Avocado

I fed Carter avocado today and he LOVED it (though you can't tell from the picture I took of him).



He ate it so quick. I didn't want to give him too much since it was his first time trying it and I don't know how his stomach will handle it, but he would have eaten more if I had offered it to him. It was easy to feed it to him because it was a little thicker than the rice cereal and sweet potato I have fed him before but it's really creamy. And it's so easy to "make" since you don't have to cook it or puree it - just mash it up a little bit.

Brian fed Carter solid food for the first time this weekend. They weren't too messy considering it was the first time Brian tried it.


Brian also gave me a break and fed Carter a bottle this weekend. Carter really wants to feed himself, but the bottle is a little too heavy for him when it's full.


And here is what Carter often does with his paci ...

He Napped!!!

Carter took a nap today that was longer than 30 minutes for the first time since he was about 2 months old. We had gotten him down in his bouncer and he woke up after about 25 minutes crying. Brian was able to sooth him back to sleep after about 5 minutes and he slept for another 50 minutes. It was so nice! We didn't know what to do with ourselves though!

Carter is starting to show some interest in crawling. When on his tummy, he'll bring one knee up underneath him and squirm around, but he hasn't figured out how to push off the ground with his foot to push himself forward. But if you put your hand behind his foot he'll push off of it and move forward. Carter still has a ways to go before he's crawling, but we're starting to see the first signs of him figuring it out. It's probably time for us to start figuring out what we need to baby proof!

Carter is also finally starting to babble again. He used to a lot but hasn't been very vocal for a couple of months. I was starting to get a little worried about the decrease but today he was super, super "talkative". It was a lot of fun "talking" with him all day.

Carter has been doing okay so far with his teeth that are coming in. He's fussy sometimes but that's normal for him and I have no idea if it has anything to do with his teeth. Here's a picture from Friday that shows how much his teeth are in now.


Carter has been doing great lately with letting us go out to eat. We had only gone out to places where you order at a counter, but tonight we went to a Mexican restaurant. It's still not fancy but a step in the right direction!

Home Office

We finally have our home office (almost) finished! We still need to set up our computers under the desks and hang a few more things on the walls, but we're essentially done. I'm so happy that the first room you see when you enter our house finally looks nice instead of a mess of our old furniture.

Dogwood Festival

Carter and I went downtown today for the Market Square Arts Fair that is part of the Dogwood Festival. There were a few good artists with pottery, jewelry, etc, but nothing so great that I wanted to buy anything. The Cirque de Chine group which has a show in Gatlinburg was performing on the stage when we had finished going through all the vendor booths. They do acrobatics, dancing, and other "tricks". Amazingly, Carter slept through most of what we watched, including the really loud drum performance.


I used the new Maclaren stroller we got today and loved it. It's so nice having a smaller stroller in crowds!!! There is a pocket on the back side of it that is perfect to hold my wallet and phone so I don't need a purse and the basket underneath easily holds everything I need for Carter. I really love how the end extends out for Carter's feet since he's not big enough yet to sit with his knees bent over the edge. Carter seems to like the stroller as well!

Carter also tried out his new swing today. He's a little small, but I stuffed a blanket around him to make the seat a little more snug. He really enjoy being outside and swinging.



Carter heard Charlotte on the deck above him and was looking for her.

Sweet Potato

Carter tried his first food other than rice cereal today - sweet potato! I baked a potato this morning and then pureed it with breast milk to thin it down some. Carter did really well and ate several bites.

Gimme, gimme, gimme ...


I think I like this stuff ...


I can even wipe my own face!


My plan is to continue the sweet potato for a few days and then try avocado. I'm glad Carter seemed to not hate the sweet potato as much as I dislike it - it's just too sweet for me.

BOB Stroller

I did it - I ordered a BOB jogging stroller tonight! I got the Single Utility Stroller.


Yes, they are expensive, but the reviews are awesome. And they seem to resell for 1/2 to 2/3 (at least) of the original price. I got the Utility instead of the Revolution (which is even more expensive) because I plan on using the stroller solely for running and thus wanted the fixed front wheel.

I can't wait to get it and take Carter running!!! I foresee a lot of family runs in the near future!

First Illness

Carter seems to be over his first very mild cold. For about a week he had some nasal congestion and had a snotty nose, but today he seemed to be back to normal. He was sneezing and coughing a little more as well this past week but none of it seemed to bother him.

Weight Update

I'm down to 130 lbs. So that's 40 lbs lost with only 3 more to go (plus the 10 lbs I was already overweight when I got pregnant). I'm still not fitting into a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes though. Most of my tops might fit once I stop breast feeding. For now, I have no chance to fit into most of them. I'm starting to be able to wear some of my pants and shorts. I don't have a pair of jeans that really fits and that drives me nuts. And I've been shopping for a pair but can't find any that fit right.

We have about 2 months still until our beach vacation with Brian's family. My stomach is still trying to recover from being stretched out so far. Hopefully I won't be so jiggly in 2 months!

I bet I could drop the last few pounds pretty quickly if I started eating like I did before I got pregnant. I've been eating A LOT and not really exercising all that much. Breast feeding is a pain a lot of the time, but it sure is nice how many extra calories it burns!

Happy Easter!

Carter found lots of eggs!


He got a new toy to chew in his Easter basket. He's been playing with it most of the day - he really likes chewing and sucking on the ears.



We took Carter hiking again today. We went to Ijams Nature Center which is near downtown Knoxville. There are about five miles of trails out there including a boardwalk along the river. We've been out there only once before a long time ago when they had some bands playing but never to hike. Carter did really well again and even fell asleep for the last part of the hike.

Fall Creek Falls

Carter went on his first hike today! We drove over to Fall Creek Falls State Park and hiked around for a few hours. We parked at the Nature Center by Cane Creek Cascades and Rockhouse Falls and hiked the Gorge Trail over to Fall Creek Falls and Coon Creek Falls. Carter did really well the entire hike - he seemed to enjoy watching everything. His hat is a little big still and kept covering up his eyes though. He fell asleep about 20 minutes into the hike for about 15 minutes.

Brian and Carter checking out Cane Creek Cascades:


Brian and Carter on the suspension bridge:


At the overlook for Cane Creek Cascades and Rockhouse Falls:


Rockhouse Falls:


Fall Creek Falls and Coon Creek Falls:


Me and Carter taking a break:


Family Photo:


And a few pictures of me and Carter on the way back to the car: