, open mouthed kiss on the cheek.  And I love it!!!  Sometimes he'll give you a kiss if you ask, but most often it's on his own terms.
• Mama and Dada.  We officially have names.  Carter can both say and correctly identify Mama and Dada.  And it's the best thing being woken up in the morning to a little boy cooing my name :)
• Signing.  We've been working with Carter on his sign language for the last several months.  In August he really started picking up on it.  He could sign more, all done, and dada.  
• Signing.  Since his birthday, Carter has added even more signs to his vocabulary.  In addition to the above, he can sign Mama, eat, sleep, nurse, puppy, shoe, book, tree, fishy.  Now, all of these signs aren't performed perfectly and some of them kinda look the same (shoe, book and more all look like clapping.  Tree, fishy and all done all kind of look like waving)  But the great thing about being home with him all day, is that I can figure out what he's saying.  It's awesome being able to communicate with him.
• Talking.  More "words" are making their way into Carter's vocabulary.  It's of just the beginning sounds of the word, but when I look at what he's pointing to or holding, I usually know what he means.  In addition to mama and dad, some common words are buh buh (book book), duh! duh! (duck duck), bah bah (ball ball) and bbbrrrrmmm, bbbrrrmmm (car).
• Animal sounds.  The cat says "mow mow", the sheep says "baa baa", the cow says "mmmmmmm" and the puppy says "oof oof".  The puppy is my favorite.

When Brooks was born I remember being nervous about having a toddler.  I had very little experience with kids that age and had only heard aweful things (Terrible two's anyone?)  But I'm finding that I LOVE this age.  Carter's personality has come out so much in the last few months and he's an absolute blast to be with.  He loves to laugh, he loves his family and he still loves cars.  He's learning so much and I love watching his mind work as he processes new things.  And I'm sure every parent says this about their kids, but Carter is so smart.  He picks up on things very quickly and I'm constantly amazed at what he can do.  I'm thankful that God has blessed our home with Carter James and I look forward to watching him grow.

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.

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!!!

Watch Me Grow: 8 Months

Our Mr. C sure is growing up fast.  I'm so glad that I get to be with him every day to see him grow and learn and change.  I'm so proud of him!

Oh, those dimples!

Here's the latest update:

Eating:

• At first Carter wasn't really a big fan of solid foods.  I had just been mashing up cooked foods with fork and feeding it to him with a spoon or my fingers.  But I thought I'd try pureeing them in the blender.  Maybe the texture was throwing him off.  So I blended up some squash and added breast milk, and baby sure loved that.  Don't know if it was the texture or the breast milk that he loved, but he ate the whole bowl.  (And by whole bowl, I mean about an ounce or so)
• New foods he's tried include squash and green beans.  The squash he loves.  The green beans, not so much.
• Carter's main food source is still, well .... me.  And I love it!  Someday I won't be so needed in his life, so I'm enjoying this stage as long as it will last.  He's nursing about every 3-4 hours.  Lately he's been teething, so it's been more often though.

Sleeping:

• Carter is still sleeping like a champ!  My life has been so much less stressful and I think everyone can feel it.  He still takes a morning nap around 9 or 10 (depending on when he woke up) and in the afternoon around 1 or 2pm.  If we're out and about, he's content to sleep in my moby wrap too.  And he still sleeps awesome in the van.  But now he's getting too big to carry in the car seat, so when I have to take him out when we arrive somewhere, he usually wakes up.  Sometimes I can transfer him to his bed and he'll go back to sleep.  Other times not.  Oh well.
• Night time sleeping is kinda hit and miss.  He's in bed every night between 7:30 and 8:00pm and on a good night he'll sleep until 4am, eat, and go back to sleep until 7am.  That's a really, really good night.  Other nights he's up at 1am, 3am, 5am, 7am.  The good thing is that he'll nurse and go right back to sleep.  The bad thing is I still have to get up to nurse him.
• We don't bed-share at all anymore.  He's so big and wiggly and rolls all over the place, it's just not feasible.  I know some people make it work, but we've found that everyone sleeps better in their own beds.  He'll nurse in bed with me, but then I put him back in his crib, which is still right next to my side of the bed.
• Carter always sleeps with his new blanket he received for Easter.  It's so cute! 

