Afternoon at the Pool

Carter and I went to the pool this afternoon.


He used his new pool float today. He's a bit small for it so he falls back in it. He pretty much just floats on his back then but it works.


My neighbor was at the pool and wanted to hold Carter. He started screaming as soon as I handed him to her. He definitely has some stranger anxiety right now!

Peaches

Today's new food was peaches! As always, Carter seemed to enjoy them. I made them the way I make everything - peel, chop, steam, and puree.




I tried the peaches after I made them and they seemed pretty tart so I was surprised Carter enjoyed them so much. Maybe he was just really hungry!

I played soccer this afternoon. We won something like 8 to 1. That's the best we've done in a really long time. It didn't hurt that we had 3 men subs - we often don't even have a full team. I'm finally starting to get some of my speed back so I had a much better game.

While I was gone, Brian tried to feed Carter some green beans. Somehow the bowl got a little to close to Carter's hands and this is what happened ...




Carter knocked the bowl to the ground and all the green beans splattered back up everywhere (at least that's what I've been told).

We had a pretty laid back weekend getting stuff done around the house. We got the first coat of paint up in the bonus room. I'm going to try to do the second coat one day this week while Carter is napping. I'm going to have to be a super speedy painter since most naps are still only 30 minutes!

We also gave Charlotte a bath. It was the first one she's had in over a year and the first one she's had in this house. We have a huge tiled shower in our master bath and I was able to close the shower doors and trap her in there with me. It was actually really easy to give her a bath in there. In the old house we used our guest bath which had a shower/tub combination unit with only a curtain and it was hard to keep her in the tub. She is so soft now!

Stuff with Carter

Carter is getting more and more mobile. He's able to pull himself forward at a snail's pace when he wants something that's in front of him by swaying side to side on his belly and inching forward.


This afternoon Carter was on his belly with one leg kind of out to the side. He looked over and saw his foot and then spun on his belly 360 degrees twice trying to get his foot. He was like a dog trying to catch its tail. It was hilarious!


Carter and I went for the longest run I've done with him in his jogging stroller (about 3.5 miles) and he actually fell asleep during the run for the first time today. I have the back reclined just a bit so it sways from side to side some and I didn't think he'd actually be able to fall asleep with all that movement.


Carter has been playing with his ears a lot the last few days. He hasn't been any more fussy than normal and I can't find any new teeth coming in so I think he's just discovered them as opposed to pulling at them because of teething. It's funny to watch his expressions as he plays with them.


I finally took Carter's mobile down from his crib. It looks so plain now! I left up the music box that the mobile attaches to though. I usually leave Carter in his crib for about 15-30 minutes in the morning after he first starts making noise to give him the chance to go back to sleep (though it rarely happens). He usually just babbles to himself and rolls around. This morning he turned the music on by himself. He did that once before a few weeks ago. At least he hasn't turned it on in the middle of the night (yet).


Carter is still doing well with his solids. I've discovered that thrown up carrots are extremely difficult to get out of clothes - I think one of Brian's polos is officially ruined. It's amazing how baby poop changes once they start eating solids. It's stinkier now but at least it's solid so Carter doesn't have anymore blowouts.


Old Navy has 50% off their marked down clothes right now and I found some really cute stuff for Carter, including this hat. I didn't get a really good picture - I promise it's cuter in person!

Jobs

Brian started a new job today. He made it through the first day and seems excited about what he's going to be doing. He's heading to Atlanta tomorrow but just for the day.

I went up to Oak Ridge today and cleaned out my office. I met with my boss last week to discuss my future with the company. I'm still going to do work from home if anyone needs some help with a project but not come into the office. So I decided it's time to give up my office to someone who is in a cube since I'm not planning on being there often.

I got to show Carter off to everyone at my office. He's starting to develop some stranger anxiety and got pretty upset when some people were holding him.

First Swim!

Carter went swimming for the first time today! We have a pool in our neighborhood and we took Carter there for about 30 minutes this afternoon. This was actually the first time Brian and I have been to the pool.

Carter did awesome! The water was a little cold at first but he never seemed to mind it. He was just pretty chill the entire time. We got a few smiles out of him eventually. He seemed to like when you put him on his belly (with his head way out of the water of course) and pulled him along.







Carter's feet after 30 minutes in the pool:


Carter had a big day. He also used his big boy booster seat today. He can't squirm around as much in this seat so it's a lot easier to feed him.

Yellow Squash

Carter had yellow squash today and, as usual, liked it. I peeled it (because I read that some babies younger than 8 months have trouble digesting the skin), chopped it, steamed it, and pureed it with a little water. It smelled disgusting to me and looks like what Charlotte throws up when she has an empty stomach, but Carter doesn't seem to mind it!



This is what Carter does pretty much the entire time I'm trying to feed him. I usually just work with it and feed him like this.


We got out our booster seat today and Carter seems to fit in it okay so I think we're going to try using that now instead of the Bumbo seat. Carter will put one foot down on the table and scoot the Bumbo seat around to get to something he wants to grab. It's just not feeling that safe anymore! Here's a picture of the booster seat we have. It folds up nicely so we should be able to bring it along to the beach house in a couple of weeks.

The Sunday Ads

Carter likes to look at the Sunday advertisements after I'm done with them ...



And a few cute pictures taken before eating a very messy banana ...



I finally had a soccer game today. This was the fourth game we've played of our eight game season (and this was a make-up game). Other than that we had a pretty laid back day.

Andrew's Bald

We took Carter hiking today in the Smokies for the first time. We drove up to Clingman's Dome which took just under 2 hours from our house. Carter took a very long nap on the way there - he slept for an hour and 15 minutes! The parking lot wasn't too crowded yet when we got there considering that it's Memorial Day weekend.

We hiked to Andrew's Bald which is about 3.6 miles round-trip. We used our new Kelty FC 3.0 kid carrier for the first time today and loved it! Brian took Carter on the way to the bald and I got him on the way back.

Carter was so happy when we put him in the pack and Brian put it on his back!


Here are the guys waiting for me so we could start the hike. I think they look so much alike in this picture!


Happy boy ...


Carter kept his left arm in the pack and his right arm sticking straight out until we finally forced him to put it down into the pack as well.


Carter and Daddy ...


Carter passed out after about 30 minutes.


View from the bald.


We ate a quick lunch at the bald before heading back. The bugs were swarming us and it was driving me nuts. The azaleas weren't blooming yet so there wasn't that much to see up there.



Cute kid ...


Carter fell asleep on the hike back too! We had to check on him to make sure he could still breathe like this!


View from the parking lot ...


Carter did really well the entire hike. He only fussed a couple of times and it didn't last long at all. He seemed comfortable in the pack and didn't bounce around too much.

Carter slept a lot today. The long nap on the way to the park, two naps in the carrier, and a nap on the drive home. It was nice!

We stopped by one of the visitor centers on the way out of the park today and bought Carter one of the National Park Passport Books that he can get stamped at every national park and monument that he goes to. He got two stamps today because it's the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and they have a special stamp for that.

200th Post

I can't believe I've stuck with blogging this long!

Carter and I went to the zoo today with Sarah and her daughter (Mary Grace) and Meredith and her son (Blaine). Here's a picture of the kids (and me since I had Carter out of the stroller for a little bit so he could see the animals better).


As usual, the blonde gibbon was really active.


He was showing off for Mary Grace and playing with a bag.


I finally finished up painting the laundry room today. We painted it the same color as the master bedroom and bath (though it looks a lot more yellow in these pictures). The walls had been really marked up so it looks so much better!

Before:


After:


Now back to the bonus room! I've taped most of that room and started painting the edges.