Carter, Uncle Logan, and Pop!

Everyone always comments on how much Carter looks like his Uncle Logan, and I couldn't agree more.  Carter does look A LOT like my brother.  Since I'm eight years older than my brother, I was old enough to really remember what Logan looked like as a baby...and he looked like Carter!  To have a little fun with this, I decided to get out some of my brother's baby clothes and take some pictures of Carter in them for comparison.  So here we go...

Uncle Logan above

and Carter below.

(Carter is a little older here than Logan

was in the photo above, but they still

look alike and have on the same outfit.)

Logan above

Carter below

(The outfit Carter is wearing for this picture

 is one of his Uncle Logan's.  Again, although

there is an age difference between these two

pictures-Logan being older this time-they

still look similiar!)

And now just for fun and because

I think Carter looks like my Dad too...

Above is a picture of my Dad, Carter's Pop,

and below is a picture of Carter.

I love this sweet boy!

Carter is NINE MONTHS!

These two are so wiggly and silly that it's hard

to get a photo of them together!

Carter 9 months!

Dawson 3 1/2 years!

As soon as they got in the chair together

they both got wiggly and wild.

Silly boys!

Carter is 9 months!

Unfortunately Carter

has figured out how to climb the two

step we have in our house.  They

go from the playroom to the kitchen,

and he thinks it SO fun because he knows

he not supposed to do it.  After he climbs

to the top he takes off crawling and smiling!

Carter must think this looks like a fun place

to crawl because he always tries to get

between the couch and end table...

then he gets stuck!  It must look like

a fun tunnel to him!

Carter had a really hard time being still

for his little 9 month photo shoot in the chair

because he really wanted to crawl over to the

arm and pull up on it.

Carter's favorite toys are Dawson's toys

that are tiny and a 9 month old should never

play with...like this hotwheels car.

He loves these things!

Look at that sweet face!

Carter 9 months!

He LOVES to tunnel!

Dawson and Carter playing on the

musical table!

 

As of yesterday, January 13th, Carter is now 9 months!  He has such a wonderful personality and is a really happy 9 month old.  Thankfully about a month ago he got into a much better night sleeping pattern.  Now he only wakes up two times a night!!  It's awesome!  He will still have a few nights here and there where for an unknown reason he is awake more than usually, but for the most part he's only getting up twice between 8pm and 6-6:30am.  He also takes two naps during the day a one-hour morning nap, and an afternoon nap which is also an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.  He really doesn't sleep much to just be 9 months, and he's SO active when he's awake that I'm not sure how he's not exhausted all the time.  I think he just doesn't want to miss anything big brother could be doing!
Speaking of Dawson, Carter LOVES Dawson more than ever at this age.  Now that Carter can crawl around wherever Dawson is, Carter is right beside him (or on top of him).  Carter will just crawl right over Dawson's back if he's laying on his tummy or up on his lap if he's seated on the floor.  It's really sweet, and Dawson loves it about 95% of the time.  That other 5% of the time, Dawson just doesn't want Carter messing up something he's built-blocks, train tracks, etc. 
Back to how I said Carter is crawling.  He is and isn't crawling.  He has been army-man crawling for about a month now, but he's gotten really good at it!!  He's super fast!  A lot of the time he will get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth like he is going to crawl, but then he puts his stomach back down and does the army crawl while also pushing with his legs...I guess he has decided this is fastest way for him to move!  I'm beginning to think that he is not going to every "really" crawl on his hands and knees because he's started pulling up on everything lately so I think he may move to cruising/walking next.  Either way, he's mobile!  This month he has also figured out how to go from his tummy to sitting back up on his bottom!
Carter is continuing to grow, although I don't have is official weight and length for 9 months because his check up is still a few days away.  He will have gained weight for sure though!  He's going through a little over 100 ounces of food a week!  This is NOT counting the fruit (apples or bananas) I mash into his oatmeal at breakfast and bedtime which probably adds about 42 more ounces on to the weekly total.  AND he's eating regular oatmeal, not the infant powder oatmeal, those two times day, and he loves it!  For lunch and dinner he has veggies, meat, and fruit.  He loves to snack on Cheerios or Puffs.  He also demands that I share my bagel (most bagels are dairy free!) with him each morning AFTER he has finished a big bowl of oatmeal.  He still nurses about 5-6 times a day too.  So I know he's gained weight!  All that crawling and exploring requires a lot of calories!
Carter has learned and perfected some new "tricks" this month!  :)  He now waves bye bye and hi one command or sometimes just when I carry him out of the room.  He will say bye! and sometimes hi!  He claps!  If anyone says "yay" he knows that's the cue for clapping and starts clapping, although he just does it a lot on his own too!  When he does it he makes a sound like "ayyyy" imitating our "yay!"  He will still sign more and we're working on "done."  There have been three times this week where he has seemed to sign done at the appropriate time, but I'm not 100 percent certain it was intentional...so I don't know that is official yet!  :)  He's started making the kiss sound when we say to give a kiss, but he's not wild about performing this trick yet and only does it about 3/4 of the time.  He will also high five if you ask about ask frequently, still not a favorite of his yet, although he does know what to do. 
Carter is very vocal!  He's a loud baby, just babbling and making sounds ALL the time!  The louder we are, the louder Carter gets.  He knows I am "Mama," John is "Dada," and Dawson is "Buba" and calls us those names.
Carter also loves to dance if there's music playing anywhere, he hears it and moves side-to-side!  I love it.  He will also dancing when I sing him little songs.
When Dawson became mobile he was obsessed with tunnels, and Carter seems to be developing the same fascination!  We have a few tunnels now and he LOVES to crawl through them, especially with Dawson.  Some of his favorite places in the playroom are under his musical table (this doesn't work well because he ALWAYS gets stuck and I have to rescue him), under the train table, and under the desk he and Dawson share. 
Nothing goes unnoticed to Carter at this age either.  We're having to begin baby proofing things again, as we had mostly it all down since Dawson so good and careful about everything now.  BUT Carter loves to open the bottom of the entertainment armoir and empty out the dvds and push buttons.  He also crawls directly to all outlets and points to the holes.  If there is a cord anywhere, he will find it and crawl like mad to get there before I can stop him.  For this reason we now spend even more time than ever in our playroom because it's so much safer for him!
We love our sweet Carter! 
Enjoy two more pictures...

