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.

Photo 52 ABCs-Playing Catch Up

I'm still participating in the 52 week ABC photography project, but I have been lagging in blogging each week's pictures. I've been slammed for time lately and lacking in inspiration for some letters, but I like that the project is a challenge. So, with that being said, here are my pics for D-G (this week is H, but I haven't come up with anything yet).

Dd Dead Tree
The husband and I live in the foothills of Mount Baldy and there is a nice little trail that begins only a few miles from our house that we hike every so often. It begins in a nature preserve and then the trail splits and if you follow it straight up, rather than following the loop, it leads to a stream and a waterfall. It is pretty tough going up once you leave the loop because you are pretty much walking straight up the mountain in full sun at that point (even in winter it is sunny, since you know, this is southern California. :) ), but it is worth it to make it up to the waterfall and relax on the rocks at the top.
We took a little side detour to a Native American historical sight before heading up to the waterfall. While the husband read all the signage, I practiced photographing different plants and landscapes, including this blackened tree. It looked like it survived a fire at some point, but with it's complete lack of foliage I decided it worked well as my D shot.



Ee Eggs
Have you ever been to Anthropologie? I love love love that store, especially all the fun kitchen and home accessories they sell. I have been lusting after the cute ceramic egg holder and berry basket since forever, but always found them to be a bit too pricey for my blood. Lately, I've been giving a lot of private lessons to the swimmers on the team I coach, which is all just extra money, so I finally allowed myself the indulgence and scooped the egg crate and berry basket up. (Now I am saving for the Canon 24-70mm L lens. ::drool::)
This photo did not really come out the way I imagined. I overexposed the picture, blowing out the whites of the eggshells. Also, I think my 50mm sucks, and I couldn't get the composition I wanted without backing up too far. (Though, I guess, I should have just cropped in PSE. oh well). I do want to try this again another day...maybe on a cloudy day?



Ff fruit
There is a farmer's market in the parking lot at Mt. SAC on Saturday mornings, which happens to coincide with my being there to coach swimming. The first 3ish months I was coaching I kept forgetting about the market until after I was on my way home, and living 30 miles away, I didn't want to turn around. Finally, I made it a priority to check out the market after practice one Saturday and was impressed with the variety of produce. I scooped up hefty, sweet strawberries, a bundle of broccolini, some tiny tangerines, small Persian cucumbers, and these blood oranges.
I am absolutely entranced by blood oranges. I love their deep red, nearly purple color, and their tangy-sweet taste, as well as their slightly morbid name. The first time I ever tried a blood orange was in a margarita in San Diego several years ago. That was hands down, the best margarita I've ever tasted, and I've never forgotten it. Each year when blood oranges come into season I want to buy them by the bagful and make margaritas. I still haven't done that yet, and now I've found so many other tantalizing blood orange recipes I want to try as well. I've also seen some amazing photographs that perfectly capture the deep crimson juice staining white cloth napkins.
I snagged several blood oranges at the farmer's market, planning to re-create those photos, but procrastination got the best of me, so I figured I'd use my new Anthropologie berry basket and set up a different shot. The red-orange colors play so well off the bright blue of the basket, doncha think?



Gg Garlic
The husband bought me From Plate to Pixel, a food photography book by well known blogger Tartlette, as a "reward" for working on my thesis a few weeks back. My friends make fun of me for receiving rewards for doing my work, but the extrinsic motivation helped jumpstart my efforts after they'd stalled out for way too long.
I poured over that book as soon as it was in my hands, focusing most of my attention on the chapters covering composition, styling, and props. I like Tartlette's clean, simple asthetic, and I've been attempting to emulate her style in my own shoots. This garlic picture was one I took shortly after reading through her book and practicing her composition and styling techniques. I feel like I achieved just what I was looking for-the garlic looks to me like I've been using it to cook with, the dried white papery skins left scattered on the counter, several heads rolling around as I search for the "perfect" clove. I also like the effect the side-lighting brings to this photo, giving some depth to the image, while illuminating the head of garlic on the left. What do you think?



So, now I am 6 weeks into this photo project and I feel like I'm getting better with creating an image, even if it doesn't always come out exactly as I imagined. I didn't plan for my pictures to focus on food, but I like working with still life subjects (especially as we don't have kids and the husband hates having his picture taken). I'm still struggling to come up with something interesting for the letter H though, and with Sunday fast approaching, I need to hurry. Any ideas?

Colorado

Just before Christmas the husband and I headed off to Colorado for a week long winter vacation. Unlike Hawaii, this wasn't a planned out in months type of deal. Rather, in early November, I told him I was itching to travel again, and soon, and I really wanted to go back to Hawaii. Of course, we are not ballers, so two trips to the islands in one year is not really in our budget. But, that travel bug was still there, so I convinced the husband we should visit Colorado. Neither of us had ever been there, he likes the idea of a white Christmas, there's lots of good beer there, and it is a huge dinosaur area (the husband looooves all things dinosaur. shhh, don't tell him I told you though, he wants to keep it a secret.)

A week before Christmas we packed our bags, I rented the 24-70mm L again, and we boarded a plane to Denver. Holy geez, it was cold there! But beautiful! We loved every moment of our trip and had an amazing time exploring some place brand new to the both of us. A month later we're still talking about the fun time we had and how we can't wait to go back again soon.

I've been more and more into landscape photography lately and I tried to capture the natural beauty of Colorado. Shooting in the snow was difficult-I hard a hard time getting the right exposure without blowing out the details of the snow. I definitely plan to print some of these and hang them in our house.

