Cheeky Lad

Om. Efusce mu. Yuh cut mu wf muh mawf fuh.


Ah. That's better. Dad saw how much I like eating dirt in the garden, and he brought some inside for me to eat! Just kidding, folks. That's black bean stuff. One of my favorite foods. I not only like to eat them, I like to pulp them up with my hands and wear them all over my face and hair!
Dad calls this my "hobo baby" look. Come here Dad, I want to give you a kiss.
Mom and Dad and I sure had fun on Wednesday. We dug up this old raised bed that was completely infested with weeds. Here I am helping dad put the frame back together. You can see the main garden in the background. After this, I went inside for milk and let dad plant the horseradish. He said it was too hot for me to handle. Ha! I will eat anything. Lemme at it. Anyway, I got to eat some dirt and watch dad panic and kill a snake, so it was an adventure.

Jazz Hands!

Hello there! It's your old pal Carter! Why don't you come a little closer and I will attempt to eat you.

Carter continues to try new foods! In the last day he's eaten a whole can of green beans and started in on a can of peas. Bananas and broccoli are his favorites, though. Now he wants to feed himself all of the finger foods, which makes feeding him a looooooong process. Bring a magazine.

We're also learning to walk! We got this little baby-walker thing (not sure what you call it) on loan from friends and Carter is already making great use of it! He was chasing me around the room today with it... although about halfway through he decided he could just crawl around behind it and push it just as easily.
Although this really makes him look like he's got it, he has yet to take a step without holding on to someone or thing. He's just super cautious, in fact, he looks like an astronaut on a spacewalk, always making sure that if he makes one small movement he's not just going to go flying.
Here he is again inside his toy bin. Life is just about exploring things from every angle.

Black Hole Son

Carter's appetite continues to increase at an exponential rate. Since he is growing but not that much, I have to assume he is getting denser. Must be taking after his daddy. I have warned him that if he compacts too much food in his belly, he may create a singularity (more popularly known as a black hole) and cause all sorts of problems. He already shares several characteristics with astronomy's big bads...

1. He freely roams the universe, leaving destruction in his wake.

2. Anything that comes close to his event horizon (i.e., mouth) is sucked in and never seen again. (Well, I wish.)

... That's all I've got so far.
Hello, I would like to eat the universe, please. Things we have eaten this week... yogurt, black beans, sausage, tuna, split pea soup, strawberries, bananas, melons, carrots, broccoli (his favorite), apples. Things we've attempted to eat... a walnut, a leaf, daddy's remote, a rock.
We've also learned to wave! Carter's putting his wave into practice all the time now. He waves at pictures of himself, at the mirror when he's in it. He's not just friendly towards himself though, he also likes to stand at the door and wave at mommy when she drives off to work. Plus, he waves at the pictures of tractors in his board book.
And he likes to clap. This is him clapping and squealing with glee. Not sure what it's about... we probably asked him if he wanted to go outside. He loves crawling around in the grass and picking apart plants. We're still working on the "look but don't eat" philosophy of outdoor exploration.

Sadly, this week has also been a bit tough because we're all sick AGAIN. So tired of this cycle! Carter got it last Saturday or Sunday and Cierra and I have both been suffering most of the week. So far the increase in "sick time" has been the hardest part of being a parent. And still worth it, but I do hate being sick. And Cierra will be the first to tell you that I'm a complete baby about it.

We'll leave you this week with some video. First, Carter and I show off our secret handshake. It's basically a slow-mo forehead bump. Plus, you get to see him enjoying some water at breakfast.


Here's one from a few days ago. Somehow he got in his own toy bin. Check out his waving skillz!

Staying Busy Outdoors....

Well, it's been a busy week here at the Tabony Farm. Grandparents Tabony came for a quick 2-day visit and I put Grandpa (and his truck) to work helping me around the house. We hauled three loads of hardwood mulch over from the county yard waste processing facility. We also hung blinds, rehung a door, built sawhorses, and made a good start on fixing our riding lawn mower. Meanwhile, Grandma Tabony got to watch Carter, and she proved herself to be... the Baby Whisperer. Seriously, after 2 days, Carter was telling me, "No! If they are leaving, I want to go with Grandma!"
Carter continues to want to spend most of his time outside. In fact, if you want to listen to a tantrum, just pick him up and start to head outside, but then remember something inside you need. As you carry him away from the door, the outrage will be very apparent.

So to appease the little man we went to the Charlotte Easter Egg Hunt. Boy was that crazy! Carter was too small to participate. And it really wasn't a hunt anyway, more like a massacre. They had so many kids there's no hope of hiding enough eggs, so instead they corralled the kids by age, then just dumped a million eggs out on a soccer field and let the kids run/trample each other in their enthusiasm.

So the good news is, I finished fixing the lawn mower and mowed for the first time this year. Now we no longer have to worry about losing Carter in the front yard. But the grass clippings are sticky...

So that means it's bath time when we get inside! More next week... see you then!

Outdoor Explorer

Carter's been stuck inside all winter... and after his trip to Disney a couple of weeks ago, it was even harder to keep him out of the great outdoors. Thankfully, the cool weather has vacated the area and we have a succession of warm, wonderful days lined up for as far as the forecast can see. Here's a little taste of the fun we've been having outside...

Daddy, I thought you said sunglasses would make me look cool.

Enough!

Carter loves crawling around in the grass. He'll pluck out flowers and has gotten very good at picking plants apart. Looks like this year I may have trouble letting him play in the garden!

Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting wabbits.

She loves me. She loves me. She loves me. She loves me... yeah, okay I knew it. Mommy DOES love me.

There's a playground right down the street and Carter found the swing exhilarating. I took a bunch of really bad pictures and then Cierra grabbed the camera and I pushed Carter and we got this great shot.

So if I can't swallow this bite, does that mean I'm full?

Carter has been eating SO MUCH lately. Seriously, I can spend nearly 2 hours a day feeding him. We're working on new foods all the time, and it takes him so long to chew and swallow. But it takes a lot of energy to grow... plus he is learning how to walk and is so close to stepping away from the objects that he's standing up next to. It hasn't happened yet... but watch this space.