Happy half birthday little man!

Half a year?! Really?! I went to Babies R Us yesterday to buy a baby gift and went to check out the toy section as Carter is growing out of the rattles and plush phase. In the baby section it is all 0-3 month toys--you have to go to the preschool section to get the fun 6+month light up/sound toys. Really?
As I've said many times, this blog is to chronicle our life and for me to look back on, so please feel free to just scroll down to pics. Unfortunately, this 6th month of life has been filled with a nasty cough that we cannot kick. We've been to the dr 3 different times and the little guy still has a nasty cough and chest congestion. Thankfully, it doesn't really seem to phase him (he did one day last week where he had a fever and was snuggly--felt bad for him, but can't say I didn't love the snuggles!) and he's just our smiley, jabber-y little boy. Here's what's going on...
6-9 month clothes, some 12 months
size 2 diapers but probably moving to 3s when we run out of the current package
will get weight/height at Dr on Monday


EAT:
Still nursing when we're together, taking bottles like a champ via stage 2 nipple while I'm working and at bedtime. Still about 5.5 ounces every 3 hours. The big thing this month was starting rice cereal. Although originally we were going to wait until he turned 6 months, he became very interested in our food sitting at the table with us. Since I work with feeding and most doctors at work/books say initiate rice cereal between 4-6 months, I thought 5.5 months was fine :). Let me tell you, the boy LOVES his rice cereal. He sees me get the bowl and spoon out and he gives me the biggest grin.If I don't give it fast enough he'll grunt at me. Haha. We're working on signing "more" but that may be a while! I measured it out for the first time last night--he's getting 1/4 cup cereal with about 2.5 ounces breastmilk 1-2x/day. I figured that's about as many calories as he gets in a 5.5 ounce bottle, so we're just giving him a 5 ounce bedtime bottle instead of 7 as we did up until last night. We've also started introducing the sippy cup with water during mealtimes (rice cereal) and he's now able to express from a hard spout with the valve, no longer needing support for jaw stabilization! He's only taking ~20 mLs but it's more for practice at this stage. I bought my baby food cookbook and storage containers--plan on making his first foods in the next few days so when we get the green light from the Dr we will start real foods! I'm really looking forward to this--so far, the boy loves to eat anything, so we'll see if it continues! Will he love the peas?!


PLAY:
It's so stinkin' hot outside right now, but Carter LOVES the outdoors. He can be fusspants, walk outside, and poof--happy happy boy. I'm trying to convince Caleb we need a kiddie pool for the summer :). He got spoiled rotten on the beach trip and now does NOT like to be left alone. As long as he can see someone, anyone, he's fine. But, the minute you walk away he just cries and cries. Haha, it's kinda annoying but kinda cute. He now much prefers being eye level vs being plopped on the ground. He LOVES just sitting in his highchair and watching me work in the kitchen, I usually will turn on the radio and sing and dance which just makes it that much more entertaining. He likes the jumperoo okay, but really isn't jumping--just standing and playing with the toys. Last week I brought Carter up to work for a going away lunch and had some of the PTs check him out--long story short, I think he's just fine, but his back muscles are a little weak. So, one of the fabulous PTs from work had me buy an exercise ball and came over yesterday and gave us a home program. So, fellas, Carter is going to learn to work out from a very EARLY age :). He doesn't love it, but who does when you first start...right? We have a LOT more tummy time in our future! He is starting to prop sit and can maintain sitting for up to a minute.  He continues to love people and is easily entertained by watching anyone and everyone. He will just follow people around and smile at anyone that crosses his path. He continues his raptor voice and his "talking"--not a whole lot new babbling this month, but maybe that's because we're increasing motor function?! He loves anything "over the top" so exaggerated motions for dancing, animal sounds, bouncing/singing with lots of intonation, he just smiles and laughs. He also loves to be tickled, he's got one spot on his neck that gets him every time--we LOVE his little laugh!

