Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Rain

My morning began at 6 when Carter woke up. I fed him and we were just hanging out watching the morning news when Rory woke up to get ready for work just before 7. About the same time it started to pour outside. I'd just heard on the weather that it was raining hard in Indiana and it was heading toward Louisville. At that point we didn't have anything yet. It didn't take long though until the storm hit with force! The only umbrella Rory could find was the bright pink one we used for wedding pictures. :) He decided he'd rather brave the rain so he left to catch the bus. A minute later he was back to search a little harder for an umbrella. Once again, no luck so he went back out. But back he came because he missed the bus. So I was going to give him a ride to work, but we barely made it out the door when we decided to try and wait out the storm a little. It was raining cats and dogs!

About 7:40 Rory figured he might as well just take the next bus to work so we decided to drive to the bus stop so he could wait in the car until the bus came. I told Rory I'd run out and get the car and bring it around closer to the door. I got to the edge of the sidewalk and realized Little Jerry's (our car) doors were almost under water. Luckily I was in shorts so I just took off my shoes and socks and waded through the water to the car. I jumped in and pulled around the  side of the building to pick up Rory. Thankfully the parking lot was not flooded there yet so Rory didn't soak his feet putting Carter in the car. He did get rained on though!

There was another lady waiting at the bus stop so we knew the bus would stop and Rory could run out. Come to find out, the lady left before the bus got there and it didn't stop. So we followed the bus a couple blocks until it stopped and Rory hopped out and finally got on the bus! Thankfully Little Jerry (our car) did not get stranded on the flooded streets or our flooded parking lot! I had to drive right down the middle of the street and we were still a few inches deep in parts!

Carter and I made it back safe to the house and I put him down for a nap and then decided to run out and get some pictures quick. The rain had finally decided to let up! 

I wish I'd gotten pictures of Little Jerry before I moved him, but I wasn't worrying about that at the time. Little Jerry used to be parked in that empty spot next to the gray car in the picture. You can tell it's under water and now up on the sidewalk!


You can see how far up the sidewalk the rain had come! When I had gone 20 minutes earlier to get the car it wasn't on the sidewalk yet.


Here you can see how high the water is! The water is up to the bumper of all these cars. It's dark so it's hard to see, but the water is up to the door of that blue car in the front! You can't even see the sidewalk because the water is up to the grass!


Here I am standing on the edge of the sidewalk. My feet are covered up to my ankles. If I stepped off into the parking lot the water would be up to the middle of my calves at least!



What a crazy morning! Rory's bus drove under a bridge and he said the water was so deep that water came in through the doors! Those bus doors are up pretty high! Luckily he said most cars were turning around because they would have floated away if they'd try to go through! I'm glad he made it safely to work! 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Where'd Carter Go??

Carter decided to give me my first little scare today! I put him on his play mat in the living room while I went in the bathroom to get his bath ready. I came out a few minutes later and Carter was gone! My heart dropped for about two seconds until I realized he had scooted around the footrest/bench thing we have in front of the couch. From my position I could only see the top of his head until I walked around the couch. What a crazy boy! Why didn't he tell me he was ready to move around? :)


Sorry the pictures are kind of bright! This is where I left Carter.



This is where I found him! He scooted all the way up there by himself! He was pretty proud of himself. :)



Yesterday I went in to check on Carter during his nap. He'd been talking to himself for a while so I thought I'd take a peek. This is how I found him! The flash was a little bright, but he's on his side! He's in his sleep sack and he was just happy as can been. He's laying on his side sucking on his hand. :) Pretty soon my boy will be rolling over!



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Carter's Laughing!!!

Carter's newest development is his laugh!! So far he will only laugh if he hears us laughing. It's so cute! Rory and I got a video of it today. This is only the third time I've heard him laugh! The more he laughs the more it makes me laugh. You can tell he's working so hard to laugh! It's hilarious and so cute! :) I love my baby boy!


