5 Months

Well, we're about a week and a half away from Carter's 6 month mark and I am just now getting around to his 5 month post. Oops!

This picture is from his 5 month birthday though. :)
No well baby check for 5 months, so no height and weight stats. We did see the dr. though. We were worried about food allergies, since his cheeks were red and had a raised rash, but turns out he just has eczema.

Milestones

• Sat on your own, without assistance from us (used your arms to support yourself), right before Halloween
• You're keeping your hands open, instead of clinched in tight little fists. 
• You celebrated your first Halloween! You dressed up as a puppy and helped answer the door for the two trick or treaters we had. 
• You ate your first purees. We tried avocado first, but you weren't a fan. I think that's because I didn't get it thin enough and you weren't so sure what to do. We bought some pouches of apples and bananas and tried again, and you loved it! You've had avocado, apples, bananas, mango, and carrots, and have loved them all, except for the avo, which we will try again soon.

And an outtake. :) hahahahaha!

Happy Halloween!!

Chappy's first Halloween! He had 3 costumes-4 if you count his skeleton jammies- but we didn't go trick or treating. :) He helped us pass out candy to the 3 trick or treaters we had and posed for lots of pictures dressed in his costumes.

4 Months

Happy 4 months Chappy buddy!!

Stats
Height: 27.5" (off the charts 100th percentile)
You are SO tall and about to outgrow your infant car seat.

Weight: 14 pounds 8 ounces (33rd percentile).
You've dropped in percentiles a bit, but the dr. isn't concerned. The dr. did give us the ok to start letting you try baby cereals and purees. We're not planning on feeding rice cereal because of concerns about the link to developing diabetes later in life and the fact that it isn't very nutritious, but we are excited to let you try vegetables! You have been very interested in everything we eat for about the last month. You often sit in our laps while we eat and you closely monitor every bite of food and every sip of beverage we take. We've even let you have a few sips of water out of our glasses every now and then and you absolutely love it!

You're SO aware of the world around you. When we make you a bottle, you know it is time to be fed and get excited...or angry if we take too long. You love looking at yourself in the mirror, smiling, laughing, and cooing. You especially love sitting with your feet in the sink, watching yourself in the mirror, as you kick and splash water all over the bathroom.

3 months

I forgot to do a 3 month entry and today Chappy is 4 months!! Oops! No dr. appt at 3 months, so no stats, but lots of pictures. :)

Football season started in September and it's one of the very few things we let you watch on TV. Chewing on your toy football, watching the Niners with Daddy, has quickly become a favorite Sunday activity.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Chappy is a Niners fan, but not a huge fan of taking a lot of pictures. :) I showed this picture to my homeroom students and they thought it was hilarious. Now, they ask to see pictures every week. :)

You are SO good at holding your head up now! 

You started sleeping through the night right around the time you turned 3 months, sometimes sleeping for 10 hours. We were definitely enjoying the sleep-both yours and ours. :)

2 months old

Stats
Height: 25" (100th percentile)
Weight: 11 pounds 13.7 ounces (40th percentile)

Nicknames
Chappy, Happy Chappy, Chappers, Sweet Pea, Puppy, Buddy

Milestones
You had your first round of vaccinations at your 2 month appointment. You received an oral medicine and a shot in each leg. You screamed bloody murder during the shots, but as soon as the nurse was done, we picked you up and cuddled you. You were calm before we even walked out of the office. Such a champ! Mommy may have cried a little bit, too...

You are SO aware of the world around you. You love cooing, giggling and smiling at the ceiling fan, mommy and daddy. You hold eye contact with us and "talk".

You love hanging out on your kick and play piano. You will stare into the mirror, smiling and giggling at your reflection. You kick the keys so hard we sometimes think you are going to break the piano!

Your neck is getting so strong. You can lift it up off the ground when you do tummy time. Sometimes you turn your head and face the other side, though that is still a lot of work for you. You like when we hold you on our chests where you look around and see everything. Your head isn't as wobbly when we hold you like this as it used to be.

You've also discovered your hands and are constantly licking and chewing on them, as well as your arms. You seem close to discovering that you can suck your thumb too, but your little hands are pretty much always balled up in fists (your "fists of fury"), so not quite. You also like to lick us (our shirts, arms, hands, etc) and suck on our fingers.

We took you in the swimming pool two days after your two month birthday (we asked the dr. for permission at your 2 month appointment!). We were nervous how you would react because it was kind of cool outside and the pool water was a bit chilly-you love baths but that is always warm water. We didn't need to worry at all-you were very calm the entire time you were in the pool and even kicked your legs and paddled your arms a little bit! We can't wait to take you in again, especially because you look so cute in your swim diaper.

You also visited the park for the first time three days after turning two months old. We went to Red Hill Park, on the old side of Rancho Cucamonga, and picnicked on a blanket under a tree. You absolute love being outside (whenever you are fussy, we take you outside and you usually calm down right away) and enjoyed this outing. You napped on the quilt, laid on your back and giggled, and went for a walk around the lake.

