6 months Week 5

I just received a chiding phone call from Nana Kuntz, complaining about the lack of current pictures . . . so here's the update!

After 4-5 days of fussy baby, we're back to happy baby. Only Carson is now a very strong baby who knows what he wants and makes every effort possible to make sure he gets it. Watch out if there is a toy he has to have, he'll kick, stretch, and pull his way there! He also discovered that he has knees and that surprise, suprise . . . they BEND!! A few days ago he impressed us by holding the "crawling" position for almost 30 seconds. Sounds like a short time but when you're a baby, that's forever! Not to be confused with actual crawling . . . he just posed on his hands and knees.

Tonight during dinner we watched in awe as he leaned over to get a toy and pushed himself right into the crawl position! It was unbelievable! He is also starting to "cruise" along the couch, a step or two at a time. If he holds onto the coffee table, his hands slip but if we hold his hands in place, he is able to stand right up! It's pretty scary and exciting at the same time! He loves walking everywhere holding our hands.

We are very curious to see what he'll be able to do by the time we leave for Hawaii on March 2nd! Could be an interesting trip!

Carson is eating like crazy! A jar for breakfast, 2 jars for lunch, and 2 jars and oatmeal for dinner! The other moms in the playgroup didn't seem to believe me until I had to feed Carson lunch during the last playgroup. They couldn't get over how quickly he sucked it all down. Of course, this just means a LOT more poopy diapers! Stinky poopy diapers!

Do we go to the same hair stylist Grandpa Levy?

Boy this guy makes me laugh!

I'm not sure this was the best decision. Although I didn't really plan on falling into my toy bin!Somebody help me please!

These are some of my friends from playgroup. My best friend Luka is wearing the brown sweater. My girlfriend Madison is wearing the pink pants. My favorite brunette Abbi is doing some tummy time. Don't tell my other girlfriend Eloise, she might be jealous!

Speaking of Eloise, she sent me the sweetest Valentine card!It was so sweet that I ate it!

6 months Week 4

Our perfect little baby is turning into a little monster! He no longer will sit quietly and play with his toys, nor will he lay passively while we change his diaper! Everything is a struggle and challenge these days! Last night we ended up with poo from his fingertips to his toes as he wrestled both of us! It was so bad we just carried him straight to the bathtub! Today he decided it was way more fun to blow food on me than to swallow it politely. We both had to change our shirts after lunch.

On a positive note, he is still a terrific car rider and is still sleeping through the night. I'm pretty sure he's finally teething since we can't rip the binkie out of his mouth. He seems to be experiencing some stranger anxiety as he is starting to cry if I leave him alone. Although it doesn't happen every time.

Carson still prefers the vertical to the horizontal. He loves standing up any which way he can. He already has the hang of walking holding on to our hands. We're pretty convinced he is going to talk before he crawls. As long as neither occurs before our upcoming Hawaiian vacation! Here are a few cute pictures from the week!

You can't keep me here!

I swear I'm going to escape! One day later and I am waaay smarter than this silly bouncy chair!
Uh oh! Mommy caught me!

I love standing in my crib! Mommy still helps me up but then I don't let go!

6 Months -Week 3

No pictures this week but we did attend our first "Music Together" class. Poor Carson, the only songs he's ever heard are 1. "A, B, C, D . . ." 2. If You're Happy and You Know It (Which at night becomes If you're sleepy and you know it), and 3. Pat-A-Cake. And none of those songs are on tone or pitch. I'm suprised he doesn't actually cry when I sing!

Even though I was a teacher and a daycamp instructor, I have trouble "being silly" so when the super sweet, tiny little earth grandmamma instructor began chanting and waving handkerchiefs around, I really had to step outside my comfort zone. Carson was absolutely facinated by her and couldn't take his eyes off her. Along with 7 other babies, we shook eggs filled with rice, we chanted, we waved handkerchiefs, we danced (which required the grapevine! Haven't done that since 5th grade PE Class!), and in general had a good time.

Carson has always hated lying on his back so for several of the songs he voiced his displeasure! A little embarrassing but everyone laughed.

Speaking of voicing displeasure, Carson has really discovered his "likes and dislikes" this week. He is very, very vocal about what he wants. In addition, he squirms like crazy if he isn't happy. He shot off the end of the changing table and scared the heck out of me! Fortunately I caught him just in time. His mobile had to be raised several notches after I discovered an innocent donkey clenched in Carson's victorious little fist. The music was distorted and the motor for the wheel was straining against his strength!

The "unswaddling" of our son has been TERRIFIC!! He has slept through the night every night since we stopped swaddling him last Friday. WE are in 7th heaven!!

The new "big boy" car seat has its pros and cons! Carson does enjoy the room to move around and my back doesn't hurt nearly as much However, I did have to sit in the Fred Meyer parking lot for 45 minutes waiting for Carson to wake up since I just pull out the car seat anymore.

Our gym doesn't take babies until they're 6 months old so we started going this week. Carson seems to like watching the other kids play and the daycare ladies really light up when we show up. Now I'm trying to find daycare for him 1-2 days a week so I can get some work done. However, daycare is REALLY expensive! Kindercare has a spot for him but I'm not as excited as I'd hoped I'd be. We'll see how it goes.

