OH NO!!! WHAT'S THAT NOISE?

I’ve been working on getting everything ready for Carter’s birthday for several weeks now.  On the weekends we have been spending hours at Mom’s house doing various craft projects. This morning we didn’t leave her house until 2:00 a.m.  I was so exhausted and was having a difficult staying awake. It is about a 35 minute drive between our two houses.  Carter was in the back seat drinking his bottle and drifting back to sleep - or so I thought.  We were halfway home when I started hearing strange noises from behind me.  It sounded unusual at first and I was slowly going through all of the records in my mind trying to figure out what it was.  I was half asleep and my mind was not working at full capacity when all of a sudden it dawned on me that maybe Carter was choking!  But on what??? Panic set in as I reached behind me to feel his face in the dark.  When I touched him he made the noise again.  So strange. It sounded like a clicking noise.  Perhaps he was choking on a piece of a plastic bag? Or maybe he was intentionally making those noises.  So instead of pulling over, I clicked my tongue and guess what? So did he! I clicked my tongue again and he followed with a click.  This was so funny.  Here we were driving out in the middle of nowhere in the dark and my little boy was playing a game with me.  We continued this funny game for several minutes before he got tired and went to sleep.

A VERY HIGH CHAIR FOR HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

Carter's new high chair came in this weekend and I LOVE it! It is a Fisher Price Space Saver Chair in the scatterbug print.  It straps on to my super high bar stools and now we can eat like a real family together at the dinner table. Carter seems to like his new throne. It feels soft and plush so it must be pretty comfortable. I don't actually have a table in our home yet, but I've got one at my mother's house that I've been working to refinish.  I'll post some pics of that as soon as I have the project completed and set up in my small dining room.

BIG BOY SCHOOL

COUSIN SETH'S HOMECOMING PARTY

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JUST ONE MORE MONTH

Carter turned 11 months old today which means that in just one more month he turns 1!!! He's got two teeth that have broken through in the top front of this mouth and there are some more that are starting to appear around the bottom front.  He's been chewing like a wild dog on furniture, appliances, toys, shoes, blankets...EVERYTHING!  He can say four words now: bye bye, Mamma, Dadda and whasis (what's this).

Carter is sweet, happy, smiley and chatty most of the time. When he smiles and laughs you can see his two shiny front teeth on the bottom of his mouth. He loves it when I give him “kisses” using my chin to tickle his underarms and soft round belly.  I tell him that I think he needs “a kiss right here on this fat part.”  He laughs a deep belly laugh when I give him my special “kisses.” Carter is the closest thing my eyes have seen to an angel.  The sad thing is he doesn’t always act like an angel.  He can be downright rotten.  My baby has always had a temper and now when he doesn’t get his own way he does his ear piercing scream and throws himself down kicking his legs and beating his arms and fists into the floor. (Sigh.)  I thought this kind of behavior was not supposed to happen until he reached the “Terrible Two’s.” My little feller isn’t even 1 year old yet!  Carter has been having these little temper tantrums for the past few months, but it’s worse now that he is bigger and more mobile.  After a recent revelation that things were getting out of hand, I’ve begun the process of curbing my little darling’s bad attitude.  So far it has been kind of a painful process for both of us, but I can already see that my perseverance is paying off.

Carter is going through separation and stranger anxiety.  He’s absolutely afraid of me leaving him behind and doesn’t want even my mother or sister to hold him.  He follows me everywhere (even into the bathroom) and I tell him that he is my little shadow. When Uncle Matthew or another man (sometimes even Wilson) walks into the room he bursts into tears and clings to me in fear.  He is absolutely petrified of my brother right now.

Carter loves to be chased.  He thinks that it is especially funny when Wilson and I chase him as he makes a mad dash towards the top stair ledge on the second floor.

When he’s in the bathtub Carter loves to chew on the faucet and little handle that stops the water from draining out.  He also likes to poke his finger down into the dirty drainer and pull out the most disgusting things – hair, slime, etc...  Eww!!!  No matter how much cleaning I do, he still manages to find something from down in that hole.  I constantly have to drag him to the other end of the tub to keep him away from that area. Carter can make really big waves in the bathtub now.  I like to see his little arms get tense and straight as he slaps the water to make the waves go higher and higher.  He gets so excited and squeals in delight when he sees the water splashing midway up the walls.
  

A list of other things he can do:

• He points at interesting things to show me with his index finger
• He’s crawling really fast and getting into all kinds of trouble
• He’s pulling himself up into a standing position effortlessly and without help from me
• He’s practicing standing up with any support for a couple of seconds at a time
• He’s cruising between pieces of furniture that are positioned close together

CARTER IS 11 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!

WALKING & LEAPING & PRAISING GOD

Everyone who's acquainted with Carter knows that he loves to bounce. He truly is a "bouncy baby boy."  Anyway, Wilson came over for his bi-weekly visit tonight and the two of them went bouncing (leaping) around the living room. Today he sung a new song to Carter called "Silver and Gold Have I None."  It goes like this:

Peter and John went to pray,

They met a lame man on the way
He asked for alms and held out his palms
And this is what Peter did say

“Silver and gold have I none,
But such as I have give I thee.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
Rise up and walk!”

