Carter's 9 month update

Gosh, I am so bad about keeping this updated. Wanted to go ahead and post Carter's nine month stats as of Aug. 21st:

23.7 lbs (90th percentile)
29.5 inches long/tall (90-95th percentile)
18.3 inch head circumference (90th percentile)

He is such a big boy!

Where oh where have I been?

OK, so it's been two months since I've posted. Shame on me! Needless to say, we've had a busy summer, but it sure has been wonderful. We've enjoyed lots of pool time. Carter loves it so much! He can't get enough splashing around.

In June, Chad and I took our first vacation away from Carter. We had such a wonderful time, but I could not get home fast enough on that last day! We had all kinds of problems getting out of the airport, and at the point I thought we wouldn't make it home in time before his bedtime, I actually started to cry. Boy, I've got to get better at this!

When Carter was about seven months old, I was watching him play one day and found myself focusing in on all the adorable little parts of him - his toes, his fingers, his ears, his mouth ... every square inch of him is so precious!

A couple of weeks ago, I got some much needed "girl time" in Destin with Stephanie and Laura, two of my best friends from childhood. We try to take a trip each summer, and we always have so much fun catching up with each other. We were laughing at how each year on our trip one of us seems to be pregnant - I think that has happened for the past four years in a row! This year it was Laura's turn, and she was such a trooper. Who will be next? Hmmm ...

Carter turned eight months old last weekend - unbelievable! He celebrated the day by starting to "army crawl" all over the place. He's having a hard time distinguishing between his toys and Marley's toys, and for some reason Marley's seem so much more interesting. Also, in the past couple of weeks, he has gotten three more teeth to add to the first two he got at five months. He has become quite vocal lately also - lots of ba ba bas, da da das, screeches and spits. Check out the video.

Here's hoping it's not another two months before I'm back ...

Riding the six month train

Carter turned six months this week - that's half a year, and I can't believe it. He received an A+ from Dr. G. and threw up (not literally, thank goodness) the following stats:

Weight - 18 lbs 7 oz - 75th percentile (up from 50th percentile at 4 mo.)
Length - 27 in - 75-90th percentile (compared to 90th at 4 mo.)

We've had a very exciting and busy May. Me-ma and Granddad came to spend almost a week with us, and Carter got them all to himself for three whole days while Mommy and Daddy were at work. Then Aunt Casey, Nana and Poppy joined us for Mother's Day, and Carter was dedicated at church that day. What a special time!

So Carter's having some very exciting playtime these days. He's rolling all over the place. He will stop whatever he's doing to watch every single move that Marley makes. His favorite exercise is jumping up and down in his Exersaucer, although he wants to bounce all the time whether he's in the Exersaucer or not. His favorite song for Daddy to sing to him is "Old McPoppy Had a Farm". Oh yeah, I almost forgot - he got his two front bottom teeth a few weeks ago, just after he turned five months. And there's nothing better than his giggles and belly laughs. Check out the video below ...

Hometown Disaster

On Thursday evening, April 9th, an F3 tornado whipped through my hometown of Mena, Arkansas. Fortunately, my family made it through unscathed; however, we have many friends whose homes, businesses and lives were ripped to the core. Miraculously, only three lives were lost in the storm, although that is certainly three too many.

I can't express the odd sense of loss. It sort of feels like a death, but it also feels like a robbery. I feel so sad that Mena - one of the most beautiful towns I've ever seen - will never again look the same. One thing the tornado can never take away from Mena, however, is its spirit. This community of people has already emerged from the devastation stronger and more united than ever.

(photo from www.arkansasonline.com)

Fun with cereal

Carter had cereal for the first time on Saturday morning. He did pretty well with it! We've all heard the old wives tales about cereal helping little ones sleep better at night. Well, he ended up sleeping from 8:00 until 6:15 that night - his longest stretch ever without eating - but I would be hard pressed to attribute that to the one tablespoon of rice cereal he had at 8:00 am. Of course my mind was racing trying to figure out exactly what might have helped him sleep that well - was it putting him to bed 30 minutes later? was it that he only napped a total of one hour 15 minutes the entire day (much to my dismay)? was it going out to dinner with friends (if so, then Emily, Brad & Haley have to start meeting us for dinner EVERY night!)? If you haven't figured it out already, the next night didn't go quite as well.

Check out the video below.

Four months already!

I can't believe Carter is four months old! Today he had his check up with Dr. G. I was expecting him to weigh in at 16 - 17 lbs, but he wasn't quite that big. He's still taller than he is heavy, which makes sense as he always seems to outgrow his clothes in length.

Weight - 14 lbs 15 oz - 50th percentile
Length - 25 3/4 in - 90th percentile

I've been especially looking forward to Carter hitting the four month mark because I was exactly four months old when my parents took me home. I'd always had the perspective that I'd been with my parents all my life because four months sounds pretty much like the very beginning. But after these first four months with Carter, I see that there is so much that occurs during those first months!

Just for fun, I want some feedback from blog readers. I've gathered pictures of Carter, Chad and me - all three were taken when we were four months old. Any opinions on who Carter looks like?

Everything's more fun with a child

Today was not only St. Patrick's Day but also my birthday. I usually leave for work before Carter wakes up, but on this day I needed some family time! We had a big photo shoot with Carter and Marley and had such a great time.

One of the many things I didn't realize about motherhood is how much more fun everything is. I'm not a huge birthday person, but Carter just made the day so very special. I felt as if I needed to celebrate the day more than usual - whether I wanted to or not - just because of him. And oh how I wanted to spend time with him - you would have thought it was HIS birthday!

Chad did a great job, as usual. He decorated all over the house with green stuff and leprechauns and even a pair of shamrock tights hanging from the chandelier. He took me to Bob's Steakhouse for dinner, ordered a huge chocolate dessert, and still got me a Marble Slab chocolate ice cream cake! The best thing he did, however, was help Carter prepare a birthday card for me. Inside the card was a tracing of Carter's hand as well as a very sweet "note" penned by Carter himself.