Who Needs a Mom?

When you have a big brother around, who needs mom? Ben has everything under control!

The after picture: Oatmeal was everywhere!

The proud big brother. He looks so grown up :( 

Whole New World

Nate is loving self-feeding. He gets pretty upset when his tray is empty. Last night I gave him some of the meatloaf we were eating and he went crazy for it! Still no teeth, but loving it. 

Happy 10 Months

 

Ben wanted to participate in the monthly picture.

One again I am late on posting Nate's monthly update. He is 10 months old now! This past month he has started self-feeding, waving, giving kisses, pulling up and cruising! That seems like way too many milestones at once. He is crawling at lightening speed these days and will follow Ben anywhere and everywhere. He is very independent and lets his big brother know that he will not be pushed around. There is a specific grunt that he gives Ben that can always be interpreted as "Get off me!" 

He does adore his big brother though. Ben recently came into the kitchen where Nate was playing on the floor and asked if Nate could come to his room with him. I told him to talk to Nate about it. He got down on the ground and said, "Nate, do you want to come play in my room with me?" Then, got up and walked a couple of steps, then beckoned Nate, then took a few more steps. Nate followed him all the way to his room! It was the cutest thing. 

Danger is always just around the corner. No one was hurt in the taking of this picture.

He still has no teeth and there is no sign of one coming. He just happily gums down all his food. We realized that his high chair was restricting the movement of his arms because it has a 5 point harness. We put him in Ben's booster that just has the waist belt and he likes that much better. That meant Ben got to pick out a new (cheaper) chair from the store and he thought that was pretty cool. He has much more freedom in the new-to-him chair, but is still perfectly safe in it. He looks so grown up in it. I have not been very disciplined about giving him a cup at meals so he is not very efficient at getting a drink himself yet. We only ask him to sign "more" and he still claps as his sign. We need to show him more signs! Breakfast is often the most fun meal time for some reason. We all four eat something different for breakfast and usually the boys eat first, then I eat and Ryan eats right before leaving for work. Ben and Nate will sit by each other and just laugh and stay at the table for quite a while. It is a good time to check email and get the day started!

He is currently wearing 9 month pants and 18 month tops! I just packed away Ben's 18 month clothes - some of them are still in his closet. There was a day when they were both wearing 18 month shirts. They are built so differently!

His eczema - It is mostly under control right now but I am getting worried about the coming cold. His skin is so very sensitive. The backs of his knees are almost always a little red and nasty and I try to keep them medicated. His ankles are horribly dry and sometimes bleed. He only gets a bath every 3 days or so and I use special soap and lotions for him. I really hope he grows out of this!

'Cation

This past week we were able to take a family vacation, or 'cation as Ben calls it, to Fall River State Park. We stayed three nights and enjoyed some great family time together. We love state park cabins because they are always so secluded and quiet - perfect for us! The cabins generally have basic amenities, just enough. This cabin only had one bedroom so the boys had to share a room. I was nervous how that would work, but they did great! Ben very obediently went to bed without a peep since Nate was already asleep. 

Nate seemed to grow up on this trip. He went from not being able to get much food in his mouth by himself to an almost perfect pincer grasp. I put some food on his tray just to tide him over while I finished the first meal and he gobbled it up. He continued to feed himself every meal from then. He also pulled up on everything in sight and even cruised on some things. He hasn't ever done that at home! It was fun to watch. I think we just needed some time away from our every day routine to notice just how much he is growing up.

Ben has always loved to be outside so this was a heavenly 'cation for him. He went outside just after breakfast and came in only for meals. We probably would have eaten outside if the Kansas wind wasn't so strong. We even read his bedtime story by the fire each night before putting him to bed. 

Ryan and I had to admit that we are getting older though - ya know Ryan is already 30! On Wednesday morning Ryan fell while we were playing with Ben's ball and sprained his ankle pretty bad. He stayed sitting with his left foot up for the rest of our vacation unless he was hopping to the bathroom. I even rented crutches from a pharmacy this morning because he is attending a men's conference all weekend and still can't put weight on his left foot. It was a bummer, but we still had a great time our last day.

 When I think of this vacation I will remember lots of food, dirt, and giggles!

This was our view from our front door. The river was very low, but we got to watch the sun rise each morning (vacation with two little ones does not allow for sleeping in) and watched the moon come up each evening. It was beautiful. 

 Daddy and boys digging in the dirt. 

 Nate had no fear of the grass. Anywhere Ben went, he was close behind.

 One morning we had very thick fog, but the boys were not deterred. 

 Chilly or not...we were outside!

 Such a sweetie!

 Morning fire in pjs.

 Nate mastered these stairs with ease. We mastered chasing after him to get him back down. He never fell, thank goodness.

 The park has a little park. We took a stroller walk to swing for a few minutes one day. Then, back to dirt digging!

 The river was so low that we had to walk through lots of what used to be under water to get to the water. Ryan and Ben threw lots and lots of rocks!

 Did I mention there was lots of dirt digging? 

 The evidence of a good time outdoors.

 More rock throwing, this time without Dad. Shortly after this picture he got a boot stuck in the mud and pulled his foot out of the boot resulting in mud everywhere! I rinsed a lot of clothes on this trip!

 The best part of vacation is the sink bath. Can you tell Nate enjoyed it?

Carter Family Vacation 

Fall 2011

The Best Sound

No matter how crazy the day might get with my two active, opinionated, independent boys...their giggles have a way of softening my heart. 

Puddle Stompin

We got a wonderful rain this evening so we went out to the front porch to watch Ben get all wet. This is probably the first time he has actually used his boots for their intended purpose even though he wears them almost every day.

He also made us all wear his rain hat. How do we look?

 The biggest puddle.

 After a warm (early) bath, Ryan and Ben enjoyed some Rangers postseason baseball. The Rangers better keep this up. They have started a Carter family tradition.

Lately - lots of videos!

As we said Bye Bye to Daddy this evening when he left to teach a class, Nate waved! I have never seen him wave. So, I worked the next hour to get him to do it again and this little bit is what I got on video. Ah...

Nate is on the go and goes everywhere fast. If I am trying to get him to come to me he may or may not come. If Ben walks by, Nate takes off in a flash to follow him. It is really sweet to watch.

Nate loves to splash! In this video he says "mama." The funniest part to me is that I am desperately trying to get him to perform tricks and he just wants me to leave him alone to splash. Sorry kid! But you are so stinkin' cute.

Cuteness!

I just wanted to get Ben's sweet voice on video so here it is.

Nate has started to sign "more" by clapping. He's getting there. I do find it sad in this video that we are trying to get him to sign "more" but not giving him anything. Shame on us!

Ben's original jam session was a huge hit. We still love music and dance in this house and Nate has figured out how to push all the buttons on the stereo so we get all kinds of interesting mixes these days.

A couple of weeks ago Ben chose this little number for some early morning backyard time.

 We made the most delicious pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting. Nate took a good morning nap and Ben and I made a huge mess in the kitchen that turned out to be quite yummy. I love baking. I love baking in the fall. I love baking in the fall with Ben!

Random - I found this picture on a different memory card that was taken back in July. I have titled it "Seriously?" Do you see why?