Half a Year!

 

 

Happy Half Year Birthday! Today you are 6 months old.  I cannot even believe that you have been here with us for half a year already.  I feel like I'm going to blink again and you will be eating cake at your first birthday.  Take it slow, little man!

 

 

 

 

I just couldn't pick one!

 

 

BABY STATS:

Weight: 16 lbs 

Length: 26 inches

Hair Color:

Red (But I think you have some blond in there)

Eye color:

Gray Blue but the inside is turning towards green.

Diaper Size: Size 3.

Clothes Size: You are wearing 6 months. You fit them so well.  From time to time, I pull out a 3 month onesie but then I have to remember that you are getting bigger. What gives? Haha.

Nicknames: Tarter Sauce or Tarter

Sleep: Sleep is amazing! We did the Sleepeasy Solution with you right after you turned 5 months.  You sleep in your crib now from 7:00 PM to sometime between 6:00-7:00 AM.  That's right! In your crib, in your room, downstairs! You then take 2 or 3 one hour naps through the day, in your crib, in your room, downstairs. Can you tell I'm excited?  You have been doing this for weeks now and have been such a happy baby to be getting the sleep you need.  Happy Baby = Happy Momma.

Eat: You eat around every 3-4 hours during the day.  I nurse you, or Dad feeds you a bottle if I'm not home, right each nap.

Daily Routine: We have a routine! You wake up between 6:00-7:00 AM.  Dad or I bring you upstairs to our room and you act like a piranha, crazily trying to eat our arms, until we get your in our bed and I nurse you.  Sometimes you and I fall back to sleep for a little while longer.  When we get up, you play for 2 hours, until it is time for your first nap.  I take you into your room, turn on the white noise, and nurse you.  Then I lay you down, still awake, and you roll over and go to sleep.  You nap for at least an hour.  You get up from that nap and play for 2.5 more hours until your second nap.  We do the same routine and when you wake we play for 2.5 more hours until you go down for your third nap.  After your third nap, we play until 6:30 PM.  You then get a bath, we put you in pajamas and I nurse you and put you in bed for the night.  Before I go to bed, around 10:00 PM, I come down and dream feed you.  You sleep until the morning when we start our routine all over again.

Milestone: You have two bottom teeth! I couldn't believe it when I checked and saw them pushing up.  They broke through at the same time a week ago.

 
You are crawling! You are crawling everywhere now and you are so quick.

You can sit up by yourself.  You prefer to have one hand on the ground, like a tripod.

You pulled yourself up to standing in your crib! You had finished your nap, you crawled over to the side and pulled yourself to standing.  If your Dad hadn't gotten a picture with the baby monitor, I wouldn't have believed it.

 

You had solids for the first time.  You attempted earlier in the month to eat Liam's PB&J sandwich.  Liam walked up to you and held it out so you reached out and snatched it then shoved it in your mouth.  You looked so surprised once you tasted it though.  Dad ran over and took it out of your mouth though.  We gave you a slice of Avocado, last night, and you really liked it.  You put it right in your mouth but spit out the big bites you took. It was so amazing to watch you pick it up, put it in your mouth and try to figure out what this new stuff was.

 

Likes:  You love chasing your brother. You crawl after him all day long.  He makes you laugh and the two of you will just giggle together.
 

Dislikes: You still aren't the biggest fan of the car seat.  We figured out that you poop almost every time we put you in the car seat.  Right after is when you get super mad! We have started taking you out of the car seat when we get to a store so you can sit in the cart and check every one out.
You also don't like sitting still long enough to get your diaper changed or to get dressed. You are so ready to go, go, go!

Firsts:

First Crawl
First Time Pulling Yourself Up in the Crib
First Time Eating Solids
First Teeth
First Time Sitting unsupported
First Trip to the Zoo

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Five Months

Happy 5 Months Little Man! The months are passing by so quickly.  This last month has been fun to watch you grow.  You are even more mobile now and are exploring everything you can. 

BABY STATS:

Weight: 15 lbs 

Length: 25 inches

Hair Color:

Red

Eye color:

Gray Blue but the inside is starting to hint towards green.

Diaper Size: You have moved into size 3.

Clothes Size: You are still wearing 3 months. You live in onsies because I feel like they are the easiest to dress you in!  They are getting a little tight so it may be getting time to try out some 6 month clothes.  You are still skinny though so that's why I haven't attempted it.