Friday, May 18, 2012

4 Months!

4 Month Stats

Weight: 17 lbs 15 oz (85th percentile)
Length: 24.75 in (25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.88 in (85th percentile)


I can't believe Carter is already 4 months old! He's grown so much in only 4 short months! My little baby is getting big! At least I know he's not starving! :)

Carter and I had quite the traumatic experience today at the doctor. The older he gets the worse he is at the doctor. I have to document it so that I can tell Carter about it when he's older. :) We got off to a bad start when Carter had a little explosion up his back as soon as we checked in. So I took him to the bathroom to get him cleaned up. He wasn't too happy about not having any clothes on. No reason to put his extra onsie on when I would just have to take it off when they called him back. So I just wrapped him up in a blanket and they were ready for us when we walked out of the bathroom. 

First we took Carter to measure his weight and height. He barely held off crying while we weighed him and then started to cry when they measured his head circumference. Then he started screaming when I laid him back down to measure his length. We went back to our room and I tried to calm him down, but nothing would get him to stop crying. I tried to feed him and that just made him madder. Finally I set him in his car seat and walked around with him. For some reason that is the cure all. 

When he doctor came in about 5 minutes later Carter was asleep. He woke up when we started talking so I got him out and he started crying. The doctor and I talked while he continued to cry and then I put him back in his car seat. Once again he stopped crying as soon as I set him down. We finished talking and then I got Carter out so the doctor could examine him. Of course he didn't like that. :) Carter is very attached to his parents. He does not like anyone, but Mommy or Daddy to hold him or touch him. When the doctor was done Carter went back in his car seat to wait for his shots. He passed out pretty quick. 

When the lady came in to give Carter his immunizations we decided to try and give him his oral one while he slept. It worked really well! He drank almost all of it before he woke up. He finished it without crying too much. But then I had to get him out of his car seat to get the fun ones. One injection in each of his chubby thighs. The second one is the worst! That one has a sting to it. As soon as that was done I gave him a hug and put him back in his car seat. The screaming stopped and then he just had a sad little cry. I felt so bad for him! 

Carter went right back to sleep and then took a 2 hour nap when we got home. I finally woke him up to feed him so that he wouldn't be up to late at night. So far I don't think he's gotten a fever from the immunizations. He's been a happy camper tonight and he went right to sleep in his crib! For his 2 month shots he got a fever and wasn't too happy that night. Thank goodness tonight went better than that! 

New things for Carter this month:

He loves to "stand!"
Does not like to lean back in his bouncer anymore. The whole time he tries to sit up.
Is starting to laugh!
Loves to talk to Mommy and Daddy.
Does not like to be held by other people.
Is now taking all his naps in his crib!
Takes 3 naps and doesn't usually sleep longer than an hour anymore.
Goes to bed between 7 and 8pm.
Sleeps 10-12 hours straight at night. Occassionaly waking up once to eat.
Usually gets up at 7am. Carter loves the morning!
Gets really worked up when he's excited.
Is always smiling!
Loves it when we sing to him.
Loves his stuffed animal Cosmo.
Can grab his toys now!
Gets frustrated when he can't get his toys to his mouth.
Has started drooling.
Does not like loud noises.

We finally splurged on a toy for Carter. So far everything we have is either borrowed from friends, was given to us as a gift or we bought at garage sales. Since Carter no longer likes to be in his bouncer for very long and he's working on grabbing toys we decided he needed a play mat. Plus nothing was keeping his attention very long anymore. He loves his play mat! In the picture below he's staring at the lights on the beams above him. There are toys that hang down too that he loves to swat. There is one that has a rattle sound that really scared him the first time he swatted it. But now he hits it over and over again. :)


This is the face Carter makes when he's worked up and really going at something. He's eating his hand and Cosmo's paw. :)


Here he is talking to me. :)


This month Carter figured out that he LOVES to stand! For the first week after he discovered this he would break out into a huge grin every time we stood him up. He doesn't freak out quite as much now, but he still loves it. He likes to be up and looking around. 


Here's Carter in his car seat trying to lift up his head. He doesn't like to be laying back. He has to up looking around. :) I'm afraid he's going to get whiplash in the car! I rode next to him during one of our car rides and thankfully he usually just lifts his head up when we are stopped. He's such a funny boy!


