Updates

Our summer is coming to a close. Fall is my favorite season, so I am very excited. Plus, this summer, with 2 little ones under 2, it was just too hot for us to be out and really enjoy it. Next summer should be somewhat lovely...although, busy I can imagine with the two of them running around. :) I look forward to it.

Anywho, just a few updates.

Carter has been army crawling since just before he was 7 months old. When he sees something he wants, he is quite persistent. He eats like crazy! He eats puffs as if they are going out of style. Logan also enjoys the puffs...if only they weren't more expensive than a big box of cereal! Logan, while he enjoys puffs, is hit or miss on other things. Some days he likes pb&j, some days not. Same goes with pretty much any food! It is frustrating. His favorite word is 'no' and sometimes he says it with such attitude...Gr.

As Carter is army crawling...he is able to reach toys...toys which his big brother may be playing with. This is not going over extremely well. 'No, Carter, Carter, Carter!!!' is what I hear. Or if Carter crawls to a toy that is not being played with...Logan grabs it from him to put it away. So we are working on sharing toys and not taking things from Carter just because he can. The other day, Logan was drinking out of his water bottle and he left it on the floor. Carter started playing with it and it rolled across the room. Carter started on his trek....he army crawls like crazy...he is about 2 feet away and Logan sees him, walks over, picks up his water bottle, starts drinking and walks away. While he walked away, Carter watched him looking longingly at the water bottle. Poor kiddo...

Logan repeats pretty much anything you ask him to. It is so cute. We have been to so many birthday parties - all different and new experiences for him....and me. :)

Another new trick that Carter has mastered in the last week is going from his stomach to a sitting position. I love watching him learn new things...and some of them without instruction.

One of my new favorite things is part of our bedtime routine. After both boys are changed and in their pj's we let them hang out in our bed for a few minutes before they go to bed. Logan typically likes flop around and laugh, laugh, laugh. Now, Carter joins in on the fun. He flops around, then gets himself in a sitting position and re-flops. Then we tickle the boys...they laugh...then they laugh at each other laughing. It is such a cute time. Then I rock Carter for a couple minutes in his room and put him to bed. Then Logan cuddles inbetween John and I for a few minutes watching tv and then gives John kisses and I tuck him in to bed. It is nice.

Well, I just wanted to make an update. I hope to make more soon!

Carter is 6 months old

My little man Carter just turned 6 months old on July 29th.

He got his first haircut a few days prior. When the wind blew or he put his hands on his head, which is often, his bangs or sideburns would get in his eyes. It was crazy...so I took him to KidSnips. He sat on my lap (Logan sat in the cool truck and watched Thomas the Train as he was getting his haircut next) and we both wore aprons. Carter sat very still and looked soooo clean-cut afterwards. I am very glad I did it.

A few days after his half-birthday, he had his 6 month well visit checkup with Dr. M. It went very well. He showed off his sitting skills as the nurse and doctor entered the room. He also passed all the developmental questions....handing an object from one hand to the other...puts pressure on his legs...sits supported, or un-supported in his case. He had to take an oral vaccination, which he did very well with. He also received 2 shots, which ticked him off just a bit. Here are his stats:

18 pounds 7 ounces (70th percentile)

28 inches (90th percentile)

head: 17.5 (60th percentile)

For those curious, he - at this point - is a half pound *less* than where Logan was...and an inch shorter.

Carter has already started rocking back and forth on his hands and knees in his crib and when placed on the floor. I think this is a couple weeks earlier than Logan. Carter constantly is moving - if sitting in the highchair, you will likely find him twirling his wrists and/or feet. It is just too funny! When he eats, after you spoon in the food, his left hand almost immediately goes into his mouth to suck on it. I think he does it to help him swallow. Carter currently has (breast)milk 3 times and eats baby food with dinner. I did buy some baby food and I made sweet potatoes myself...and avocado. Sometimes he has just sweet potatoes, sometimes a combo-platter. It is a lot thicker than the runny baby food and he LOVES it!

