Mooo!

• When I put pants on him after a diaper change, I put them on over his feet as he's sitting on his dresser/changing table and then stand him up to pull them all the way up. When I stand him up, he leans over and hugs me while I pull his pants on. Sweetest!
• Similarly, when I get him out of his crib in the morning, he gives me a big, long hug. I can't even handle the cuteness.
• When we give him food, he often blows on it first. He's seen us do it for him, and he copied us!
• He loves climbing onto tables. He gets very proud of himself.

• One of his favorite things to do is get up on my bed, stand up, and fling himself down on his tummy. It's so funny, but I have to be very vigilant to make sure he doesn't fling himself right off the bed!
• He loves sticking his tongue out and going "Ahhh!" When I do it back, he laughs and tries to touch my tongue.
• When we need him to go away because he's trying to touch something gross (like dirty dishes) or dangerous (like the hot, open oven), if we say, "Carter, where's [insert family member's name here], he'll turn around and go find that person. It's both cute AND helpful.
• He likes to tuck things under his chin and walk around with them there. It's such a perfect combination of weird and cute. I haven't gotten a great photo of it, but I did get this:

• Whenever I wipe down the table, he comes over and starts wiping his hand across it too, as if he's helping. It's so sweet. I use a homemade vinegar spray, and as soon as he sees me spray it on the table, he comes over and starts wiping it around with his hand. He also "helped" me wipe down the sliding glass door once. We had to wash his hands after that one...
• When he gets really upset, he runs full-speed at the wall. It's his way of throwing a tantrum, and it leads to a lot of bruises on his head. Sad. :(
• Sometimes, when he's eating, he'll start doing this fake chew in which he just opens his mouth wide and closes it over and over. Then he laughs.

• Sometimes he does this weird quick eye batting thing when other people pay attention to him and talk to him. One time at church, there was a woman with a chocolate chip cookie. He saw it, did the eye batting thing, and the cookie was his! It was like he flirted with her for it. Smart little man!
• The other day, he helped me empty the dishwasher by pulling things out and handing them to me.
• He can use a fork! And while he used to let us help him stab things, now he'll get really mad and throw everything if we help. Unfortunately, there's just a lot of food throwing in general at meal times. My good eater has become very picky already. *sigh*
• Whenever he sees a picture of a cow, he starts saying, "Moooo!" He says it a little weird, which makes it even cuter.
• He loves to watch the trash truck.

• One of his favorite books is Five Little Penguins, which counts down from five penguins to one. On the last page, there's a daddy penguin that comes to take the last penguin home. So Carter always says, "Daddy!" when we get to that page. Then I started pointing at the last penguin and calling it the "baby penguin" (because I love hearing him repeat "baby!"). So then, when we went to the zoo earlier this week and saw penguins, the first thing Carter did was point and say, "Baby!" It was the cutest thing EVER.
• If he's sitting at the table and sees a plate or other object within his grasp, he'll slowly reach over and slide the thing towards him in a very sneaky way. He watches my face as he does it, and his expression seems to say, "You're not seeing this, right?"
• One of his favorite things to do is play with pot lids. Hey, whatever keeps him busy happy, right?

• When he wants to sit on my lap, he comes toddling over to me and then turns around so that his back is to me. Then, if I'm sitting on the ground, he'll just plop down. But if I'm on a chair or couch, he just stands there and waits for me to pick him up. It's my favorite.
• He loves books right now and brings them to me all the time. It's nearly impossible to say no! He also likes to read the same book over and over, so when we finish one, he'll often grab it from me, turn around to face me, and shove it back into my face.
• He's starting to pick up a few more words. He has really cute pronunciations for them. He says:
• "Buppy" for "puppy"
• "Wawva" for "waffle"
• "Baba" for both "Grandpa" and "Papa"
• "Woah-woah" for "woof woof"

Walkin' and Talkin'