SLEEP:
Still our good little sleeper at night, anywhere from 7-8 pm to around 7 am. Naptime is now glorious as well, thanks to the discovery of his blankey. His blue crochet blanket is his new best friend. When he goes down in his crib he does the 3 step approach: left 2 fingers in the mouth, grabs the blanket and puts it to his face, and turns to his left side. Such a sweet baby. Even if he doesn't readily go to sleep, he will now play in his crib until he falls asleep and will wake up playing--minimal crying in the crib which is a HUGE improvement in the past month! Even with the yucky cough, the boy is still a good sleeper and that makes for one happy Mommy!

Onto the pics....

Kate is home from France! We LOVED getting to see her and have seen her a few times since she's been back--even though we've been apart for over 2 years, it was just like old times. Carter fit right in :)

Going away for Meghan and sweet Bennett. I miss them already. Meghan and I sat next to each other at work and were preggers together for 6 months. Fun times.

A little PT evaluation at work :)

He's already playing with the Ipad

First taste of rice cereal.

And of course, our monthly photo shots with all that personality:

Back from the beach!

We had an absolute BLAST down at South Padre for Stephen's wedding. Carter and I got to stay an extra 4 days at the beach and hang out with Grandma and Grandpa (and Mamie, Grandaddy, Larry, and Diane--can you say the child is now spoiled rotten with the ratio of 7:1--he was never left alone unless he was sleeping!) and we were both spoiled. Our days pretty much went like this: wake up, breakfast, nap, beach, nap, lunch, nap, play, nap, more beach, nap, dinner, bed. And the naps are not just Carter--throw in read/nap for me most of those times. I will pretty much let the pictures tell the story of our week:



(not in pics--very LONG drive to Padre=stopping off at Nana and Papa's Thursday night and leaving at 5:30 am Friday morning to get to beach on time. Carter actually did GREAT driving, but was so ready to get out of the car!)

First stop after checking into hotel=beach. We got Carter's first reaction to the water on video so there are no pics. Just picture chillin watching the waves, waves come up on his feet and FREAK OUT MODE begins! Haha. As the week went on, he got more and more used to it. I won't say he liked it, but definitely tolerated the waves!

How cute are these boys?! LOVE Carter's sunglasses--and he really doesn't mind wearing them! We had a hat as well but it was oh so windy out there it kept blowing off!

Next stop = pool. Now, I must say that we took him in the heated pool and he loved it, just like a bath! We never made it to the cold portion of the pool--not sure what he will think of that this summer, we shall see!

Chillin' with Mommy at  the pool. Hopefully there will be LOTS of this in our future this summer. Oh, and notice the tan?! There's a reason all the pics are of Daddy and Carter in the pool....if Mommy got in, her tan would come off before the wedding :).

Carter with Mimi at the rehearsal dinner. He was not a happy camper this night, but give the kid a break--not only did the dinner start after his bedtime, but he missed naps due to all the beach/pool fun!

Bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner

Such a sweet picture. Mamie and Grandaddy watched Carter this night so that Mommy and Daddy could go on the party barge following this dinner. Carter got spoiled just like Mommy did when she was a little girl :).

Diane and Aunt Connie

Carter at the rehearsal dinner

Party barge ended at midnight--hair started at 10 am! There's Ali getting all pretty for the wedding!

Bride getting pretty!

Of course we have no ceremony pictures as we were both in the wedding but Carter was a little heartbreaker in his tie. Here he is at cocktail hour giving grandpa a kiss!

Our one family photo from the night :). Windblown is an undestatement from what happened to my hair on the beach!

First dance

Mother/Son Dance

Anniversary dance--give it up to Mamie and Grandaddy with 62 yerars of marriage and still going strong! Watch out...lots 'o sombreros coming up...

Amanda and all her girls came. We had so much fun with them on the dance floor!

Dancing with my brother

Caleb wasn't feeling great, but I still drug him out on the dance floor :)

How Carter spent the reception. LOVE this age where we can dance till midnight and he just sleeps through it all!

Ole!

With Ali

Sunday was Mother's Day and it was SO neat to spend it with my Mom and both grandmothers. Amanda came over and brought her girls to see Nana---here is Great Nana with all her great grandkids on mother's day!

Not the best pic, but 4 generations on Mother's Day!

All the girls!

