A new tooth

My third tooth is here! Yipee!

(You can click on the photo to make it bigger)

Hello new tooth and goodbye teething, for now. Thank goodness. These past 2 weeks have been a living nightmare. The third tooth that has caused so much misery entered Carson's mouth around Friday, July 16, 2010. Goodbye to the sleepless nights, empty belly and fussiness.

Carson is proud to welcome his new tooth, the top left central incisor. The 2 bottom lateral incisors are making their way in, but I think we have a week or two until we are welcoming some more pearly whites.

9 Months Old

9 Months Old

Turn up the volume. The music is themed for Carson's 9 Month. The song explains it all!! Haha

Carson does not have a 9 Month check up this month, so we are unsure of his weight and height. Although, I consider his weight, heavy and his height.. LONG..Already in 12-18 month clothes.

Food: He hasn't met a food he doesn't like. He loves Uncle Bradley's roasted chicken and homepade pasta sauce. Nannie makes him pastini and mixes it with the sauce. YUM!

Babbling and Chatting: First word was this month. And Da Da it was. Every other babble is Da Da, Da Da, Da Da. He has complete conversations with himself, changes the pitch of his voice like he is asking you a question. It's a riot.

Boys will be boys

Carson is getting into EVERYTHING. You can't turn your back on him for a second, hence the background music. If he is not standing and holding on to something, he is climbing on it. Even better...He stands and lets go to test himself. He got his first shiner this month. Standing and holding on to the book case, tried to one hand it, lost his balance and down he went. Handled it like a trooper. Nothing gets in his way, not even Turbo;climbs right over him when he is laying down. He stood alone for about 20 seconds at Aunt Helen and Uncle Milton's. He has taken a couple of steps, here and there. He amazes himself whenever he does.

He loves to push his truck around the room. That has to be one of his favorite toys right now. Still cruising the furniture and moving from one piece to another.

First kicks

On June 27, 2010, Carson was fitted at Stride Rite for his first pair of shoes, pre-walkers. He did so good. He was a size 4 1/2. He wears the shoes around the house, here and there.

First of many..Trip to the keys

Carson went to the keys for the first time for Jason and Monique's Wedding. This will definately be the first of many many many trips down the 2 lane road to paradise.

Happy July 4th

Carson's First July 4th. We spent the rainy holiday at the South House. We had a wonderful day with friends. And to our surprise, the fireworks didn't even phase him. He even fell asleep in my arms watching the fireworks.

Clap if your a happy baby

Carson has mastered the art of clapping. He has been trying for some time now and has finally got it done. Below is the link to a short video I uploaded of him clapping. He claps all the time, I just have to make sure I have the camera there to catch him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Qu06857FQ

All in all, this month was over in a blink of an eye. We are looking forward to what the tenth month has to bring. Enjoy!

8 Months Old

8 Months Old

How big is Carson, Soooo big!!!

Height: 29 3/4 inch long 96th percentile

Weight: 19lbs 2 oz 43rd percentile

I was a little concerned when I received the news of Carson's weight, he really hadn't budged to much. The pediatrician was not concerned at all. Since Carson is growing so fast in height and so active now, his weight will catch up. He advised us that this is normal for 8 month old boys.

I also asked about the speech. Carson babbles a ton, screaches, laughes and all the good stuff, however, we have heard no attempt to put words together. He calmed my fears and explained that boys tend to become mobile first, whereas girls tend to become vocal first. Makes sense! ha!

Little by little we add different foods into Carson's diet, foods with more texture. He absolutely loves the cheddar Gerber puffs, they are like mini cheesey poofs! I also gave him a rice cake which he wasn't too sure about. Loves Arrowroot cookies and the little banana Gerber puffs. At dinner one evening, I had a baked potato and gave him little pieces. That was a HUGE hit!

We are still working with the sippy cup.

