11 Months

Holy cow - this little man is 11 months old!  Has it really been almost a year since he was born??  He still has blue eyes and blonde hair so hopefully it will stay that way.  He weighs 20 lbs, which I only know because we've been to the doctor a few times lately (his ears looks great now).

Carter loves food and trying new foods.  Most recently he had eggs, peanut butter, and strawberries and enjoys them all with no apparent allergies.  We have slowly introduced a cheese stick or two and some bites of yogurt, but not switched over yet.  He will drink / shake / drip all over himself a sippy cup of water with meals.  He just started making a smacking sound with his lips when he's hungry and will shake his head no and spread his food around (on to the floor for Charger) when he's done.

On to the 11 month photo shoot!

This little guy loves his sissy bear and she knows how to make him laugh.  His famous "scrunchy face" reappeared this past weekend.

10 Months Old

This little guy is now 10 months old.  At least he was 10 months old when I took the pictures, but finally got the camera downloaded.  He did go to the doctor for his 9 month appointment on 1/20 and ended up 12% for weight, 88% for height (Laura questioned the R&R for this measurement) and 64% for headsize.  The weight seems pretty odd considering that he eats more than Avery eats, so we probably have a good growth spurt coming up.  

Sitting is no big deal for this guy.  Sitting still is another issue...  Laura found a picture of Avery at this age sitting in an elevated chair reading books quietly by herself.  This dude would jump off the chair and have a fire started before we could turn around.

Pulling up and standing is also no big deal.  He is easily cruising around the coffee table, but is hesitant to make that first step on his own.

 You can see his toothy smile.  He has his two fangs up top and the center two on the bottom which leaves a great mark on your arm if he gets a hold of it.

 "What do you mean we have to take a nap this afternoon?"

 Our happy little guy.

One more pic that shows off those teeth.

9 Months Old

We take a break from this regularly scheduled Christmas Programming for a brief update on Carter.  He turned 9 months this weekend and we actually took his pictures when we planned on taking them.  The last month has brought us more confidence pulling up on things, more speed in crawling, and a love of table food.  Last night for dinner he ate an entire squash, some mandarin oranges, and half of a dinner roll.  His sister ate half of what he had.  He also is starting to babble a good amount and recognizes his name.  Familiar faces (and funny looking new ones) get quick smiles and he get sad when he looses visual contact with one of us.

The ability to stand and pull up has allowed him to expand the things he touches and tastes dramatically.

He is getting more and more confident while standing up but has not yet mastered the moving while holding on to something.

Sitting is no big deal for this little guy.

Chasing after his sister.

His bright blue eyes.

The love that these two share...

As a bonus, here is Carter laughing after a good meal.

8 Months Old

Carter turned 8 months old a few days ago, so we got some good pictures of him in his room.  This month's new skills is all about crawling.  He went from getting up on all fours last month to moving around the room to you can't turn your head for a second.  Once he was able to move over to a piece of furniture he immediately is trying to pull up on something.  He has only been able to pull himself up a couple of times at school on the crib, but he is desperate to start walking.  We can lead him around the room holding his hands and he will try to walk, but isn't really close with the mechanics of it.

This shot was achieved by putting him on one side of the room and running to the other side, while frantically snapping pictures as he sprinted across the room towards me.

He is a pretty good sitter, but really isn't interested in sitting still for very long as there is so much to explore.

 Sitting in his rocking chair was a nervous experience.  He is very much unlike his sister in that he has literally no fear.  He is not afraid to crawl right off the side of the bed or take a jump from the couch.

  

So I put together a little progression of Carter learning how to crawl.

7 Months

Carter turned 7 months a couple of days ago so this weekend we did our little photoshoot.  This month has brought some new tricks to Carter's repertoire as you will see in the following pics.    

 He is getting better at his sitting up, but is easily distracted by a toy, his sister, or Charger.  A few moments later he is flopping in their general direction.

 Tell me this grin isn't the cutest.

 We swore this weekend was going to be when he started crawling, because he is pretty confident on all fours and doing the little bob back and forth trying to figure out how to move.  Right now his crawl consists of getting up on all fours, flopping forward, and repeating.  It won't be long now.

