Random Bits

Instead of dealing with the insanity at the rec center pool again, I picked up a small inflatable pool to put on the deck for Carter. We tried it our today when Mike got home from work. I think we enjoyed it as much as Carter. With today's heat index in the 100s, it's remarkable how much more comfortable sitting outside can be when your feet are in cool water. The only weird thing is that the pool is bright orange (think fluorescent). When the sun shines on the pool, it reflects through the kitchen window making the entire room glow in orange.

The past few days, Carter's babbling has started to resemble "Ma-ma". He's even said it very clearly a couple times (yay!), but I'm not sure he knows what "ma-ma" means. We're working on "Da-da" but no signs of success yet.

Carter and I try to do something outside everyday for at least a little bit, rain or shine. We don't watch a whole lot of TV, maybe a Baby Einstein video, and some Sportscenter in the morning while we play. However, I usually make an effort to watch Gilmore Girls at the end of the day. Laugh all you want but I like the witty banter in that show. Anyway, Carter could care less...he continues to bang his toys or climb up the furniture as usual. However, when the theme song for the show begins, without fail, Carter stops whatever he's doing, sits, watches, and listens intently until the song is over. I think it's kinda cute. I wonder what it is about that song that he finds interesting.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

Yesterday was one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. Prepare yourself for a long blog entry. Some parts of this fiasco may be gross to those with a weaker constitution...consider yourself warned.

The morning began as every morning does. Carter woke us up around 5 am and we started getting ready for the day. Mike and I took turns feeding and playing with Carter while we get showered and dressed, etc. I was about to get in the shower when I heard a louder-than-normal cry from downstairs. You know the one parents, the cry that doesn't mean frustration, or hunger, the one that means pain. I figured since Mike wasn't rushing upstairs yelling about blood, that it couldn't be that bad. And it really wasn't too bad, just the worst Carter's had so far. His head collided with the base of the TV stand, resulting in one of those robin's egg knots on his head. We snuggled, put a cold pack on it, gave him some Tylenol, and watched his favorite movie, after which he played with his toys again as if nothing had happened. The first of many bumps and bruises I'm sure.

Mike left for work and I was trying to decide what Carter and I should do for the day. The rain they had called for looked like it wasn't going to come so I thought something outside would be fun. I had been wanting to go to the outdoor pool at the local rec center since it opened Memorial Day. It looks like a really fun place to go...water slides, lazy river, but still small enough to not get lost or pay a fortune to get in. While Carter took his morning nap, I packed up all that we would need: towels, sunscreen, baby food, swimsuits, dry clothes, etc. When he woke up, we headed out.

Going to the pool by myself with Carter is always a challenge. There's so much stuff to carry! Even though they have family locker rooms, it's still difficult to get Carter and myself ready for the pool. With his mobility, it's usually a wrestling match to get him in his swim diaper and swim trunks and then another magic trick to keep him from rolling or crawling away while I get myself ready. Somehow we managed and I even remembered to put sunscreen on him (wrestling match round 2). We make our way to the baby pool. The water is only a couple inches deep with little spouts that spray water out. Carter loved it! However as soon as the water hit his skin, all the sunscreen came right off. I realized that this was the first time I actually needed waterproof sunscreen, so I hadn't thought to buy it before. Since it was so sunny out, I instantly had to re-evaluate how long we could stay at the pool. We played for about an hour, going from baby pool to lazy river, taking breaks in the shade to people watch. I was worried about sunburn so I started packing things up. The idea of carrying everything to the family locker room and wrestling match round 3 to get Carter in dry clothes was not very appealing. He wasn't too happy to be leaving so just carrying him was physical challenge. Plus, I didn't get a chance to eat my lunch yet, so I was hungry and ready to leave. I decided to leave Carter in his swim trunks for the ride home. He seemed pretty dry.