Carter currently sleeps about 12 hours at night (awesome!) and naps twice daily. He wakes up around 8am, is up for 2 hours, then goes down around 10am, sleeps for about 3-4 hours (woo-hoo!), up again for 2 hours, naps for 2 hours, up till 8 when he goes to bed. It is a pretty awesome schedule and I love that I have another great sleeper. At this point, I can tell when he is sleepy - he is fussy or he starts sucking his thumb or lays his head down for longer than 3 seconds. I go upstairs and put him in his bed. He starts sucking his thumb, turns to his side or rolls completely onto his tummy and goes to sleep. Sometimes he cries a bit, but it lasts up to 2 minutes tops! If it is longer than that he most likely just needs to burp, then goes right back down.

Carter smiles ALL the time. He has a great, big smile and it makes others smile when you look at him. His hair has filled in nicely around the sides and back...but is still thick upfront as he never lost any. The super funny thing about the front is his hair goes straight-forward then turns to the right (or left if you are looking at him) AND it is fluffy. He has been compared to (hair-wise ONLY) to Conan O'Brien or Donald Trump. Nice, I know...but it is true.

So I took Carter to get his 6month pictures taken and he did so well. He sat up straight and smiled at the right times and there was a picture that he did not smile, but he looks like a doll (so I got the picture). :) After the picture was printed I realized that his hair has reddish tones - like mine did when I was a kid...my hair was always brown, with natural blonde and red tones throughout. But I also noticed just how poofy Carter's hair is on top. {So for the Madorma-cousins photo shoot a week later, I put gel in Carter's hair to tame the top and it worked.}

Let's see...what else. Carter enjoys swings at the park. He likes to watch his big brother play. He sometimes likes to roll into his big brother or touch his face, to which Logan says 'Carter....'.

Unfortunately, Carter rolls WAY, WAY more than Logan ever probably even thought of...which has led to falling off some pieces of furniture. He is just soooo quick. So, Carter if you are reading this in the future....when people ask you if you were dropped on your head as a baby, you can unfortunately say yes. And now, I would like to apologize for letting that happen.

Carter is just such a cutie pie and when people see him then always compliment his big eyes and cheeks. They also typically say that he looks so big for being only 6 months. Well, yes, based on his stats, he is in the bigger range. However, especially after picking Logan up, when I get Carter from his crib or carry him around downstairs or see him in his carseat or high chair, he is just small to me and I love that.

My 2nd little man is growing up and I love every second of it!

Muddy Buddy

In an attempt to lose weight, get fit and do something fun for myself, my friend Kathy & I did the Muddy Buddy; my friend Sam and her hubby Mike also joined in the fun. It is a 6 mile bike/run race with obstacles. We alternate biking and running and perform an obstacle inbetween (climb a small rock wall, crawl under a cargo net, walk across balance beams, climb up a cargo net and slide down, crawl through a mudpit - the most fun!!!). We had a blast. We trained minimally, so perhaps next year we will train in plenty of time and improve our time. This picture is of us 'after' we cleaned up a bit. :)

Beginnings of a Crawler...

Come here you little puppy dog...hmpf, he can touch it, but can't quite grab it.

He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back & forth, then collapses.

He has now moved at least an inch closer and can fully grab the puppy. Which he then proceeded to roll all over the carpet while chewing on the puppy.


GO CARTER GO!!!

Randomness

The other night Logan fell out of his bed (I think this is the 3rd time ever). I had just checked the baby monitor about one minute beforehand and all was well. Then thump. He kept yelping 'Fall Down, Fall Down, Fall Down' until I got up there. He was in a squatting position (kind of on all fours, like a cat), with his pacifier in his mouth and still yelping. I picked him up as he stayed in the squatting position, put him back in bed and he fell asleep with no problem. His little voice yelping fall down was just so cute...