Ohhhh my Carter love. He is still the sweetest boy. He's starting to become a little feistier, but I'm actually glad. It's nice to see him coming into his own. He's so fun! Here are some of my favorite Carterisms:

• He has finally figured out how to go down the stairs. He always wanted to go face first, but he finally let us teach him to go down backwards. 
• He is still such a happy little dude. My favorite thing is that he laughs after he sneezes. Every time. SO cute.
• He has started saying some real words! He says:
• "This" (when he's holding something and showing us)
• "Yes"
• "Woah"
• "Wheeeee!"
• "Aubrey" (he says it so cute... I can't figure out how to write it phonetically)
• "Up"
• "Ohhh"
• "Oops" (when he drops something on the ground... he says it like "Ohps")
• "Yummy"

• He HATES having his teeth brushed and will blow raspberries and spit in your face when you try to brush them. But he loves chewing on his toothbrush.
• When he doesn't like a food or just doesn't want to eat it anymore, he'll open his mouth and wipe the food off of his tongue. If you try to feed him when he doesn't want to be fed something, he'll bat the spoon/fork away and/or blow raspberries.
• He also says "Wheee!" when we're driving in the car, when he's on the swings, when he's standing and holding onto the rocking chair while pushing it back and forth, when he's standing up by the running dishwasher and bouncing up and down, etc. Love it.

• He loves playing the gravity game (AKA throwing things on the ground and watching us pick them up). It usually happens at dinner with his cup and with his food when he's decided he's done. Not my favorite, but the cute little mischievious face he makes when he does it makes it impossible to be mad.
• He has started to throw tantrums, but they're actually really funny. He rolls around on the floor, kicks his feet, and whines.
• If I cry out in pain for some reason, he starts to cry. It's really cute. I think he likes me!
• He LOVES sitting in Aubrey's little chair and rocking back and forth. He says, "Wheee!" as he does it, and it kills me. 

• Back when we were in California, he became very mommy attached. I think he was struggling with all the location and schedule changes. So when someone else had him and he wanted me, he'd cry until he got me. Once I took him from the other person, he'd lean his head on my shoulder to hug me, and then he'd turn back to the other person and reach out to touch them quickly, as if he were thanking that person for holding him and then giving him to Mommy. It was adorable.
• He used to gently stroke my hair (or the hair of any long-haired person who was holding him), but he's lost that gentle touch. It's too bad; it was so sweet.
• He's also finally starting to walk! He got really into using his walker, and now he's starting to take steps all on his own. His first steps were taken on Sunday, July 30th around 10:45 a.m. The only reason I know this is because it was during Sunday School at church, and I was sad I couldn't clap and cheer for him! He was holding onto a chair, and then he just let go and took five or six steps. His current record is ten consecutive steps. 

Carter's First Birthday!

Unfortunately, both kids were kind of sick for Carter's birthday. The day before, they came down with fevers and were very tired and kind of grumpy. So on Carter's birthday, we took it easy. There were a lot of tantrums frome big sister, who was more sick than Carter. I had grand plans to take them to the park so Carter could go on the swings, but none of that happened.

Until Daddy got home, it was a pretty normal day. We did start with birthday Swedish pancakes. Carter loves them (as he should!).

He really wanted to get the pancake off the plate. He finally succeeded.

When Daddy got home, we had some pasta for dinner. Then, because it was SUCH a beautiful day outside, we went for a walk. Carter loves being outside and was very excited.

Next we opened presents. Carter got a baby phone...

... a driving toy...

... and a bead maze.

After presents, it was time for cake! First we sang. Carter loved it! Then he played with the frosting.

Finally, he started to go for it. Kind of.

And then Mommy encouraged him.

Yay, cake! Yay, birthday! Yay, Carter! I feel a little bad that it was a pretty uneventful day for him, but such is life, right? And hey, he didn't even know it was his birthday anyway! So it's all good.

1 Year Old

WHAT?! How is this baby of mine already a year old? In some ways, it's been a looong year. But in all ways related to Carter, it seems like it went by so fast! Cliche, cliche, I know. Anyway, this boy OWNS me. I'd give him one of my kidneys--just to play with--if he asked me to. (Too far? Eh, whatever.)

Here are some Carter fun facts!

• He has four teeth on top and three on bottom.
• He weighs 29 pounds. Holy huge baby!
• He loves playing with shoes. I really hate it. So gross!
• He recently did the quintessential baby thing and unrolled all of the toilet paper from the roll. We never leave the bathroom door open (for obvious reasons), but Aubrey went in once and didn't shut the door after. Carter saw his opportunity and took it. He was SO happy and proud of himself when we discovered him.

• When I'm holding him and someone else approaches and smiles or says hi to him--even if it's Daniel--Carter does a shy smile and then buries his face in my neck. Then he looks back, smiles again, and buries his face again. It's so cute!
• Also when I hold him, he will often just put his head on my shoulder and give me a hug. IT IS THE BEST! Seriously, he can't stop with the hugs, or I'll whither and die.
• He is SO HAPPY! All I have to do is smile at him to get a cute, cheesy grin in return. And he sometimes just laughs--just because! He is so, so wonderful.

• He loves the book Goodnight Moon. He always points at/pets the kittens and the little mouse. He just interacts so cutely with the entire book.
• In other book-related cuteness, he will rock side to side if you say, "Carter, shake and shimmy!" It's a line from his other favorite book, Horns to Toes and in Between. I need to get a video; it's soooo cute!
• He can take a few steps with his little walker. He hasn't seemed too interested but is becoming more so. He cruises on furniture and can climb stairs, too. Hopefully real walking is on its way soon!

• He's very patient when it comes to Aubrey and is usually fine when she invades our time together--unless it's nap time or bed time. Before both, we sit together in his rocker and read a few books. If Aubrey comes over and tries to sit with us, he whines and kicks his feet. He doesn't want her up on my lap with him! Again, this is only when I read to him before naps and at bedtime. It's so cute! I relish that Mommy-Carter time too. 
• When he puts something in his mouth that he's not supposed to have and I catch him, he quickly turns and crawls away from me, laughing as I chase him.
• He loves playing this game with people:

Okay, now tell me he isn't sunshine in a little baby package! D'oh. Love. I don't want him to grow up! :(

Month 11

Carter is still just the happiest, sweetest dude! I can't imagine my life without him and his wonderful snuggles! Here are some facts:

• When he has a bare tummy, he delightedly smacks it with both hands over and over again, grinning from ear to ear. It's insanely cute.
• It is completely impossible to change his diaper. He rolls over and tries to crawl away--off of the changing table--the second you lay him down. He will twist and writhe and freak out, making it necessary to pin him down. When Daniel's not around to help, I actually lay Carter on the ground and put my leg loosely over his chest to keep him there. It's exhuasting.
• He likes to sleep with his head in the corner of his crib. And he's a champion sleeper! He sometimes sleeps super late in the morning (which I can't enjoy as much because of Aubrey, who doesn't sleep in), and he often takes 3-hour naps. If he were an only child, I'd be so well rested.

• Speaking of sleeping, tonight at bedtime Daniel started to leave Carter's room without turning on his sound machine (which is set at "rain," if you're interested). Carter apparently pulled himself up into a stand, leaned over the railing, pointed at the machine on the ground, and make a little "Uh! Uh!" sound. I hope we're not making him too dependent on that thing, but that is pretty cute!
• He likes to put everything in his mouth, which in addition to being scary is also really gross. He scavenges for dropped food under the kitchen table after meals. And if he tries to pick something up off the ground that can't be picked up (like a sticker or a mark on the floor), he leans over and licks it. During Aubrey's gymnastics class last week, he bent over and licked the torn up part of the tumbling mat. It was disgusting.
• He LOVES bubbles. He gets such an adorable look of wonder on his face when he's surrounded by bubbles. And they can always cheer him up!

