Carter's Sixth Week

Carter's sixth week was a fun one for us all.  It began with Dawson's birthday party last weekend where he was a real party animal...sleeping most of the party!  Two big (to us) events occurred during his 6th week.  First, he took his first bottle!  It's recommended that if you want your baby to take a bottle sometimes you introduce it between 4 and 8 weeks (some say 4 and 6), so this week John gave Carter his very first bottle!  Dawson was very interested, of course, when he heard that Daddy was going to feed Carter.

The other big event that happened this week was that Carter started REALLY smiling.  Now he smiles all the time!  He loves to stare at our faces and then suddenly give us a big grin!  So cute!  Dawson thinks it's great when Carter smiles at him!

Carter went back to the doctor this week, and at two days shy of 6 weeks he weighed 11 pounds 1 ounce and was 21.75 inches long.  His birth weight was 7.13 and 21 inches long, so he's growing!

In other Carter news, we learned that he has a diary allergy this week.  After a couple of doctor's appointments, that was what was determined.  I am glad we have it figured out, but not so happy to realize everything that milk is present in.  Looks like I won't be eating cheese, most breads, most chocolate, or Chick-fil-a chicken nuggets (to name a few) for a while.  We are just glad that it is something that I can change in my diet and solve the problem.

Carter continues to be such a wonderful baby!  He is always happy, and rarely cries.  He's a cuddler which I love.  He really is an easy baby!  That about wraps up our week! 

Here are some pictures from Carter's sixth week!

Daddy giving Carter his very first bottle!

Right before I snapped this picture Dawson

decided Carter needed two bibs so he laid them

on Carter's side, as you can see.  Carter took the

bottle like a champ and also returned to nursing

the next feeding with no problems!

How nice!

This week we started to pick

the first of the veggies from

our garden!  Dawson was

thrilled and very proud.

Carter was a little less excited

since he can't eat them.  :)

One evening we went over to the duck

pond (one of Dawson's favorite outings).

I snapped this picture though to show how

seriously Dawson takes feeding the ducks.

Look at how hard he was throwing it to the

nearby ducks.  hah!

Carter sporting his Tennessee

pajamas.  Bed time!

I think half the pictures we have of Carter

he has his left arm in the air like this...

obviously his preferred pose.

Looking serious and throwing

some gang signs.  :)

My sweet boy giving me a smile for the

camera.  Plus, check out those chins!

One of Carter's first "real" and intentional

smiles.

Then an open mouth smile.

Dawson spent the night with his

Lolly and Pop this week, and had a

blast.  They were getting a new roof,

which meant Dawson got to check

out the roofers' dump truck.

He's all boy!

Loving the dump truck.

Dawson's Construction Birthday Party

On Saturday, May 19th we had a construction-themed birthday party for Dawson!  He LOVES any and all construction equipment, tools, and anything along these lines, so picking the construction theme was easy!  His invitation was orange and yellow with a "digger" on top and read:

Calling all builders...big & small

We'll dig in the dirt and have a ball!

Foreman Dawson wants you

on his 3rd birthday construction crew!

The party is on the 19th of May

We'll see you at 4:00 on this special day!

Construction Site:

Our Home Address

Can you dig it?  RSVP to the Site Boss: Our Phone Number

We decorated with Caution Tape, Construction Cones, and balloons in yellow, orange, and black.  I made orange road work signs that sad things like "dig in," "demolition area," and "work area ahead."  All of the kids got tool belts and construction hard hats with their names on them.  They could dig in the sand doing construction or pretend to be a wrecking ball and smash the block towers in the demolition area.  We also had a bounce house inflatable that was just for fun.  It was an orange tiger so it matched the color theme of the party.  To tie it in I joked that it was what our little construction crew could do on their lunch break!  :)  For food we served 'Dozer Dogs (hot dogs), Backhoe Burgers, Forklift Fruit (fruit salad), Nuts and Bolts (chex mix), Crane Chips (potato chips), and Bobcat Beverages.  I made a dump truck cake with construction cone candles.

Dawson's Nana, Grandad, Aunt Emmie, Cousin Drew, Lolly, and Pop were there along with friends, Charlie, Fred, Andrea, Thomas, Henry, Josh, and Cassandra.  Dawson (and John and I) had a great time celebrating with friends and family.  We loved that we were finally in the same state as the Gibsons so we can go to Charlie's birthday party and they could come to Dawson's!  We were also impressed that Josh and Cassandra were willing to drive all the way from Asheville, North Carolina! 

