110

Now I wish that number were my weight, but it's not. It's Carter's growth chart percentile. For his 6 month checkup his stats were:
23 lbs. 4 oz.
30 inches long
and a big head

Carter hasn't been on the charts for weight and height since he was 2 weeks old but his head has always been relatively normal-75th percentile. Until this last visit-it was also off the charts. Which would explain why his beanie no longer fastens under his chin. The doctor told me he is the size of a normal 1 year old.

Maybe this is why my back hurts constantly-carrying around 23 lbs of cuteness but cuteness that can't fully support his own weight. Like a sack of potatoes. It's getting to the point where I think I may have to see a chiropractor and I don't even believe in Chiropractors......

But the good news is that he's healthy and the Dr. says keep doing whatever it is that I'm doing.
This is Carter's new smile. We call it "The Old Man Smile." He looks like such a cute, old man when he does this. I love it....I think he's hiding his incoming tooth from the pictures until it's fully in place. Did I mention that this tooth growing baby loves to bite his mother? OUCH-he may been weaned sooner than planned!!

My Baby is Growing Up!

Carter is almost 6 months old. I can't believe it. He has some new "tricks" he'd like to share


Right before Thanksgiving he started eating solid food. Here is his first taste of Rice Cereal. Well received.

Next were some Sweet Potatoes on Thanksgiving. Very well received-especially when mixed with a little special "Sauce" from mom. Homemade of course. Next came some carrots.

I decided that I will try and make all my own baby food. So far it's been successful and easy. Here are some pureed corn, peas (eww) and squash. All fresh veggies pureed and perfectly proportioned. I'm hoping Carter won't be a picky eater and so I'm not introducing the good stuff aka fruits for a little while longer. Am I turning Granola-y? No-I don't even own a pair of Chacos. I figure Carter doesn't need added sugar and such for a little while longer. What he doesn't know he's missing, won't hurt him. Plus is he's anything like his mother concerning sugar an addiction is sure to arise.

Another of Carter's tricks are rolling over and cutting his first tooth. Who knew I would get so excited over both? It was like Christmas here last Sunday as he rolled over for the first time and I saw his first tooth. The bad news is that he has ceased his rolling over. Carter is convinced that being on his tummy is a form of torture. He use to fuss and cry until he rolled himself over but in the last few days he isn't even trying to roll over anymore. Like the picture above, he just gives up and lays quietly and peacefully on the floor. He won't even try anymore. He'll show me I guess. But I know he can do it so I will keep encouraging him.

What happens when you don't poop for 48+ hours????


`


Nothing that a bath couldn't fix though!

Happy Halloween!

Carter's 2 Costumes this Halloween!

Memories

AS A COMMENT ON MY BLOG, LEAVE ONE MEMORY THAT YOU AND I HAD TOGETHER. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU KNEW ME A LITTLE OR A LOT....ANYTHING YOU REMEMBER! NEXT, RE-POST THESE INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR BLOG AND SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE LEAVE A MEMORY ABOUT YOU. IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY COOL (AND FUNNY) TO SEE THE RESPONSES. IF YOU LEAVE A MEMORY ABOUT ME, I'LL ASSUME YOU'RE PLAYING THE GAME AND I'LL COME TO YOUR BLOG AND LEAVE ONE ABOUT YOU!
****Please, please don't tell my deepest darkest secrets!! My sister already told one to my then Fiancee and I thought I was going to die and that he'd leave me!!!****

My Two Boys

Everyone always asks who Carter looks like. I think the pictures below will prove that I did not sleep with the mailman. Carter is allllll Neil!


Here is Neil(above) when he was about 3-4 months old. I think he looks so much like Carter. And now you know where Carter gets his dark eyebrows from. And we know where Carter gets his "HUGENESS" from.
He loves his Bumbo chair. Here is Carter last week.(above) Carter is now 4 months old and weighs 19 lbs. 14 oz. He is 27 1/2 inches long. Off the charts again.......much like his daddy was.
Here is Neil when he is a little older. Another example of Father like Son.
Not only did Carter get his eyebrows from his daddy, he also got his kissable, full lips. Luckily he did not get his mommy's chicken lips. I only hope that Carter gets Neil's teeth and not mine.......(I know you were all thinking the same thing.)
And let me tell you, this child is ALL BOY! He has blown out of so many outfits lately and this day I was in a hurry to leave and so decided to bathe him in the sink. He didn't fit to well but he still enjoyed it. If he wasn't so dang cute, I'd give him a solid spanking......just kidding.
So what's your opinion? Do you think Carter looks a lot like Neil or am I just seeing things?
I love my two cute boys!