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep. We've decided to take our own approach to the baby sleeping method. No self soothe, its not for us and not for Carson. He is consistent when he is tired and ready for bed. Bath is usually around 8:00 and bed time at 8:30/9:00. He falls asleep in our arms, usually while drinking the bottle. We hold him and snuggle him and then we put him in the crib. It is a time we love. And for the most controversial, which we get the most opinions about.. The co-sleeping! Not everynight, but for most, Carson wakes up at about 3:00 or 4:00 in his crib. I go get him and bring him in our bed, where he sleeps until 7:45/8:00. I don't care, we both love to snuggle with him. He even breathes differently when he is with us in the middle. He will only be this small for once in his life, we are embracing it! It may be harder when he is older, but every child is different and we are taking that approach on it. What works for one, may not work for the other.

Take me Out to the ball game

Carson's First baseball game, check!! We went to the Marlin's Game with Dada, Nannie, Uncle Bradley, Dylan, Justin, Lindsey, Trace, Elaina, Mike and a couple of friend's of theirs. It was brutally hot out, so we didn't last too long, but we came home with his first Marlin's Baseball Hat!

Mother's Day

I waited so long for Mother's Day and it was perfect! I told Geoff, all I wanted was to for him to go to the beach with Carson and I and relax with us. I knew this would be hard for him to go to the beach, but he went! We had such a nice morning. The afternoon we spent with Nannie in the pool and Uncle Bradley made us all dinner. Delish!

Mobile Baby or should I say Boy

The child has given us grey hairs. Not only is he crawling, all over the house, he pulls up on anything and everything. Yes, he is so darn cute when he does, but he has his fair share of tumbles and falls. We have had many bumps and bruises, but there is no holding him down. He even stands in the bathtub. And all the books in the photo below, usually end up on the floor and I pick them up once he is asleep.

That being said, when he stands and holds on to something that moves, he pushes it whereever he can. That led us to the baby store to by Carson his first "walker" or what I call a push walker. His very own truck. Not only can he push it, he can pull it and sit on in. He loves the truck, keeps him busy.

Beggars born on October 8, 2009

Since Carson gets more finger foods now, the dogs have also started getting finger foods. Turbo, Diesel and Tuna are like magnets to the High Chair. As soon as it comes out, they cover the floor. Carson figured out how fun it is for the dogs to gently take the food out of his hand when he holds his hand to the side.

Swimming Lessons

The biggest topic of the blog or at least the most important! One of my best friend's Kami, is teaching Carson the fundamentals of survival in the pool. She is doing the infant swim intro with him and will then move into actual swimming lessons. It was hard to see him, to hear him cry, but, the cries dwindled down and are not as bad anymore. He is doing so well. Living in FL, you really can't take the chance of not teaching your child how to survive in the water. Kami is an amazing and certified instructor with tons of experience. Anyone who is interested, please msg me. She starts lessons at 6 months old and does one on one with the child.

We are so excited to see what the 8 month has to bring. A swimming boy, a walking boy or a little boy with more teeth.. We shall see.. :)

New photos have been added into Carson's Photo Albums on the right side.. Enjoy

Happy Mother's Day

~Love~

I was always a mom, at heart. A mom to my animals and a mom waiting for her child. A gift from the heaven's above. Last year, my angel was still thriving in my belly, this year, he is thriving in my arms. A dream come true.

To start the day, Geoffrey, Carson and I went to John U. Lloyd State Park and spent the morning at the beach. That made my day. Carson played in the water, in the sand and even tried to climb the umbrella pole. Ha! We went early because we wanted to get there and get out of there before the heat really set in and the sand was too hot for Carson to play in. If you live in Florida, you know, by 11/1200, you better have shoes on your feet to walk on the sand. OUCH!

It had to have been the most beautiful day of the year. The water was a perfect temperature and the Atlantic was like a lake. Geoffrey was not happy looking out at the water and watching the boats in the distance. I think seeing Carson's smiling face, made it all go away.

After we left the beach, we went to my parents house. We played in the pool and Geoff barbequed wings and potatoes. Yum!! The dogs came with us also and swam their butts off!! Carson got a kick out of Turbo and Diesel jumping in the pool after the tennis ball.

