Our Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

Ty's parents always like to help us with home projects when they come to visit and we did a lot of that with the carpet demolition.  Moving all the furniture out, ripping up carpet, painting trim, and then moving all of the furniture back.  We also made sure Carter had plenty of cuddle and play time with his grandparents.

Hanging out with grandpa.

While the installers worked on our new carpet, Leina and I took Carter to the aquarium.  Leina sat in the back of the car to play with Carter.  As we were leaving the house I made sure she had her seatbelt on before I started driving.  I didn't check when we left the aquarium and a few blocks later she realized she had forgotten to put it on.  She said she was too busy holding Carter's hand!

At the aquarium with grandma.  Carter wore his crab onesie especially for the aquarium.

It amazes me how Carter interacts differently at the aquarium each time we go.  He enjoyed it even more yesterday than he has before.  When he saw an animal he was really interested in he would reach out and touch the glass by the fish.  He even tried to talk to the fish with his high-pitched screeching voice.

Good thing there was glass between Carter and the Green Moray!

Talking to a school of fish.

This morning Carter was sitting on my lap and we were getting ready to read a book when his grandma came in and laid down on the floor by us.  He looked up, saw her, lunged off my lap and rolled toward her on the floor.  I swear if she had been a little farther back he would have army crawled to her.  He sure wanted his grandma.  It was very sweet to see!  We look forward to our next visit with his grandparents!

Grandma and Carter wore matching shirts to Ty's alma mater.

Today Was the Day!

We got our new carpet installed.  Last night Ty's parents came to visit and helped us move furniture, rip out our existing carpet, and paint all of our trim.  It was a late night, but we got it all done.  This morning the installers came and made short work of it.

Leina scraping up glue while Rocky and Ty worked on the floor.

Poor Carter struggled last night due to sleeping in his Pack n Play.  He's now over the weight limit for the insert which turns it into a bassinet and he doesn't sleep very well all the way down in there.  Add in the noise of the shop vac going and it took over an hour for him to fall asleep.  Thankfully once he was asleep he was out!  We were up until 1am running the shop vac and he didn't wake up until 2am for his nighttime feeding.  Which is down to just one feeding per night right now, I hope it stays that way!

Our hallway stripped and ready for new carpet last night.

The installers arrived around 9:30am and quickly got to work.  Leina and I headed to the aquarium shortly after, returning around noon in time for Carter's afternoon nap, and they were almost finished.  They were gone by 1pm and I couldn't wait to kick off my flip flops and run my feet along our beautiful new carpet!  It felt just as amazing as I had expected and spent the rest of the night barefoot.  I'm even typing this post while sitting on the floor.

Harper modeling on our new carpet in the hallway, what a cute Vanna!

The most amazing thing about our carpet is being able to lay Carter on the floor to play.  Our old carpet was so disgusting and poorly installed, I never put Carter on the floor unless he was on a blanket and then worried he would roll off it.  Tonight I laid him right onto the carpet as we moved furniture back to where it belonged.  He loved the freedom to roll and scoot around on the floor and made his way from one side of his room to the other.  It was precious to see him reach down and run his fingers through the carpet.  I could tell he loved the way it felt on his hands.  Now I'm excited at the prospect of him crawling rather than worrying about him getting poked on an exposed tack strip or crawling through stains.

Carter enjoying his new found freedom to roam the floor!

What I Love About 7 Months

Normally at bedtime I lay Carter down and he stays down.  If he cries we rub his back or pat his bottom, but avoid getting him back up at all costs.  Tonight he wasn't having any of it and screamed through the bottom pats and back rubs so I relented and got him up. 

As we were rocking he kept sliding down along my body until he was positioned perfectly so I could feel his heart beating on my stomach.  Of course feeling Carter through my stomach got me all sappy and thinking back to when he lived in my tummy and how much he has grown since then.  Slowly but surely my little man is growing up.

Seven months doesn't seem like a long time, but it definitely is when it accounts for the first months of life.  My precious boy has changed so much and is showing off his personality with a hint of attitude thrown in for good measure.  My mind drifted as we rocked and his eyes opened and closed slower and slower until they eventually remained closed and he drifted off to sleep.  As I sat staring down at my sleeping baby I couldn't help but think of all the reasons I love this age more than the last.

He's looking so big!  Notice Sophie wearing her seat belt.  :o)

Here are the top 10 reasons I love 7 months:

1. The laughing, oh man the laughing!  His first baby giggles have turned into real belly laughs.  Sometimes he laughs so hard he has to stop to catch his breath.

2. The diapers.  When I think back to his newborn days I remember all the clothing changes that resulted from him peeing out the side, top, through his diapers.  All the times I ended up with pee on my clothes, my skin, Carter's face, the wall, the rocking chair, everywhere.  Our boy had range!  Now it's very rare for Carter to potty during a diaper change and most of his clothing changes are due to spilled food or drool.