Nicknames: Tarter Sauce or Tarter

Sleep: Sleep is not happening for long periods of time so we are changing things up for you.  We got you out of the swaddle and you have been sleeping in the Baby Merlin Magic Sleepsuit.  We have decided to wean you out of that and are using the techniques from the book "The Sleepeasy Solution."  It worked wonders with Liam and within 3 days of starting it, we had Liam sleeping through the night in his crib. We just laid you down without your Sleepsuit while in your crib and you are asleep!! Fingers crossed that you start sleeping better today!

Eat: You still eat every few hours, either nursing or getting breastmilk in a bottle when Mom is not around. One more month and we may start giving you some solids.

Daily Routine: Eat. Sleep. Poop. Roll Around, Try to CRAWL! and Chew on stuff. Repeat.

Milestone: You are EVERYWHERE! You roll, get in the plank position, get on your hands and knees and army crawl to get things you want.  Dad gives you a couple more weeks until you are full blown, hands and knees, crawling. But I say "SLOW DOWN, Little dude!"

You got your first dose of Tylenol this month after your shots.  You looked like you could hear colors!

Tylenol Face!

You took your first bath with your brother.  We put your infant tub in the bath tub and put you in.  We then filled up the big tub and Liam got in.  You both loved it!

Likes:  You like whatever you can grab and put in your mouth.  You will army crawl to anything on the floor and try to suck on it.  Your brother's leg, a big toy truck, a book, your teethers etc.
You love a teether necklace I made myself to wear when Liam was little.  You chew on it until it's covered in drool.
You like the blue Lamaze plush horse that Liam had when he was little.  It was his favorite toy also!

Dislikes: You don't like being in the car lately.  You have been extra angry when you are in your seat. 
You don't like when Dad has to put you down for bed at night.  You are much happier when Mom doesn't work late and can snuggle until you fall asleep. 

Firsts:

First Baby Pushup
First Army Crawl
First time sleeping in your crib

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Four Months

 

 

 

You are Four Months old now! I was looking back at the beginning of this blog, that I'm writing for you, and saw that one year ago yesterday I made my very first post.  Now you are here and growing up so fast already.  Can we freeze time because while I love watching you grow, I'm going to miss you being a baby!

BABY STATS:

Weight: 14 lbs 2 oz

Length: 25 inches

Hair Color:

Red

Eye color:

Gray Blue but the inside is starting to hint towards green.

Diaper Size: You are still in size 2.

Clothes Size: You are wearing 3 months.  You are long so they fit perfect but you don't quite fill them all out. You are wearing a onesie that is size 3-6 months in this picture so you can see you need some more chunk.

Nicknames: Tarter Sauce or Tarter

Sleep: Sleep has not been as good as it was previously.  You wake about twice a night now.  I have no idea what times you get up though because I refuse to look at the clock at night.  I don't want to know how little sleep I have gotten or how little time I have left before I need to get up.  It's called denial.

Eat: You eat every few hours still. I have no idea how much you eat while I'm home but your Dad says you eat like a pig while I'm at work.  He called you the "Milk Chug Champ!" You will drink between 10-14 oz while I'm at work. You were given your first taste of a banana but your mean, mean parents won't let you have any more or any solids at all until you are 6 months.

Daily Routine: Eat. Sleep. Poop. Roll Around and Chew on stuff. Repeat.

Milestone: You are a rolling machine! You rolled over for the first time from back to tummy on the morning of 6/20.  I was so excited that you did it before I went into work so I got to see it! You hadn't yet rolled tummy to back before then.  About five days after you rolled back to tummy, you started rolling the other way too.  You now roll all over the place.
You are starting to scoot yourself on your belly.  Your Dad is convinced you only have a couple more weeks before you are crawling.  When you are on your belly, you will get yourself on your knees but you have your face planted in the ground so you don't make it too far.
You now grab your hanging toys on the play mat and try to put everything in your mouth.

Likes:  You like chewing on the blankets that we lay you on.  You love Liam! You are fascinated with everything he does.  You love when we hold you facing out so you can check everything out.  You like trying to talk, which just sounds like screeching.

Dislikes: You don't like sitting still for too long. You still are not a fan of drinking milk out of a bottle if it's not just the right temperature.  You don't like when Mom is gone and Dad has to put you down for your naps.  

Firsts:

First Roll from Tummy to Back
First Roll from Back to Tummy
First Belly Scoot
First Fourth of July 

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My Fourth of July Surprise!

Carter's First 4th!