Here are pictures from the party...

The cake I made for Dawson's third birthday

party!

We rented the bounce for the whole

weekend.  Pop and John set the bounce

up on Saturday morning and didn't take

it down until Sunday night, so we got

a lot of extra bounce time...I think it's

all we did all weekend!  This picture was

Saturday morning right after we got it

set up.  Dawson and Pop jumping at 9am!

Another action shot of Dawson bouncing

with his Pop!  Thanks for you help with the

bounce, Pop!

Dawson and Charlie having fun in the bounce!

Dawson and Charlie again.

The demolition area.

The food table.

Party decorations.

Charlie doing construction

in the sand.

Charlie preferred to do demolition with the

bat instead of the swing.

Dawson doing demolition on the swing

as the human wrecking ball.

This is what construction worker

Carter did for most of the party...

a regular party animal!  :)

(Notice he wore his tool belt bib,

and his outfit had a little digger on it

under the bib too!)

The food table and banner I made behind it.

Food...'dozer dogs and backhoe burgers.

Food...nuts and bolts, forklift fruit, crane chips,

and bobcat beverages.

Mommy, Daddy, and Carter with birthday

boy, Dawson!

Dawson with his cake and construction

cone candles before we started singing!

How cute is construction worker

Thomas?!

Henry was also having fun!

Dawson and Charlie in their tool

belts.  Dawson's birthday shirt has a digger

on it and says, "I dig dirt!"

Dawson trying to give Charlie a hug to thank

him for the gift!

More views of the party site.

I'm sure our neighbors loved looking at this in

our backyard for the whole weekend!

The bounce house!

Sand construction area.

Sand construction area.

After the party we had a little "after party"

inside with our friends the Gibsons and

the Whites.  After the after party we crashed

and decided we'd clean up the next morning.

When Dawson woke up Sunday morning,

he just walked around in the playroom looking

unsure what to do with the party aftermath.

We had a great time!

Dawson and I in the bounce for the last

time on Sunday night before we took it

down.

We were worn out from bouncing ALL weekend!

Carter's 5th Week

Carter is now FIVE weeks old!  He is such a good baby, and we are loving every minute with him!  He's getting really strong and can hold his head up for long periods of time now.  He's still doing really well eating.  He eats about every hour and a half to two hours during the day, but usually goes about three hours between feedings at night.  He's generally very happy and cries very little.  In fact, he cries so little that Dawson panics when Carter does cry and tells me I need to feed him NOW!  :)

During his fifth week he enjoyed a lot of playing in the playroom on his back time gym and tummy time mat.  We also took him to the duck pond with big brother for the first time, and he also celebrated Dawson's and Lolly's birthdays!

And now, on to the best part...the pictures!

Watching big brother play in the playroom!

Dawson showing Carter how to feed the ducks

at the Alcoa Duck Pond. 

Dawson attempting to get closer and closer

to the ducks and geese.

AND this is what Carter did while we were

at the duck pond!  Not exciting enough for

him, I guess!

(As soon as I snapped this picture we had

to leave because Dawson got really close

to some baby geese, and the big geese

would not quit hissing at us and leave us

alone...I don't think Dawson will get that

close to baby geese anymore since he's

still talking about the "hissing geese!")

For a change we decided to let

Carter relax in Dawson's bean

bag in the playroom one afternoon.

I think he felt cozy and snug

down in it because he was very

content to rest there for a while!

Another picture of Carter in the

beanbag!

Remember back in November

when we found out Carter was

going to be a boy, so we gave

Dawson a boy doll??  Well,

he loves to get his baby and burp

it.  That's what he's doing here.

And he loves his baby!

Then he wanted his baby to have a turn

with Carter in the beanbag.  He pointed

out that Carter is bigger than his baby.

And then, decided to give brother

a sweet kiss.  (Again, this was not

staged!)  He gives Carter kisses

all the time, and I just love that I've

happened to have the camera out

to capture two of the sweet kisses!

Lolly's birthday cake!

Dawson and Lolly celebrating her birthday!

Dawson with his Lolly.

Carter was relaxing in his bouncy

seat during all the pictures.