Dear Santa,

Please skip my house this year. Really!

Love,
Carter



Click here to see more December fun.

And so the holiday season begins......

Ok, ok. This post is about a month late! It has been sitting in my drafts collecting dust. I totally forgot to post it! Better late than never! Here it is...


Oh boy, what a Thanksgiving we had! Carter endured his first 8.5 hour car trip. He actually did GREAT, only starting to cry about 30 miles outside of Amarillo. The sad sad sad part for Mama was the nursing strike that started Tuesday morning and as of today is still going strong. Tomorrow will be one week of absolutely no nursing. I keep telling myself that it was the traveling and teething that is doing it. Carter had one tooth break through this weekend and at least two more on the way. I was hoping that being home would put things back to normal but that still hasn't happened. Hopefully this won't be permanent.

On to happier news, he has a great time visiting Grammy and Grampy in Amarillo. They had only seen Carter twice before. He was busy crawling all over the house and pouring on the Carter charm like only he can! Carter also got to meet his two Amarillo cousins, Maddy and Sean. They had a blast bouncing around on their trampoline in the backyard. They also have a cute tiny dog named Daisy that Carter went ballistic over. The boy LOVES dogs. Every time he saw a dog we would scream DOG, DOG! It doesn't matter if it's a toy, TV show or the real thing. He loves dogs. Dog is officially his first word.

Carter also got to experience his first snow! It wasn't fun snow though, he really only got to experience it as we were rushing to the car to drive home and he was being pummeled in the face by it. Luckily the snow turned to light rain and eventually to gray cloudy skies the rest of the drive home. Once again, he rocked the car ride and didn't cry once! For now, we are so happy to be home. We have about 3 weeks to rest before all the fun holiday rush starts up again.

Here are some photos from Carter's Amarillo Adventures.

PICTURES!

Happy Thanksgiving!

nursing update: Carter never nursed again. Sad, sad mama. BUT, he loves the formula and now...I can sleep in, drink lots of wine, stay away from home for HOURS and drink more wine! Still sad, but loving the freedom : )

Boo!

Carter had a lot of fun for his first Halloween. He went to Lucy's school carnival on Friday and Trick or Treating with the kids at Frank and Stacy's house. Here are some of the highlights:

On our way to the carnival


Baby Milo


Hanging with Solly and Milo


The Trick or Treat crew (this was the ONLY picture with all the kids faces in the shot)


Passed out from all the fun

It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

No, wait, that's just Carter's head.


Today Carter had his 9 month well check. Everything is going great. He isn't crawling on his hands and knees yet, he is still content to just slither along. As a result of this he is also not really pulling up. He TRIES to pull up, but when you are on your stomach and not on your knees it makes it a little harder. I am working with him but I think he may just be a kid who never officially crawls. Doctor says this is perfectly normal. He also got the H1N1 vaccine. I was on the fence with this one but eventually decided to go with it. He had three shots altogether and he didn't take it very well. There was lots of alligator tears and hyperventilating and ended with his crying himself to sleep in the car. So so sad.

Yesterday I had a doctors appointment and the nurse commented on Carter's head. She told me when her son was little he ALSO had a huge head and she wondered how he could keep it perfectly balanced on his tiny little body. I smiled and thought, is his head really that big? It seems the perfect amount of roundness to me. My brother and dad keep insisting that his head is huge also. Maybe they are seeing something I'm not?

Apparently so.

STATS:
Weight: 18.5 25%
Height: 27.5 inches 25%
Head: 45 3/4 cm 50-75%

I guess everyone was right, his head is big, it must because he is so smart.

9 months baby!

Dear Carter,

Today you are 39 weeks old. It is your 9 month birthday. I cooked you in my belly for 39 weeks. I can't believe you have been living outside for the same amount of time. You are so big now. I remember those first milestones. You smiled socially at 6 weeks, rolled over at 10. You ate solids and rolled onto your belly at 6 months. Now you are pulling up, crawling, have your first teeth and are beginning to talk! You have done so much and it's only been 9 months! What a 9 months it has been. I look at little kids running around in parks and think, I can't wait to run around with you, and at the same time, I want to keep you in your babyhood and cuddle you and kiss you and not have you run away. You are my perfect baby boy. Happy 9 months. Please, don't grow up so fast.