• Like Aubrey did when she was a baby, he loves the Sandra Boynton book Horns to Toes and in Between. I touch his head, ears, legs, tummy, etc. when each body part is mentioned in the book. I tickle him when it talks about tickling and shake him around when it says, "shake and shimmy," and he just laughs so sweetly. It's seriously my favorite book just because of how much my kids love it.
• Speaking of reading, he has started turning pages as we read to him. If I pop the page up for him and tell him to turn the page, he'll do it.
• He gets really excited to go outside, and he cries if you open the front door but then shut it without taking him out.
• He often crawls up to me and tries to climb up my legs, which makes it pretty hard to say no to picking him up.

• One day he started darting his tongue out and bringing it back in really quickly, like a lizard. I did it back to him, and he thought it was so funny. Now we do it back and forth to each other, and he laughs.
• At a church playgroup the other day, we were all sitting on the floor eating a picnic lunch. I had food for Carter, but he kept crawling around and climbing up on the other moms trying to get their food. Boy loves to eat. He'll seriously eat (and like) anything--except for scrambled eggs. For some reason, he makes a disgusted face when we feed him eggs.
• Speaking of eating, he feeds himself a lot of things and eats pretty much whatever we eat. But for anything requiring a spoon (yogurt, oatmeal, etc.), we feed him with a spoon. When we put something in his mouth and some part of it gets on the corner of his mouth, he automatically reaches up and uses the back of his little hand to push it into his mouth. Gotta get it all, right?

• He LOVES spinning wheels. I can almost always distract him with a toy that has a wheel on it. He particularly likes spinning the wheels on Aubrey's plastic bike. They're big and spin pretty fast, so he'll play with them as long as you let him.
• He also loves opening the drawers in the bathroom and pulling himself up to a standing position at the bathtub. He makes a beeline for the bathroom any time the door is left open.
• We haven't tried to teach him any sign language or anything, but we realized that he claps to indicate that he wants more food, wants you to do whatever you just did again, or wants you to pick him up. It's so funny to see him sitting in his highchair and clapping as he cries pitifully.
• He (kind of) says "Mama" and "Dada," which is just too cute! 
• He can climb up one stair. He hasn't gotten farther than that yet, but I think it will happen soon.

Month Ten

I missed doing this post because of our big trip to Peru!

😭😭😭😭😭

I feel totally awful. Bad Mommy! I never missed one of Aubrey's posts. Then again, I never went out of the country when Aubrey was a baby.

Moving on.

Since I missed this one, I'll just include a cute picture of my boy from his 10th month of life.

Gah! Love him. Okay, now I'll actually go do his 11-month post.

Month Nine

Man, I adore this little guy. He's my snuggalovie! I would hug and kiss him all day if he'd let me (and, you know, if I didn't have stuff to do). Anyway, here's an update:

• He loves looking outside and watching it snow.
• He's sleeping in his crib full-time now (not in our bed at all) and has been for nearly a month now! It turns out a lot of his problem was feeling crappy. But he's been breathing SO much better and has avoided illness for several weeks in a row now, so good sleep is back on the agenda! The night we decided to start sleep training, we didn't really have to do anything. He cried for a few minutes, but he figured it out without our interference, and he's been fine ever since! (And yes, we realize we're super lucky.)
• When I repeatedly kiss his cheek or pretend to eat his neck, he smiles. Then, when I stop, he leans in and pushes his face/neck against me until I do it again. Love!
• He has two more teeth (the top middle ones) coming in! He's a drooling champion, but there are no indications of teething other than that. (Again, we realize we're lucky.)
• He does this really funny/adorable laugh/happy noise that I love. He has also started to clap! Why are clapping babies so cute?!