Speaking of beds...typically when we put Logan to bed, he stays in his bed and falls asleep - I am truly amazed at this. Every so often though, he'll get up and come out to the hallway. (For the most part, we have stopped locking his door since he isn't abusing the freedom as much as he once was.) What is cool though is that as soon as I say "Back to Bed"...he hussles his little legs right back in his bed and falls asleep! It is great. Sometimes I'll see him starting to get out of bed via the video monitor and I will tell him to get back to bed and he crawls right back in. I appreciate his listening skills....right now. I fear that we will go through a series of tests soon...and for the rest of his life where these skills may diminish.

Speaking of diminishing skills...when we go for a walk back to our park, I sometimes let Logan walk next to the stroller on the extra-wide sidewalk....to burn some energy. He goes longer than I imagine and we inevitably have to cross a street, to which point I tell him he has to hold my hand. On these walks, he mostly flat out refuses (although other times in parking lots, seems to do okay). I will grab his hand and we'll start crossing and then 9 times out of 10 he will melt and turn into jelly-boy in the middle of the street. Fantastic. So since I cannot stop in the middle of the street to disuss with him how he needs to hold my hand while crossing because of dangerous cars, I end up carrying him - either a normal way or by his hand. Ugh. While pushing the double stroller. And sometimes holding Buddy's leash (if I was crazy enough to think that taking the dog to the park was a good idea....while I watch Logan on the playground, make sure Carter is content in the stroller and make sure Buddy behaves while little kids are either super excited or scared to see him there). So we discuss it when we arrive on the sidewalk and again before we start out on the next one. Inevitably, these discussions don't work as he wants to be so independent...and he ends up in the stroller because at this point, Carter has gotten mad from starting and stopping so much and he is tired or hungry and who wants to push a screaming baby in the stroller when you are still a half mile from home?

Speaking of being away from home....It is not often that I leave the house without the kids. This morning I had the pleasure of going to the grocery store by myself. Ah... My kids are not bad while shopping, but with a toddler and baby, it is just not logisticly possible for me to get more than a couple items...Logan is in the seat and Carter is in his carseat in the main basket.....where oh where would the groceries go? If I got desperate, I could just put Carter in the Bjorn...but so far I haven't had to do so. Anyway I digress (I never do that...haha). Before I left Logan had been awake...since 6am (oy!). I got him milk and a little breakfast and we came upstairs. He had a meltdown about something, so I offered him his pacifiers if he took a nap...at 8:30. Much to my surprise, he did just that. So I fed Carter, got ready and then went on my trip. While I was loading my groceries into the car, John called me. He said Logan just wanted to hear my voice. Apparently he had just woken from his nap and was going around the house yelling 'MAMA, MAMA'. How cute!!! I love it! He said 'Hi Mama' into the phone...oh so adorable. Had I not been 5 minutes away, I may have just cried knowing that he knew I was gone and he missed me. I love that guy.

Speaking of mom-attachments...Carter can play just great by himself and also enjoys watching Logan play. If I leave the room and he doesn't see me, all is well...however if I leave and he does see me leave he gets all bent out of shape. As I was leaving the living room today, he actually bent all the way backwards/upside-down in his in his Bumbo just to see me, while crying. I know it is a phase...I don't want it to last long, but it is nice to feel loved when screaming and crying occur as I walk away... :)

Speaking of walking....Logan has lately found a new hobby of sucking on his toe...sometimes his whole foot. Random!

Speaking of....hm. Not sure if I can find a segway for this one. Ooh, speaking of one.....Logan can count to ten (although 4 and 8 prove to be tricky sometimes, although seven is just fine) when repeating after me. He also recently put together a couple wooden puzzles (matching the picture) with his cousins Ashley and Alex. I had put the puzzles in a bin a while back and they hadn't come out until recently. I was so proud to see that he knew where to put the pieces. What a smart cookie!

This is all I can recall at the moment...

9 Fabulous Years!

On Wednesday, June 30th, John and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. Sometimes it is hard to believe that it has been that long!