We then went out to lunch with Mamie and Grandaddy--here is the pic of them with their kiddos!

Still act like kids :)

Wanna Wanna Beach Bar for lunch! Yum! Carter was such a trooper and did great just tagging along wherever we went! As long as he was fed and had his carseat to nap in, he was golden :).

Shrimp boil at the condo! Here's Carter with Mamie and Granddy

Larry and Diane spent the week too, it was so fun to get to hang out with them without the huge group setting!

Dad and Jolie prepping the shrimp boil!

Couldn't get Carter to look but this pic is priceless--Carter with his 4 great grandparents

More time at the beach!

Chillin' with Grandaddy on the beach

Love this pic of Carter with Grandma Jo, cool in shades on the beach!


After the beach we went and spent a few days with Amanda and her girls--all my pics are on the iphone, so those will come later. We had SUCH a great time with so much family but are also very glad to be back at home with Daddy!

5 months!

5 months old yesterday. Geez, it goes by so fast! A cafeteria lady commented on Carter's newborn photo on my badge at work  and I said "I need to change that out, he's so much bigger now". We got to talking about babies at 5 months old and I was saying how fun he is and she was like "5 months? You think that's fun, just wait until they're a year! They just keep getting more fun!". I feel like I've heard that a lot recently. I love everyday with him and he's just getting more and more interactive. In some ways I hate that he's not the little newborn snugglebug and those days are over, but I'm LOVING his smiles and laughs and "raptor voice" (as Caleb calls his high pitched screeching talk) that surround us these days. There's no 5 month check up, so not sure of his height/weight. He's still in size 2 diapers and primarily 6 month or 6-9 month clothes. Here we go...




EAT:

He still loves to eat and being back at work with kiddos with feeding diffficulties, I am very thankful Carter loves to eat. He's eating 5 ounces every 3ish hours via level 2 nipple. We still nurse most of the day when I'm at home.I do pump in the mornings, so he gets a 5 ounce bottle in the morning and a 7 ounce bottle for bedtime. We will probably experiment with increasing his bottle amount to 5 1/2 or 6 ounces here pretty soon and see how he does. He is spitting up less these days, no complaints on that front! We are holding off on starting baby food to closer to 6 months, per our pediatrican's recommendations. I do want to start working his spoon feeding skills (can you tell what I do for a living?!), so I think I'm going to start putting him in his highchair and giving him milk via spoon just for fun :).



PLAY:

Oh, and play he does. He loves his hands and his feet and will play with them all.day.long. If you put him on his back on the floor he will immediately grab for his feet and try to put them in his mouth. Wherever he is, he is always trying to get his fingers or his whole hand in his mouth. I don't feel any teeth, so I'm not sure if it's just oral exploration or getting ready to teethe, but the boy is putting *everything* in his mouth and drooling like crazy. In the past week or so he has been rolling tummy to back more often. I'm not saying every time he gets on his tummy, but maybe 70% of the time he'll now roll over to his back? I've been "therapizing" him by making him bear weight on his arms on his tummy (can you tell I work wtih pediatric PTs and am constantly seeking their advice?) which has really helped. Now to "prop sitting"--the problem with this is he should be using his arms to help him balance (prop his arms on his legs or tripod in between his legs on the floor) but he always wants a hand in his mouth, so it's face plant! Haha, he'll get it :). He's still our little social butterfly. We put the highchair at the kitchen table, so he now sits and joins in on the breakfast and dinner conversation. I think pretty soon we'll be putting the big swing in the attic, as he's getting too big for the swing. We got the walker out this week--he still hasn't quite figured it out, but it's nice to have a place to stand and play while Mama works in the kitchen! His favorite toys right now are....anything he can put in his mouth--hands/feet, clothes, dad's paper plate when he's eating, and of course the little crinkle toys and rings that easily fit in the mouth. He is starting to look more at books, so we're pulling out the "touch and feel" books--he'll attend for ~3-4 minutes before he's off to something else. On the talking front, he's my little jabber baby. He started this high pitched screech that is a happy sound (raptor voice) and it cracks me up. He's starting some reduplicated babbling--so far I've heard consonants /g/, /m/, /p/, and /n/ although Caleb constantly is working on /dada/. He's blowing raspberries and when you blow them back his face lights up. He loves to look in the mirror, so we've got in the habit of looking in the mirror in the game room after naps and he goes from sleepy baby to bright eyed with a big 'ol grin--I think he knows he's about to eat :).He still LOVES to sing (actually, for us to sing to him)and his favorite song continues to be "He's got the whole world in his hands", although "Texas Fight" is a close 2nd :). He still loves to be outside and is enjoying longer runs more these days which is nice for both Mom and Carter. It's been so pretty lately we've done lots of blankets on the front yard, walks, and even went to the Arboretum last week just to sit on the blanket and people watch. Carter is easily amused just sitting and watching people walk by. He particularly loves to watch other kids and had a blast watching his cousins play the past 2 weekends. He also started going to gym daycare and although he just sits in his carrier while Mommy works out, I think he really enjoys just watching the other kids play. Atleast he doesn't look like he's been crying when I go to pick him up :). I will be interested to see what he thinks of his first time in the pool AND the beach/sand this weekend for uncle Stephen's wedding! I feel like I'm saying everything he loves here....I will end this section with what he doesn't like: naps (I think this is a love/hate relationship--he hates to sleep, but oh how he needs it!), tummy time (although he's much more tolerant), being left alone, taking food away when he doesn't think he's done eating, riding in the car for longer than an hour and nobody to entertain him, rocking/cuddling/snuggling when he's sleepy (he really just likes to be put down and left alone which is counterintuitive for some of the grandparents!).