One year ago today, we got a big surprise.  I had been feeling really tired all the time at the end of June and had been taking frequent naps in the afternoon.  I am not a nap person so it was really out of character but I kept writing it off as just being tired from work.  I had been in a stretch role at work since April and had just learned that I was being promoted to a Sales Manager in Training. I was so excited and was staying extra busy while at work! It had been taking a toll on me because I was up on my feet for my full shift and I was exhausted by the time I got home.  The night of July 3rd, I had laid in bed and realized my hips ached really badly.  My first thought was how weird that was because the last time I felt like that I was 6 months pregnant with Liam.  Then it hit me and I thought "I can't be pregnant."  I put it out of my mind and thought maybe I'll test tomorrow morning.

 I woke up at 6am on July 4th and just laid there wrestling over whether or not I should take a pregnancy test. I was convinced I wasn't pregnant but after laying there for a couple minutes, I decided to get up and test.  Shawn was still sleeping so I tried to be sneaky as I grabbed a test out of the cabinet and went into the bathroom.  I took the test and immediately saw two lines. 

I stared at it for a while, blinking, trying to figure out if my eyes were playing tricks on me.  I was in shock! I had taken a Wondfo, which is a cheap test I bought from Amazon, and thought maybe it is a false positive.  Like I said, I was in shock! I decided to not say anything to Shawn yet and that I would go buy a First Response on my way to work. I thought I just have to hold my pee because the more concentrated it is the better the test can pick up the HCG.  I was scheduled to work at 11am that day. I can't remember what excuse I made to Shawn to head to work early but I told him I needed something from Target before I went in.  I was getting ready to leave and in the midst of everything I went to the bathroom.  Right after, I realized I thought "Great, now I could get a false negative because my pee won't be as concentrated when I test."  I figured I would still head to Target and just test later in the day. 

I went to Target and bought a pack of First Response Test, along with a crap ton of other stuff because you can't leave Target with just one thing.  I then decided that since I still had time I would go by Barnes and Nobles to buy Liam a few new books for bed time.  I really wanted a fun way to tell Shawn about our new baby on the way so I was on the hunt for a Big Brother book for Liam.  I stopped at Barnes and Nobles found the cutest book titled "I'm a New Big Brother."  I also bought a few other books for Liam too.

I headed to work and decided to take a First Response test when I got in.  I had peed an hour before so I was pretty positive that it would be negative but decided to try anyways.  However, This is what I got.

I was in shock at how clear both lines were and it finally sunk in that this was actually happening.

I'M KNOCKED UP!!!

I went about my work day consumed in my thoughts and bursting to share the news.  I couldn't wait to get home and tell Shawn.  About halfway through the day, I told a fellow associate that I was feeling kind of off.  Her first question was "Are you pregnant?" I thought for sure she was going to see through the lie I was telling her.  I nervously laughed it off but was convinced that I wasn't quite as believable as I hoped.  She dropped the subject and our conversation moved on.  Finally it was time to go home and I was so nervous excited to get there.

When I got home around 8 PM, Shawn told me my parents was coming over so I knew I couldn't tell him yet.  My family showed up and we lit fireworks for Liam. He loved them!

Liam on his First Fourth of July!

After we finished around 930 PM, my parents left and we started Liam's bath.  He got his bath and as we put him in his pajamas for the night I told Shawn I had picked out some books for Liam and that he should pick which one he wanted to read Liam.  I went to my car and brought him a stack of three books.  Shawn started reading the titles.  "Chicka-chicka boom boom, I want to be a Fireman... I'm a... New... Big Brother?" he read. 

He looked up at me with so much shock in his face and stared saying nothing. (Man, I wish I had gotten a picture of his face!) Finally I broke the silence and awkwardly said "Surprise!"  He asked "Really?" I told him yes and he asked when I had tested.  I told him this morning and he got a big cheesy grin on his face, hugged and kissed me. We put Liam to bed and we went upstairs to talk.  I ended up texting and then talking to Andrea to tell her that night too.  (Shawn was surprised that not only had I held it in from him all day but that I didn't tell Andrea either! I was pretty proud of my self control.)

That following weekend we ended up telling our parents first and then the whole world.

I can't believe that this all happened last year and now I have an almost 4 month old celebrating his first Fourth of July today.  He was definitely a surprise but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Three Months

Three Months have flown by! It has been so exciting to watch your personality start coming out this month.  You are so alert to everything that is happening around you. And I love seeing your face light up when you look at Liam.