• He's starting to get into books. We read to him before bed (and sometimes before naps), and he has started touching the books and talking to them. He makes a sad squawk when I finish each book and put it down. Love it!
• The only time he gets truly mad is when he wants food and isn't getting any. But he has started to show more displeasure at having toys taken away from him (*cough* Aubrey *cough*).
• He finally started saying "mamama"! I know it doesn't mean anything yet, but I still like hearing it!
• He makes funny noises with his mouth that none of us can replicate. He also always looks like he's chewing something, even though he's not.
• He's on the move! Though, I must admit, he's not really crawling yet. He mostly rolls to get where he wants to go, and when he tries to crawl, he ends up moving backwards. It's pretty cute though...

• He gives me hugs and still snuggles into my shoulder when I hold him. THIS MUST NEVER STOP! It's too too sweet!
• He loves playing "Ride a Little Horsey," especially when I have him go upside down when I say, "you might fall down!"
• We've been blending up our meals (including things with meat) and feeding them to him, and he loves it! At least one of our children will eat the food we make...
• He has started intentionally bonking his head against things repeatedly. Inevitably, he sometimes hurts himself and cries. 
• If he's holding something I don't want him to have, he'll death grip it when I try to take it away. I'll start shaking the thing back and forth and try to loosen his grip, but it just makes him laugh to feel his arm shake so fast. Cutie.
• He takes baths in the tub (and actually has for awhile now). He's pretty subdued in his splashing, but he's a fan! Oh, and he makes sure to self-censor when I take photos (what a gentleman!):

• When I do his nebulizer treatment before bed, he always chews on the bottom part of the mask. It makes him a completely drooly mess!
• He's gotten very vocal. For some reason, he particularly has a lot to say (and loudly) during Daddy's Sunday School lessons...
• He naps for a few hours every morning, and most of the time he naps for a couple more hours in the evening. It's the best!
• He's in the 96th percentile for weight and 97th percentile for height.
• He has reached the inevitable stage of wanting my phone anytime he sees it. This is not my favorite thing about children.
• He has also reached the "let's grab everything stage." He's pretty quick!
• He's already a good helper. He likes to clean the floors! ;)

A Trip to the ICU

Carter is no stranger to illness. The poor kid has been sick for half of his life (seriously). And I know that I really can't complain; he could have cancer or some other life-threatening condition. I'm so grateful that he is as healthy as he is. And I try to remind myself of that whenever it's the middle of the night and no one is sleeping because he's coughing and crying and wheezing.

Anyway, I always talk about how happy Carter is. He is truly a sweet, smiley kid. I LOVE it. Even when he's sick, he's still always quick to smile. That's why I grew concerned when in one day he went from this:

to this:

In all the times he's been sick, I've never seen him get knocked down like this. He got so sad and pathetic. He didn't want to eat. He fell asleep in his highchair at dinner.

So finally, on day five of him being sick and pathetic, I noticed he had a wicked fever. I checked his temperature rectally (because it's more accurate), and it was over 103. I called his pediatrician. I gave him Tylenol. I let him sleep. When he woke up not much later, I checked his temperature again. It was over 104. I called the doctor back and made an appointment to go in later that day.

Long story short, they gave him two Albuterol treatments in the office. He didn't improve much. He had an ear infection. His blood oxygen level was low. The doctor made a call to the Hasbro Children's ER in Providence, and I made a call to Daniel. I dropped Aubrey off at a friend's house, where she got to play with one of her favorite church friends. She was happy. Daniel left work early to pick her up and take her home, and I went to the ER with Carter.

It was the day after the Superbowl (and I guess the Patriots won, so people were excited or whatever), and the place was PACKED. Like, every nurse and doctor I talked to was saying it was the busiest they'd seen it in who-knows-how-long. Luckily, Carter's age and condition put him at high priority. Still, we waited for more than two hours. At least I got some good snuggles in...

They checked his breathing regularly. They did a chest x-ray. They monitored his blood oxygen level and decided to administer oxygen via a nebulizer. Silly Carter kept wiggling his feet until the pulse oximeter would fall off his toe, so they kept using more and more tape to secure it.