 Carter loves his big sister probably more than anything other than a good meal.  Avery is getting pretty good at reading and Carter will listen to her read as long as she keeps the book far enough away that he can't chew on it.

6 Months

This little guy turned 6 months old a few days ago.  He had his doctor's appointment and is up to 15lbs 6oz (12%) and 27" (64").  So long and lean...although I don't think he has the genetics to say on the tall end.  The teachers say that he loves to eat and is the happiest when they put him in the high chair for a big bowl of sweet potatoes. 

He moved up to this room yesterday as he has been doing a good job sleeping through the night for the most part.  Sometimes he is up at 4, sometimes at 6.  While he isn't sitting up quite yet, he is working on it.  His crawling is still mostly just roll, pivot, and flop; but it is enough that we can't leave him on the floor and expect him to remain in that same spot.  Anyways...on to the pictures!

 Cute little grin.  It is so hard to get smiles from him when the camera is out.

 Best buddies.

 While the biggest smiles used to go to Daddy, I think Avery gets the most now.

5 Months

So Carter turned 5 months old 17 days ago and we did a photoshoot then, but I forgot to download the pictures off the camera.  Over the past month, Carter has discovered his feet and that he can put them in his mouth for a tasty treat at all times.  He has started to eat baby food and sleep through the night on occasion.  He is a pretty quiet baby, but gets excited when he sees his sister every morning.  He is getting bigger everyday and growing out of his 6 month old clothes.  He even noticed Charger last week and had a good laugh while daddy played tug of war with that brown furry thing.  

 Working on his modeling face.

 Do you think these two love each other?

 A goofy smile for a goofy little boy.  He is such a happy smiley baby, but when the camera comes out he is immediately fascinated with it.

First Meal

This weekend we tried to give Carter his first taste of Rice Cereal.  If you want to see how Avery fared, click back in history.

Before the meal, he thought this was just another opportunity for Daddy to make funny faces at him.

 "Ok, just another thing to put in my mouth."  (All the toys, feet, and hands go in Carter's mouth; unlike Avery)

 "What was that...????!?!?!"

 "Why are you doing this to me???"

4 Months Old

This little guy had his 4 month check up this week.  He is up to 13lbs, 7oz which puts him at 10% in his class while his head came in at 42.5 inches, which remains in the 73rd percentile.  However, he has shot up in height and is now at 25.5 inches, which is in the 62nd percentile.  This confirms the fact that he is indeed growing.  In other news he occasionally sleeps through the night, which is a blessing to Mommy.  He isn't a real big napper at school, but loves a long nap on the weekends.  He loves to smile at his big sister everyday, but Daddy get's the best smiles out of him.  Overall, he is a really happy and easy baby.  On to the pictures....

Such a cutie...

Getting so long...

He hasn't got the sitting thing figured out yet.

Over the past month he has discovered toys. When he would drop this toy out of his visual sight, he started crying until he saw where he dropped it.  I am not sure if that is a good step forward or not...

3 Months Old

Carter turned 3 months old a week or so ago, but as we were celebrating with the Gibsons we didn't get around to doing his pictures.  He has gotten up to 12lbs 5oz when he went to the doctor last week for a little cough.  He isn't sleeping through the night, although he has blessed Mommy a couple of times by sleeping from 8pm to 5am.  He smiles pretty much on command and loves to talk back to you as if you were having a conversation.  He loves to see his sister everyday and she loves to talk to him.  He is close to rolling over, but just needs some more practice.  Anyways...on to the pictures...

This is his little smirk.  It is sometimes hard to capture his smiles because he is always fascinated when the camera comes out.

He has some pretty blue eyes that he got from his mother.

 Another smile for the camera.

 Getting longer and longer each day.

2 Months Old

This past week we took Carter to the doctor for his 2 month checkup.

He is up to 10lbs and 9.5 oz which is in the 10th percentile.  He was able to gain about an inch and is up to 22.75" which is in the 33%.  However his head went up to 40cm which is 74%.


But anyways...How cute is this smile?

 He is a bit bigger than his newborn pictures next to his plane.

 And it looks like he might get to keep those pretty blue eyes.