Pictures of the Day...

Now, if he could just learn to use it!

Bye-Bye Baby Swing

I think I can honestly say that the swing was one of the best baby shower gifts we received. I'm not sure what we would have done without it in the early days. Up until November, Karter used to take his morning nap in the swing. He loved to swing and listen to the music.

However, Karter's days of loving the swing are long gone. Now he pretty much hates anything that keeps him from moving!

It was a sad day on Wednesday when I took it apart to join the rest of his "baby" stuff in the garage. Although, it was nice the gain that space in our living room back, but I'm sure it will be filled soon with bigger and noisier toys!

Picture of the day...

This is what I found when I just went to get Karter up after his nap. Doesn't he look so proud of himself? We figured it was just a matter of time before he pulled himself up in his crib, but I was still surprised to find him standing! Boy, he is growing SO fast!

Music Man

Last week Kristoffer had a big meeting at work and they passed out goody bags full of Target things. There was one item in the bag he just knew Karter would enjoy...mommy on the other hand, he wasn't sure if she would enjoy it! I think this video is evidence that Karter does indeed like his new toy!!!

Mr. Independent

Everyday Karterman is becoming more and more independent. He definitely has an opinion on things and will gladly let you know when things aren't going the way he wants. This is most true during meal time. He has always been very interested in what we are eating and have always given him little tastes. However, now all he wants to do is feed himself!

He is really good at eating almost every table food, except some fruit and veggies. So, while I would like for him to be on table foods completely, I am very worried that he isn't getting enough fruits and veggies. I'm not quite to the level of worry I was back in July when I started pumping, but it still concerns me. Right now he eats a container of vegetables or fruit and then table food/self feeding baby food. By the time he finishes the fruit/veg he is getting tired of mama feeding him! Gerber makes a great line of self feeding foods like yogurt melts, fruit puffs, pasta pickups, lil' crunchies (think Cheetos for babies) and freeze dried fruits. He does really well with all of those, but I am still looking for other ideas of things to feed him. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Nothing is Safe

These days, nothing is off limits to Karter...he is pulling himself up on EVERYTHING. Here is what he has been doing lately. The first few photos were literally taken within 20 minutes of each other. And no, I didn't let our son go all day without pants!

Helping unload the dishwasher! He has to make sure everything "tastes" clean...quality control! (Sorry the photo is a little blurry.)

He's not so good at putting the dishes away!

Trying to climb the window...he was successful. Rascal is performing his version of quality control.

Using the VCR to pull himself up.

He locked his sights on the purple ring and just had to have it!

He didn't like the fact that I ran downstairs and didn't take him!

So cute!

He loves to crawl under the chairs or use them to pull up on!

Starting the morning out with a little climbing!

Rascal used to think he was safe on the couch...not anymore!

Not even the computer is safe!

Weekend Fun with My Boys!

This weekend was great! We didn't have any plans, besides going to church, and we were able to hang out at home for some quality time together. The weather was so beautiful on Saturday, that we spent most of the day outside! We broke out Karter's first baseball cap to block the sun from his eyes...don't my boys look so cute in their hats!! While we were outside, we cleaned out the garage and Karter's closet. Most of Karter's baby toys and clothes are now packed up and stored in the garage. After we were done cleaning, and napping on Karter's end, we loaded Karter up and went for a long walk around town, stopping for a little swinging at the park! It was a fun relaxing day.

Sunday was just as fun! We went to church in the morning, but our kids are on spring break this week and we didn't have Sunday School or youth group. It was a rare Sunday for us to have an afternoon free. Before leaving town, we stopped for our weekly Target run and picked Karter up a portable booster seat. It is a great seat that will come in handy when we eat out, go camping or visit Grandma Vicky and need a highchair. We decided to give it a test run when we got home and gave Karter his snack in his new chair. He decided to share with Daddy...

It was a little too windy on Sunday to go for a walk outside, so we decided to take one inside!

Karter got this walker for Christmas, but hasn't been able to use it until recently.

It takes a lot of concentration to walk!

Sometimes he would fall down, but he would immediately pull himself back up!

"Watch out mama, I'm coming to get you!"

I love spending the weekend with my boys!

Pulling Up

Yesterday, Karter hit another big milestone, he pulled himself up without any assistance! I was making dinner in the kitchen, while he played in the living room, and I glanced in to check on him and he was proudly standing at the chair.

I guess he pulled himself up, because he didn't want to watch the news. Watch out Kristoffer, Karter likes the remote too!!

He continued to play in the living room, going back and forth between his toys and pulling himself up with the chair. It was adorable to watch. I was definitely a proud mama! After dinner, he even pulled himself up on the coffee table by himself...nothing is safe anymore! Here is a video of the Karterman in action...he did a great job, but was a little distracted by the TV.

Yesterday, Karter and I went down to meet our newest friends, 3-week old twins, Arianna and Brynn! It was great to see there parents, Yo & Sherry, too! It is amazing how quickly you forget what it is like to hold a newborn! Karter is 20+lbs and these little beauties are both about 8lbs, Karter never weighed 8lbs!

This is beautiful Brynn, she is staring at her mama!

Proud mama Sherry feeding Brynn. I helped out a little and fed Arianna at the same time. Karterman got a little jealous when his mama was holding another baby!

This is adorable Ari! Congratulations Johann and Sherry, we can't wait to come down and play again! You are always welcome to play at our house too!