Love,

Mama

Carter's first word, and I have a witness!

Either Carter turned into a smarty pants over night or I haven't been paying attention! Kate came over today to hang out with us. She was in the kitchen and asked if she could eat half of a banana and Carter goes..."nana?". Kate starts freaking out asking me if I heard that. Um, hear what? So she goes up to him and shows him the banana and asks him what it is. After a while he says "nana". Um, apparently my kid talks but I never noticed. He has also started doing the sign for "all done". Oh, and today at lunch when we strolled by a bunch of people on our way to the bathroom, he waved at them and said "bye-bye". Are you kidding me? HE CAN SAY BYE BYE? I don't know what happened but today, my kid woke up SMART!

Family Fun

My parents came to Austin to visit their THREE grandkids last weekend. We always have a blast when they are here. Now that they have THREE gandkids I expect to see them no less than every 6 weeks.



Lucy seems to have taken a big interest in Carter all of a sudden. I think it's because he is so animated and giggly and squirmy. She came over for a few hours on Saturday to hang out with us. She loved wresting on the bed with Carter. She was pretty rough but it didn't phase him. He's a tough kid.



Check out these funny videos:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9g7_O2EHIs



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2TwKg8VRuE



(Seriously, the embedding is REFUSING to work tonight. YOU try it.)





Click on this link to see Carter's October adventures so far

How do you torture your baby?

You make them wear their Halloween costume of course!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6grgHvzMMdA



(I would love to embed this video for you but it's refusing to work tonight)



Since Carter makes the sounds of a little monster, it seemed fitting to dress him as one for his first Halloween. Actually, truth be told I bought it for him today because it was on SALE at Babies R Us. It was slim pickings but I think he pulls off the monster look better than any kid out there!

Fly Away

Carter is on the verge of crawling. In the past few days it seems like he has really been testing his ability to move from point A to point B. He has been sleeping on his knees for weeks, in child's pose. Sometimes I would even catch him on all fours in his SLEEP rocking back and forth but he would never try to do it during daylight hours. It's like he didn't know he could do it. Today he finally started to move! He tries every once in a while to get in the crawl position but it seems like his best mode of transportation is to sort of slither along. He pushes off with his right foot and sticks his left foot in the air to propel himself forward. It's so cute to watch. He is also trying to pull up on things. Today he successfully pulled up on me. We have an over-the-door towel hanger that we draped over his crib to see if he would use it to pull up and he did a chin-up right away. It's amazing how much he moves. Diaper changes are the real challenge. It takes the both of us to hold him down. How does an 8 month old have so much strength of roll over with two adults trying to pin him down?? It's a mystery to me. He made so much success in one day. What will he be doing by Halloween??

All about Carter

Our friend Frank takes the most beautiful photos. A few weeks ago at a birthday party he took some awesome pictures of Carter for us. Because it's impossible to pick the best ones I posted all 35 of them. Enjoy!

P.S. This picture is my favorite.

Photos by Frank

No longer a logger

From the week after Carter was born, I found an iPhone application that logged the times when he slept, pooped and ate. Every day since that day I have been obsessive about logging every. single. thing. I was crazy, making Adam text me the moment he woke up if I was away from home. I needed to know how many hours, down to the minute, and how long he napped. Did he poop today? How many wet diapers did he have? I could tell you how many diapers I changed for the month. I was crazy with logging information. Yesterday I realized that Carter is about to be 8 months. He is fine. We have a routine. We can handle it on our own now. I thought it was a good time to stop the insanity. Today, I put the logger away. I feel free and freaked out at the same time. Free to not have to have my phone in arms reach when I switch feeding sides. Free to not stare at the monitor to mark the moment he falls asleep. Free at last! Free at last! It feels good, but I think I will check the monitor real quick...you know, to make sure he is asleep.

Play Ball

Who says you can't play ball with a 7.5 month old? Carter has a very good arm. I see a pitcher in him!

Picture Fake-Out

I have mentioned before that Carter has a "camera smile". As soon as we point it at him he is in full on cheesy smile mode. Yesterday I decided to fake him out so you can see it in action.