BABY STATS:

Weight: 13 lbs 2 oz

Length: 24 inches

Hair Color:

Red

Eye color:

Gray Blue

Diaper Size: You are still in size 2.

Clothes Size: You are still wearing 0-3 and 3 months.  The 0-3 are getting a little short but you don't fill out all the 3 months yet. The onesie I took your three month pictures in is newborn size.  It is neat to compare your growth just based on looking at what you are wearing.

Nicknames: Tarter Sauce

Sleep: Sleep has been going good still.  You still sleep in the Mamaroo until you wake up and then you sleep in our bed.  You usually go to bed between 8-9pm and don't get up until between 4-5am.  You wake up, eat and then go back to sleep until between 7-8am.  I'm loving the long stretch!

Eat: You are taking a bottle regularly as of last week since I went back to work.  You are very particular on it being just the right temperature before you will drink it.

Daily Routine: You are pretty consistent with needing to sleep every few hours.  You still are taking a long nap when Liam does which is great!

Milestone: You bat at the toys that hang from your play mat and try so hard to grab them. You have started laughing which I can't get enough of.

Likes:  You love your play mat and the toys that hang from it.  You get really happy when Liam lays next to you on it.  You like the swing at Grandma and Papa Allan's.  You will sit in it and watch everyone so contently.  We do have to make sure the music is playing while you are in it though.  You like to be held, facing out so you can watch what is going on. You like being tickled and have the cutest laugh. 

Dislikes: You don't like cold or room temperature milk in your bottle. You are pretty easy going other than that right now.

Firsts:

First Laugh
First time alone with Dad and Liam for the day

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Baby Bump Progression

I was editing Carter's two month pictures and started looking at the pictures I took when he was still growing in my belly.  It's hard to believe how quick it all went by. I am so happy to have Carter here but I really miss my belly! Now if only I could be back to being as skinny as I was at 5 weeks already.

Two Months

You are Two Months old, Baby Boy! I'm writing this post on my 27th birthday and the day that marks 2 months since you came into this world.  Another month has passed and it feels like I'm going blink and it will be your first birthday. You are growing so fast!

BABY STATS:

Weight: 11 lbs 8 oz 

Length: 22 3/4 in

Hair Color:

Red

Eye color:

Gray Blue

Diaper Size: You are now wearing size 2. The size ones aren't tall enough anymore to contain your poop explosions.

Clothes Size: Newborns are snug so we have moved onto 0-3 and 3 months.  The 0-3 fits the best and 3 months are a little big.

Nicknames: Tarter Sauce is still the most popular.

Sleep: Sleep has been going better recently. On 5/5, you slept from 930pm until 7am.  Your Dad finally woke you up because we were scared that you may have peed through the diaper from not being changed all night.  You haven't slept that long since then. so if you feel like it, we wouldn't mind at all  You usually go to bed, in the MamaRoo, around 930pm and get up at 330am.  That 6 hour stretch is heaven! We change your diaper and then I feed you until you pass back out and sleep in bed with us.  You sleep from there until sometime between 630am to 8am.

Eat: You still are a snacker but are doing much better about stretching out the times between now.

Daily Routine: Still Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat! You still nap when Liam does which is very nice!

Milestone: On 4/12, I heard your first real coo and on 4/15 you started social smiling.  I love talking to you, getting you to coo and smile at me. You love watching your brother run around you and will track things with your eyes and head.  The other day, you were laying on the ground, Liam walked up toward your head and you looked up at him and cracked the biggest smile.  It was so adorable. Liam is infatuated with you and I think you are falling for him more and more each day.
  You still love bath time.  You get so quiet the moment we place you in the warm water.
We also removed your infant insert in your car seat because you have out grown it!
You went on your first vacation.  We flew to Florida and stayed there a few days.  Then flew from Florida to Boston, drove to Hyannis and took the ferry to Nantucket.  We spent the week in Nantucket and you were such a great traveler.  You pretty much slept through everything.

Likes: You love being held and cuddled by me.  You pretty much spend the whole day sleeping in my arms.
When we go out, I like to carry you in our Sleepy Baby Productions Ring Sling.  You love it and tend to go right to sleep when I put you in.  If you get fussy at home, I'll put you in sometimes to help get you to sleep. 

Dislikes: You don't like taking a pacifier.  You took it a couple times but now you spit it out every time we try offering it.  You are just like your brother because he wouldn't take one either!  

Firsts:

First Airplane Ride
First Ferry Trip
First Vacation
First Social Smile
First Shower
First time away from Mom

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