7 Months

Happy New Year!!
Carter is now seven months old!

December was quite the month:

• Your first tooth popped through on December 18, quickly followed by another on Christmas day. Your two bottom teeth are completely in and judging by the biting and drooling, you're working on another.

• You love to give hugs and kisses, though there's a fine line between kissing and biting. You also love to pull my hair and yank Daddy's glasses off his face.
• Your first Christmas! We celebrated with Gramie, Grampie, Beau and Mortie in Fallbrook on Christmas Eve. You received a lot of books and had a ton of fun tearing the wrapping paper. You also decided to pet Beau for the first time, which quickly turned into slapping Beau. As long as Beau doesn't get in your face, you don't mind him too much.

• You also spent the day on New Year's Eve with Grampie and Gramie in Fallbrook, though Mom and Dad spent the day in Coronado. 
• You've gotten better at sitting on your own and don't fall over very often. You haven't pulled yourself into a sitting positon yet, but you keep trying really hard. It looks like you are doing Pilates when you try to sit up! Sometimes, if you are already lying up against something in a reclined position you can pull yourself up to a seated position.
• You can stand with support! You love when we hold you in a standing position. You look around with a huge smile on your face.
• You have become SO vocal. Lots of different screeches, yells, laughs, and other noises to talk to us and yourself. We finally put a mirror in the backseat and now you happily chat away while we drive, so mom and dad can both sit in the front.

6 Months

Seriously, how has 6 months already gone by?!? I feel like we were just in the hospital, waiting for Carter to be born, and now he's already half way to one year. Some days I miss the tiny, snuggly newborn, but I totally love this new stage we're in!

Carter loves to talk-he yells, babbles, and makes all sorts of funny noises. Often, right before he falls asleep, he gets super chatty and babbles on and on before giving in and sleeping. We always crack up when we're lying in bed, snuggling him and he starts in talking. I wonder what it will be like when he is actually talking?

We moved him out of the infant carseat to the convertible carseat and he is so much happier in the car now. His new sear is so much roomier and sits him up higher, so he is able to see out the window, which he loves.

He is able to sit on his own without support, but isn't able to pull himself into a sitting position yet.

Stats
Height: 28" (93rd percentile). He fell a bit on the height chart, but is still a very tall baby. I was really surprised that he's only 28"; I was sure he was at least 30" already.

Weight: 17 pounds 8oz (50%) We were nervous going into this appointment that he'd fallen in weight percentiles again because he looks so skinny, but he's finally moved up! He actually hasn't gained a ton of weight though-only about 3 pounds since the 4 month appointment. I think he's actually closer to 19 or 20 pounds based of my own weighing him at home. His legs and arms were hanging off the scale at the doctor's office and it took several tries to get a reading on his weight.

No more well baby checks until his 1 year appointment, so we won't really know his height and weight again for awhile, unless we try doing it ourselves.

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! :)