Nap time!

We are going out of town on Tuesday, so I thought I'd post something before we left! We've finally drawn the line and are making Carter nap on his own in his crib now. Previously he'd take daily naps with Daddy, but we discovered it took him a lot longer to get down at night after being used to falling asleep with someone. Carter's done great, and he's a lot happier when he's well rested. I don't know why we waited this long! He's also started sleeping better at night again. The past month or so he would wake up 2-3 times a night, but now he's sleeping really well through the night again, usually only waking up once. It's been really nice, but I'm sure this trip will probably mess it up for him again.

We're excited to be able to see family over the next couple of weeks and allow Carter some time with his grandparents. Happy Thanksgiving!

Daddy & Carter relaxing (not napping!)

Bath time! Carter can sit up on his own for short periods of time, now.

Happy boy! This is one of my favorite pics of him to date :)

Tyler & Carter again

Chewing on his exersaucer toys

Play time!

I also had a couple of videos that wouldn't post...one of him rolling from his back to his tummy (a few weeks old) and a recent one of him playing in his exersaucer. I love being able to blog but blogger can't really handle videos longer than 10 seconds apparently... Just imagine him being really cute!

Our Cute Little Giraffe

This year for Halloween we went down to Portland for Tyler's cousin's baptism. It was fun being able to spend time with family and we went ahead and dressed up Carter as a giraffe! We thought it was a little ironic since he doesn't have much of a neck...



...and some more pictures...




On the 4th Carter turned 5 months! It's hard to believe he's been around that long...he's getting to be so big and we love our little boy!



Carter also learned how to roll from his back to his tummy a couple weeks ago and does it CONSTANTLY. The problem is, he doesn't like being on his tummy but seems to have forgotten his previous skill of turning from his tummy to his back. So he'll sit there for a few minutes happy with himself, realize he's on his tummy, and then cry until we flip him over. Silly boy.







We had a few tragedies occur to people we love the last couple weeks and it's given us a new found appreciation for our little guy. Life is precious and every minute we have with him is a gift. We love him so much and are so grateful to have him in our lives!!

On another note, Carter went in to the doctor this week to get his skull checked again. The doctor wants us to go meet with a team of specialists at Seattle Children's Hospital to see if he needs to be fitted for a helmet. (For those of you who don't know, the back-left side of his skull is flat and the back-right side sticks out) She said it's all completely up to us, that it's a cosmetic issue more than anything, but that his skull will be hardened by 9 months so if we want to get it fixed we need to do it now. We're not sure what we want to do at this point, but will at least meet with the doctors. Any recommendations from anyone out there as to what to do? I hate the idea of having my little guy have to wear a helmet 23 hours a day for 3-4 months and I think he'll hate it too, but it is just a short-term thing. We'll keep you posted on what we decide to do.

Mmmm...Rice Cereal!

Hey all! We've been fighting colds around here, so I figured I'd take the time to write another blog post! Other than fighting colds, we've been doing pretty well. We've been trying to break Carter of his swaddle...so far mostly unsuccessfully...and getting him to sleep in his own room for the last week. He is now officially in his own room and enjoying not waking up to Tyler's alarm at 3:30 am every morning! In anticipation of moving him into his own room, we finally finished up his nursery.




Our friends also lent us an exersaucer for Carter! I was going to buy him one for Christmas, so this saves me about $100!! He really enjoys it, but gets a little overwhelmed by all the toys after a while. It is a great short distraction, anyway, and I know he'll love it even more as he gets older!

We've also started Carter on solids this week! We tried feeding him some rice cereal a few weeks ago but he wouldn't have any of it, so after waiting a couple weeks we decided to try again and he's doing pretty well with it! After about 3 days he will now intermittently open his mouth for the spoon which I'm pretty excited about. At first he seemed to HATE it and made the funniest faces! We tried to catch as much on camera as possible but missed some of the best sour faces. Here's what we did get:








Another exciting thing in the life of Carter was that he rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time today!! I put him on his playmat on his back, got in the shower, and by the time I got out he was on his tummy! I was pretty bummed that I missed it, but proud of our big boy.

A Quarter of a Century with a Growing Little Boy

The past few weeks have been pretty busy...sorry for not posting sooner! On Oct 7th Carter had his 4 month appointment. He weighed 15 lb 5 oz (50-75%) and was 25 in long (50%)! We are so impressed with how much he's grown. The doctor said his skull is still too uneven and that he is borderline for needing to get fitted for a helmet, but after much pleading he agreed to give Carter another month and then to re-evaluate. If he gets a helmet he has to wear it 24/7 for 3-4 months!! I'm hoping we can rectify the problem by then...we are very adamant about positioning him so he lays on the bump on his head. Carter also got his 4 month shots at that appointment and did really well! He didn't even cry after the 1st one, but the 2nd was a little much for him. He didn't sleep well and was pretty fussy for a few days after that, so I think the vaccines made him feel a little under the weather. He's doing fantastic, otherwise! He has lost most of his baby hair now and is pretty darn bald, which I am so sad about. I miss his beautiful red hair!! He is getting pretty anxious to be mobile, as well, so I'm expecting him to start rolling all over the apartment pretty soon.

That same week Carter got to meet his Uncle Jared! He came out for work and spent a few days with us. Carter was completely smitten with his uncle! We were so excited to see him too and had a lot of fun with him. It turned out to be good timing, too, because that same week Carter's great-grandparents were in town as well. We all got to spend some time together at my cousin Jordan's mission farewell. He is going to the Carlsbad, California mission!

Last weekend I celebrated my 25th birthday. It is crazy that I am a quarter of a century old now! Our friends Caitlin and Steven offered to take Carter on Saturday so Tyler and I could go out and celebrate. We appreciated it so much and had a great time on my birthday date. On Sunday, my actual birthday, Tyler made me a fantastic dinner and we had a couple friends over for dessert. It was a fantastic birthday weekend!!
Here are a few recent pictures:

Carter and his Uncle Jared

Carter and his daddy taking a nap together. This has become their daily routine (which is why I have time to update the blog right now!!)

Carter has become a little addicted to TV, unfortunately. He is constantly trying to turn around to see it.

Carter's most recent feeding position...one arm over his eyes

It's getting hard to get a smiling picture...as soon as the camera emerges he gets really interested in it and thus, very serious-looking

Not only does he flip around to watch TV, but he discovers all sorts of other things to attract his attention...this time, the strap on his car seat

Carter looks so much more like a little boy now! Sometimes I forget he's still a baby