Monday, July 29, 2013

Carter - 4 months

Carter James, you are four months old! You have gotten so much bigger this month - both physically and developmentally! I almost cried when I had to put away the 3 month size clothes because I can’t believe you have gotten so big. You have pretty much mastered taking your binky out of your mouth and putting it back in all by yourself. You only have difficulty after you lose your grip on it and can’t get it back in your mouth at the correct angle. Whenever you are awake you love to sit up and be entertained with toys, books or talking to us. You love playing with all of your toys and love being able to aim at what you want and be able to grab it. You like sitting up on the couch and in your boppy with just a bit of support from Mama or Daddy. You are really enjoying your new Baby Einstein Activity Jumper and you think the musical part of the toy is really cool. You will listen to the songs and watch the different shapes light up and you have the most serious look on your face when you do it. It’s like you are studying it as best as you can. You started liking being in the Ergo carrier when we go out which is a lot easier to carry you in because your increasing weight is better distributed on Mama and Daddy. You are becoming a drool machine so we know it is just a matter of time before you get your first tooth. We love you so much and are enjoying each stage of your development. It is so fun to watch you see, learn and grow! We love you, Bug!

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Weight: 16 pounds

Length: 25 and 3/4 inches

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Clothes size: You are wearing size 3-6 month or size 6 month clothes. Yikes! You are growing so fast!

Diaper size: We just opened the box of size 3 today

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Sleep: At night you go to bed between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. and then it’s a free-for-all. You wake up every 2-4 hours in no consistent pattern, which makes Mama very tired. You are taking some good naps at daycare, so it seems that you just want to spend more time with us when you are home - even if that means waking up throughout the night. Hopefully you will get used to our new routine in a couple more weeks so we can all get some much needed rest.

Eating: You have become a much more efficient eater and eat for 8-15 minutes on each side and often like to stop eating to talk me or to check out what is going on around you. You usually have 3-4 3oz bottles of expressed milk during the day now that Mama has gone back to work and we still breastfeed any time Mama is not working. We are still not having any issues with going back and forth between the breast and bottle.

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Likes: Eating, sucking on your binky, taking baths and splashing, playing on your play mat and aiming for and hitting the dangling toys, looking at lights and ceiling fans, going to public places and taking in all of your surroundings and playing in your Baby Einstein Activity Jumper (which you LOVE!). Favorite songs right now are Going to the Zoo, Wheels on the Bus, Patty Cake, Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine and the special song Grammy made up for you.

Dislikes: Being hungry, being bored and being overly hot.

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Milestones this month: Rolling to your sides (and still from your tummy to your back), sitting up with help, finding and playing with your toes, getting your binky in your mouth by yourself, moving from sleeping in the rock n’ play to sleeping in the pack n’ play, ever-improving motor skills, “talking” more and more and starting daycare.

Memorable moments: First day of daycare, having Aunt Erin babysit you during the day, celebrated Independence Day and saw fireworks for the first time and going to a friend babysitter for the first time.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

First day of daycare

Yesterday was Carter’s first day of daycare.To say I was an emotional wreck would be an understatement.  At least Carter looked cute for the occasion.

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Being the planner that I am I had his diaper bag packed and ready to go Sunday night. I made sure to pack plenty of diapers and wipes, two changes of clothes, gas drops, a blanket that smells like home, an extra binky and the magical sling. And, of course, plenty of breastmillk. But I may have gone a little crazy on the labeling of his things… maybe. At least his clothes already have his name in them! Ha! (Get it? Carter has clothes from Carter’s… haha! Ok, bad joke.)

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I know Carter is in good hands with our care provider, Carrie. She goes to our church and has been running her own (licensed) daycare facility out of her home for over 20 years. Carter is the only infant there right now so he gets lots of attention. The kids who were there yesterday were already very interested in him.

Overall his first day went well. He took all four of his bottles and was only fussy for an hour in the afternoon even though he didn’t really nap during the day. Carrie said he enjoyed watching the older kids play. When I came to pick him up he was playing on the floor and gave me the biggest smile when he saw me. That was the best feeling!

I always knew this would be a difficult transition, but  never knew just how hard it would be until it was happening. Even though we like Carrie and totally trust her with Carter I don’t think it will ever be easy to leave him with someone else for the day. All I know is 5:00 will never come soon enough! Here’s praying that we all can adjust to this new schedule.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Visit from Aunt Erin

Aunt Erin (my youngest sister) came to visit this week! We had a gap in child care so Erin was nice enough to watch Carter for us during the week days and then she even let Dave and me go out on a date Saturday night to celebrate our anniversary!

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When she wasn’t watching Carter for us we went to a Counting Crows concert at my work, watched The Hunger Games at a free community movie and took a trip to our downtown area for lunch and ice cream. We all had a great time!

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Carter had a great time getting to know his Aunt Erin better and I’m pretty sure she enjoyed getting to know her nephew as well.

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Thanks so much for all of your help this week, Erin. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Happy 6th Anniversary!

Happy 6th Anniversary to the love of my life! I can’t believe it has already been six years!

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Dave - The last six years have been full of amazing adventures and I’m so lucky to have shared them with you. From date nights, camping trips, hikes, vacations, moving, growing our family to everyday mundane happenings, everything is so much better because you are with me.

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I’m so glad our family grew this past year and that I can finally fulfill this part of my wedding vows:
“As we are blessed of God with children, I will strive to bring them up in the love and wisdom of God, as Jesus Christ is the most important person in our lives, because He gave us life.”

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Happy Anniversary, Dave! Here’s to many, many more! I love you!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, my favorite holiday! We had a great day spending time together as a family since Dave is still on paternity leave and I had the day off of work! We started our morning with some patriotic pancakes. I’m a sucker for themed food on holidays!

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I then tried to make some patriotic cake pops but failed horribly. Seriously, baking and I don’t get along. Some day I will master making cake pops, but today wasn’t that day. It was so bad that I didn’t even take pictures.

Later in the afternoon we went to a friend’s house for a BBQ dinner and we had a great time! After dinner we were sitting around chatting and I gave Carter a bottle. All of a sudden he started laughing at me! Then if I pretended to laugh it made him laugh even more! It was the most we have ever heard him laugh and it was so cute! Everyone at the BBQ was laughing at how funny and cute he was. Luckily Dave was able to catch the tail end of the laughing streak on video. Check it out:

After chatting we headed out to watch our city’s fireworks. Well, sort of. Our city shoots them off at a local college and charges $20 per carload to view them up close, so being the cheap-os we are we found a nearby spot to park and watch for free. Ha! ‘Merica! Carter seemed to be watching the fireworks and enjoyed them. It was nice that they were further away so the booms and bangs weren’t loud enough to scare him.

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It was a great day and I’m so glad we got to spend it with friends. Happy Independence Day!

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Monday, July 1, 2013

Bath time

Carter LOVES to take a bath! And his favorite part is to splash around in the tub, trying to kick the rubber ducks. He makes such a mess that we put Shamwows on the bathroom floor around the tub to catch all of the water. This nightly occurrence is hilarious to watch (at least to us) and we especially love the serious look on his face when he’s trying to get at those ducks. Enjoy the video!