We get in the car and head home, earlier than I had planned. Of course Carter falls asleep in the car after all the fun. I look at the clock and realize this is one of those "it's too early for an afternoon nap but too late for a morning nap" times. I was already thinking ahead to the rest of the afternoon when I'd have a cranky, tired baby on my hands. (Sigh.) At least he had fun. I drove around a little bit to extend his nap in the carseat. Finally we get home.

I drop all our stuff just inside the door, then go back to get Carter from the car. I lifted the carseat, with him in it, out of the back seat and found water streaming out of the bottom of the seat. I looked in the carseat base and discover small pools of water. I heaved a big sigh. I thought maybe the trip to the pool wasn't really worth it in retrospect. I carried the seat inside, spread out a towel and set the seat on it. Taking Carter out of the seat, I realized my expectations for the swim diaper had been too high. Oh well, at least it was just swimming pool water without any contribution from Carter.

Carter's had some dry skin problems lately so I wanted to rinse the chlorine off before getting him lotioned and dressed. I decided the easiest way to do this would be to just take him in the shower with me for a quick rinse. While carrying him back to his room, I threw some towels on the changing table and in the bathroom. I stripped him down and set him in the crib naked. I hurried into the bathroom to get the shower going and take off my own clothes. I couldn't have left him for more than a minute. (You can see what's coming, can't you?) I got back to his room to get him and he is sitting in his crib on a pile of poop with pee everywhere. Not only that, but he has a fistful of poop which he is squeezing and watching with interest as it escapes through his fingers. "Oh my God!" I yell. I think if I had walked in a second later, the poop would have been in his mouth. I grabbed him by the armpits and held him at arms' length. For a second I deliberated on the best course of action...do I put him on the changing table? No, he's covered in poop. To the shower then. In the meantime, he still has his fistful which is leaving a breadcrumb trail wherever I walk. Poop on the carpet, poop in the hallway, poop in the bathroom, and finally poop in the shower. Ugh!

I rinsed him off, got him dried, lotioned, and dressed. Then I set him in the Jumperoo (thank God for that thing!) in front of a movie while I cleaned up the mess. And what a mess it was. All I could think about while I scrubbed where the lyrics to "Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This". Needless to say we spent the rest of the day inside.

The Berries! Not the Leaves!

Did you know that National Donut Day was last Friday? Did anyone celebrate the holiday properly?

Mike and I are enjoying a rare quiet afternoon right now. It's raining, Carter is napping, ooops...I spoke to soon...Mike just yelled at the Cardinals on TV. So much for quiet. ;-)

This morning we went to Lakeview Farms to pick strawberries and raspberries. Strawberry season is wrapping up here so tons of people turned up to get in the last bit of picking. I went to work on strawberries while Mike, with Carter in the backpack, got started on raspberries. This year we just got one flat of strawberries compared to the four I got last year. I went to join Mike in picking raspberries and Carter decided to try to help. Except he was more interested in picking leaves instead of berries. Not only picking but eating as well. Before we knew it, he was chomping away on some leaves. He discovered they didn't go down the pipe too well, and then he promptly tossed his breakfast all over the ground. Of course he's fine, so it's unlikely he learned any sort of valuable lesson.

Last week Carter had his 9-month check-up with the pediatrician. All is well. His growth seems to be leveling out finally. Now maybe we can keep using the same size clothes for a little while. He's more mobile than ever, crawling everywhere, walking along the furniture, getting into everything. He's experimenting with his balance and beginning to let go of things while standing. I think this is especially fun for him in the crib as he falls and lands on his mattress for a little bounce. Giggling nearly always ensues.

We Have Crawling!

Lock away your valuables. Hide your favorite treasures. Carter is on the move and there's no end to his determination to explore every nook and cranny in the house. Beware if you blink...he pulls drawers, empties baskets, opens cabinets...if only he could shut them then we might be onto something.

