Wednesday, December 17, 2014

6-8 Months

This little guy has been keeping us soooo busy that we did not post during six months and I thought I would catch up at seven months.  I thought that I was good to go when I realized he was 8 months old already.  I'm telling you this time is going super FAST. 

Height & Weight:  Carter is a big boy!  Bless.  He is weighing in at 22 pounds and is 26 inches long.
 
Health:  Well it's been a rough two months or so.  Bless his heart.  He got croup about six weeks ago and since then has had a snotty nose/cough.  Goodness we have wiped so much snot it is unbelievable.  We go to work daily with a boggie on our clothing somewhere.  He also had a TERRIBLE case of diarrhea!  Oh my word.  Bless his hiney.  It was awful.  Thanks to awesome friends and great advice it was cleared up after a few days.   
 
Sleep:  Sleep is going pretty good.  We have eliminated all feedings at night time.  He was taking a "dream feed" around 9:30 and then one other bottle around 3:30am.  We eliminated the 3:30 feeding first.  Last week we eliminated the 9:30 feeding.  He usually goes down around 7:30pm and wakes up anywhere from 5:30am to 6am.  He is taking an average of 2-3 naps a day.  Usually a short morning nap and a long afternoon nap. 
 
Clothes/Diapers:  He is in size 3 diaper during the day and we put him in a 4 at night time.  Big boy is in size 9-12 month clothing.  A lot of his clothes are Garrett's so they are a little smaller anyway from washing and drying.  That's what I keep telling myself, but he is a BIG boy!
 
Social:  He is pretty social, but lately has become attached to mommy and daddy.  If we are in the room and someone else takes him, he will sometimes fuss.  He still prefers to be outdoors vs indoors.  He also loves getting out of the house in general.  If he is fussy we will jump in the car and go to the grocery store or Target.  It's amazing.  He won't fuss or cry the whole time we are out there. 
 
Diet:  He is still on GentleEase and has a little over 6 ounces.  We are still putting  1.5 tsp of rice in each bottle.  He eats pretty much every three hours during the day.   
 
Baby Gear Love: This boy doesn't have time for baby gear these days!  Boy is beyond busy.  He is crawling everywhere and pulling up on EVERYTHING!!  He really loves the laundry basket to play with.  Seriously!  Second kids are so much easier.
 
Hair/Eyes:  His eyes are still really blue and his hear is a strawberry blond. We are still wondering about his hair and if it will stay that way.  His hair tends to get wavy when he gets hot!  So maybe we will have a curly haired baby?
 
Crying:  It's gotten a lot better.  He has been sick, so he is a bit fussier in general.  He usually only cries if he hurts himself or if he is tired/hungry. 
 
Likes: He finally likes baths again.   We went through a 4 week period where he screamed/cried through baths.  HORRIBLE.  Praise the Lord for phases.  He still LOVES his big brother.  Sometimes Garrett will be so annoying to us, but Carter LOVES it and giggles.  So we just let him go and make him laugh.  He loves Sandy!  His favorite things to play with are Sandy's dog bowl and food.  He also will settle for her water bowl too.  He likes watching the laundry go in the washing machine and dryer.  He loves chasing us around.  He has found a love for balls.  He likes saying "yeah yeah".  He likes making zerbert noises.  His laugh is contagious and I could listen to it all day.  Oh he also loves getting into things he's not supposed to be into (fireplace, touching the TV, pulling chords and playing with floor fans.  His favorite places to play are on sofas/beds and playing in his room.  It is so much fun to watch :-) 
 
Dislikes:  Eating sometimes.  He really hates getting his diaper changed and putting clothes on and taking them off!  That boy can squirm like no other.  I get sweaty just trying to change him sometimes.  ha
 
Milestones:  He is crawling everywhere!  He is also pulling up and can stand by himself.  Seriously this guy is growing up fast!  It's so crazy.  He also got his first tooth.  It's almost done growing in. 

 
 
Firsts this month:  He is eating more.  He has started eating puffs and yogurt.  He loves yogurt.  I'm going to try some real food soon and see how he does with it.  I tried to give him some peas and he was not a fan. 
 
 
 
What I'm thankful for:  so thankful for a smart baby boy.  He gets so tickled at his brother and himself.  He is a funny guy.  He also said "ma ma" today.  ONCE!  I will take it.  Hopefully he will continue!
 

