Swimming!

After the zoo (and lunch), we all went back to the hotel and went swimming. We were so excited to see how Carson would react to the water! He seemed to really love it! We'll have to get him into swimming lessons soon.

"I'm ready!!"

Hmmm...not so sure
Swimming for the first time!
Let's try our floatie

"I love swimming!!"

St. Louis Zoo

We went to the St. Louis zoo on Sunday. We went early to try to beat the heat, but we weren't very successful! There was just no beating it - it was the hottest day of the year so far. But, like I said, Carson was a trooper. He only cried once - during the penguins. (That was our favorite due to the air conditioning!) But once he had his bottle, he was good-to-go again! Despite the heat, I think we all had a really good time! It was especially nice getting to hang out with our friends for more than an hour. They have so many people to see when they come home. We always try to do dinner but it was nice to spend a little more time!

Waiting in line for the penguins

Watching the penguins (ahhh - air conditioning!!)
Watching the chimpanzees
First family vacation

Becca, Shannon, Riley and Mason
Awww - even lions "spoon"

Cousin Riley and the zebras
The boys and the babies - cute!

Okay, now where's the pool?! :-)

St. Louis

We went to St. Louis this weekend for our first family vacation! (Emma stayed home with Grandma). We went down to see our friends Shannon and Becca. And I knew before this trip that I was blessed to be Carson's mommy. But, oh my, we really are SO lucky to be his parents. He was so good. I still can't get over it. On the way down, he slept almost 2 1/2 hours. He woke up and Lucas and I just looked at each other, prepared for the screaming. But nope. He just looked around casually. Grabbed a couple toys here and there, but mostly just stared at the window. Perfectly content. Same thing on the way back. He only slept for just under 2 hours that time. But still, woke w/ a yawn and just stared around. He started crying when we hit East Peoria. Not bad at all! Even our friends kept commenting on how good he was. Even with limited napping (and very HOT weather), he still just kept going....and with a smile most of the time. What a great mini-vacation! And what a wonderful little boy we have!!

Getting ready to leave - "I'm so excited Daddy!"

Yay - we're here!

Out to dinner

What a long day!


And this was Carson on the way home (Monday) - before we even left the hotel parking lot. :-) Vacations are exhausting!

8 Months!

It's getting harder and harder to get his elephant pictures! I kind of gave up this month. :-)

Home from school

"Big sister, I love you."


"I said my tooth hurts!!"

"Oh Mom, you're so silly!"

Teething

We're home sick for the day. Carson's had bad teething symptoms for the last week. He's SO congested and has a bad cough. And the poor guy is just so fussy. He's constantly grabbing at his mouth and gums. I was hoping that it'd be better now that the one tooth popped up.....but no luck. Anyway, we had a bad night last night and he was up a lot coughing. He woke up w/ a fever and I can just tell he wasn't feeling good. So I stayed home and am hoping some extra cuddles and naps will help him feel better. He's now taking his second (LONG) nap. Poor baby. I hope it helps. I know he wouldn't have been able to rest this much at daycare. And it's still nice to hang out with him even when he's fussy. :-)

Big Boy Class

Ms. Kirsten told us yesterday that Carson pulled himself up to stand for the first time yesterday! Part of me really wishes that he'd slow down! But I know it'll take him a while to perfect that, so I think I'll have time to get used to it. He has been trying to pull himself up more, but I haven't caught him pulling all the way up yet myself.

Anyway, today marked the beginning of the transition to the big boy class! Carson and Max were reunited. Ha ha. They took Carson over for two hours today to experience Infant II. They said he did so well! He played and played and played. He even refused his bottle. He was having too much fun. Then he came back to Infant I and took a long nap. :-)

I got to meet a couple of the teachers this morning. I think it will be a bigger adjustment for me than it will be for him. I totally trust Ms. Kaitlin (and Ms. Kirsten). We will really miss them! But I'm sure the new teachers will be great too. Fingers crossed! There just seem to be so many kids in that room and they're all over the place - everyone is crawling or walking all over! But Carson will probably be crawling regularly by then and hopefully able to handle himself. And he'll be moving up w/ Emma so at least he has a buddy right away.

Mother's Day

I just wanted to say thank you to Lucas, Carson and Emma for a wonderful "first" Mother's Day! (This was really my seventh (w/ Emma)......but first of course w/ Carson). We spent the day lounging around - it was perfect. The kids got me a necklace w/ their birthstones! And I ordered a new camera! Great day. Here's a belated picture w/ the kids - excuse the PJ's but that is my official after-work wardrobe!

This week

So many updates to share in just one week! I kept meaning to post on each thing......but each day passes and there's more to add! Guess I'll just combine everything!

Well, I already "reported" that Carson (finally) got his first tooth! Yay! He was fussy on and off this week - I think it was bothering him. But hopefully it will start to feel better now that it's popped up. I can kind of see at least one more so I won't be surprised if that tooth has company soon. His friend Emma also got her first tooth the same day (5/3). And I guess Emma's daddy came in to see Carson and Emma cuddling that day - one was lying in the other's lap. Maybe they were comforting each other - or celebrating their new teeth! :-) Anyway, I finally was able to get a picture!


Also this week, Carson started sitting up on his own from his back/belly. Saturday morning, I heard him and walked into his room to see this. Good thing my camera was close!

And since then, most mornings and after naps, it's been the same thing. He's usually at the end of the crib trying to pull himself up or rip the mobile off the end of the bed! So Daddy had to take the mattress down a notch yesterday. When Carson learns new things, it definitely seems like it's all of a sudden and I don't want to walk in one morning to him standing there, hanging over the edge. :-) I've already let him roll off the bed (remember!).

He continued to get up on all fours this week and rock. And then this weekend (Friday night I think), he finally took two "steps". We were so excited! One knee forward and then the other.....and then promptly down to tummy! He also started scooting forward on his bottom. Hands in the air and mouth wide open - apparently that helps w/ forward momentum. We knew it would just be a matter of time.........

Ms. Kaitlin reported that he "army-crawled" all over the room yesterday.

And then, today, Ms. Kirsten said it was official - MR. C IS CRAWLING!! I can't believe it happened so quickly!! I tried to get some video tonight! They're short! (Lucas is embarrassed of the Vikings blanket that he's crawling on - please ignore! :-) )

First tooth!!

After what seems like months of teething, the first tooth is finally here!! Ms. Kaitlin noticed it today at school. And she said she almost cried! She can't believe that he's becoming such a big boy either.

We also got our letter for the Infant 2 class today.....Carson's been given his move-up day. June 1st. I'm not ready for him to move up with the bigger kids. We love Ms. Kaitlin. But....Carson apparently has a best friend. Max. And Max is moving up next week. And according to Ms. Kaitlin and Ms. Kirsten, Carson is not happy about Max leaving. They've been trying to transition Max and taking him to Infant 2 for an hour or so a day. Well, one of his first days last week, they took Max and I guess Carson threw himself on the floor and burst into tears. He cried for about 20 minutes straight until Max came back. And then he was all smiles. So maybe it's a good thing we're moving up June 1st. :-)

Anyway, I'll try to get pictures of the tooth soon!! It's just barely poking through!