Walking!

(Behind a push walker!)

I think he got tired during the 2nd video - he needed a break or two. :)

Our Valentine

Carter loved his first Valentine's card and new push walker! :) (Although his favorite part of the morning was eating the envelope.) Happy Valentine's Day!

9 Months

9-Month Stats:

21 pounds (50th percentile)

29.5 inches long (95th percentile)

Size 6/9-month or 6/12-month clothing

Size 3 diapers

Little charmer, you are 9 months old! I can't believe it! Sweet one, this month has just been FUN with you! You are ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE! You discovered your hands and knees this year and your little army crawl turned into a full-fledged, all fours, FAST crawl! You can now get where you want to go...and in a hurry! You also mastered the art of pulling up this month, so your days are spent crawling from one place to another, standing just about anywhere you have a place to hold on. You will take a few uncertain "cruising" steps once you stand, but, at home at least, you won't cruise any more than that. We have begun the process of "baby-proofing" because you opened your first drawer last weekend. I have a feeling you are about to become VERY tiring!

So, on the schedule front, you are not all THAT different than last month, although you've stretched your awake time a little bit. Typically, you wake up around 7 in the morning and take your first nap around 10. Most days, that nap lasts until 11 or 11:30, and you then nap again mid-afternoon, usually between 2:30 and 3:30, and this nap is typically a quick one. That's really all you nap because you sleep 11-12 hours at night. This month, you have been a CHAMP in the sleep department. You have had no night wakings (knock on wood!) at all ever since those two top teeth came in about 3 weeks ago and typically sleep from 7:30pm until 7am without a single peep. Speaking of teeth, you now have four - two top and two bottom, and your little bucktoothed smile melts my heart!

On the food front, you have really taken off with the table food this month, and you actually ate your first school lunch (table food - no jar!) yesterday. You've been doing all table food at dinner for a week or two now, and we are adding lunch slowly. Some of your favorites are chicken, carrots, noodles, bananas, banana bread (you ate a WHOLE SLICE the other day at breakfast!), pancakes, rice, green beans, and Gerber cheese puffs. At school this month, you celebrated your classmate's first birthday and got your first piece of cake. According to your teachers, you loved it and even licked the icing off your fingers. That's my boy! (I'm an icing addict...I can take or leave the actual cake.) You still eat cereal or yogurt with fruit for breakfast, but that's only because you are still taking your Prevacid and it has to be stirred in. On the formula front, you have really cut back this month and typically only take in 20-25 ounces a day. (You used to be closer to 30.) Because of that and all your exercise, you have really leaned out!

You have also really taken off on your talking and sign language. You clearly do the sign for milk whenever you are thirsty and will say just about any consonant combined with "a" - ba, da, ma, wa, ga, etc. We clearly get "mama," "wawa," and "baba," so we are hoping for "dada" sometime soon. You also have started nodding/head banging and shaking your head, although you don't know what those mean yet. You can clap your hands, too, but won't do it on command.

Well, that's about it, I guess! You are a JOY and your daddy and I can't imagine our lives without you, handome! Love you SO much!

8 Months

Well, better late than never, right bud? You are 8 months old! 2/3 of a year! Sweet boy, this was another month of ups and downs. We'll get the downs out of the way first...this was another month where we battled a lot of sickness. You started this past month out with croup which then turned into a sinus infection, so you had to go back on antibiotics which was no fun. This also caused a little bit of a sleep regression which was tough on all of us, but fortunately we seemed to get that under control after a week or two. You still have a runny nose (4 weeks later...) but the doctor thinks that is all related to your teething.

On that note, you have a top tooth!!! The top right tooth officially popped through on January 2, 2012! Thank goodness - that was rough for a few days! I have a feeling the top left one isn't far behind because when I put Orajel on your little gums, you have ridges and bumps EVERYWHERE. The doctor thought he saw at least two more coming very soon, so we may not be out the woods teething-wise just yet.

So, let's talk schedule. You usually wake up between 7 and 7:30 and boy, you are hungry! You eat about 8 ounces of formula and then eat 7 ounce bottles after that at 11, 3, and bedtime. You eat solids three times a day - oatmeal and fruit in the morning, veggies and cheerios at lunch, and a meat/veggie combo and fruit (sometimes) at dinner. (You do NOT have a sweet tooth like your mommy and daddy and really don't like plain fruit other than pears.) Napwise, you typically take a short nap (30-45 minutes) around 9:30 and then take a long nap around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. After that, it's play, play, play until I pick you up at 4:30. You usually don't nap after 3ish unless we go for a car ride somewhere...those are your Kryptonite. You just can't stay awake, no matter how hard you try! We put you to bed around 7 and (usually!) you sleep until 7 the next morning. Unless you are sick or have teeth coming in, you are a ROCK STAR at sleeping and usually give us 11-12 hours. We LOVE you for that! :)

On the development front, you are killing it, little man! This month, you really took off with your little army crawl and we are starting to see signs that you will have a full-fledged, all fours crawl any day now! You do this crazy little downward dog move that cracks us up where you go from sitting to literally an inverted V on your hands and feet. Little gymnast?? :) You bounce on your knees, pat your hands, and flap your arms all the time and it cracks me up! You especially love to flap your arms and bounce when you are happy about something. You can pull up to standing at the coffee table now and we've seen you do it in my parents' crib, but you can't seem to figure it out in your home crib. (I'm okay with this!) You have also definitely started saying "mama" very clearly, but you sadly only say that when you're upset. You put absolutely EVERYTHING in your little mouth...including magazines, paper, dog toys (sick), and cords. You usually get upset when I have to take the paper away, but you rip off pieces with your teeth and try to swallow it. You actually choked on paper in a restaurant once so that is a big no-no now. Speaking of "no-no," you think the word no is hysterical and instantly smile when we say it. I think we are in trouble!!!