3. How alert he is.  I love watching him push up on his arms and swivel his head to look around.  He's always taking things in.  On our runs he stares at the sky and watches everything around him.  When we take Harper with us, he watches her and laughs.

4. His grip.  I remember when he first started holding onto things, I was so excited.  Now he sees something he wants and reaches for and grabs it.  Sometimes it's a toy, other times it's my nose or hair, Harper's tail, his own toes, or a paper that fell on the floor.

5. The fuzz that covers his head.  That's right, fuzz.  He doesn't quite have hair yet.  It reminds me of the fuzz that covers a baby elephant when they are young.  The best part is that it has a mind of it's own and doesn't lay down like it's supposed to, it sticks up in random places.  The brush has nothing on his fuzzy hair strands.

6. Bathtime.  Every month he loves the water even more.  He's not interested in any of his bath toys yet, but LOVES to splash.  He doesn't just splash with his legs, he also splashes with his arms.  Sitting next to the tub I end up with water droplets covering my clothes.

7. Cuddles.  I am one happy momma that Carter is still a snuggler.  He was a snuggler at birth and hasn't let up since.  Some days he gets fussy because, gosh darn it, he just wants to be held.  Having his body resting on mine with my lips resting on top of his head kissing him over and over and smelling his sweet baby smell, now that's divine.

8. The babbling.  Carter has definitely found his voice and uses it.  He loves the sound of his voice screeching.  Now if I do it back to him, his mouth instantly turns to a frown and wobbles while tears slowly build in his eyes until I speak sweetly to him.  Momma's got it, the screeching is only a good sound when it's his voice.

9. Baby food.  I love making it.  I love feeding him.  I love watching his mouth open wide when the spoon comes into view.  I love discovering his taste buds and figuring out what his favorite and not so favorite foods are.

10. The curiosity.  Anything new he has to have it to touch and to put in his mouth.  When he's sitting up if I set something beside him he reaches for it and sometimes topples over in his haste to check out this new thing he sees.

These are some of the many reasons why this month is the best one we've had with Carter.  I'm sure next month there will be a whole new list as he grows and changes even more. 

Random Picture Wednesday

Playing with his pinwheel outside before it got too hot.

Last night Carter slept all the way until 5 am!!!!  I woke up earlier than I have been lately and I felt so much more awake all day.  It's amazing what a difference it makes to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time!  I'd love for nights like last night to be the norm.  Tonight he only ate 3 ounces of food at dinner, so we'll see how he sleeps.

Carter and I picked out a special book for Ty to read in honor of Carter's great grandpa.

On Saturday we are getting new carpet installed.  I'm so excited!  We wanted to get new carpet before Carter starts really crawling around.  Our current carpet wasn't installed correctly and there are tack strips exposed in many places which means our poor little guy would be getting poked.  Plus the carpet is really cheap, stains easily, and is very thin.  In preparation Ty has been working to finish up the bathroom so he won't get dust all over our new carpet and I've started painting the trim on our doorways.

I love the view of his fat roll on the back of his leg.

I can't get enough pictures of Carter and Harper together.  I swear I take multiple every single day!  They are so cute together and Carter is obsessed with Harper.  She gets more used to him every single day and just lays there as he pulls her fur and kicks her in the side.  It makes me love her even more!  Everywhere we go, she follows and lays as close to Carter as she can get.

Harper shaking with Carter.

I'm still trying to get a video of Carter babbling "dada" for Ty.  He's not very consistent with doing it, but I have gotten some videos of him babbling.  I'm sure it's not too exciting for most people, but I giggle every time I hear him talk.

 

How Much Can One Boy Eat?

I've never fed a baby before so I'm not really sure how much food Carter should be eating.  We've always just given him food as long as he seemed hungry up until we felt he'd had enough.  When he first started with solids he would eat less than an ounce.  Then he moved up to the whole 2 ounce container.  After a while he still seemed hungry after eating 2 ounces so we started feeding him 4 ounces.  Then we went up to 6 ounces, but he was still seeming hungry and still woke up twice at night to eat, oy vey!

More food!!!

Tonight I decided to keep feeding him as long as he opened his mouth for more food.  He ate 7.5 ounces and when we started on the next container, he spit the spoonful back out.  I'm interested to see how he sleeps tonight.  It would be nice to get back down to only one feeding at night before I go back to work. 

With the 100+ degree heat we will most likely have for the beginning of the school year, I won't be taking Carter on my runs after school.  Instead, I will have to get up at 5:30 am to get my run in before work.  Only one nighttime feeding would make that wake up time so much easier!  Obviously I'd love to sleep through the night, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

It takes a lot of food to sustain thighs like these!