Katerman the Explorer

Karter is learning to open and close doors, his favorite being the doors to our entertainment center. He has discovered that we keep his books down there and he likes to open the doors and pull them out. Friday, he decided to get a closer look at the cabinet! I was doing the dished in the kitchen when I noticed he had gotten very quiet. I turned around and saw what he was doing, instead of interrupting, I switched camera lens and started shooting pictures!

Getting a closer look...

BUSTED!

"She won't notice if I play some more..."

"What, I have to get out?"

Riding Around Town

The weather has finally started going up the thermometer instead of down, and we are taking full advantage of this warming trend! Saturday was the first 50 degree day that we had had in a long, LONG time. The sun was out and it was too nice to stay inside. So, we loaded Karter in his wagon and took it out for its maiden voyage. As you can see, Karter LOVES riding in his wagon. We have been out riding everyday since, and Karter sings to us the whole time! We are so happy it is warming up.

Happy 9 Months!

Karter turns 9 months old today! Time is flying by and everyday our baby is turning into a real boy! He truly is all boy, destroying everything! What a blessing Karter is to our lives, he is a sweet boy and we couldn't imagine life without him!

Here is a list of what this little guy is up to these days...

• MOVING! Karter cannot sit still. Or stand still for that matter, even when he is standing he likes to move around, especially jumping when you are holding him! He still doesn't really crawl, it is more of an army crawl, but he is FAST and it gets him where he needs to go.
  
• He doesn't just move on the floor, he also moves in his crib. Karter never wakes up in the same position that he is laid down in.
• He is still sleeping like a champ. He hit a bit of a rough patch last week when Grandma and Grandpa was here, but we think he was just too excited to sleep! He still goes to sleep around 8pm and sleeps until about 7:30am. Last week we started covering him up while he sleeps, he loves Great Grandma Ellen's quilt! Naps are getting better, he will put himself to sleep for his morning nap and nap for 2-3 hours, but still has to be rocked for his afternoon nap.
• Karter is really good at playing by himself. Of course, he loves when we play on the floor with him, but he is fine by himself too. His favorite toys by far are his blocks, but coming in a close second are the coins that go with his new piggy bank! He almost always has either a block or a coin in his hand as he cruises around the house.
• He still hates socks! They don't last more than a minute in the car and I don't even bother with them around the house!
  
• He loves music! Karter likes it when we sing to him or play music, he will just bounce along and wave his arms around. He will also play his piano and dance along! We were at Chipotle this weekend, and he was so busy dancing in his highchair that it was hard to feed him!
• He is still a great eater! At both lunch and dinner he has one container of fruit and one veggie and then whatever we are having too! His favorite table food is cheese. He can eat half of a string cheese by himself. With his lunch he gets a sippy cup with breast milk in it. After a couple weeks, he is finally drinking the whole thing!
  
• Karter is always making noises of some sort. He loves to say "da-da", blow bubbles with is mouth, laugh, fake cough, clap...just about anything that makes noise!
• It is very difficult to change him or get him dressed. He is so active, it is hard to get him to sit still for 5 seconds.
• Lately he is really into books. Thankfully, he has outgrown the eating of books stage and now likes to look at them. He loves to turn the pages! He will finally let us read him a book without whining the whole time because he wants to eat it! I think that going to the library every week is helping!
• Our Dr. doesn't do a nine month visit, so we will have to wait until next month to see how much he has grown, but we are sure it is a lot! All of his clothes are now 12 month clothes, and some of them aren't that big on him! Growing boy!

Well, this turned into quite the list! I am sure there is a lot more, but these are the main things. God continues to bless our family everyday, and we are truly grateful!

A Couple of Firsts

Our family has a couple of motto's - "Go big or go home" and "Everyday is an adventure". The later of the two is definitely true in our household. With an almost 9 month old (gasp!), you never know what each new day is going to hold. Karter learned this past week that being a big boy comes with a price...if you stand on wobbly legs, eventually you will fall down!

Besides putting outlet covers on each outlet, we aren't doing any extreme baby proofing in our house. We believe that this is Karter's home too, and he needs to learn what he can and can't have, as well as what may hurt him (of course we watch him and won't let him get too hurt!). Sunday morning, he found out that the coffee table edge will hurt him. He didn't fall very hard and it didn't really even bother him, but it got his nose! Karter has his fist ouchie! It's a small cut on his nose, but it is the first one he has had.

You can't really see the cut in this picture, I just thought it was cute!

Also on Sunday, another first happened. Karter said his first word...da-da!! Of course he doesn't know the real meaning of what he is saying, but don't tell Kristoffer that! Karter now crawls around the house saying da-da all the time, he is so proud!! Here is a video of him just showing off. He is showing hi ability to stand, talk, turn pages in a book and find things in the book! Enjoy...

Our Fun Saturday

Last Saturday, while our visitors were here, we got all bundled up and headed down to Red Wing to see this...

During the winter, Bald Eagles roost at Colvill Park in Red Wing. The park is right on the Mississippi River, and it doesn't freeze because of the power plant close by.

It was really neat to be able to use my awesome new camera lens to get some close up shots of the eagles!

Don't let this cute face fool you, it was cold out there and he wasn't really having it after about 20 minutes. While mommy and Grandpa got Karter settled into the warm car, Grandma and Kristoffer walked a little further to capture this....

...12 Bald Eagles! Pretty neat!

That evening, we celebrated my birthday. Kristoffer made us a yummy dinner and this super cute cupcake cake! Isn't he creative!?

The rare shot of the three of us together!