These next two pictures are kind of blurry, but I still had to include them. Carter loves his Cosmo. We put it on his chest and he grabs it around the middle or by the ear or a paw and then eats his face. It's pretty funny to watch. 


When you push Cosmo's stomach he growls. When Carter was like a month old Rory wanted to see what he would do if it growled. Needless to say he did not like it. His lower lip puckered out and then he started the saddest cry. But it doesn't scare him anymore! Once when he grabbed him around the stomach he actually made it growl all by himself. He always smiles when it's done growling.


Carter isn't the biggest fan of tummy time. A lot of that is probably my fault because when he was younger I didn't make him do it very often. He's getting a lot better at it though. The problem is he doesn't like to put both arms back so he can push off. He likes to leave his left arm up, like it shows in the picture, so that he can suck on it. But we're working on it!


Daddy was a little tired after work. :) Carter just wanted to play! He's looking at Rory's leg. :)


I love this picture of Carter! His smile makes my whole day! Everything else is forgotten when I see his little face grinning at me. :)


Carter we love you more than anything! You have brought so much happiness into our home! We are so lucky to have such a happy baby! You smile all the time and always remind us of why we love you so much! We are so happy that Heavenly Father sent you to us. Hopefully we can be the parents you deserve! We love you to pieces! 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Milestone Reached!


Carter is now grabbing things! He's been working on this for a little while now, but a couple days ago he was actually holding his toy in his hands and chewing on it! Granted, it didn't last for too long, but he's doing so well! Usually he can't quite gets his toys to his mouth. He gets so frustrated! Usually it makes him mad because he can't turn the toy so it will fit in his mouth. And he doesn't like it as much if I helped it into his mouth. :) You can see in the picture above that he usually grabs the toy with one hand and then makes a fist with his other hand and uses it to try and shove it in his mouth. It's pretty funny to watch. One day he'll figure out how to work both hands at the same time to grab the toy. :)

Here is Carter playing with Cosmo!


This cougar stuffed animal growls when you squeeze it's stomach. When Carter was like a month old Rory wanted to see what Carter would do if he heard it. It made him cry! But now that he's a little older it makes him smile. :) He even squeezed it the other day and made it growl all by himself! 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Sleep

Carter used to be a great sleeper! But in the past couple weeks everything seemed to come unraveled. I had decided to stop swaddling Carter and I think that might have been why all the trouble began. Carter's naps began to get shorter and shorter and he started waking up more and more at night. Of course while Carter was having all of this trouble sleeping I was pretty sick. I don't know if I had the flu or some virus going around, but I was having enough trouble sleeping at night and getting up to take care of Carter did not help. After Carter woke up every two hours one night I decided something had to be done. Even when Carter was a newborn he didn't get up that much at night!

So we started a new sleep program and Carter is sleeping through the night again! The first night we started he woke up twice, but that was better than the night before! The second night Carter slept 13 and a half hours! We put him to bed at 7 and he didn't get up until 8:30 the next morning! It was wonderful! The next night Carter did wake up once, but I can handle that. And the next night he slept all night again. Thankfully he's sleeping well at night because he is struggling with his naps.

For a couple months this is how Carter took all of his naps...


It's kind of hard to tell, but he's in a swing. It worked great, except it didn't let Carter learn how to fall asleep on his own. He relied on the rocking of the swing to lull him to sleep. So starting last Friday I no longer put Carter in his swing for naps. Carter now takes all his naps in his crib. Granted, sometimes he just cries for an hour before I go in to give him a break before trying again in another half hour. But this morning Carter fell asleep for his first nap without making a peep! We're on day 5 of the program and I'm hoping he's starting to learn how to fall asleep on his own!

This is now how Carter takes all his naps!!


I took this picture this morning after he fell asleep with no crying! Hopefully he will continue to get better at taking his naps and that he won't spend an hour crying anymore! Now that it is no longer used for naps, Carter gets to play in his swing between naps!



Carter is such a good baby! Hopefully this sleep thing will sort itself out! I know in the long run it will save both of us a lot of grief! Plus he's such a happy baby when he gets his sleep!