Right after your 1 month birthday we moved your baths from the kitchen sink to the giant soaker tub in our bathroom. Mommy gets in the bath tub with you, while Daddy sits outside the tub and washes you. You LOVE bathtime and get so relaxed-you've even fallen asleep a few times! You've also pooped in the tub three times! :/ Bathtime ends quick those nights and we have to jump in the shower for a quick rinse off.

When you were about a month and a half old, we took you to La Jolla for your first visit to the beach. We stopped for spicy shrimp tacos at Oscar's Mexican Seafood first and you hung out in the Ergo-knockoff baby carrier. You were okay with it (though you prefer being able to look around) until you got hungry too. After everyone was fed, we walked down the street and then down a GIANT hill to a surfing beach. You alternated between crying and sleeping, so we decided not to dip your feet in the water like we had planned. I guess we'll have to take another trip to the beach again soon!

Your eyes have changed a bit from dark charcoal grey-blue to more of an indigo/dark blue, though there are hints of grey. We are surprised that your eyes are still blue, but we hope that they stay blue! :)

Carter: 1 Month

  

Left: 5 days old              Right: 1 month old

Birth stats
weight: 7 pounds, 7 ounces
length: 21"

3 week stats
weight: 8 pounds, 13 ounces
length: 22"

Milestones

• Came home from the hospital when you were two days old.
• Went to Target for the first (and second) time when you were about a week old. You also went shopping at Costco at several times, starting when you were about a week old.
• Went to your first movie at three weeks old and saw Superman: Man of Steel. You slept through the entire movie and didn't fuss at all. Mommy and daddy were happy for the break away from the house and pleased that you did so well.
• We also took you to Ontario Mills and you were so amazed at all of the different things to look at. Mommy carried you and you kept turing your head to look at all of the stores and people. This was your third trip to Ontario Mills, but the first time you were awake and aware of the world around you.
• You went to San Diego (Carlsbad and Fallbrook) three times at 4 weeks old. We went shopping at the Carslbad Outlet Mall and had dinner at Pelly's fish market. We went to Aunt Diane's viewing and funeral in Fallbrook, and spent time with our Turley family.

At one month, you feel like you weigh about 10 pounds now! You're eating a ton...it's non-stop feeding over here some days. You also love to "shark" when you are hungry. You will open your mouth wide and shake your head side to side at whatever you want to eat (your hands, bottle, mommy, pacifier, the burp cloth) and then lunge forward at it. It cracks us up every time you shark, but we haven't bee able to record you doing it yet.

You've been a talkative baby since day one, though you don't cry much. Lots of growling, zombie noises (especially while you're eating...or feeding, as your daddy calls it), sighs, and other noises. At about 4 weeks old you started occasionally cooing and giggling, and once in awhile you like to yell loudly. You'll give one loud yell, just to test out your voice. :)

You started smiling around 2 weeks and are now showing us your smile every day. We both love to see you smile and try our best to make you smile-we stroke your cheeks, talk to you in silly voices, blow rasberries on your tummy, and tickle you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and much of the time you smile when we aren't trying to make it happen. :) You have a wide range of other facial expressions, including pursing your lips and giving us the side eye, serious straight mouth face, and wide eyes and open mouthed amazement. You also like to stick out your bottom lip, in a little pouty expression.

After you are done eating, or when you need a break, you curl up your legs and feet, throw your head back, wrinkle up your forehead, and streeeeeeeeeeeeetch your neck, arms and back. (This is pretty similar to how mommy stretches after waking up.) :) If you are nursing, you will stretch like this, then throw your head back down on mommy and go to sleep.

You also just started seeming to be more aware of the world around you. You love to look around, especially if we hold you up and give you a "tour" of the house. Just after you turned 4 weeks old, you seemed to make the connection that mommy's voice was coming from her. I was talking to you and you whipped your head around and stared at me in wonderment, surprised to realize that I was the one creating the noise you heard. You stared and then gave me a huge smile.

We started giving you baths in the kitchen sink during your 2nd week. We fill the sink with warm water up to your neck and you absolutely love it. You are so calm and let us scrub you down without a single tear. In fact, you love to try and float on your back and relax. You also push your feet off the edge, like a backstroke start! Since you are so tall, we have to keep one hand on top of your head when you float, so you don't hit your head on the edge. We can't wait to take you in the pool since you love the water so much! Since you're too young to wear sunscreen and the chlorine is so harsh on your skin, we probably won't take you swimming until next summer. :(

Overall, you are a calm, mellow baby, though you do like to party at night with daddy. He feeds you around midnight and 2 am, and sometimes you don't want to go back to sleep afterwards. You  have lots of very soft, fine brown hair, which was really dark at birth, but has lightened up quite a bit. Your eyes are still a dark blue grey, like most newborns. We can't wait to see if they change color and what they will be.

We started calling you Baby Chappy before you were born and the nickname has stuck. Other nicknames: Zombaby (because of your growls and zombie noises) and Sharky.