At some point, a doctor said very non-chalantly that Carter had Bronchiolitis and that they would probably be sending him upstairs to stay the night for observation. He said they'd let me know for sure after his x-ray results. Thankfully, the pediatrician had mentioned an overnight stay as a possibility, so I wasn't completely surprised. However, I was a little surprised when a doctor came down and said they were ready to take Carter upstairs, considering that no one in the ER had come to tell me that it was definitely happening. Oh well; I know they were busy.

When we got upstairs, they used a "deep suction" machine to clear out Carter's sinuses. It looked awful, and he hated it. But hey, it helped. They also decided to hook Carter up with some oxygen via those little nose tubes (nasal cannula, apparently). Not surprisingly, he was NOT a fan of that either. He kept rubbing his face and making them come out. He was completely exhausted but couldn't settle down.

Aww, see how sad he was?

Finally, after I turned off the lights and held his arms down (gently) so that he wouldn't disturb the tubes, he fell asleep. Daniel arrived not long after with food and overnight things for me. Someone from church was sitting on our couch while Aubrey slept, so he didn't stay long. And Carter didn't stay asleep long either, unfortunately.  

So I climbed in the crib with him. I even had the nurse pull the railing up on the other side so that I wouldn't be hanging out. It was... snug (read: uncomfortable). So once he was deeply asleep, I got out of the crib and got ready for bed. Being very sick myself (I eventually ended up with sinusitis and an ear infection), I decided to take some medicine so I could feel better. Bad idea. I fell into a very foggy sleep, waking up whenever the nurse would come in to check on Carter (usually when his monitor beeped because his oxygen level went too low). I kept wanting to get up when she came in--to see how he was doing--but I couldn't move my limbs. The medicine and my exhaustion were too powerful. 

But then one of the times I woke up and found the nurse and two doctors surrounding Carter's bed. I heard something about the ICU, and I popped awake. Apparently, Carter's heart rate had dropped, and his respiratory rate wasn't good either. A doctor from the ICU came up to check on him. They took a blood sample and changed him into a hospital shirt. They gave him an IV for fluids (since he hadn't eaten in forever). At this point, there were two nurses and two doctors surrounding his bed. There were also two other doctors standing at the foot of the bed consulting. 

The woman holding onto him here was the nurse, Karen. She was great. She said there were a lot of pretty sick kids on the floor but that she had spent almost all of the night with Carter. That's why she suggested he needed to go to the ICU.

And so we transferred downstairs to the ICU (and my new room didn't have its own bathroom... lame). At this point I texted my mom, who said, "I'm packing my bags." Hooray for moms/grandmas! Anyway, Carter was a sweetheart and a trooper through it all, even though the night was very restless and no one slept more than a half hour at a time. Just look at this sad, sweet face!

Daniel took the next day off from work (obviously), and in the morning Aubrey went back to her friend's house (so much gratitude to the Bedke family!) so that Daniel and I could switch places. He went to the hospital and I went home, ate breakfast, took a shower, and went to pick up Aubrey. When she and I got home, I gave her the iPad so that I could get a few hours of sleep. I feel no shame whatsoever.

My mom arrived in Boston around 5:00 and took a rental car to our place. I left her there with Aubrey asleep, and then Daniel and I made the switch again. According to Daniel, Carter pretty much slept all day (which was good but also totally unfair that Daniel got the easy shift). He only woke up to get his different medicines (Pulmicort and Albuterol, of course) and to eat. His appetite still wasn't good though, and he still needed oxygen. Daniel and a friend from the ward gave him a blessing. I missed it, sadly, because it happened before I got there.

Daniel went home and went to work the next day since my mom was there to take care of Aubrey for us. And I stayed with Carter again, only this time I didn't drug myself. After a much better night--in which they were finally able to take Carter off of oxygen--the doctors told me he could go home that day. They took out the IV and gave him a shot for his remaining antibiotic. And he was smiling again! He made all the doctors and nurses swoon.