Typical Day: I've added this to help me remember what days are like...
Looking back at what we did at 5 months, it's amazing how much he has changed.  He usually wakes up around 5:30 to 6:00 am (thank you time change...grrr) and has a bottle.  He then has fruit and oatmeal about 20 minutes after that.  He then plays until it's time to go to school.  No more laying around.  We are chasing him all over the house during this time.  We take him to school around 7:30.  We get him home around 5:30 and he eats around 6:15pm.  A bottle and a vegetable.  He takes a bath around 7:15pm.  We read a book and put him to bed.
On non daycare days he gets up at the same time and then we usually keep him up until 9:15am.  He usually will fall asleep during this bottle and sleep four about 45 minutes to an hour.  He wakes up and plays until his 12:30 bottle/feeding.   A lot of times he will nap after this point and take a longer nap.  It can last up to 2 to 2.5 hours.  Sometimes if that nap is short he will take a third short nap.  He still follows the same night time routine.

No pictures....hopefully I will get some pictures up soon.  He will be nine months in a week or so.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Kindergarten

This post is long overdue!  Garrett started Kindergarten at the end of August.  We honestly were so very sad to leave his daycare because he had such amazing friends and we were very comfortable there.  As well as Garrett having all of his friends there, we had formed amazing friendships with the other moms and dads.  I was worried about Garrett being upset leaving his friends, but honestly I was scared of leaving my comfort zone!
Luckily before school started we all got together (almost all of us, some couldn't make it) and had an end of the year party at our local splash park.  Here are some pictures that still make me tear up just looking at these kids and all the fun they had!
look at that smile!  Sweet Addison and Garrett have been together since they were 8 weeks old or so
 
 

 
The boys waiting for the big SPLASH
 
BOOM!!!
 
 
the boys huddled up
 
 
 
 
The water was so much fun!!
 
 
They love each other SO MUCH
 
 
 
Carter was popular with the ladies :-)
 
 
 

 
Best buds since Garrett was 8 weeks and Rooke was 12 weeks old
 
 
 
These three always have a BLAST
 
Garrett dressed himself and at the end of the party we realized he had his pants on backwards!  Ha!!
 

Here are a couple of pictures from his last day of daycare.  His teachers were amazing! 
Back to school shopping and he wants to wear his pirate outfit.  Pick your battles
 
 
The day is not complete without ice cream!
 
 
 
 
Garrett's last day.  Carter got in the picture too.  Every morning Garrett's job was to bring the formula into Carter's teacher :-)  He looked forward to it every day.  I miss my little helper!
 
Ms. Jeanie was AMAZING!  He learned so much!!!
We got to meet the teachers a few day before school.  I was super nervous.  None of Garrett's friend are in his class.  Luckily he has met a lot some great new friends.
We found Landon at meet the teachers.  I love this picture of these two
 
Ms. Hunter, his assistant teacher
 
Ms. McLaughlin
 
Playing in the music room
 

 
Daddy joined in
 
Rooke & Garrett jamming out together
 
The Knittles!
 
The Dail's (except Carter)
 
Lunch room!  Probably one of his favorite places to be!!  ha!
We were able to walk him in for almost a month.  It was such a joy to be able to be part of his world.  I truly miss being able to walk him to his room.  I was able to meet some of his new friends and see their morning routine.  He is really doing so well and I am so proud of him. 
 
 
 
Seriously he was BEYOND excited!
 
Every morning they have to write their name and put it in a basket
 
 
 
 
They also journal each morning.  I can NOT wait to see his journal.  During the first three weeks I was able to see his journals and they are AWESOME!
 
 
First day of afterschool was a success as well!  We are truly blessed!
 
Most mornings we run into his friends from daycare and it is so wonderful!  I think it makes G's day!!
 
 
 
So far he has really done well.  We did get a call from the teacher the first week and I thought "Oh she must be calling to tell me how well Garrett is doing!"  Well not so much.  Apparently he was wrestling on the playground?!  WHAT???  Well we talked and haven't had many issues since.  He can either get a smiley face, a straight face, a sad face or a smiley face with an "A".  Smiley face with an "A" is the best you can get!   So far he's had 7 "A's".  The reason I know this is because we count them every day on the way home.  every day!
He has actually started to read and spell.  I am so proud of all he has learned!