Carter is 9 Months!

Sweet baby Carter turned 9 months - that's already 3/4 of a year - on July 1st while we were vacationing with Philip's side of the family over the July Fourth holiday!  Our ever-growing boy had another great 9mo check-up just before we left for vacation:

• Weight = 22 lbs. 6 oz. (75-90th percentile)
• Height = 29.5" tall (90th percentile)
• Head = 46 cm. (50th percentile)

No wonder he is already wearing 18-month clothing!  What a joy he continues to be to our family!  He and Kinsley are really starting to play, smile, laugh and "talk" to each other.  Carter has also shown a time or two his not-so-happy side when Kinsley takes a toy away from him.  We are working on that one.  The other big thing?  He is saying not only dadda, but MAMA!!!  I had to wait a looong time to hear that from Miss Kins.  :)

At 9 months, Carter continues to sleep like a champ, typically putting himself to sleep by playing in his crib and "talking" to his "friends" on his mobile overhead.  He loves going to sleep snuggling with a burpcloth, of all things.  The basic white cloth-diaper ones. I guess they are so soft.   But no lovie, no paci, no thumb for him.  And he is averaging about 11.5 hours of straight sleep at night.  Amazing.  I am making about 75% of his baby food and I am also still breastfeeding him & plan to carry on until he's one year old.  It's just so easy and convenient and we both love it and it keeps him happy & healthy, so why not.  His daily schedule goes something like this (all approximate based on his wake-up time...):

• 7:00am: nurse
• 8:30am: breakfast (oatmeal and pureed fruit)
• 10:00am: nurse / bottle and nap #1
• 12:00pm: lunch (rice cereal and pureed fruit / veggie)
• 2:30/3pm: nurse / bottle and nap #2
• 4:30pm: YoBaby yogurt
• 6:00pm: dinner (cereal and pureed fruit / veggie)
• 6:45pm: bath
• 7:00/7:30pm: nurse and bedtime

These days, you can find Carter loving all of the following:

• saying "who?"... just like a little owl
• eating
• snacking on puffs or yogurt
• drinking water from a sippy cup
• smiling and laughing!
• swimming in the pool
• taking a bath with his big sis
• watching Kinsley or Hunter 
• being tickled
• bouncing in the exersaucer or doorway jumper
• chewing on anything
• playing with any toy - he has a basket in the car and I literally rotate toys back to him from the driver's seat
• rolling over and over and over (and even rolled off of our bed when I turned my back for a second...scared me to death, but he recovered quickly and taught me a big lesson), but no crawling yet...he's kind of on Kinsley's track, and she started crawling up around this time and pulling up on furniture during the tenth/eleventh month.
• pulling hair...mainly mine and Kinsley's
• necklaces, anyone who is holding him
• jewelry...he has started noticing the glimmer / sparkle of my wedding ring, watch, bracelet and earrings
• squealing - I mean downright screaming - when he is happy...or needs your attention
• kicking his feet and swinging his legs when he is happy / excited
• swinging at the park/playground

I cannot believe that he is already as old as he was living in my belly...9 months.  I am gonna blink and he will be turning one!

An iPhone Photo Journey Through May & June!

As we laid the kids to bed early and I emptied out my iPhone photos this evening (I mean, I literally downloaded 313 photos onto the computer from my iPhone), I realized I had not imported many of them into this Blog...my yearbook...my memory book.  And while I absolutely love our really nice camera for the nice / big occasions, sometimes the blurry, quick capture of a photo on the iPhone captures the essence of a funny, sweet, memorable moment with my family.  That is one reason we are never far from our phones...a.k.a. our instant memory-capturing device.  So cheers to sitting back with a glass of Savignon Blanc and some Norah Jones playing on the computer so I can "catch up"...
...and I might have to mention that not included in this post are: Carter's 9-mo update, June's Orange Beach Vacation with my side of the family and July's Seabrook Island Vacation with Philip's side of the family...(see, I told you I had a lot of catching up to do)...

This was one of the last times I could carry Carter around in the Baby Bjorn - sweet boy is getting too heavy!  Looks at those adorable leg rolls!!!

First time in the big swing on the playground!

Kinsley and her bestie Eloise!

Squeezing into the baby pool at the lake.

Nanny and her first great-grandson.

Carter is going to die one day when he sees this photo, but I am so proud of his sweet chunky baby body!

Captain Kinsley driving the boat with Papa!

...and Cap't Kinsley asleep on the job just a little while later.  Her eyelids have always been powerless to the boat's motor ...

Carter, just moments before collapsing into a deep sleep on Beebe's chest.

Lake!

My three kiddos...

First time eating puffs = a huge, I mean HUGE hit!!!

Running through the sprinklers with daddy = a summer tradition!

Just like his sister, Carter is proving to be a big avocado fan...I am one happy mama.

I just loved this look of complete sweetness and innocence.

More fun with puffs...

And Carter loves eating his meals right next to his big sister!

Crawling practice...

...with his buddy Hunter.

One of the many night time ballet routines before bed.

Father's Day (early) Sunday morning on the back porch.

Another new nightly routine?  Combo bathtime...one of my favorite times of the day!

Kinsley, just ridin' her horse, playin' her harmonica...

Sweet daddy-daughter moment.  Priceless.

Kinsley's first time being pulled in the tube!  We went really, really slow...

Again, my two babies powerless to the boat's motor...sound asleep in the breeze on the lake.

One of Carter's summertime favorites: the ice / watermelon holder...he loves it!

With the recent mid-June elimination of Kinsley's afternoon naps, this photo shows a regular occurance after late afternoon pool time.

Kinsley loves to crawl into Carter's crib to play with him after his naps.

Mommy-daughter yogurt date. :)

Carter sound asleep in the pool on my mom...totally r-e-l-a-x-e-d.

What can I say except that Kinsley loves Old Navy (or "Old Lady," as she calls it) mannequins and makes us (and everyone else around us) laugh everytime we go in that store!  What a personality this little girl has!

Mother's Day: My First with TWO!