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

Carter is 4 Months!

Carter is 4 months old today! We can hardly believe how fast it has gone. I was just commenting the other day that he looks more like a little boy than a baby now. I wish he would stay small forever...he's growing up too fast! But it's also fun to see him discover new things and develop new skills. He loves to stand, squeal, and play on his playmat. He's also growing out of his 0-3 month clothes, so we've pulled out his 3-6 months. He's getting so big! He's such an amazing little boy and we love him so much!!

We've also enjoyed watching conference this weekend and hearing the words of the prophet and apostles. I especially enjoyed Elder Holland's powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

I also had a doctor's appointment with my cardiologist this week. She discussed with me what they found from my angiogram, which was basically more of what we already knew. She said I should expect to have angina my entire life, but is increasing the dosage of some of my medication in hopes to control it a bit better, with options of a few other medications if needed. She also theorized that one of my problem areas may be getting worse, and is going to compare my recent images to some old angiogram images. We are hoping that's not the case.

On a more positive note, here are some recent pictures of our sweet boy:

Hanging out with Daddy

Hugging his bear...

...or grabbing his bear's face.

On the computer with Mommy

Playing on his playmat

Watching his fishy friends very closely

Grandma Cyndi's Pictures

Here is just a fraction of the pictures Carter's Grandma Cyndi took while she was here after my angiogram.