He went walking and leaping
And praising God,

Walking and leaping and praising God.

“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
Rise up and walk!”

Carter really looked like he was leaping and he laughed and laughed as Wilson bounced him around the room. He thinks his Daddy is great fun and he loves it when Wilson plays a little rough with him. Wilson and I sing lots of Bible songs to Carter because we want to fill his young mind with good information that will be of use to him in the future. Songs are easy to learn and remember.  I still remember many songs that I learned in Sunday School and VBS.  I believe that even simple Bible songs have a lesson to learn.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

LOOK FOR THE BEAR NECESSATIES...

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries
and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

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ALMOST TOO BIG

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DADDY RIDES & RACES

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JUST LIKE SKUNK SPRAY

Carter spit up on me twice this morning - all down the front of my dress and even in my hair. Eeew!!!  I washed it all off with a washcloth, but I still smell like spit up.  Now I'm at work and feeling so disgusting.  Tomme, my friend and co-worker, stated that baby spit up is "just like skunk spray and it will linger until it fades away."

INDEPENDENCE DAY part 2

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Home of the Brave

by Roger Robicheau

Through the feel of war they

brave this day
How proud they stand,

their unselfish way

Our soldiers bear what we cannot see
They assure our right to live life free

Each trained will face an unknown fate
Our support they need, don’t hesitate

Just imagine how this land would be
Without their courage - catastrophe

All the liberties we have grown to know
Would not exist, this life would go

Find a thankfulness within your mind
Speak gratitude for our bravest kind

Have the willingness to show you care
For fallen heroes, hold back no tear

Reach out to God with his guiding light
For our troops do pray,

both day and night

America raise your flags to wave
For we truly are 'home of the brave'

©2003Roger J. Robicheau

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This 4th of July was pretty uneventful. We didn't even get to see the fireworks. However, we did go to Matthew's house for a BBQ today after church and it was nice to spend some quiet time with my family. While Matthew and Mom were cooking, I was outside taking pictures of the kids. Matthew's kids are getting so big now. They fight over who gets to hold, feed or sit beside Carter. They adore him and they think that anything he does is so funny. Sometimes Carter and his cousins create a stir in church when they are supposed to be sitting still. (Sigh!) So far I've not had much success at getting Carter to be quiet during church services. Why should he sit still? He has a large adoring audience who think he's the cat's meow.

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Jonathan (almost 10),

Hannah & Savannah (almost 9),

Dillon (6) and Carter (10 months)

INDEPENDENCE DAY part 1

I took these pictures of Carter today at the pretty gazebo across from the Methodist church near the Fairgrove Fire Department and elementary school. This is his 10 month photo shoot. It was a beautiful evening, but so hot. It's been a super hot summer this year. I usually only take Carter outside to play early in the morning or late in the evening. Rachel went with us and assisted me in the process.  She's really learning how to be a good "photography assistant." 

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Carter is such a funny little guy.  At 10 months old he is getting into everything. Gone are the days of planting him in one spot and walking away to do a chore. He can move so fast now and I have to really supervise him. He is crawling and pulling himself up on furniture, large toys, etc...

I'm in the process of trying to get him to drink from a sippy cup, but thus far I've not been very consistent in my training.  Carter still prefers his bottle and fusses if I give him a sippy cup.  This is going to have to change though because soon (sometime in the next 4-5 weeks) I will take his bottle completely away and start him on whole milk. 

Carter loves to laugh, squeal and shout. He's a happy little fellow and he talks constantly in baby language.  I think he gets this from his Daddy, but maybe a little bit of it comes from me too! LOL.

One funny thing that he does is he picks up each one of his toys and talks to it, chews it, plays with it and then throws it down and goes to the next one.  He really loves his toys and plays with all of them every day.

Carter has started taking his baths in the regular bathtub which he loves.  He gets on his belly and kicks his legs, which reminds me of a tadpole or large frog.  I think his practicing his "butterfly stroke" - cute!!!

Carter loves it when Daddy plays with him.  They wear each other out.  Daddy flies Carter around the room like an airplane and sings "As God as my pilot I will fly safely home, fly safely home, fly safely home..." Carter loves this song and fun ride and he squeals in delight.

Carter is desperate to learn to walk.  It's so much fun to watch him hold onto my hands as he walks, trots, skips and jumps as we go around the room. He has a funny little quirky walk and it reminds me of Hitler's solders - remember how they swung their legs high into the air? This is what Carter looks like....so adorable!

Carter is changing so fast and I can hardly believe that he's almost a year old.  Time has gone by so quickly.  As I type this I'm crying softly that my little baby is almost a toddler.  I can say with all honesty that this has been the absolute best year of my life. Watching Carter grow has been an amazing and life changing experience.  I never want this special time to end.  I love my little man with all of my heart and I want to relish every moment with him.  I guess this is why I take so many pictures - it's because I'm so afraid that my memory will fade and I will be left to live the rest of my life not remembering what Carter was like as a little boy.