I'm not really sure why these two pictures uploaded

after all the text, but here are two more

pictures of my sweet boys!  Look how happy!

More pictures, Mommy?!?

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 was wonderful!  It was Carter's first Christmas which made it so much fun.  This year Dawson LOVED everything about Christmas and was really excited and happy for the holiday to arrive.  It was also SO nice not to have to travel for the holiday!  We were able to go to all of our family Christmas gatherings AND spend Christmas morning and Christmas Eve night at our house!  It was great!!

We started the Christmas festivities with John's family on Dec. 23.  We had a yummy lunch and exchanged gifts. 

 

Here's Carter with Grandad!

Carter with his Nana!

Carter attempting to open his own gift.

Big brother decided to help!

On Christmas Eve the festivities continued

when we got together with my dad's side of

the family.  We always have a lot of fun on Christmas

Eve, and this year was no exception!

Lolly and Pop got all the boys these cool light sabers,

and they were a hit!  Dawson had a blast playing with

Corbin who is just 2 months older than him!

Carter with his Pop on Christmas Eve.

Dawson helping Uncle Logan open a

gift on Christmas Eve.

Two grandfathers help celebrate their

grandchildren's first Christmas.

Pop with Carter, and my Dad's brother, Gordon,

with his 6 week old granddaughter Hailey.

After we got home from the

Christmas Eve gathering, Dawson made

sure to leave cookies for Santa AND

Dawson and Daddy sprinkled reindeer

food near the chimney in the grass so

the reindeer would make sure to stop

Santa's sleigh at our house!

My two cuties in their Christmas Eve pajamas!

We had SUCH a late night on Christmas Eve

that we didn't get the boys in bed until 11pm!!

The next morning, John and I were about to

go crazy waiting on them to wake up because they slept

until almost 8!  Finally, I woke them up to come see

what Santa had brought!!

Carter near his pile of gifts from Santa

(clearly from the look on his face he

had just woken up!)!

He was thrilled with this musical

table!  Thanks, Santa!

Dawson asked for a soccer ball

and soccer goal from Santa.

He got it!  Here he is scoring the

first goal after we put it together!

Dawson and Carter checking out the presents!

Dawson also asked Santa to bring a bike. 

Great job, Santa!  Dawson LOVES it!

He was so excited!

My with my handsome boys on

Christmas morning.

