My little prisoner

Now that he can pull up to his knees, it is just a matter of time...

BIG DAY!!

No picture - you couldn't see it even if I took the picture - but... CARTER GOT HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!!

What IS that noise?

That would be my little man figuring out how his lobster works. So, if you call and you're wondering what the heck that noise is, now you'll know.

Little Swimmers

Carter has been in swim lessons with Will for about a month now. This past Monday, daddy took the morning off work to join us and see what it's all about. Here is a little peak of some of Carter's favorite parts.












Yep, that's him coming up from a dive underwater!

Daddy's half marathon

This past Sunday we decided to do the Lacamas run for fun. Chris ran the HALF MARATHON - yes, HALF MARATHON (it was 92* by noon) while Carter and I walked the 4 mile. Auntie Lindsey and Unlce Auggie joined in and ran the 4 miles while our friends Bill and Nicole each kept one of us company.



It was hot, hard, and FUN. After, we threw a BBQ at our place and had quite a few other friends join us including Will and his parents.

Really lazy or really smart?

So, I set Carter up on a blanket with toys just out of reach. Supposedly this helps them learn to crawl because they reach forward for the toys.



I changed the sheet on his crib and turned around to see this:






He had realized that he could just pulled on the blanket and it would bring the toys right to him. He's either really lazy or really smart or BOTH.

MORE PHOTOS!!!

We just got some more photos from our 4th of July trip to the lake that I just had to share..



Here is Carter one morning when he snuck in to sleep with Grandma J - turns out he doesn't sleep too much with Grandma.




He got to sit at the big boy table at the BBQ thanks to Auntie J having a cool little booster seat!



And our bathing beauty in the pool he got Grandma for her birthday.




Gosh.. If only we could catch him smiling :)

The Kale Campout

We only got to go to the annual Kale Campout for a few hours this year, but the 5 hours total of driving (horrible Friday traffic) was well worth it. Carter got to show off his swimming abilities a little bit in Auntie J's pool.

The boys

We did it! We finally got both Carter AND Will in a good mood at the same time and they both knew the other was there!!! i just wish I had Carter dressed cuter. I had to wake him from his nap so - comfy clothes it was for us.

Caught ya!

Everyone knows that Carter's smiles are a dime a dozen. Heck, he gives 'em out to anyone who will look at him. But, laughing, that's a different story. He really makes you work for it. We've been trying to catch it on video for a while now and have finally caught him in the act!!!

How does mommy love you, let me count the food jars

One of the coolest baby gifts we got was a baby food maker from Auntie Brigid. Now that Carter is eating 3 solid meals a day, I'm doing a combination of making food and buying food to keep up. The little machine is great because you just put the fruit or veggies in and walk away to let it steam. When it's done, it stops itself! No worries about the pot running out of water! You then drain the water and dump everything back in to puree. One machine = easy cleanup.

Here is how it works:


Get your fruit cut up and add the right amount of water to the machine.



Turn it to steam and let it do its thing.



Dump it back in to puree



Give a smile of satisfaction knowing that you made your baby's food along with a sigh of disbelief that it only made 2 little jars!!


Ah, the things we do for out babies. If I had to REALLY make baby food without this little machine... Carter would probably only get store bought food.

7 months going on 16

Daddy is already teaching Carter to drive, but ONLY in the parking lot

Carter's new onsie

Carter's news probably already spread through the family like wildfire, but we thought we'd share it here as well. Here is Gramma Cupcake's response via Skype

Our call with Grandpa

Carter's new onsie

This video is our skype call with Grandma J and Auntie J. Of the two voices, the one who "gets it" first is auntie J :)

That's what I like about Sundays

This past weekend, Chris and I got to have a real night on the town when we attended a friend's wedding. Since we happened to have a free night stay at the Marriott and the wedding was downtown, we made it an all-nighter. Auntie Lindsey stayed with little man and it sounds like he was a dream child for her sleeping all night and finally getting up at 7 a.m. While I'm happy she had a good stay, I willingly admit that I'm jealous that she got such a good night with him since they can be few are far between :)

When we came home on Sunday we took a family trip to the Grotto (a 62 acre Catholic Shrine and botanical garden that was beyond gorgeous). It was the perfect day - nice and sunny and warm, not too hot. We came home and had a family nap. Ah yes, this is what Sundays are for.

Baby or toddler, you be the judge

Yes, that is his foot touching the footrest of his highchair. Lordy, he is growing FAST!

Lil' rapper dude

I swear this is NOT how I put the hat on him to begin with.

New Shoes

Carter got some new shoes this past weekend and we decided to test them out today.



Carter gave them a "4", but I think he was basing his score on taste.

As promised..

Here are the photos from the Roberts Family Reunion of Carter and his "cousin".
OK.
I'll take a stab at this.
I THINK that little Brett is the son of the daughter of Roger's sister. So, that would mean, he is the son of Roger's niece? Did I get that right Grandpa Roger? At any rate, he is adorable and always on the go!

**EDITED based on Grandma J's comment: Brett is the grandson of Roger's niece. There is quite an age gap between Brett's great-grandma Bev and Carter's Grandpa Roger's since Grandpa Roger was the youngest of the bunch!




Here is Brett giving his cousin some lovin'

Quite the traveler

Boy, have we been busy! This past Thursday Carter and I flew to Reno with Auntie Lindsey to be at Gramma Cupcake's big grand opening of 41 Taylor (www.41taylor.com). The flight was full so Carter had to share a seat. Auntie did a great job getting him to sleep for a little bit.



That night we got to spend time with Carter's favorite cousin. She barely weighs in at 12 pounds at 5 1/2 months and is the cutest thing! Here they are standing.... bit of a height difference.



They also played with some toys. She had a little doll, he had a football. Like a big bully, he kept taking her toys. She was so in awe of the huge baby that she let him have them. He also sucked on her feet (bet he'll love to be reminded of that when he's 10).



41 Taylor is amazing - as is the other Tracey's dad. Carter just took to him right off the bat playing with his eye glass case and even giving him a hug!





The Grand Opening was a huge success and Carter, Auntie and I got home Saturday night very tired, but the story doesn't end there... The next morning, a very tired Carter slept all the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house for our first Roberts Family Reunion! Carter was the youngest, but only by 3 months (I'll post some photos with him and his more distant cousin when I get them).

What an amazing family! Grandpa Roger was one of 7 children and this reunion included all the branches that stemmed from his grandpa Omar's branch (I think Grandpa Roger's Grandpa had 6 kids?? and each of those branches had a minimum of 4 kids). So... it is a big family!! Carter is so lucky to come from such a large family. This upcoming weekend we'll attend the annual Kale Campout which is great-grandma Lois' family reunion and ALWAY SO MUCH FUN!

More Milestones

Dying to know what they are? Check out the videos!

God Bless America

What a wonderful 4th of July we had! We spent the weekend at Detroit Lake with some of the Roberts and Westlund clans. There was waterskiing, lounging, potlucks, and more lounging. Here are my boys really getting into the lounging portion of the weekend.

Hungry as a lion!

A new way to shop

Up until now, I've just pulled Carter's car seat out of the base in the car and attached it to the stroller to shop. This meant that we only had the little basket underneath the stroller and a hand basket to get what we needed. Well, thanks to Carter's sitting abilities, we can now go to the store and fill a cart!!