A boy of many hats

This weekend we went on the hunt for a puppet for Carter. He loves the puppet attached to his saucer. We started out at Terra Toys. They had a TON of puppets but none that Carter was too crazy about. They did have a bunch of hats that Carter LOVED trying on. Oh, and before you see the pictures you should know that Carter has two smiles. He regular smile and his camera smile. When Carter was about 3 months old he started noticing when we brought the camera out. He would be making the best faces and once the camera came out he was so interested in it that he would make the most series faces. Suddenly he realized we wanted him to smile at the camera. Now he makes the most cheesy camera smiles. They are hilarious.

Here is a "camera smile" in the car yesterday


Here is our little bug


Little Cowboy


King Carter (minus the cheesy smile)


Our next stop took us to Toy Joy. They had some CRAZY things at that place. Some kid was begging her parents to buy her a two headed baby doll with one of the heads looking like some evil mauled version of a baby. Freaky!

Hand Chair


Propeller hat

Propeller hat from Melanie Anderson on Vimeo.

Non-napper

Carter was SUPPOSED to be napping. Instead, he wanted to play a little peek-a-boo. He is so cute, I just couldn't resist.

Favorite Things

Carter always has one foot curled and one foot flared out. ALWAYS. I love it!

Just Because

Have you ever seen such a cute little face before in your life?!?!?!

6 months

Carter is 6 months old now! I would love to show you a 6 month birthday photo but my computer is being fixed and I probably won't get it back for about 3 more weeks. SO sad. Also, when they backed up my computer (I know, I know. I should ALWAYS back up my computer. Once I understand how to do that and what the heck that means, I promise to do it religiously) they lost about 100 of my photos. I am HOPING they are from not from this year or my wedding. Hopefully they came out of a folder that I have long forgotten about.

In Carter news he had his 6 month check up last week and everything is going great! He is right on target with all of his milestones.

Stats:
Head: 44cm (50%)
Height: 26in (25-50%)
Weight: 15.8 (10-25%)

So, he is of average height and a little low on weight. BUT, doctor says it's totally normal so that is great! There isn't really very much more to report. He is love, love, LOVING food. He is rolling all around and likes to make diaper changes a sport for us. He is sitting up for LONG periods of time and talks non-stop. Oh, and he has discovered screaming. Yay for us!

Amarillo by Morning

Last week Carter took his first trip to Amarillo. The trip started off kind of rocky with Carter scream crying on the flight from Dallas to Amarillo. It was 55 minutes of utter hell to us and everyone else on the flight. It was hard for him to nap since there is no direct flight and we had to deal with taking off and landing 4 times. I think his poor ears were killing him and he was so worked up there was no way he would eat or suck on a pacifier. Once we got to Adam's parents house Carter was in the best of spirits. He was laughing and talking more than he ever has for us. It was such a great way for him to greet his grandparents who he hadn't seen since he was two weeks old!

It was hard to schedule time to see everybody, especially since we only have 1.5 hour long windows in between naps to see people. Things we did get to do:

• See Harry Potter
• Hang out with the Worshams
• Hang out with Bek
• See the Davis' awesome new restaurant, Fireslice
• Adam got to hang out with Ryan
• Learn how to play Gin Rummy

We didn't get to do or see everything we wanted to but we are excited to go back in November. Here is a quick snapshot of all of Carter's adventures in Big A:



Click HERE for updated July photos.

Firsts

Today was a big day for Carter. He did three things for the very first time today!

This morning he FINALLY rolled over from his back to his stomach. He has been on the cusp of this for WEEKS and we knew it would happen at any moment. I actually missed the first official roll. He was playing on his mat and rolled onto his back. I watched him for a moment then went back to watching TV. When I looked back a second later he was playing on his stomach! I was sad to miss it but was lucky enough to capture the third one on video:



The second first was kind of scary. He was playing in his saucer and I noticed him gagging on something. I picked him up and one quick finger swipe found a big chunk of plastic in his mouth. It gave us a pretty big scare but he went right back to his happy babbling self within second. It reminded me that I have to keep an eye on him at all times. It turns out that it was from one of his toys! It was a plush toy that he always sucks on that has a lamented part on it. Needless to say that toy is now in the trash!