Capturing C

I usually take my ABC photos on Sunday since I have the whole day free and I have an idea ready. This week, with a cold kicking my butt and zapping my motivation to do anything more than lay on the couch, it took a few days to find my inspiration. I went to bed on Monday night running through all sorts of C words in my head, discarding ideas as quickly as I thought of them. Eventually I returned to what brought me to blogging and photography in the first place-cooking.

Rather than just take a snapshot of something cooking-related, I wanted to create an image. Something that fit the letter theme, but also had an artistic element to it. Remembering the huge bar of dark chocolate sitting in my pantry, waiting to be used, I planned out a close up of the chocolate, chopped up, with a knife in the background. I took that picture, but couldn't get the composition the way I wanted with the knife, so I removed it from my set up and played around with the light some more. I am really proud of this picture; I love the side lighting illuminating the chopped chocolate, with the rest of the bar more in the shadows. I really like the texture the chopped chocolate provides, as well as the texture in the side of the chocolate where the knife cut through.

This is an image I would print, frame, and hang in my kitchen.



Not content to settle for just one subject, I pulled out the cayenne pepper and played around with the composition. I tried a few different set ups, but ultimately went for something simple. Again, I am really proud of this image. I feel like it looks so simple and accidental, which is exactly what I wanted. It evokes the way I cook, spilling things every where and leaving a mess behind me. But to me, it also shows how far I've come. A year or two ago, heck even 6 months ago, this photo would have been merely a snapshot of some underexposed spoons on a granite counter, carefully arranged cayenne trying to look carelessly spilled, all the mess of the countertop in the background.

A, B,...not quite to C

It's not even a month into the new year and I've pretty much already given up on Project 365. Taking a photo every day feels like a chore right now. I want to take photos because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. I have been keeping up with Photo 52: ABCs though (really, not that impressive considering we're only two weeks in lol) and am having fun thinking of ideas for each letter.

The husband helped me with A and suggested ale, which if you know me, was pretty perfect. So I pulled a bunch of bottles of ale out of the cabinet and stocked the top fridge shelf. I love buying new beers, old favorites, and regular standbys, so this is actually only a small sample of what we have on hand. :)



I had several risque ideas for week 2, but wasn't sure how to pull them off well, so I thought I'd just play it safe and take a picture of some books. Bor-ing. Then I remembered the fun topless mermaid hanging by the sink in our downstairs bathroom and had my B picture! Ha! I may be making a bit of a reputation for myself in this photo group!



Since the husband was cooped up watching the playoffs, I took a walk around our little condo community, looking for other B inspiration. I really like how both of these pictures turned out! (ok, I can't find the second picture-birds of paradise-so you'll just have to look at my bare branches instead.)

Shreddin It

Remember, my goal to become healthier this year and commit to doing the 30 Day Shred? We'll here we are three days later and I've completed three days of the shred! I know, I know, 3 days isn't much, but when I think about how lazy I am and how hard the workout was the first day, I am really proud of myself for sticking with it. Days one and two were when I was still on winter break, so I did the workout at home, after breakfast, with the husband. Today was day three, and my first day back to work, so I had to change it up and workout after school in my classroom. But, the fun part was that one of my friend's at work joined me, and two others said they want to start shredding with us too! Yay for fun times exercising! lol

A friend recommended writing down my feelings/thoughts about each day's workout, so when I'm feeling like giving up or wondering if I've even made any progress I can look back and see how far I've come. What a great idea! So here I go...

Day One
Oh.My.God. Seriously, I thought the workout would never end and I basically wanted to die the entire time. The three pound weights felt like 30 pounds, my legs felt like lead and I swear they were only coming milimeters off the floor every time we did jumping jacks, butt kicked, or fake jump roped. I was whining and on the verge of tears during the last circuit, wanting to give up with every fiber of my being. The icing on the cake? I threw up after we cooled down. ::gross::

Day Two
Ugh, my legs were so stiff and sore. Today's workout was still killer, but surprisingly, also felt a tab bit easier. In the words of the husband, "it was 10% easier today." I tried to push myself harder than yesterday, which while I'm sure is good in the long run, I wound up walking like Frankenstein the rest of the day. I even had to use the handicap stall in the pool restroom while coaching, so I could use the hand bar on the wall. ::embarrassing::

Day Three
That's today! I was SO stiff and sore when I woke up this morning, I could barely get out of bed. If I thought I was Frankenstein yesterday, I was even worse today. Standing at the top of the stairs this morning, wondering how I was going to actually walk down them, I contemplated just throwing myself down them and rolling to the bottom. It would probably hurt less than the pain of walking down after two days of lunges and squats. But, alas, I manned up and hobbled down, only to realize I left my wallet upstairs and needed to go back and get it. ugh.
I was bummed not to workout in the morning today, but having a friend to work out with and keep me accountable after school was awesome and I actually found myself looking forward to our 3:30pm exercise session! I was horribly embarrassed to workout with someone besides the husband (or random strangers at the gym...), but that embarrassment pushed me to work harder and I felt stronger today than day one or two. I didn't want to cry at all! :) Squatting down to talk to my swimmers in the pool afterwards was still a bitch tonight, but it's getting better. I almost feel into the water last night trying to get down to talk to them; tonight was just painful, but on balance.
I also took my measurements today, though let's just say, no one needs to know those numbers!