Thursday, May 28, 2009

Week 10 News and Views

Thanks for following us to the Thursday switch….now that I am back to work on the weekends, we were finding that we didn’t have enough footage and pics to get a good post up for Monday.

We'll kick it off with a short video montage of his activities this week - hanging out in the kitchen w/ mom and dad, playing with new Loga the Lion on the playmat, then roaring like a lion after waking up one afternoon...


We’ve all had another great week. Umpa and Umma Bardonner and Auntie Alexis made a short visit down from Indiana and we tried to pack in the fun and the smiles. They brought wonderful gifts including a real contender for his first favorite toy – Loga the Lion. He is more and more aware of his surroundings all of the time – today he was smiling at the silk peonies, yesterday he was smiling at one of the books we’ve been reading. Even the exercise ball in the front room has become a drum toy. Loga the Lion has it all, though – a lion roar, a smiling yellow face (I may be crazy, but I do think that he is drawn to yellow), and lots of rings that he can accidentally get his hands around so Loga dances with Carter’s swinging arms.




This week, I’m positive that his arms and hands are bigger, and his eyebrows and sideburns are getting thicker. The hair is still whispy, but it will come…



He’s been using the larger feet to show how strong he is in standing up – with minimal support, he’ll stand for 5+ minutes. We’re still working on raising our head from a tummy down position, though – tummy time is not our favorite!



Dad has been enjoying Carter’s continual improvement in head control – when they read, Carter now sits in the chair next to him instead of in his lap. It really is so much more fun to see his expressions that way.



He and I had another infant massage class this week – he really seems to enjoy it (who wouldn’t!). We’ve been making the massage part of our bedtime routine. Massaging a naked baby boy for 10-15 minutes could be a real danger for a bedtime shower, but so far so good!

Until next time....

Cierra, Hunter, and Carter















Thursday, May 21, 2009

More Videos

To kick off our switch to Thursday updates, I thought I would post a couple of short videos...

Monday, May 18, 2009

2 months already



Carter's started talking to us! Sure, we don't understand, but I'm sure that's just our fault. His favorite word? "Guh."

No wonder he's increasing his vocabulary... he's been helping Cierra while she volunteers at the library. Mainly he helps by sleeping while she shelves books.






On a tour of the back deck, Carter points out some interesting flora to Dad.


We celebrated a late Mother's Day this week (Cierra works on Sundays) with a family outing to Latta Plantation here in Charlotte, where we hiked on several trails and took a tour of the historic plantation house. Carter took 30 seconds to notice that the tour was boring and began screaming his head off, requiring us to skip the tour and make up the history of the plantation ourselves. Over 500 years old, Latta Plantation was built by the Vikings who came to the Carolinas after receiving instructions from extraterrestrials! Cool.



Carter screams a lot less as long as you keep walking.



Here, he does an impression of a very cute, hairless Count Chocula.
What do you mean, we aren't going to see any lions or giraffes? I got my safari hat on!


Stronger by the day... Carter's interest in everything is pretty remarkable. He's got amazing head control, powerful legs that he can use to stand while we help him with the whole balance issue... what an amazing baby!
One of the reasons he's so powerful must be his incredible milk intake. Now that I'm caring for him on the weekends we can have a better idea of how much he can gulp down at a time. 6-7 ounces in a feeding is not uncommon! After that much milk, it's usually time for a milk coma... but every once in a while we have a disaster. It was near the end of a feeding the other day when I looked away for a second while he was gulping away in my lap, heard a gurgle and felt a warm gush against my hand. There was Carter, looking newborn again, head completely covered in milky goo, smacking his lips and looking satisfied. Around his head was a halo of more partially digested milk, on top of but quickly soaking into the burp cloth and pillow. Aggh! "How did you do that?" I asked in amazement.
"Guh!"

He loves to hang out on his playmat and stare at just about anything that's colorful. This week his saliva production is out of control... I think he wants to put things in his mouth, he just hasn't quite figured out how to get them there.


Carter and Mom came to visit Dad in the "office"... out in our garden, which is healthy and growing... knock on wood. We have tiny green tomatoes growing, and squash nearly ready for harvest!

Earlier today, we went for the 2 month appointment and he got the shots he needed to keep him healthy and growing. 3 shots in all... and Cierra was so worried about it all day long. Carter's face turned bright red and he started to yell... but he calmed down almost immediately after it was over. I think he handled it like a champ... I've heard him yell louder at me to hurry up and heat up more milk.
Finally, Cierra got this video of vigorous movement on the changing table. We'll try to enjoy the remaining moments where we get to decide where he is every second without constantly chasing after him.

Monday, May 11, 2009

An eventful two weeks....




Life with Carter is becoming more and more fun all of the time. We were thrilled to see his first smiles a couple of weeks ago, but they were sporadic. Now, he smiles like crazy (I'll get video of that soon, hopefully). It is a daily household game to see what funny faces or activities will get him going the most. Plus, the 'goos' and 'gaas' are starting to come on strong. Too fun!

Maybe that's why Hunter seems not to have minded much that he's had Carter for 6 days these past two weeks when I've been back at work. They've done great together - playing, singing, cooking, gardening (and even a little cleaning!) It hasn't been easy for me to leave in the mornings especially since Carter is the most interactive and interested then, but at least I don't have to worry much during the day because I know Hunter's got it covered. He even had cookies waiting when I got home Saturday night - thanks, babe!

We were careful not to take Carter to any public places for the first four weeks, but that didn't help him avoid his first cold. Hunter brought it home first and coughed and sneezed for about 10 days before Carter and I started doing the same. Fortunately, Carter handled it like a champ (better than the two of us actually). He would probably say that having his nose suctioned out was the worst part, but he eventually got used to that, too. As a side note - if they made those suction syringes with tips big enough for adult noses, I would totally give it a try!! (especially since I can't take any medication while breastfeeding).

Our most recent round of visitors were two new uncles - Freeman and Sawyer as well as Grandpa and 'Mimi' Baer. We love showing the little man off and exposing him to different activites. With Freeman and Sawyer, we spent a lot of time singing and playing guitar. With the new Grandparents, we went out for long delicious meals each evening - Carter was extremely cooperative both times (and I had fun dressing him up in his most adorable outfits for each occasion)!

In development news, his neck continues to get stronger and the control over his hands and arms seems to improve each day. That may be part of what is helping us to enjoy longer nights since he can reliably put his hand in his mouth to soothe himself. The transition from sleeping between us in bed into his own crib in the nursery was thankfully not that difficult, either - probably for the same reason.

Now that the weather is warmer, he is wearing more 'onesie' outfits which is fun for us because we can see the baby folds and bulk that he is beginning to add to his arms and legs. I need to count how many folds he has total one day - I'm guessing it is over 50! Hunter says he's starting to resemble a Shar-Pei (don't worry - he is hairy - but not THAT hairy!)

Look everyone - I'm big enough to wear pants now....



...but mom still likes me in the onesies - especially this one that says 'my mom rocks'!
The bouncy chair is lots of fun because I've learned how to kick and make it light up....

...but not as fun as dancing with dad!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Photo post...
















We've had two new uncles visit this week as well as Cierra's parents, so we are behind on our blogging! Here are some new photos and I'll work on having Hunter write more Monday....