The most exciting thing for HIM was his first taste at solids. He ate some delicious rice cereal for dinner. This kid was definitely ready for food because he opened wide and ate everything in the bowl. He didn't even shudder at the texture or the taste. I guess I probably should have started him on solids earlier. Next food: carrots. I am hoping his takes after his mom and gives us some good "tasting faces" with more flavorful foods! Here is a video of him eating. It's kind of long but you get the gist of it after about 10 seconds. It's mostly for the grandparents anyway. If you listen closely it almost sounds like he "mmmmm's" the first bite!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Anderson!

Sunday was Adam's birthday. It was a pretty leisurely day, which was nice. I woke up with Carter to let Adam sleep in. I decided I wanted to make Adam a strawberry birthday cake that he likes so I started it first thing in the morning. We had brunch at Z-Tejas and took a nap when Carter napped. After the nap I starting on the icing. As I was making it I noticed it wasn't the right consistency. Reluctantly I began icing the cake. As I was slopping this weird pink runny goo all I could think was that it looked like strawberry shortcake threw up on it. Then I started thinking how weird it was that I was making Adam and pink cake. Then I tried the icing and it. was. terrible. Adam was a trooper and tried the cake. It was pretty bad and we both knew it was going to go straight into the trash can. It's the thought that counts, right?!?! As we were choking down the pink cake I asked, "Adam, do you even LIKE strawberry cake?". The answer was no. Sigh. Then it occurred to me that I have made this awful cake not once, not twice, but THREE times on his birthday. Next year, will someone please remind me NOT to make this cake ever, ever again?!?!



Despite the cake, I think Adam had a pretty good day. Happy birthday, Adam!!! Oh, and I PROMISE, not weird pink cake ever again.

Balancing Act

Click HERE for more pictures

Happy Birthday Week

This first week of July marks a lot of birthdays in our house (and our family!). Wednesday was my birthday and Sunday is Adam's birthday. Adam sure knows how to make a girl feel special. It started out with flowers on Tuesday and getting to get a manicure/pedicure. I woke up on Wednesday morning to this cute site:



What you might not be able to tell from the photo, Carter IS a gift surrounded by my other gifts. Adam stuck him in a birthday bag with a bow stuck on his chest and tissue paper all around him. It was the best gift of all!

Here is Adam and Carter preparing to wrap the gifts:



I was a little worried about turning 30, but so far it feels just like 29. Adam and Carter and I had lunch and then Jason, Kate, Lucy & Lemon came by to watch Carter sleep while we went to dinner at Fogo de Chao. Adam and I had been mentally prepping all week for a LOT of meat. It was as delicious as we hoped it would be. They brought out a dessert with a candle for me



The "icing" on the cake of my day was the surprise at the end of the meal. They have us the check and I opened it up to find THIS instead of the bill



How did they do it? Adam and I think they are more of a James Bond couple than Jason and Kate. It was very cool and we were SO surprised.

The night ended with wine at Max's Wine Dive. We (well, I) had plans for this late night out and lots of drinking but I pretty much turn into a pumpkin around 10:00 so we headed home.

The IDEA of turning 30 wasn't great but my family made it wonderful. I am so lucky to have a sweet husband like Adam who surprises me with flowers and my sweet son all wrapped up as a gift for me. Who urges me to get out of the house and pamper myself even when I think I should stay home. A brother and sister in law who not only drive way up north to watch Carter but surprise Adam and I to a romantic birthday dinner by treating a la James Bond style. To have a niece who demands they drive home when they are already on their way to my house because she forgot the sweetest birthday card she made for me. To have family and friends who called and emailed me all day to wish me a happy birthday. Thank you everyone for making 30 pretty great so far and for reminding me how beautiful family and friends are.

Happy Father's Day!

Laundry Day

Little Piggies

Carter has finally discovered his feet. It's the cutest thing. Yesterday he lied on the bed for about 30 minutes without making a peep, just playing with his feet.