After celebrating at our house, we drove over

to celebrate with Lolly, Pop, and Uncle Logan.

They gave Dawson and Carter a new desk.

It is double sided so both boys have a seat and

desk space now!  Dawson will be able to sell a

lot of ottomans from this desk, he said!  I'm

excited to have a space where they can both do art

as soon as Carter can sit on the stool! 

Opening more gifts at Lolly and Pops...

Carter really enjoyed the bags and

wrapping paper!  :)

After we celebrated with my parents and brother

(and Bentley), my mom's family came over.  We

had lunch, talked, and exchanged gifts.

Here are me and Carter with Mamaw.

Both boys with their Great Mamaw.

(Carter was getting pretty tired by this point,

so I couldn't pry the pacie out of his mouth!)

(Why do I always have on picture out of order?!)

Here's a picture of the boys both trying to open

more presents at Nana and Grandad's!

 

We had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Traditions: December Activities

Leading up to Christmas, we usually try to do one special thing each day in the month of December along with receiving an Advent gift.  I really like the idea of doing something because it serves to keep us entertained during one of the first months of cold weather when we can't spend as much time outside playing. 

We successfully did one fun, different, or new thing each day-and all but one were Christmas-related.  Dawson had a blast, and I enjoyed knowing we had a little activity for each day.  Here are some of the things we did (although not in order)...

 

Dawson built Santa's Toy Shop

with a little help from me.

Dawson made this Snowman ornament.

We saw Santa!!

Here's our sweet Carter opening

his first Advent gift!

One day our little activity was to

decorate this button Christmas tree.

Dawson loved putting them on,

and Carter loved taking them back off!

Each year Church Street UMC in

Knoxville has A Walk Through Bethlehem

where they convert part of their church

to look like Bethlehem.  Everything except

the large animals is inside.  Dawson enjoyed

seeing and petting these camels outside though. 

Inside the church they transform their fellowship

hall into Bethlehem by covering the ceilings with cloth

and lights to look like stars in the night sky, the

floor is covered with truckloads of wood chips,

stone, and hay.  Everyone is in costume.  There is a synagogue

where we attended a short service, and there are also

shops, merchants, storytellers, inns, shepherds, goats,

sheep, and a census form and box for everyone to complete.

We all really enjoyed this, and I think it will be something we

try to do each Christmas.

Dawson got to make this star out of clay

in Bethlehem.

Another day we went to Chickfila

for dinner and to make Christmas

ornaments with the cow!

(Dawson LOVES the Chickfila cow.)

Dawson and I made Christmas cookies!!

Here are some of the cookies we made and decorated!

Dawson enjoyed making them, AND

he especially enjoyed driving his John

Deere Gator to our neighbors' houses

delivering the cookies.

We also made this Christmas tree

cake and some gingerbread men!

(blue-eyed gingerbread men, at

Dawson's request!)

Dawson helping me mix frosting!

Carter enjoyed relaxing and eating

Cheerios in his high chair while

Dawson and I worked on the cookies!

One day we made this Christmas

necklace.

So fun!  One day our activity was to go to

Dawson's friend Colt's Christmas party!

Colt's mom made each boy (even Carter!)

these adorable gingerbread man aprons

with their names on them!  They got to

decorate cookies and play.  Dawson had

a great time, and so did John and I!!

We went to Chickfila to see

Santa Cow and Elf Cow one day!

Dawson decorated this Christmas

mug to drink out of!

One day's activity was to name this

door hanger.

Making gingerbread man pops!

The finished product.  :)

Dawson had fun!

Decorating our gingerbread tree!

Several time during December

we drove around looking at Christmas lights.

The Blount County Court House has

trees sponsored by different businesses and

groups on their front lawn.  Dawson had a

blast walking through these trees with us several

times!

This was our one non-Christmas-y

activity!  Dawson is always interested

in this when we're at the mall.  He was thrilled

to get to do it.  He was so brave, and

he loved jumping this high!

We had the meetup group over

for a little Christmas party.

The kids decorated cookies, did

some finger paints, and made

hand print ornaments. They also did

A LOT of playing!

It's hard to get a picture, but these

are the hand print ornaments they made.

Their fingerprints go up the sides

and look like cute little snowmen.

Dawson's ornament

This activity was more for me, but

I got their footprints and decorated this

plate!

Another day's activity as making these ornaments.

One day we turned this pine cone

into an elf!

Dawson made these two reindeer!