New Discoveries:

• Everything!  Carter is now mobile and he has explored almost every corner of this house.  And he taste tests everything he finds: cords, toilet paper, shoes, rugs, the toilet bowl brush (::shudder::).  We now keep the bathroom door closed for obvious reasons.

chasing down a balloon - and getting stuck

• Bubbles.  Last night Brooks and I were blowing bubbles and Carter thought they were pretty awesome. 
• Cords.  Carter really is getting into everything but power cords seem to be his favorite to chew on.  Awesome.
• Garbage cans.  Again, a super great toy for babies.  Garbage, plastic bags .... perfect combination (::eye roll::) Those too are usually kept up high now.
•  I know I've mentioned this before, but Carter LOVES to be outside.  He loves to sit in (and eat) the grass, he loves the dirt and the fresh air.  I think I see lots of camping in our future.  For now, we'll stick to the park.

What is that mom?  A camera?  Can I eat it??

Seriously, mom.  Enough pictures.

• The shower.  One weekend we didn't have time to give the boys a bath so Chris took a quick shower with Brooks and then I showered with Carter.  He loved it.  (And I have to admit, I loved it too.  I love holding my naked baby skin to skin!)  He was amazed at this constant stream of falling water. He kept trying to grab it, and then eat it (of course!)

New Abilities:

• Like I mentioned above, Carter is now mobile.  Very very mobile.  He's still army crawling, but we've seen him take a few "steps" on his hands and knees.  He's just not as quick at doing that, so he flops on his belly and goes on his way.  He's always on a mission!
• So the kid can't crawl on his hands and knees, but he can do this .....

yoga, anyone?

And as of just a few days ago, he's also doing this ...

so proud of himself!

• Umm, who gave him permission to start pulling himself up on things???  When he first started doing this, he didn't know how to get himself back down to the ground, so he'd just let go, thereby smashing his face into whatever he was propping himself up on.  There was crying.  Lots and lots of crying.  He's now learned to put one hand on the ground before letting go.  Smart baby.  First he was just getting up on small things: Brooks' bed, a small basket.  But on Tuesday before bath, he crawled over to the tub and pulled himself all the way to standing!  Oh dear.  Nothing in this house is safe.

good thing we lowered that crib mattress!

•  Wrestling with Daddy.  Chris and Brooks wrestle on the floor all the time and Carter decided he needed to be a part of it.

I'm going to eat you, Brooks!

• Sticking out his tongue.  Not sure if this is an ability or not, but it sure is cute.  This is definitely a Rady trait and from what I hear, it comes from the Anderson side too.

• Babbling.  Carter started finding his voice last month, but he's continued to jabber up a storm.  We often call him our "little sheep" because he favorite sound is "bah bah bah bah".  He's also said "dadadada" several times but we're not sure if he's actually associated that with his Dad.

 Odds n' Ends:

• Carter's personality has really started to shine through and it's really fun to see.  He LOVES his big brother and laughs every time Brooks laughs.  Every time.  Carter has a wonderful laugh!
• He's starting to realize when we leave the room.  And he's not a fan.  He cries until we come back and pick him up.
• When Carter is tired, he becomes abusive.  He slams his head into our shoulder and chews on our arm.  Not the most polite way to say "I'm tired", but I guess he gets his point across.
• Carter is a morning baby.  He always wakes up happy and catting up a storm in his crib.  And because he's awake earlier than Brooks, Chris usually brings him downstairs with him when he goes to shower, so I can sleep a little longer.  What a guy!
• Carter now has 6 teeth, two on the bottom and four on top!  He's been a little extra fussy and drooly, but for the most part has handled the new teeth pretty well.
• Carter's current nicknames: Scooter-bug, little sheep or little bah bah, Mr. C, Es-Carter-Go (story below), Go Cart, and Brooks calls him Little Peanut.  That's cute.
• One day Carter was chewing on a teether shaped like a snail.  Chris told Brooks that Carter was eating escargot.  "Can you say 'escargot'?" Chris asked.  Brooks said "Es-Carter-go."  It was funny and very fitting!