Cater used to LOVE to spend time on his floor mat, swing or bouncy seat. Lately, these fun play things have become really frustrating for him. Now he gets ANGRY when he can't reach or pull down what is dangling above him. Two of the three toys on the bar of his bouncy seat are attached and he cries when the squirrel won't come off. It makes play time "cry time". It seems like yesterday when he would just stare at these items and never once try to even bat at them. He is only 4 months and he is already so different. I can't imagine how different he will be in just 2 more months. I worry that if I blink I will miss something!

Little Mouse

Vacation Memories

Carter spent his first vacation in El Paso visiting family. We had a great time and he loved meeting all of his adoring fans. A week was a little on the long side but he handled being in an unfamiliar place as well as you can expect from a 4-month old. I learned A LOT of things about flying with a kid. I feel like parents who travel alone with babies deserve some kind of medal at the end of it all. On the flight up I didn't know that I had to stick the stroller through the x-ray machine but there were a lot of people who offered a helping hand. Going through security on the way back was a nightmare and no one helped me this time. I have to say, the people at the El Paso Airport are not the friendliest bunch. We made it home in one piece and were both SUPER excited to see Adam waiting for us with a huge grin on his face and some flowers for me!

There were so many fun moments in El Paso, it's hard to pick just a few to talk about. I guess one of my favorite moments was watching my grandpa gush over Carter and hold him and pretty much just love on him. He looked so happy when he was in his lap.



We had a great time just hanging around the house with Opa and Baga and the dogs. Carter wasn't sure about them at first but quickly fell in love with them (the dogs). My mom was gracious enough to take care of Carter in the mornings so I could sleep in and I think I only changed 3 diapers the entire week we were there! My dad liked to spend one on one time with Carter and he managed to get our serious little kid to have the most infectious belly laughs I have ever heard. I think he gets that from my dad.



Carter seems to have blossomed into this social butterfly over night. He used to get super serious when he was around a lot of people but now he is super smiley and laughs a lot. We loved being in El Paso and spending some quality time with everyone, especially my grandparents. They had so much fun with Cater. We can't wait until our next big visit for Christmas, especially since baby Lemon will be with us. We can't wait to have a new cousin in the house.

Being apart from Adam for a week was tough on both of us. I know Carter missed him a lot but he got hear his voice on the phone everyday and even got to see him on the webcam. We are glad to be home again and have it be just the three of us. Now time to get this kid back on his schedule. I hope it goes well.

Click HERE to see more of Carter with his El Paso family.

Little Cousin

Notice the hole in Lucy's mouth!

4 Month Old Smarty Pants

Friday Carter turned 4 months old. He is so much fun right now. He has just discovered his feet and is on the cusp of rolling from his back to his stomach. Friday he had his 4 month well check and round of shots.

Stats:
Head 42.2cm (50%)
Height 25 1/4" (50-75%)
Weight 14.0 (25-50%)

He got the clean bill of health and doctor said he is super smart. She could tell just by looking at him. I tend to agree with her. The shots went well. He tolerated the first two by barely even noticing them. He was horrified with the last two. Once he calmed down every time he saw that mean ol' nurse he would cry again. I am just glad he knew she did that to him and not me!

Today we leave for El Paso. Carter is so excited, he woke up at 4:00 am for the first time in over a month! This will be Carter's first plane ride. I am a little nervous doing it alone (Adam is staying home, we will really miss him!)but I am sure he will do great. Look for lots of pictures when we get back!

Oh Bee-HIVE

Today was the craziest day. Carter and I were on our way to the grocery store when I went into the garage to find a bunch of bees sitting on my car. WTF? I came running back inside assuming a beehive was in our garage. Turns out, the bees were trapped in the garage from the crazy colony that was forming outside our front door! First I saw about 10 bees buzzing around, then about 50, then holy crap....HUNDREDS! I called every pest control person I could get a hold of. Either they didn't do bees or they couldn't come until next week. PEOPLE, bees are taking over my house! You need to come out now! Luckily, Kinser's Beekeepers to the rescue! A man in a shining bee hat came and sent those suckers to bee-hive heaven. He told me there was at least 5,000 bees. Turns out they were trying to buld a honey comb in a hollowed out colomn outside our front door. No more bees and I am no longer trapped inside the house. Guess that means I have no excuse to skip the store tonight. Damn.

