Working it

Carter and I in the middle of a not-so-busy market day on Tuesday of last week. Cierra took some time off of work and finally came to see us! Carter remained in good spirits even though we didn't have many customers to wave and smile at. On top of that, I forgot all our baby food so we had to run home in the middle of the market to get it!
Here Carter is practicing for his Chippendales audition. Work that baby body!

Speaking of working out, Carter is getting so much stronger! His arm strength is improving daily... toys that he had to strain to operate a week ago are now involving a lot less effort. And he loves walking with our help. He just grasps one finger in each hand and cruises around the house. For us, it's kind of like operating a ouija board... you just keep your hand steady and let him guide you to the destination.
Carter and Momma, after a long day of working it. Okay, so I don't remember when I took this, but it's pretty safe to say that Cierra had just gotten off work. That's always true.

Carter after a few too many at our local western-themed bar. They really need to start checking IDs. No, actually he's trying on my new hat, a wide-brimmed garden hat Cierra got me for our 7th anniversary. It's crazy that we've been married so long! It sure doesn't feel like it. And yet I can hardly remember life without her. Shoot, I can barely remember life before Carter. Or breakfast. Shoot, did I skip breakfast again?

Baby break! I was grilling on the back porch and left the door ajar. Carter thought he was going to get away for sure this time. Silly baby! You can't run away with your pj's on!

Slackjawed Wonder

Sometime in the distant past, I started opening my mouth to cue Carter to open his when I wanted to deliver a spoonful of mush to him. Now he no longer needs the cue, but I'm finding this a difficult habit to break. Thank goodness I have a wife to take embarassing pictures of me and then gently post them on the internet.

Ta-da! Carter is maturing so quickly, hardly a day goes by without some new skill. Today was the first time I saw him try to combine two hand signals, the symbol for "more" and the one for "eating"

Is this how Grandpa Baer likes to change the lightbulbs?

Aww, this is one great picture. He loves his grandpa! Carter and Cierra spent last weekend in Indiana while I stayed behind and tended the garden and attended my first farmer's market of the year. So, unlike most weeks, I wasn't there for any of the following...

Hi, Dad! We're having lots of fun up here. Too bad you had to go sell plants instead. No, I totally understand. Selling lettuce must be such a thrill.

I also love my other Grandpa, even if I look a bit surprised here. No more pictures please!

This is my Uncle Krin. Here he is matriculating and holding a baby at the same time. What a multi-tasker! I think matriculating is a big fancy word for graduating. But I guess after four more years of school people want to pretend they learned a lot of good stuff at college, thus the "matriculation".

Here I am hanging with my crew- Aunt Kaelie and Uncle Krin. Someday I'm going to grow up to be eight feet tall like Uncle Krin. Then I will legally change my name to Bigfoot.

Did somebody say YOGURT? Now I am EXCITED! I can HARDLY contain MYSELF!

Anyway, the trip is over and Carter and Cierra are back home now, and we're getting back into the swing of things. As usual, Cierra's working most days, and Carter and I spend two days a week at the farmer's market peddling whatever looks good in the garden. It's slow going in our garden until tomatoes start to ripen, and we've just started to get the little green tomatoes on our plants.

It's a good thing Carter likes to come outside with me. Most days we have at least one garden session where he hangs out in his stroller and watches me work.

What a happy little guy.

That's about it... we'll see you next week!

Weekly Blur-b

Well folks, here we are on Thursday night once again. This week has flown by in a blur... Cierra's been working every single day and the days have been a blur of feeding Carter, playing on the floor with Carter, and trying to take care of the garden whenever Carter falls asleep.

One thing we can definitely tell you happened this week was just yesterday. We went over to Carter's friend Adelaide's house for our quarterly co-op meeting. That's Carter playing with Adelaide's toy guitar above. Carter wasn't singing along, but he did know how to groove to the beat!
Carter continues to be fascinated with putting things in other things and taking them out. Here he is playing with his monkey barrel.

Endless fun. I wish entertaining me was this easy.

Here we are at bathtime. I like to see what crazy hairstyles I can give him while shampooing. This is mohawk Carter. How do you like? Cierra keeps saying I should try a mohawk. I think she's hit upon one of the few ways I could look more ridiculous.

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!