Carter's New Best Friend

(Dear Chloe, These pictures are for you like I promised. Please come and visit cousin Carter and Stanley soon. We miss you. Love Aunt Amanda.) We got a new kitty last week. His name is Stanley Manly. He is obsessed with Carter as these pictures will show.
Luckily Carter doesn't seem to mind Stanley invading his space. This night Carter was just laughing and kicking away and that didn't bother Stanley at all.
Sorry for the "personal" photo. I don't know how to photo shop it out. I thought for sure Stanley was going to jump in the tub with him.
Stanley loves Carter's toes. He snuck in his crib as I was putting him down for a nap. Don't worry-he wasn't allowed to stay there.
Another favorite of Stanleys is to sit with Carter and I while I nurse him. My thoughts on the subject are "2 is company, 3 is a crowd!" Luckily he spends most of his time outside in the garage-Stanley, not Carter.

My Worst Nightmare.........

(Look closely-there are several attached to the screen and others crawling around)

Grasshoppers. I am mildly afraid and deathly grossed out by grasshoppers. I don't know why they freak me out so much but they do. They have no sense of personal space and they are the only bug I know of that aren't afraid of you and they jump on you and at you constantly.

There is a field in our backyard that leads to the city library. I enjoy walking to the library but had to quit this summer because the field is infested with grasshoppers. One day I braved walking across there and they were jumping everywhere on me and the last straw was when one jumped on Carter. I thought someone would find our bodies being eaten by killer grasshoppers. I will NOT walk that way again. I will take the road that is 10 times longer from now on. And these suckers are HUGE by the way.

Well today I am in basement and I keep hearing these thuds against the windows.....grasshopper galore! They are everywhere in the window wells outside. Then I go upstairs to hear the same thing against the upstairs windows. And on my screen door out back this is what I see.........

This MASSIVE grasshopper was trying to get me. It attacked the screen and lost its life. But the point is, do these monsters know I am afraid of them and so they are going to make me pay? Do they know Neil is at work and now is their best time for attack? This is only one grasshopper but they are stuck in more than half of my screens around the house and there are small colonies set up on my back porch. I can't even go outside today-they are everywhere.............
And Neil really isn't much help-He thinks I am being dumb for being afraid. But if you could see how they have all migrated from the field into my yard, onto my porch, onto my screens........they will not rest until they are in my house!

Now I cannot wait until winter when grasshoppers are no longer around. Am I the only one terribly afraid of grasshoppers?

I love my husband but...............

I do-I love him dearly but yesterday he almost gave me a heart attack. We were in the kitchen and he spilled some water on the floor. No big deal, right? Wrong. The next time I turned around he's using my NICE kitchen towels to clean the floor!!!!!! After I screamed in shock, he apologized and said he didn't know these towels weren't for the floor. I then patiently showed him, again, where we keep the cleaning towels and why we have cleaning towels. I want him to help more in the kitchen but it's like Russian Roulette every time he's in there!! It reminds me of the time he took one of my tupperwares to store the grease from his bike chain........or the time he took my bathroom hand towel to use at his triathlon. Is my husband the only one who doesn't realize all things are not created equal???
(Neil never reads my blog but just in case....Neil, don't worry, I still love you and I won't kick you out, this time!)

Why I LOVE Sundays........

#1 Sweater Vests for church. Need I say more? Neil thinks they are a little metro-sexual but I think they are adorable on little boys. Needless to say-I win that battle.



#2 Walks along the River Trail. Carter's first time here. Next year he will probably experience it in his new bike trailer. We can't wait.

This picture is not from Sunday but from our weekend in Park City. This is how Carter spent some of his day. In the front pack. He had to be facing forward so he could look around. He loved just "hanging" there and peeking his little eyes out to see the town. We thought it was so cute.

Twas the Night Before The Office......

It's less than 24 hours before the season opener of the Office tomorrow and I cannot wait. I am like a small child waiting for Santa to come. Neil and I have watched all 4 seasons AGAIN in anticipation for this big event. I am an Office Junkie and I'm okay with that. So with that being said.................the countdown begins.................


Who doesn't need a little "Women's Appreciation?" "What's a pap smear? Or is it shmear-like Cream Cheese?"

I love the Office. And yes Carrie, you do owe me your life for introducing you to this show.

Happy 3 month Birthday!

3 months ago today was the best day of my life.

One Happy Baby

One baby who wakes up smiling instead of crying now!
One baby who loves to play "Ride A Little Horsie."


One baby who loves Tummy Time.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

There is a lot of smiling going on these days in the Etherington household.......
That is because my sweet baby now sleeps 8-9 hours at a time during the night! The first night that I woke up around 4 and hadn't heard from him, I panicked. I of course had to go into his room to make sure he was still alive! And he was. He goes to bed between 7-8 pm and wakes up between 4-5 a.m. And then sleeps until well after 8. I love only getting up once a night and sleeping in until 8 o'clock. I am counting down the days until he doesn't wake up at all during the night.