In case you think I am overreacting...check out this video

Big Foot

An 8. SOMETIMES an 8.5. This is my shoe size. It has been my shoe size since middle school. Sometimes, if it's the right kind of shoe, I can even squeeze it into one of Kate's shoes. This week I decided to treat myself to a new pair of summer sandals. Super cute gladiator-esq ones that Adam hates and I kind of love. I tried on an 8..didn't fit. 8.5, also not quite right. I cringed and reached for the 9's. Yup, there they are. They fit like a glove. I have heard that pregnancy makes your feet grow but I didn't really believe it until this week. I have been living in denial in my old flip flops for over 3 months. At least this means I get to buy all new shoes!!!

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Fairest Baby of All?

Carter of course! In his opinion at least. For some reason, every Wednesday night (for the past two Wednesdays) he goes to bed and wakes up an hour later screaming bloody murder. I try nursing him, rocking him, changing his diaper, walking around. The only thing that stops him in mid-wail is going into the bathroom and looking at himself. He takes one glance and it's as if all of his troubles are gone and he can't stop smiling. Where does this vanity come from? I wonder if I can strap a mirror to his crib so he can always be this happy.

So they all rolled over and one fell out...

Today Carter turns 10 weeks old! Yesterday he archived a big milestone, he rolled over!! We are really proud of him. I guess it's time to start using the seat belt on the changing pad!

Vaccines

Last week Carter had his two-month vaccines. Since they weigh and measure him at these visits, I was excited to see how much he had grown but dreading the 4 shots he had to get. The good news was he did really great. He was super brave and stopped crying right away. The sad news was that they were out of the HIP shot and he had to come back 2 days later for ANOTHER shot. Here is the great thing about shots though: THE SLEEPING! He slept for a total of nearly 20 hours the entire day! Another big step was I finally moved him into his crib! No more baby in our bed! No more fidgeting and snorting waking me up a million times a night! Welcome 5-7 consecutive hours of sleep a night! Yay! Now if only I can get him to nap in there.


The 2 month stats:

Weight: 12.3 (Big boy! 50-75%)
Height: 22 7/8 (50%)
Head: 39.1 (50%)

International Legion of Mommies

When I was in my second trimester of pregnancy, I started going to prenatal yoga at Yoga Yoga. I started going for the nice meditative stretches but soon realized I would meet some cool soon-to-be-mommies. Today was the first time I met up with two women I met in yoga and a few others they met along the way. Six moms and 7 kids met for lunch today at the Cheesecake Factory: one from France; one from Hungary; one from Japan; two from the Ukraine; and little ol' me. It was so cool to talk to all these woman from all over the world and gush over each sweet little baby. Carter was the youngest of the group and enjoyed the chatter of all the different languages so much he quickly drifted off to sleep. It was a lot of fun. I will try to get a photo of all the kids next time we go out.

Over the last few days Carter has become increasingly aware of his hands and his thumb. This was one of his successful attempts without our help.

First Smiles

Carter is just over 6 weeks and is beginning his social smiles. It's so exciting whenever we can get him to smile for something other than gas. Today we caught him in an especially great mood..enjoy the video and the little treat at the end....

Cradle cRap

Poor Carter G. The cradle cap has reared it's ugly head. I know it doesn't bother him, but it sure bothers the heck out of me. Today I decided to do something about it. After reading about it in our baby book I slathered his little head with Vaseline and then washed his hair really well. When that didn't work I tried using a little bit of Selsun Blue on it. Now his hair is a weird combination of crusty dandruff and slimy patches of Vaseline that I cannot wash out no matter how hard I try. Good thing he is cute...and good thing we bought this hat yesterday. Next time you see him, please, don't look under the hat.

Introducing Carter G

Carter George Anderson was born on January 29, 2009 at 5:45 in the afternoon. He weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 21 inches long. Now that I have a baby I figured it's a good time to start updating this blog but don't expect anything funny or witty. Kate, Maggie and Stacy set the bar too high for me. Mostly you can expect to see lots of pictures. I mostly post pictures on Picasa, you can view them by clicking HERE. Enjoy!