Carter continued to improve drastically after we got home, but his appetite took several days to come back. As it is, he's still not eating as much as he was before the hospital. But he's completely back to normal now, and we're so very grateful! I can't even begin to express my gratitude for the members of our ward, many of whom offered help. I feel bad I didn't respond to every single offer. I'm also very grateful for all the friends and family who prayed and were thinking of us. We felt so loved!

A lot of people asked me how I was doing through all of this, and I felt guilty that I was totally fine. The nurses and doctors were so unalarmed and so calm, and that helped me not to worry. And though I can't explain it, I just knew that Carter was going to be fine. I felt very sad for him, but I wasn't worried. That's weird for me, but it was definitely a blessing. And who knows... maybe it's just that I was too sick to process everything! Haha.

Anyway, I'm so glad that we're all doing better. And I plan to never take my children out of the house ever again. The germs are everywhere!

Month Eight

Phew, what a month we've had! As usual, it's been filled with lots of sickness, but this time our sweet lovey ended up in the ICU. :( But that's a story for another post! THIS post is about capturing all the cute things that make Carter the wonderful boy he is. So, here we go!

• He's discovered his tongue! He loves sticking it out when he babbles.
• He loves to say "dadada." I've been trying to teach him "mama," but no luck so far, haha.
• He's definitely having some separation anxiety. He cries whenever I leave the room! He also cries when I put him down.
• When he really likes something and/or if he wants you to do something again, he bobs his head back and forth. It's his trademark!

• As I mentioned last time, Carter often ends up in our bed in the early morning hours. And, as with most babies, he wakes up earlier than I do. So when he wakes up, he maneuvers himself around until he's lying perpendicular to me. Then he starts poking me with his foot until I open my eyes and look at him. Then he smiles. If I close my eyes again, he starts kicking me again. If I scooch him over so he can't reach, he scooches back. If I roll away from him, he cries. It's cute and all, but I wish I could sleep later!
• I think he's a little behind developmentally as a result of his being sick all the time (and because infants with Tracheomalacia often experience developmental delay), but we're not too worried at this stage. I think a lot of it is that he's just so happy and content that he doesn't feel the need to try to crawl or assert his independence in other ways. And hey, he can hold his own bottle!

• Also as a result of his being sick all the time, he's just not a very good sleeper. Before the chronic illness began, he was sleeping through the night with no problems. But he kept getting sick over and over again, and when he was sick he'd wake up often and need medicine or comfort or snot removal or to be held so that he could sleep sitting up (to ease his cough). Now, our pediatrician says, he's established a pattern of waking up and needing us in the middle of the night--even when he's not sick. It's a pattern we plan to break next week during Daniel's vacation week... unless he's sick again. *sigh*
• Wait, I just realized I never provided the official diagnosis we got from the pulmonary specialist! Okay, so. He has a condition called Reactive Airway Disease. The official explanation is this: "Numerous environmental stimuli induce an allergen-antibody interaction, causing a release of mediators that create airway inflammation. Airway inflammation is the primary factor responsible for smooth muscle hyperresponsiveness, edema, and increased mucous production." Basically, it means that he wheezes, especially when he gets sick. It can be an indication of asthma, though we can't really say until he's older and can be tested. He also has Tracheomalacia, which basically means that the cartilage in his trachea is underdeveloped, making it all floppy and flappy. This picture explains it well:

• Because of these illnesses, he takes Singulair every day in little granules that we mix into his food. He also does Budesonide (brand name Pulmicort) twice a day via nebulizer. Then, when he gets sick, we have to do Albuterol treatments via nebulizer every few hours to open his airways and help him breathe. We also usually have to get a course of Prednisone (an oral steroid) for him during illnesses. It's a lot. The hope is that his Tracheomalacia will right itself by his first birthday. Fingers crossed!
• He has two little teeth on the bottom, and for some reason I find them adorable!