Anyone have comparisons on how much your baby ate/eats?  I don't want to overfeed Carter, but figure if he keeps eating he must be hungry...  According to my parents, I was quite the eater as a baby!

Running 6 Months Postpartum

I've been running with Carter for a long time!  Nine months in utero and now 6 months in the running stroller.  It's been a challenge at times and slow going at others, but it has been worth every moment!  I'm a bit late getting this posted since Carter's 7 month birthday was yesterday, but everything here reflects the first 6 months of running postpartum.

Before one of Carter's last races as a fetus, The Mustache Dash, at 30 weeks gestation.

Where I'm at 6 months postpartum:

• Running 4-5 days a week, most weeks 5 days
• Long run built up to 8 miles
• Weekly mileage ranges from 10-15 miles (usually it's around 12)
• Pushing the stroller plus Carter's 17.5 pounds and the 18 pounds of the car seat
• Longest run with the stroller: 8 miles
• Pace is still 9:00-9:30 per mile, but is faster without the stroller (8:30-9:00 sans stroller)

I'm still using the car seat adapter and leaving Carter in his car seat for runs.  Partly because I'm worried he'll bobble around too much just strapped into the stroller and partly because I love him facing me so I can watch him as we run.  I'm holding off until he can sit up on his own to strap him directly into the stroller.  That way I'll know he can support himself when we encounter bumpy terrain.  I strap him directly into the stroller when we walk, but he goes in the car seat when we run.

Such a sweet, little running buddy!

Goals for this month:

• Build my mileage up to 30 miles per week (this past week I hit 25, so that shouldn't be too much of a stretch).
• Get my long run up to 12 miles (I ran 10 miles without the stroller this past weekend and that got me even more excited for a fall half-marathon).
• Start running weekly tempo runs at 8:00 pace, my goal half-marathon pace (We'll see how far I can run at that pace, I may need to adjust that goal)

The most important part of my plan is to get up to 12 miles by August so I can spend August-November maintaining my long run distance and then start working on my speed. 

A Letter to Carter at 7 Months

You wouldn't keep your hands off the chalkboard, hence the messy letters!  Oops, I just noticed I wrote 18 inches instead of 28 inches!

Really, has it been 7 months?!  It’s hard to believe we’re another month closer to your first birthday.  I’ve gotten to spend the entire month at home with you and it has been amazing.  You have such a sweet disposition and I just can’t get over what a good baby you are.  I keep joking with your daddy that if we got paid a dollar each time someone told us what a good baby you are, we could buy a new car!

I have finally stopped worrying that you will stop breathing.  I no longer check on you constantly in your sleep.  I don’t freak out while you are on your activity gym, if I leave the room for 2 seconds, when I turn my back, while I go to the bathroom.  I now have faith that you are healthy and strong enough to sustain yourself without my constant watch.  You still love to sleep on your stomach and I’ve stopped going in and rolling you onto your back once you’ve fallen asleep.  I will admit I still go into your room to watch for the fall of your chest as you breathe and sometimes put my finger down by your nose to check for air if I can’t see that, but you know that probably will never end…

Last month you had become really vocal and I was really excited, but you are even more so now.  You love to hear your own voice and especially love to screech.  Every once in a while you will babble “dadadadadadadada” but for some reason only do it for me, so your daddy hasn’t gotten to hear it yet.  I’ve tried to record you doing it to send to him, but then you switch over to a different sound.

I thought by now you’d have a tooth, but we are still waiting on the first one to pop through.  You’ve been drooling and slobbery for months along with chewing on everything in sight, but no pearly whites to show for it.  I keep thinking any day now, but who really knows!  

You are getting even better at sitting up and can sit up for longer periods of time.  You still eventually topple over, especially if you see something interesting you want to reach for.  You even army crawled a short distance this month.  Go figure, you were going after your buddy, Harper.

Smiling at Harper

Speaking of Harper, you love her dearly!  She never fails to get a belly laugh out of you.  It’s so cute because she will bring you one of her toys and drop it for you to play with.  I watch closely to make sure it doesn’t end up in your mouth, ick!  Just today you would grab an arm of her frog toy and she would get another leg and play tug of war really gently with you.  You laughed the whole time.  It sure was precious!  I know you are only going to love her more as you get older!

Playing tug of war with Harper.

You are still waking up twice at night.  Once around midnight-1am and another time between 3-5am.  Usually the second time is 3:30 or so.  I keep reading I should let you cry one of those times because you should be able to sleep longer than that, but you eat quite a bit both times you wake up.  Plus I can’t sleep when you’re awake anyway, so I might as well go in to help you out.  Hopefully soon you’ll start only getting up once and then eventually sleep through the night, but I don’t mind right now, especially since I don’t have to get up super early for work!  

