CARTER'S 1ST BEE DAY

The Big O-N-E!

YIPPEE!!! CARTER IS 12 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!

A SET OF EARS FOR LITTLE BEAR CUB

Carter has an ear infection and he needed a pair of ears that didn't hurt while his old set is being fixed. So, I dug out these old ears from the back of his closet to tide him over until he starts to feel better. They seem to help his ears when they are so painful. As soon as I put the hat on him, he stopped crying. The hat was working great until the very end when his Tylenol started to wear off. I ended up re-medicating him and putting him to sleep in his swing. He's been so fussy and mean this week. In addition to his ears hurting, he's also been teething. Yikes! Carter has four teeth coming in right now - two on the top and two on the bottom. In the pictures you can see him showing his mean bear teeth, LOL. Poor Little Bear Cub!

I got the idea for the hat from my own childhood. One time when I was a little girl I had a bad ear infection so I put on a knitted baby hat with ear flaps which provided immediate relief. I'm not really sure why it helps, it just does.

The Elephant  

Has a Bad Earache  

The elephant has a bad earache. 

The centipede stubbed all his toes. 

The giraffe has developed a nasty sore throat 

and the rhino can't breathe through his nose. 

The mockingbird has an unclear ache. 

The lion's so hoarse he can't roar. 

The hog cannot eat, as his tummy's upset, 

and the parrot can't talk anymore. 

The doe has a pain in the deer ache. 

Just what should the beast doctor do? 

The duck is so sick she can't possibly float. 

It's a really bad day at the zoo. 

by Denise Rodgers

THE NIGHT BEFORE CAKE SMASH

ON THE BRINK OF BECOMING 1

DADDY TIME

EXPLORER

CLAPPING TO THE BEAT

Carter was clapping his hands to the music as the choir sang in church this morning. This was the first time I’ve seen him do this in church.  He has changed so much in just a short time. Carter notices everything and is now actively participating in what goes on around him.

COUNT DOWN

This morning I was in a hurry to get us both ready for the day.  Carter was busy playing with the buttons on his swing and I was standing in front of the mirror brushing my hair.  A couple of minutes passed and I realized that everything around me was quiet.  When I looked over at the baby, he was standing up without any support.  I quickly started counting the seconds.  1…8…15…22…30!  If my calculations are correct, he stood up without holding onto anything for at least 30 seconds before plopping down on his padded behind thus beating his current record of like 5 seconds. 

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

FIRST STEPS

Yay! Carter walked 1 1/2 steps today!!! Carter and I were in the living room at Mom's house. We went there this afternoon after church. Anyway, Mom was holding Carter and she was trying to get him to walk a couple of feet over to Rachel. Mom stood him up on the floor, got him steady and then gave him a little push forward.  He took 1 1/2 steps forward and then fell down. We all clapped our hands, congratulated him and told him what a big boy he was...then he burst into tears. I guess he was scared by all of the hoopla and a little sad and mad. He must have had a certain date in mind to do this and we destroyed his plans.

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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