• While Grandma was just here visiting, she discovered that Carter loves to go upside down! In fact, if you try to sit him back up, he straightens out his legs and tries to go backwards again.
• When he sees his bottle being made, he gets a big smile on his face and starts bouncing. As you bring it towards him, he opens his mouth really wide. If you don't bring it to him right away, he cries like he's experienced the most bitter betrayal. The boy loves to eat! He's much more picky, too, than Aubrey was. He hates peas and won't eat anything that has them in it, even if I add sweet fruits to mask the taste.
• He loves to take off his socks and chew on them. He always has cold feet because he can't keep his socks on (or dry!).

• When he decides he's done eating something, he'll start blowing raspberries if you bring the spoon to his mouth. It's messy but cute!
• He cries when Aubrey throws loud tantrums or screams. He's so sensitive!
• Just like Aubrey when she was a baby, he loves the book Horns to Toes and Inbetween by Sandra Boynton. When I hold him up to him, he starts smiling really big. It's nice to see him getting more into books in general.
• When he eats, he often sways and bobs his head so that it's really difficult to get the spoon in his mouth. It makes feeding him either really amusing or really frustrating (depending on my mood, haha).

• He has a little fakey cry he does sometimes when he wants to be picked up. He contorts his face all funny and does this faux cry that is hysterical. And hey, because I find it so dang cute, it still works! So there you go.
• Truly, this boy is pure sunshine. He is almost always happy and can be put down for long periods of time without needing too much. It's easy to forget about him sometimes because he's so easy-going. But he's also so happy and sweet that you can't really go too long without him before you start missing his sweet face and infectious laughter!

Month Seven

Carter, Carter, Bo Barter, Banana-Fana-fo-Farter... What would I do without this kid? I often find myself holding him close and just trying to breathe him in. Literally, I'm kind of smelling the top of his head. Is that weird? I just want to drink in every moment with him, because I know it goes so fast. Anyway, here are some highlights about this cutest of all pies:

• He's wearing 12-month clothes and weighs about 24 pounds. The only kind of pants he can really fit in to are sweatpants. He's living the dream!
• He's super smiley and chatty in the morning. It's the greatest thing to wake up to!

• When he gets picked up, he gets really excited and kicks his feet and flails his arms really fast. And just in general, he's always bouncing. He's a bouncy baby boy!
• When I hold him on my lap facing me, I often shake my head back and forth to make him laugh. When I stop, he does it himself. So cute!

• He's started getting up on his hands and knees, but then he doesn't know what to do after that, so he just collapses. In the process, he's learned how to scooch backward. He can actually move pretty far doing that. The next step is real crawling!
• When Aubrey gets really upset and cries/screams, he looks really worried and starts to cry too. It's so sweet and sad! I mean, check out this serious pout face...

• In the middle of the night, when he cries (because he does now, what with his always being sick), he's usually on his stomach, pushing himself up with his hands. When I go in there, he looks up at me, his face crumbles into the saddest cry, and he kicks his feet really quickly. It breaks my heart and makes it so hard to not pick him up.
• He has this ridiculous full-body coat that I just have to share a picture of:

• When we went to Colorado for Christmas, Aubrey and Carter got sick. And, of course, with Carter's problems, he took forever to get over it. And while he was sick, he had a hard time sleeping on his own. As a result, he ended up in our bed every night for a couple of weeks, which is something I never thought I'd do. Cosleeping was never ever part of our parenting plan, but when you have a sick child... I guess you've gotta do what you've gotta do for everyone to get some sleep, right?

Anyway, he's gotten used to our super comfy bed, and he's had a hard time returing to his crib. We added some padding to make it better for him, and a plush mattress pad should be arriving by mail anytime! Fingers crossed.

• Sometimes, when he's just sitting there, he'll hold up his hand and look at it like, "Woah, check that out." He seriously seems like a stoned person when he does it.
• He recently went on the swings for the first time, and he loved it!