9 Months Old Today!

Today Carter is officially 9 months old. I can't believe how fast he's changing. I just posted some pictures and videos of him on Flickr. In the short time since I took those photos, he already seems stronger and more coordinated. Mike and I have been watching Carter's second pair of bottom teeth make their way out, but it wasn't until the other day we realized he simultaneously had his second set of top teeth breaking though as well. Working on 8 teeth total now! We can't really say that Carter officially crawls yet. He can certainly hold himself on all fours with no problem, and he routinely goes from laying down to sitting to all fours, and then starts the cycle all over again. He has been caught doing a couple crawls to reach something he wants but in general it's still not his preferred mode of travel. While he's not anywhere near walking independently, he will pull himself up to standing at the coffee table and walk along the edge. He also likes to walk along the couch and in his crib. To him, pretty much any walking/standing opportunity is never considered a moment wasted.

Moving on to a garden update...my efforts to repel the deer seem to be working. They have not sampled any more vegetable plants, though I have seen them in the woods behind our house during my morning investigations. If anyone is curious, I've been using Liquid Fence and I also surrounded the perimeter with netting. The plants that escaped consumption are doing well and my hanging tomato plants have been flowering for a week now. Yummy tomatoes coming soon! The watermelon/weed patch is doing okay. We don't put as much effort in our garden maintenance there. It's more of a "natural" garden. Ha! Since we didn't cover the exposed soil with mulch, there are all sorts of things growing there. About a hundred maple seeds sprouted so there is a miniature forest of maple trees growing. Also there are at least 9-10 squash plant growing there. We didn't intentionally plant any there so they must have survived our compost pile and sprouted on their own. Ironically, they are doing better than the squash we planted in our main garden.

I Hate Deer!

I'm too lazy to write in paragraphs today.

Good news: Carter is a master at pulling himself up to standing at the coffee table, in the crib, etc.
Bad news: Carter feels the need to share his talent along with major yelling at 2 am.

Good news: We've had absolutely beautiful weather all this week, which means lots of time outside.
Bad news: I found two ticks on me today. Ewww!

Good news: The garden really perked up after an application of fertilizer last weekend and all the sun this week.
Bad news: Tomatoes were ransacked by a deer last night. Ugh! I hate deer!

Good news: Long weekend coming up. Hooray!
Bad news: Mike is fishing all day Saturday (just kidding, this is good news too).

First Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

Wow...it's been a long time since we last posted. I'm not sure I'll remember everything that's happened since the last post, but I'll do my best!

Let's start with the most recent. Today is my first official Mother's Day! Kind of puts a whole new perspective on the holiday. We celebrated by taking Carter on a picnic lunch at the local park. After a short walk with Carter in the backpack, we had lunch and then Carter had some fun in the swings at the playground.

After that, we came home and Mike looked after Carter for the rest of the afternoon while I planted our vegetable garden. I'm really pleased with how our seedlings turned out this year. I hope they do well in the ground too. However, I've noticed a few new tenants in our neighborhood. Since the day we moved in, I don't ever recall seeing any rabbits until this past week. I caught one scoping out our garden like it was a buffet. Extreme measures may become necessary if I spot any nibblers.

Carter and I have been doing more hikes and walks these past few weeks. Every Wednesday, we walk with a group of folks at Shaw Nature Reserve and admire all the native wildflowers. We've also hit some parks with our new sport utility jogging stroller (thank you Craigslist). Also, with the coming of summer, we've begun a tour of the area's farmer's markets. There are several smallish/mid-size markets throughout St. Louis, and also the huge Soulard Market. So far my favorite is the Tower Grove market. Maybe it was the perfect weather or the location in the park, but this market was so much fun to attend, and it had a great selection of goods.

Turkey season has come to an end and sadly Mike came home empty-handed. There's always next year though!

Carter still hasn't started crawling yet. He manages to get around a little with a combination of rolling, twisting, and spinning. But usually this effort ends in whining as he still would much rather stand on his feet and have us help him walk. He stands unsupported at the coffee table and some of his toys. But when he reaches for something, he forgets to move his feet and topples over. We've introduced some chunks of fruit and veggies. He seems to like watermelon and pineapple though the latter brings on a twist of his face with its sour taste.

Hope everyone is doing well. I am way behind on my picture posting but I'll get some online soon.