Spruce Flats Falls

My mom and I took Carter hiking in the Smokies today. We just did a short hike up to Spruce Flats Falls (2 miles round trip) since there was a pretty good chance of afternoon thunderstorms. It's not too difficult of a hike but there are a lot of rocky sections that take a lot more care to climb over when I have Carter on my back.





There was only two other people at the falls when we got there but we saw a bunch of large groups heading up as we hiked back to the car. There's not much of a pool at the base of the falls but most people were dressed to go swimming.

My mom tried to go swimming! She slipped on some rocks at the falls and both of her feet were completely under water. She squished a lot hiking back to the car but wasn't hurt.

Carter seems like he may be starting to get over his cold but mine is getting worse. I wish I could take some cold medicine so I could breathe at night and sleep better but it effects my milk supply too much. I'm thinking of trying to sleep in a recliner tonight so I may be able to breathe some. Hopefully we'll both be better soon!

Diaper Monster

Carter is making it almost impossible to change his diaper. He immediately flips over to his stomach and claws at the changing pad to get to the top so he can look over the edge of the dresser into his laundry hamper (he hasn't managed to dive off yet, but he did smack his forehead on the back corner of the dresser the other night).

When I flip him back over to his back he screams and screams and flips back to his stomach. Sometimes I try to just work with him like this but he sure does clench those cheeks and make it difficult to wipe his bum! Sometimes I stand him up, have him hold on to me, and hold his shoulder between my chin and shoulder and try to put his diaper on him this way but I really need one more hand so I can hold on to him. Both of these methods result in a diaper that does not look like it'll hold up to Carter moving around too much.

Hopefully I can figure out a trick soon! I used to be able to hand Carter a toy and he'd entertain himself for the 30 seconds it took to change his diaper. Maybe we just need new and exciting toys!

Carter pulled himself up a bit for the first time tonight. We still give him a bath in his infant tub inside of the regular tub. I put the washcloth I was using on the shower faucet and Carter pulled himself up using the end of the infant tub so he could grab it. He didn't get into a complete standing position but he did get close!

Sick

Carter is sick. He has his first cold. He woke up around 10pm last night and had a lot of trouble going back to sleep. We were going to let him cry it out, but decided that the cry sounded a little different than normal and helped him get back to sleep. I ended up having to feed him to get him to drift off. Today his nose has been running constantly and he has a nasty little cough. It's not slowing his down too much but he is a bit more moody than normal. My mom and I were going to take him hiking tomorrow, but I think we'll stick around the house instead. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon!

Bugs

We have some really random bugs around our house. I found this on our maple tree today ...


I think it's a Luna Moth Caterpillar. It was almost 3 inches long and super fat.

When I was pregnant with Carter, I got stung my a scorpion. I was getting dressed and putting on a T-shirt that had been in my dresser when I felt something like a bee stinging my belly. I threw the shirt on the floor and found this in it ...


I didn't know until that day that we actually have two types of scorpions that live in east Tennessee.

Presents

My mom, Carter, and I went up to the outlet stores in Sevierville today. My mom got some cute fall/winter stuff and bibs for Carter really cheap.


Carter's getting lots of new clothes. My mom had also brought some stuff with her that she found for him in Wilmington.


He's still one well dressed little man thanks to his grandmas and aunts!

Charlotte got a present too. We're not sure what this stuffed toy is supposed to be but we're calling it a squid for now.

Happy 4th of July

We ended up not doing much for the 4th - we never really do. But we did grill out tonight.


We're all looking at the camera for once!


Carter made a new best friend when he kept dropping his Cheerios ...


Carter's getting better at picking up the Cheerios. He's starting to figure out the pincer grasp instead of raking to pick them up. Sometimes ...



We're planning on watching fireworks from the window in our attic tonight. Last year we saw a ton of local displays from up there. Hopefully Carter will be able to sleep through all the noise. Lots of people were setting off fireworks in our neighborhood last night and the noise woke him up a couple of times. He was able to get back to sleep on his own though after 5-10 minutes each time.

Knoxville Zoo

My mom and I took Carter to the zoo today. I'm getting a lot of use out of our zoo pass this year!

Carter took his first carousel ride today. He really enjoyed it!


One of the female elephants was spraying herself with water while we were there. I kept waiting for her to spray the crowd but she was polite and never did.




Carter and my mom ...


One of the gorillas was hanging out by the glass. We had to wait a little bit to get our turn to be next to him, but I'm glad we did. Carter loved looking at him and was stretching out his arm to him.


Carter fell asleep when we were about to leave but I noticed that the bird show had just started so we went over and watched that while Carter napped. I've never been to it before. It was actually really good. They have a very impressive parrot with a huge vocabulary that was entertaining.

It was a really nice day today - high 70s with patchy clouds. A perfect day for the zoo!

Books and Blooms, Again

Carter and I went to the Books and Blooms program at the UT Gardens again today. Today's theme was hummingbirds. After listening to a few stories about hummingbirds, we made feeders. Actually, I made Carter's feeder while he squirmed in my lap.


It's basic - just a plastic cup with a ribbon and decorated with a Sharpie - but the program and materials are free!

The most entertaining part to me was one little boy that showed up (I never saw a parent) who was about 6 with a mohawk, no shirt, one red glove, and soccer cleats on. Interesting.

After the program, Carter and I went over to the Third Creek Greenway and ran 4 miles. The greenway is shaded so it wasn't too hot for the little guy and he even got a nap in during the run.

Carter and I went to swimming lessons again tonight. My mom got here this afternoon and is staying with us for a week and a half so she came to the pool with us and took a few pictures.



Carter did awesome. The teacher, Miss Sherry, was impressed with how comfortable he is in the water. I even put Carter's face in the water a couple of times and he didn't mind. A trick Miss Sherry taught us was to blow in the baby's face right before putting it in the water because that often causes them to scrunch up their face and hold their breath. It seemed to work!

Eyelashes

Carter has his Daddy's eyelashes ...

Running with BOB

Carter and I have been running a lot more the last few weeks. I really, really love our BOB jogging stroller. Carter thinks it's okay too!


I like how low the sunshade goes down to keep the sun out of Carter's eyes.


And I like being able to create this gap in the back so Carter gets more air flow and so that I can see him and make sure he's doing okay.