This is my cutie of a husband at 5 weeks old wearing his snowsuit! (Car seats have sure changed a lot!)
And here is my cutie of a son wearing the same snowsuit at almost 6 months! Okay, so Karter is a little bigger than his daddy was, and I couldn't even zip the snowsuit all the way up, let alone get the hood up...and maybe he couldn't straighten his arms and legs out, but he is still a cutie!
Karter and I spend all day together. We play together and he helps me clean the house, but by the time 6:30pm comes around he is ready for some daddy time! When Kristoffer walks in the door, Karter gives him the BIGGEST smile and starts to giggle! Kristoffer always takes Karter into our room while he changes his clothes and I finish dinner. From the kitchen I can hear Karter telling his daddy all about our day! He loves his daddy time. There are some things that he can do with daddy that mommy just doesn't do! He are some of their favorites....
Daddy has built in toys! On Saturday mornings, Kristoffer wears his glasses around and Karter thinks they are the coolest thing. He loves to take them off of daddy's face and beat him with them! Hopefully he doesn't break them....
Karter likes to help daddy do things around the house.
He helps daddy play football!
He loves it when daddy blows on his belly!
Yep...Karter loves his daddy....and I think the feeling is mutual!!!Last Friday, Karter and I went out to lunch with our good friend Sherry. I met Sherry at work, and on my way up to her office I ran into some residents I used to work with. It was fun to be able to show off Karter! We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Olive Garden! (Yes, Kristoffer I do eat at other restaurants!)
For a year, I saw Sherry almost everyday and got to hear all of her stories and vent about things going on in my own life. Now that we don't work together, we don't see each other as often, so it was great to catch up with one another. Sherry and her husband, Johann, are going the process of adoption. They are a very loving couple and are great with kids…they will make fantastic parents! Karter didn't have any problem cuddling up to Sherry, within minutes after this photo he was passed out in her arms!
This past Saturday, Santa Claus came to Little Oscars. We were excited to take Karter for his first visit with the Big Guy. Karter did really well, but we weren't able to get a smile from him!
It was a good thing that Karter is too young to really understand, because this Santa was not as good as the real thing. We hear the Mall of America has the real Santa, so we may have to go there next year!
This week we got our first snow that is probably going to stick around for awhile. Kristoffer had to break out the snow shovel and salt to clear the driveway, while our neighbors all used their snow blowers. It seems everyone in Minnesota has a snow blower! Anyway...Yesterday afternoon mommy bundled Karter up for his first encounter with the snow! Being in his monkey suit he can't really sit down very well, but we did manage to capture one photo before he fell backwards! He was just looking around trying to figure out what all the white stuff was. The cutest part was when he would wave his arm around, that had been laying in the snow, and the snow would get all over his face. He would make such a confused face! Hope he gets used to the snow....MN has long winters!
Decorating for Christmas is always a family event in the Gray household. Last night, we enjoyed including Karter in on our family traditions. We have many ornaments that mean a lot to us: our first Christmas together ornament, one for the Indianapolis Colts, a couple Mommy-to-be one's, decoys and a lighthouse from NC and this year we added an ornament for Karter's first Christmas! Karter was fascinated by all of the shiny bulbs and was looking for an way to get them in his mouth! Daddy enjoyed teasing him a little!
Shortly after this picture, Karter discovered the tree behind him and started to grab for it. He fell back under the tree and stared up in amazement.
Of course we had to include Rascal in the festivities!
Hampton even decorates for Christmas! Okay, the star is up all year round....but it isn't turned on until the day after Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays from Hampton!How could I have forgotten this one! Friday night, Karter sat in his first high chair in a restaurant. Since he isn't riding in his carrier anymore, he doesn't have a seat at a restaurant. We completely forgot about this last week when we went to Famous Dave's before the parade. Kristoffer wanted to try a high chair, but I was very hesitant. We tried it, and daddy was right (did you hear that Kristoffer, I admitted it!) Karter loved the highchair. It would have been perfect if he was a little taller or the table was a little shorter.
Karter is 5 1/2 months old now (really?!...where did the time go), and everyday he is getting stronger and more independent. Lately, he has had a lot of new firsts. A couple of weeks ago we bought him a new convertible car seat. He was out growing his carrier and was getting too heavy for mommy to lug into the stores. He is now riding in style and really likes his new seat. Well, we assume he likes it, he always falls asleep. He is definitely his mom's son, she always sleeps in the car too. Thankfully, not when she's driving!
He can also now sit up completely unsupported. This is very nice when we have to do other things and can just sit him on the floor with some toys. It also makes mommy alittle sad, because her baby isn't a baby-baby anymore.
Last Wednesday was Karter's first bath in the big boy tub! We knew it was time to move him out of the baby tub when he learned how to pull himself to a standing position while in the old tub. He thought it was hilarious, but it just about gave mom and dad a heart attack. Now, he gets his bath in the big tube and he loves it. He has special bath toys, so that means he has new things to chew on!
Another first for Karter this week was starting vegetables. We were going to wait until 6 months, but on Sunday we decided to give it a try. His first taste was of peas mixed with his cereal. Doesn't it look delicious!?
The jury is still out on whether or not he liked it! He made some pretty disgusted faces while eating it, but he would always open his mouth for more. He ended up eating about 3/4 of the bowl. Daddy kept telling him he didn't need to eat his peas, because he didn't like them either.
And who can forget this first! Karter's first snowsuit. Doesn't he look so warm and cute?
Complete with a tail in the back. What an adorable little monkey he is!
The whole family arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and they couldn't wait to smooch on the little guy!
Thanksgiving started early, but Dana had every detail planned...Appetizers were served at 11 and the big meal at 2! Everyone helped with something; Emily made green bean casserole, Terry made her mom's dressing and Kamaron, Kyler & Zach cut up the vegetables.
Kim and Terry raised turkeys this year, and they brought us up one of the big guys for us to enjoy! It was so big, it barely fit into our roaster.
Needless to say we ate...
...and ate...
...and ate some more!
Friday night we went downtown Minneapolis for the annual Holidazzle Parade. The parade runs every Thursday-Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Friday was the first night for the parade and the streets were packed with people, who all began to cheer when the parade started.
This year, Target was the corporate sponsor for the parade and to kick-off the parade "Bullseye" was the Grand Marshall for the parade. It was pretty cool to see the hometown "celebrity"!
It was a beatiful night to be out for the parade, but we were still afraid that the Karterman would get cold. So, while Terry, Dana and Emily went shopping on Friday, his grandma picked him out this adorable snowsuit. We call it his "monkey suit", because the hood looks like a monkey face and there is even a tail sewn on the back!
Saturday afternoon, we decided to go bowling. All fall we had watched a new bowling alley being built in Burnsville, and we couldn't wait to bowl in a new bowling alley! However, it seemed that everyone in B-ville had the same idea, because the wait was over an hour for a lane. We weren't going to wait around for a lane so we went to an older place in town. There was only one lane available, so all 8 of us bowled on one lane.
Gray men are rather competitive at everything, so naturally bowling was a huge competition! Kamaron was the only one who didn't have to worry....he blew us all away. Kristoffer and Zach ended up both beating their wives by one point.
Everyone left early Sunday morning, and this is how Karter felt after everyone left ...worn out from playing too much!
