Is January over yet?

We apologize for the radio silence these past few weeks. We are all finally over our colds (for now) and Carter seems to have accepted his first teeth as a normal part of his mouth now. This month has been a challenge! It seems to be taking forever to reach the end of January, perhaps because we had all that time off over the holiday. The next holiday seems a long ways off.

We've enjoyed having lots of visitors this month. Mike's parents came last weekend and my mom and Ed are coming tomorrow. It's nice to have company over...for me anyway, gives me a chance to re-enter the adult world.

Let's see...what has Carter been doing with all our time together?
- He's an expert at rolling over. It's practically automatic if you set him down on his back somewhere. But he still can't crawl so tummy time gets frustrating for him quickly.
- He's become really good at grabbing things...toys, bottle, my hair, my face, my clothes, blankets, you name it...and nearly all of it makes its way to his mouth whenever possible.
- Whenever the weather is warm enough, we snap into the stroller for a walk around the neighborhood. Our neighbor Carol has been joining us lately and Carter seems to get a kick out of her.
- I think we may be attempting solid food this week. He's extremely interested in my food when I eat, sometimes trying to grab it. He seems to need a bottle ALL the time, hardly ever satisfied and frustrated when the bottle is empty. It's a little earlier than we expected him to be ready but we'll give it a try.
- His new favorite thing is to play with this little toy piano thing. We put him in a bouncy chair and hold the piano at his feet. He plays the keys by kicking, watching them light up and listening to the "music". Every few kicks, he looks up at us in wonder as if to say "Look what I can do!" See the video on Flickr.

Miss you all!

Happy 2009!

Wow! I can't believe it's 2009 already. It seems like much has happened since my last post. Mike had some time off of work which allowed us to all hang out at home and relax for the holidays. We had some playtime with Carter. He's getting so strong! If we lay him on the floor on his back and pull him up to a sitting positions by his hands, he will plant his feet and push himself up to a standing position and hold it there. Of course he has no balance but as long as we hold his hands, he'll stay standing.

The fun didn't last long though. Carter's got his first cold and we are all miserable because of it. Poor guy can hardly breathe through his nose and he's coughing his voice away. We've spent a lot of time sitting in the bathroom with the hot shower running and tormenting him with nasal drops to help clear things out. He's sleeping a lot today so maybe he's over the hump. Initially we thought he was teething, and he does have some sharp ridges coming up through the gum line. So maybe he's teething and has a cold simultaneously?

I've got some great photos and videos for Flickr. I'll try to get them posted soon.

Christmas Wrap-up

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Our first Christmas with Carter was pretty laid back. We helped him open his presents Christmas morning. Thanks everyone for all your generous gifts. Some things that Carter got this year included lots of clothes, some new toys, several fun books, baby DVDs/CDs, very cute shoes, and a homemade hat. After opening presents, Mike and I enjoyed some seriously delicious french toast for breakfast. See Flickr for some pics.

Today Carter had his 4-month doctor visit. We had a second round of vaccinations resulting in a high-pitch scream I thought would shatter glass. But after a minute or so in Mike's arms, he calmed down to a quiet hiccuping sniffle. Then once we got home, it was as if nothing had happened. What a trooper! For those keeping track of his growth, he is 26.75 inches long (96%), 15 lb 3 oz (58%), and his head circumference is 44 cm (90%). So basically he's long and lean with a big head for his age. He's growing so fast! At 4 months old, he's just barely fitting into his 3-6 month clothes. Soon we'll have to switch over to 6-12 month clothes. We have another doctor visit at 6 months and around that time we'll be giving solid food a try. Oh, Carter got a new highchair too (thanks Grandma Lily!).

Have a great New Year everyone!

Christmas card crank!

Grr! I'm so sorry everyone, but our Christmas card will be late this year. I know some of you have been waiting for it and I apologize. I ordered some cute photo cards of Carter and they STILL haven't arrived here for me to mail them to you. I'm ready to give their customer service department an earful. So just think of our cards as New Years cards. Better late than never!

We have roll-over!

Big milestone for Carter yesterday...he rolled over onto his belly all by himself! It was amazing to watch. He had been trying so hard the last couple of days and yesterday he finally got it. He then proceeded to do it every time I put him on the floor without any problem. I tried to get good video of the task, but as soon as he sees the camera, he becomes fascinated by it and stops whatever he's doing. Check out Flickr for part of a rolling-over, and also a really cute video of him laughing.

Countdown to Christmas

I love this time of year! Christmas is my favorite holiday...all the decorations, hot cocoa, snow, trees, everything. I can't wait until next year when Carter is old enough to participate.

Last weekend, my Mom and Ed came to visit Carter. While they babysat, Mike and I went out and found the perfect Frasier Fir for our Christmas tree. I love how it looks all lit up in our front window.

Mom and I got ourselves new webcams for our computers. We tested them out yesterday and they are so cool! We had a live conversation over the computer complete with video. I had Carter on my lap so he could see her and she him. (Brenda we should look into this for you)

Mom and I did some baking over the weekend too. I made my new favorite: Chocolate chunk banana oatmeal cookies (sorry Ed, did you know there was banana in them?). I got the recipe from Martha here. I'm not a fan of nuts so I just omitted them and added more chocolate.

I fell behind with my bird feeders last month and I got back on track this past weekend. The birds must have missed me because they were crazy for the food. So many birds! In the past few days I've seen nuthatches, finches, bluejays, cardinals, juncos, titmice, woodpeckers, flickers, and probably others I'm not remembering. I love watching them.

Carter is growing so fast. It seems like every day he does something new. He's getting so close to being able to roll over. It's fun to watch him work at it, though he gets frustrated when he needs our help. Check Flickr for videos.

Hope everyone enjoys their Christmas holiday! Sorry we can't be with family this time around. We'll take lots of photos and videos though! Love you all!

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Today we woke up to our first snow of the season! Christmas is in the air!

It's good to be back home. Thanksgiving in Arkansas was great! Carter got to meet so many new friends and family and he handled to trip better than expected. We got back last night, gave him a bath and a bottle, and he slept for 7 straight hours. Poor guy.

Highlights from the weekend:
1) Deep-fried turkey
2) Naps on the couch
3) Arkansas' amazing win over LSU in the final minute
4) Papaw making Carter laugh
5) Looking through Mamaw Bertie's old photos
6) Sleeping on a memory foam mattress pad (we must get one of those!)

We just discovered that the Minnesota Twins are coming to St. Louis this summer to play the Cardinals. I think that might be a first. I hope we can get tickets...I missed seeing the Twins play last year. Carter will have to wear a Twins outfit and a Cardinals hat.