That evening, my brother Bradley, made a delicious dinner. I requested pasta, as that is my FAVORITE. Bradley made the sauce from scratch. He peeled whole tomatoes and everything. It was delicious.

All in all, my first Mother's Day was wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better day. And a very Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommy's, Mommy's to be, Great Grandma's and Grandma's, including Carson's Angel from above who I know is with us everyday. We miss you so much. xo

Thank you to everyone for the phone call, texts and cards. Thank you very much.

7 Months Old

7 Months Old Today

May 8, 2010, marks Carson as being 7 Months old. 7 Months ago today at this time, Mommy was in recovery waiting to see her little Angel; my how time flies. We didn't have a 7 month check up this month, so I am not sure where we are on height and weight, but will be added next month.

A note to the photo above.. Grey hairs is all I have to say. Carson, our little dare devil, is making Mommy and Daddy keep their eyes peeled as long as he is awake. He is on the move, he is standing, he is pulling. He pulls up on EVERYTHING, stable or not, including the dogs. Recently, he has begun taking a hand off and looking at us and then doing his screech, which means, "look at me, look what I did". To our surprise this morning, Mr. Carson pulled up on the foot rest for the glider in his room. He stood there, no surprise, but then..Thank goodness I was standing behind him. Took both hands off. For maybe 3 seconds he stood with no assistance and then like a tree, went down into Mommy's arms. Grey hairs!!

Foods: We've moved into textures. I bought him the Gerber puffs, which he really isn't so sure about. At the recommendation of a friend, I soak Cheerios in a little water for a minute and then give it to him, he likes those MUCH better. HATES Egg Yolk. Geoff scrambled a yolk for him last weekend and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

His first tooth has a neighbor. The second tooth joined about a week and a half after the first. It's hard to see in this photo, but I'm sure there will be more coming.

Now that Carson's bathroom is almost done, we've decided to start giving him his baths in the big boy bath tub. He is uncomfortable in the small bathtub. I still don't know how they can put on the box, grows from infant to toddler. Carson is all over the bath tub chasing after toys. No matter what, his loyal Tuna is right there watching and making sure no "duckies" get out of control.

We've noticed that Carson has a fascination with steering wheels. LOVES THEM like he loves balloons. Anything that turns and looks like a steering wheel, keeps him happy for a long time. So what did Mommy do. I found the neatest little car from a lady on Craig's List. The woman said her son loved it and it was in great condition, as she kept in the garage. Sure enough, it was like new. Carson loves it! I push him around the backyard, up and down the side walk. The bottom has a floor board and when he gets older, we can take the floor board out and the pole off and he can push around himself.

Easier said than done. We also decided to start putting Carson in his crib and let him fall asleep on his own. No fun and torture for Mommy and Daddy (more Mommy). The first night, he just cried and cried and cried. Finally, I gave in after a 1/2 hour. We tried again and it worked a little better. We still aren't at the point where we can lay him in there awake and he falls asleep. But the past week, we've held the bottle a little bit longer until we know he is exhausted. We then give him the bottle and he is out cold by the end. This method has seemed to work much better for us. As for the waking up in the middle of the night..This use to be an issue. We would have to pick him up, calm him down. Now, we just pat him back down and he is out until 7am.

This past week, I entered Carson in the contest for the Cover of Parent's Magazine. I submitted a photo and it was chosen as a possible and to win, won by the number of votes. He entered in as #35 out of over 2,000 babies. Couldn't believe it! Geoffrey and I were so proud. As the week went on he grew farther and farther back, ending today at #102. But like we said today, we know we have a cutie on our hands and to be #102 out of over 2,000 babies..Whew.. GO CARSON! Below is the adorable photo that I entered. And a big thank you to all of Carson's supporters. It means so much to us. Thank you again.

A special congratulations to Chris and Nicole as Kailyn Marie entered the world on May 4, 2010. A gorgeous little girl who Mommy and Daddy waited along time to hold and love. Congrats guys, we love you! xoxo