It’s been so nice being home with you because your naps are back on schedule.  You don’t sleep as well at daycare so when you go you don’t nap as well.  You are back to waking up around 7am, being awake for an hour and then taking an hour nap.  When you wake up you are usually awake for 2 hours and then take a 2 hour nap.  Your next awake time is 2-3 hours and then you take a shorter nap 30-45 minutes and are awake until we start your bedtime routine at 7pm.  You are asleep by 8-8:15 most nights, but occasionally don’t fall asleep until 9pm (that normally means you are overtired, either we started your bedtime routine too late or you skipped your last nap).     

 

You love your blocks!

Eating is still one of your favorite things!  You are even more interested in daddy and my food.  You try to reach for our plates and will grab food off them if they are too close.  We’ve still been doing rice cereal, fruit, or veggie for lunch and a fruit or vegetable for dinner.  The only new foods you’ve tried this month are prunes and zucchini.  So you’ve had sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, green beans, apples, bananas, avocados, rice cereal, pears, peaches, prunes, and zucchini.  We still haven’t found anything you don’t like.  

You keep getting smarter and smarter!  You have figured out you can hook toys with your feet and lift your legs to bring your toy up to your hands.  You also reach for toys and knock them around to pull them toward you.  You like to scoot yourself around by pushing your feet against the ground and will roll around the floor to get to things.  Sometimes I worry you won’t crawl because you’ve found so many creative ways to get what you want without moving too much.

The ball your great grandma and grandpa got you is one of your favorite toys.  You love to reach for it, get your fingers in the holes, and swing it around.  It is one thing you will work pretty hard to get to.  Sophie is another favorite and you love all of your stuffed animals.  You also love reading and you grab onto the pages and turn them for me when we read.  When we are finished with a book you like to grab it and feel the cover.

Finally you have a decent amount of hair!  Some of it is darker brown and some of it is so blonde it looks white.  We joke that you have Uncle Paul hair because it is more like fuzz than hair and sticks straight up especially if it hasn’t been brushed.  There’s a picture of your Uncle Paul right after a bath where his hair is sticking straight up from his head and looks just like yours!

We went on our longest car ride this month to visit family in St. Louis.  You met lots of family members and they were all very impressed with you.  We also went to the zoo which was quite a bit of fun.  We were so busy!

We are transitioning away from using your car seat adapter with the stroller.  When we go on walks I put you straight into the stroller.  When we are running I worry you will bobble around too much, so I put you in your car seat.  I also love to watch you and it’s much harder to do when you are in the stroller.  I have to lift a flap to look at you, but then the sun shines down on your poor little head!  I’m going to miss you facing me on all my runs.  I love watching you as we go!

No doctor’s appointment this month so your daddy and I measured and weighed you.  You are up to 18 pounds, 8 ounces, whoa!  You are now 28 inches long.  I’m not sure how accurate those measurements are because that would mean you have gained a pound and three ounces and have only grown 3/10 of an inch.  Maybe you have just been chunking out this month!

You are now wearing size 3 diapers.  You are wearing 6 month and 9 month along with 6-9 month clothes.  Our favorite outfit this month was your striped romper.  The shorts of the romper are long enough to actually look like shorts and it just fits so well.  I love how collars look on you!  

Now you are reaching for things and people you want.  There were a few times when someone else was holding you and you reached for me.  You have also reached for daddy and for grammy.  You are constantly reaching for Harper.  You always want her!  It is such a great feeling when you want me and reach for me.  I look forward to you asking for me and giving me kisses.

Every month I think about how much more fun you are than the last month.  I get sad thinking of you getting older and changing, but then we reach the next milestone and I realize how much fun it is.  I don’t miss you being a baby at all because I love how you are now.  All laughing and smiling and reaching for your mommy!  I love you to the moon and back my chubby thighed snuggle bug!

Now on to daddy:

Sooooooo close to moving my little man! Right now you need some serious motivation (Harper) to move a few inches but you have done it! You are dominating your jumparoo every chance you get and loving it. You now spin around to play with the different toys. It’s great that it spins 360 degrees for that!

This month you have started reaching for people. Once while I was holding you, your mom walked by and you reached for her. The time you did it to me, I was changing you on the kitchen table (dumb, I know, we made a huge nasty mess) and you reached up and grabbed my collar bones. I leaned in a little farther and sure enough you put my hands around my neck! I loved that so much!! And then you kicked your diaper over smearing poo on your Grammy’s table cloth and while I was battling you for that diaper, you rolled over and peed on the table cloth! Good thing you and I are in good standing with her, she wasn’t mad at all!

I also want to mention how great you are in new surroundings, always so calm and easy going. Makes going places just you and I a lot easier! You are always so entertained with whatever you can get your hands on, always studying it. Makes me think you are going to be a tinker when you grow up, always working taking something apart and putting together!