Week 28- Wild Night Out

On Friday at Carson's 6 month check up, he weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds and measured 29 inches long! That made it officially time to install his new "big boy" carseat. I only had two questions for the doctor.

1. My son is eating us out of house and home! Can he overeat? - The answer is no, babies can eat all they want, let him have more . . . so I stopped at Costco on the way home for the industrial size box of baby food!

2. My son is the only 6 month old on the block still being swaddled at night to sleep! What do we do? - Our doctor looked amused and said, "There is no medical reason why he shouldn't be swaddled buuuuuut he really shouldn't be swaddled." So being the tough love parent that I am (did I mention that we shopped at JoAnn Fabric just last weekend for material to make a swaddle blanket large enough to fit our mammoth son), that very night I cut him off from his swaddle cold turkey!

Mirculously, I woke up feeling very refreshed the next morning. Hmm, what a strange feeling, how, why? Oh my gosh! Carson slept the entire night through! Sure enough he was a cozy little bug in his crib!

The next night I was cautiously optimistic but had lingering doubts. Probably just a fluke because Carson has slept through the night before but rarely two nights in a row! So I kissed him goodnight, layered his two blankies on him and shut the door. Once again, I woke up quite suddenly in the morning realizing that I hadn't left my bed since 10 pm! Carson's room was quite silent so I finally went in to check on him.

What I saw made me laugh so hard that I woke him up! I left Carson in the middle of his crib. What I found was a baby who looked like he'd fallen into bed after a wild post Golden Globes party! Completely squished up in the opposite direction at the far end of the crib. Head stuck in the corner of the crib (thank God I didn't listen to the nurse who said to take out the bumpers or he might have experienced permanent skull grill marks) One sock was missing, found later underneath his ear. Blankets tossed aside, and strangely enough, his pajamas were half unzipped! This was somewhat reminiscent of the aftermath of last year's Christmas party! See for yourself!

Week 28- Standing Solo in Cowboy Boots

Carson was quite the "Ladies Man" when he hosted Mom's Group today. Four adorable little 6 month old girls surrounded him with glee. At first he was bashful but quickly began showing off by jumping in place and twirling his binkie before expertly placing it in his mouth. Then sweet little Maggie growled at him, literally growled, and he lost a little confidence. At that point Carson demonstrated his ability to spew carrots all over his cable-knit sweater, as well as his jeans, and the carpet. He completely lost all confidence when precious Maddi burped AND farted louder than he ever has! He also fell completely in love with her!

Carson's standing skills are growing by the day! He is holding on to tables, couches, anything at knee height and loving the freedom. I captured a few pictures of him in his too cool cowboy boots from his favorite great aunt Pam.

If you ever volunteer to babysit, this is the face you do NOT want to see! No, he is not deep in thought, pondering the elements of life. Nor is he studying the wall to determine the exact color of paint. When his eyes lock into place and his mouth turns up in one corner, he is hard at work, physical work. This is Carson's infamous "poo" face.

Week 28- Snow Day!

Carson did not enjoy the snow as much as we thought he might! He was interested until his hands froze and then it was a downward spiral from there!

Week 27- Goofy Guy- Bathtime & Eating

Sorry about all the food pics but mealtimes are our daily entertainment! Carson has recovered from his initial hatred of peas and now loves them. In fact, he eats whatever you put in his mouth! He's experienced green beans, bananas, peaches, prunes, carrots, peas, barley cereal, and oatmeal cereal. He begged for a sip of my Tai soup yesterday but wasn't impressed by all the seasoning.

Here is a very entertaining round with bananas. Not sure why he's making the horrible faces, other than we laugh hysterically every time so he may be learning "humor" early on.

Are you sure these are bananas? No more!!
Are we done yet?
Carson loves eating everything, regardless of the item's original purpose! During bathtime, he discovered that his rubber duckies make great bathtime binkies!

What do you mean this isn't a binkie? It sure feels like one!

Too bad I can only fit one in at a time!

Video Clip from Ages Ago!

I've been trying to post video clips but for some reason no one could view them . . . the friend that turned me on to blogspot just emailed me and gave me the secret to "unlocking" my videos! I've made them "public" now and they should work for everyone. Please let me know! In the meantime, here is some video of Carson WAY BACK WHEN he was a little tyke! I'm reposting it now that I know how even though it's out of order (which is killing my anal retentive personality!)!

Week 26- Graduation from Babies & New Mom's Group!

We discovered an invaluable resource when Carson was three months old, a hospital sponsored, nurse moderated, New Mom's Support Group. It would have been great to know about it from the beginning but we enjoyed the weekly meetings from three months on until we hit the six month old graduation this week. Carson made lots of little friends and Mommy learned a lot! Here are his graduation photos!

Week 26- Carson LOVES Carrots & HATES Peas!!

This week was hilariously fun trying out new food with Carson! We started with carrots on Tuesday and he didn't even hesitate! Just sucked them down like candy! He'd eat an entire jar in one sitting!

First bite . . . mystified but not concerned!

Second bite all smiles!Now he's just stuffed!Peas on Saturday night did not go as well. Fortunately we had the camera ready! Poor guy absolutely hated every minute of it! He kept opening his mouth for more but was finally reducing to gagging!
Please stop!
I really don't like this green stuff!
I think I'm going to throw up!
I'm throwing up!