You are definitely slowing down on the weight gain front...we think you are right at 20 or 20.5 pounds now, and I'm expecting about 21 at your 9-month appointment next month. You definitely seem taller, but I have no idea how tall you are. You are still wearing some 6-9, and mostly 6-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers, so no changes there. We love you little man!

Playdate with the Ladwigs

So, my best friend Erica and I have a tradition of getting together the day after Christmas, and we certainly didn't let having babies this year interrupt it! The Ladwig family headed over to our house late afternoon where Madelyn (9 months) and Carter (almost 8 months) had a blast playing together before we headed out to dinner. The babies were so good, and this is SUCH a fun age to watch them! We had a blast and can't wait to see them again soon!

Carter's First Christmas

We celebrated Carter's first Christmas this year, and it was a blast! We started with our own family Christmas morning on Christmas Eve where we opened his stocking and the gifts Blake and I bought each other. (Pardon my PJ's!)

 We then went on to Uncle Chase and Aunt Sarah's for Christmas Eve lunch and gift exchange there. (I forgot my camera...) Carter got a basketball hoop from them, and some books, toys, and a t-shirt from the rest of the Ezell side of the family. From there, we went on to church where Cartman sported some seriously sweet duds. We got a few cute pics in front of our tree at home before we left.

After that, we headed on down to my parents' house where we ate a wonderful meal and spent Christmas Eve night. Carter LOVED hanging out with his cousin Pearson and sitting in front of the fire with his Doc.

He was even happy enough to take a good family pic! These NEVER happen!

After a good night's sleep, we were ready for Christmas morning. Carter (and his cousin Pearson) HIT THE JACKPOT! He mostly just wanted to chew on ribbon and wrapping paper, but he had a BLAST opening presents and playing with all his new toys!

 Checking out Gammy's goofy reindeer ears.

 Happy boy after his breakfast!

 Working on pulling up...he is SO close!

We wrapped up this ridiculous day with a trip to Blake's parents' house in Lakewood for Christmas lunch. Carter was not on his best behavior here (overstimulation, I'm guessing) so no cute pictures from that. We finally headed home about 4pm and by 6:30, Carter was doneski and sawing logs in bed where he caught a GLORIOUS 13 hours of sleep. What a wonderful weekend it was! We are so blessed!

7 Months (a few days late!)

How is it possible that I already have a SEVEN MONTH OLD?!?! Time is flying! Well, baby boy, this month was pretty good for us! We battled a nasty virus earlier this month that left you covered from head to toe in an ugly little rash, but you have thankfully been healthy and happy ever since.

You were dedicated to the Lord on November 12, and it was a wonderful evening here with all of your family. You did GREAT up on stage and sported a very handsome Polo shirt and little shoes. The crowd let out a unanimous "Awwww" as soon as they camera got to you up there. (Proud Mama moment!)

You also celebrated your very first Thanksgiving! We spent the day with all of your family down at Dede and Poppy's house and you ate pumpkin for the very first time. You loved it!

Speaking of eating, you are still taking three solid meals of food a day - cereal (oatmeal or rice) with half a jar of fruit for breakfast, a vegetable for lunch, and a meat/veggie combo at dinner. Your favorites are apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, and chicken, although you don't really reject anything. We tried a few pieces of "finger food" this month, but with your acid reflux most likely delaying the development of your esophagus, you aren't quite ready for Cheerios or Puffs yet. We'll try again in a few weeks.

You are a new baby thanks to Prevacid, and no longer fight your bottles. (YAY!) You drink four 7-8 ounce bottles a day, typically at 7, 11, 3, and bedtime. I don't think you've gained much weight this month despite all the food you've eaten. The last time we weighed you, you were about 19.5 pounds, up only about a half pound since the six-month mark.

You sleep somewhere between 10.5 and 12.5 hours a night, and it is a rarity that you wake up during the night anymore. (Praise Jesus!) You typically go down between 7 and 8 and wake up between 6:30 and 7:30, although on weekends we sometimes stretch both bedtime and wake time a little later. You have become a side sleeper this month and like your back to be pushed up against the bumper. Fine by me - whatever makes you happy and sleepy! :) Napwise, you are not nearly as consistent. At school, you typically nap for about an hour in the morning and 45 minutes or so in the afternoon. On weekends, we can usually get a good 2-hour nap on Saturdays which is nice. You've become so active and playful that getting to sleep can sometimes be a struggle, but you usually don't cry longer than 20 minutes or so before going to sleep.

You are becoming more and more active every day! You are ALMOST a crawler...right now you have a little army crawl/scoot that is just precious to watch. If I put an exciting toy like your octopus or the TV remote a foot or two away, you will scoot over to it, no problem. We discovered this weekend that on the hard kitchen floors you can really get around...you were spinning in circles and had a mad dash going at your friend Will Beddoe's house. It kind of scared me...I'm not sure I'm ready for a mobile baby just yet!

You still only have the two bottom teeth, but I am just convinced that you are about to pop some more any day now. It is getting easier and easier to get you to laugh at your dorky parents, and we try our darndest all the time! You LOVE to ride on our shoulders and being tickled on your tummy or under your arms. You also have to CONSTANTLY have something in your hands and mouth. If you don't have something to hold, you put your hands out in front of you very awkwardly like there's something wrong. You love rides in the car or stroller, "flirting" with people from your spot in the shopping cart, playing in your exersaucer, ripping apart your playmat, and anything that talks to you or plays music. All in all, baby boy, you are just FUN!

We are SO looking forward to spoiling you rotten as you celebrate your first Christmas in a few weeks! We love you little one!