I've heard "fatter" babies sleep better and I'm starting to believe that! Carter has been an excellent sleeper from the day he came home from the hospital.

He can even sleep through softball games in his car seat. But not as well as he does in his crib...

I think he just didn't want to miss the game. Dad's happy he sleeps so well. But not as happy as .....................................................

HIS MOTHER!!!

(Kristen this picture is for you only. You said I need to post more pictures of myself with Carter. From this day on, I will. This is a really old one but it will work for today!)

Are You Kidding Me??????

This picture pretty much says it all. This is me. I fractured my right foot and so now I get to wear this pretty "shoe" for 4-6 weeks. Luckily it matches with all my clothes so it shouldn't be a problem(sarcasm is dripping off the page). How cruel is life? Here I am as a new mom trying to get my pre-pregnancy body back when all of a sudden exercise is no longer permitted. Actually I am allowed to swim (but what new mom wants to be in a swimming suit???) and I can ride an exercise bike but it has to have basically no resistance. So it will be interesting to say the least.

So this is my "poor me" post. It's the first post that isn't about my baby though. I never have exciting things to post about me usually. And I wouldn't even call this exciting. Just very maddening. Oh yea-I fractured my foot by walking down the stairs, carrying Carter in his car seat, and at the bottom of the stairs was a shoe, which I stepped wrong on. And yes-it was my shoe that I had taken off earlier. I wish I could blame it on Neil.................

Off the Charts....

I took Carter to the Dr. yesterday for his 2 month checkup. I knew he had grown but I didn't imagine he had grown this much. He weighed in at a HUGE 15 pounds 6 oz and is 26 inches long. He has grown 5 inches since birth and is about a half pound away from doubling his birth weight. The doctor said he was perfectly proportioned though for his height. So we don't need to call Weight Watchers yet! He can still wear most of his 0-3 month clothes though. I don't know how since they say they only go up to 12 pounds.


Here are a few pictures that show some of Carter's favorite things. #1 Sleeping. And his hands must be by his face in exactly this position to sleep.
#2-Going running with me. He is a good little sport and loves to be in the jogger. He either falls fast asleep or just lays there and enjoys the view.
#3-This is his new favorite thing-his thumb. He's always liked to suck on his fingers or wrist because he just couldn't quite figure out how to get the thumb in there. Not anymore-that thumb finds its way into his mouth quite easily now. It is so cute to watch him suck on it. He makes these loud smacking noises and really goes to town on it. He mostly sucks on it right before he falls asleep and right as he's waking up. Neil is left handed and I think Carter might be too-he always sucks on his left thumb. Never his right one.
#4-His bouncer chair and Mr. Horsie. Carter loves to sit in his bouncer and stare up at the cow and duck hanging down. He tries his hardest to get his hands up there but he's not quite coordinated enough. Mr. Horsie is the brown thing next to his face. He's half horse, half blanket. I introduced Mr. Horsie to Carter about a month ago because I want him to have a "lovie" and this one is small and very cute. He likes to snuggle up to him and have his face right next to the softness. He does try and suck on Mr. Horsie's head if he can.
These are just a few of his favorite things.....

Life Of Carter

Carter LOVES LOVES LOVES to take baths. He never cries or fusses while in the tub. He just lays there content and talks and splashes around. He only fusses when I take him out if I don't wrap him up quick enough in his little monster towel. He is getting so big and has really started to fill out. According to the Wii Fit scale, he weighs 14.4 pounds! I cannot believe it. He will be 8 weeks on Monday and is 2 pounds away from doubling his birth weight.
Carter was blessed on Sunday. Here he is in his little white outfit. I was paranoid the whole time that he would have a blow out and ruin his little outfit, but he didn't. We made it unscathed.

Here is Carter with his 2 cousins Tyler and Kayla. Tyler was hammin' it up for the camera and Carter was tired of posing. Kayla loves Carter and always wants to hold him and play with him. She loves to show him toys and get his binki when he cries. I need her around more often. Does anyone want to lend me their 3-4 yr. old little girl??????

Last but not least, here is our "Redneck Carter." This picture was taken for Grandpa Etherington. He gave Carter his first gun at 10 days old. It is actually a BB gun and on the box it said "For 10 years and Up." Grandpa crossed out 10 years and put 10 days old! He is a big hunter and here is Carter getting ready to someday hunt with Grandpa. He's got his Camo overalls (minus a shirt for more redneck flavor) and his trusty gun. Too cute!
*****Please don't turn me in to Child Protective Services*******The gun was not loaded (I don't even know how to load it.) And we don't let him sleep with it, it's stored away until he's old enough to use it. Which may be never, at least around our house. Maybe he can only use it at Grandpa's house so his windows and his cats can be shot at, not mine. We all know how little boys are with BB guns. Nothing is safe.