SLEEP:

Okay, I know I've blogged about this in the past but this month was "lalalalala'"---that is angels singing if you couldn't hear it :). Yes, after the 4 month appt he is now sleeping, unswaddled, for 11-12 hours every.single.night. Praise the Lord! He's a happier baby and let me tell you--Mommy is such a happy lady!! So, we've got the nighttime sleeping down which is golden, but we are still working on naps as he's my little fighter during the day. Seriously, I can put him down at night between 7 and 8 and he will gladly go right into his crib, turn on his side, suck those fingers, and be asleep before I get down the stairs. During the day he continues to fight it. I'm not sure if it's that we still don't have a structured schedule and the boy just needs structure or what, but he's fine when I put him in the crib--the second he sees me walking out it starts. Sometimes it's just a little fuss but other times (ie: this past Sunday) it is screaming at the top of his lungs to the point that he can't calm down madness. I've tried doing a structured nap schedule (ie: 9 am, 12 pm, 5 pm) but he's just different every day as far as how long he sleeps and what he's needing. Sometimes he'll nap over 3 hours and sometimes he'll nap 30-40 minutes and be done. So, I'm up for any advice here. I think he will be off at the beach, but when we get back it's time to figure out naptime.

Things I'm loving at this age:
-his big 'ol smiles--whether it's first thing in the morning when we come get him out of the crib or the random lady talking to him in the grocery store line, he just gives the biggest smiles and I love it!
-waking up in the morning with the sweetest little talk in the crib
-how he just follows his Daddy around with his eyes. he LOVES Caleb and when the door shuts in the afternoon and he hears Caleb's voice he just lights up! Daddy's home!
-his wobbliness. although we are working on sitting, he cracks me up how he just falls over
-how he can be so mad but as soon as he gets undressed to get jammies on or in the bath all is right in his little world
-his "raptor voice"
-his wide open mouth mouth kisses
-the sweet way he turns on his side and sucks his fingers to fall asleep. our little angel baby.

Here are some pics from the past week as well as the traditional 5 month couch photo shot:

Carter and his new bff, Aaron (Shannon's baby boy! 3 weeks!) coming to meet their new friend Natalie at the hospital

Heather and Courtney (who keeps Carter) with Natalie! The first girl in our community group--count is now 6 boys,1 girl with 1 boy on the way!

Hanging out at the Arboretum

Chillin

5 month photos--def show his personality at this age. Hands and feet in the mouth!

You can really tell here that he's getting so long and thinning out! Still got some chubs on him though :)