The morning of our anniversary, John brought me up a gift from downstairs!! Imagine my surprise! In past years I have discussed gifts ahead of time, he's complained slightly about getting gifts and finding time to do so and usually I purchased something days beforehand and have at least a card waiting for him in the morning. This year, I didn't think much about gifts at all and I didn't even (gasp) get him a card!! So boy did I feel bad when he not only presented me with a card, but a present as well!! It was so nice that he did think of it and it was honestly such a wonderful surprise. Now the gifts. It is important to note that we have always followed both the traditional and modern gifts when we exchange. So our gifts are not expensive jewlery or anything uber amazing, but more fun to figure out what to get each other that fits into the category.

9 years it is: Pottery or Willow (traditional), Leather (modern)

John got me a red oval serving platter (pottery) - which I had previously seen at Target and really liked, a notepad (leatherbound) and the movie Willow. He also gave me Reese Cups (as they are my absolute favorite) and a gift certificate for a nail salon. So sweet!!

Now, what threw me was the movie Willow. I didn't put it together at the time, but I thought he just really wanted that movie so he was giving it to me as a gift...you know, trying to be sneaky. Not so much. Later I found out that he was just sticking with the theme - he said it was either the movie or a stick, which he didn't happen to find. He didn't care about the actual movie.

So, later that day the boys and I went to the library for storytime and they fell asleep on the way home (shocker...). I thought it would be a cute idea to find John's car at the train station and put a note on his car that I couldn't wait to see him for a date later that night. I drove up and down in all 3 parking lots at the train station and thought....where on earth does he park? He gets there fairly early... It was at this time I was telling my sister on the phone what I was doing and it hit me....he takes the train to work on Tuesday. Today was Wednesday. DUH! No kidding I couldn't find his car....man alive! So I later went and got him some gifts. I got him a new leather belt (skipped the Willow idea) and got him some iTunes giftcards and some candy. Since earlier I thought he'd given me Willow the movie because he wanted the movie and was being sneaky, I got him the other red piece of pottery (as a joke since I wanted it) to match my other dish. Haha, John, I'll get you! Yeah....so when I gave it to him later he laughed that I gave him pottery. Then it all clicked to me - he could care less about the movie Willow, he was just doing it to tie in with the traditional gift. So who looks silly now?!?! Ah, Paige..

Anywho, that is just a silly story that I wanted to remember...

For our anniversary night our original plan was to go out to dinner with the kids. However, as time got closer we realized that going to dinner with 2 small children is not going to be even a little bit relaxing and will likely stress us out. So, we placed a call to my parents and they came on up to watch the boys. So the plan to go to a family friendly restaurant that was noisy to help masque any screams from our table quickly turned into a place where jeans were not worn and silence was the norm...yay! We went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - oh YUM!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner...delicious steak, yummy sides, a martini for me and wine for him and dessert where they wrote 'Happy Anniversary' on our plate. It was super good.

We came home to Logan fast asleep and Carter - smiling and squirming in excitement to see us. It was nice as I rarely am away from the boys, so I don't get to see their pure excitement when I enter a room. :)

That weekend, on Saturday we went to one of my college friends' wedding. As we forgot to take a picture on our actual anniversary, we snapped this picture in the parking lot of the banquet hall. It was another nice evening without children. John's parents came down and had a great time with the boys.
John and I are very thankful for a healthy, happy marriage that has been blessed with 2 adorable boys that bring joy to us every day!

Carter's cuteness

Carter loves blowing bubbles / giving raspberries / spitting - whatever you want to call it. He thinks he is pretty tough stuff after he does it. It is super cute! Here is a picture of him doing it, although he also looks like he could be puckering up as well. I love this little man!

Carter Updates

While you may have just read that Carter has had a big few weeks. He started eating rice, which has now developed into eating oatmeal, prunes (I had a small jar left from Logan) and sweet potatoes. He has also learned to roll from his back to his stomach - he has continued to do it more and more throughout the week. It is very exciting to watch as Logan never really cared about rolling...he did it about 3 times and he was done with it. Carter has yet to go from tummy to back, but I think within the next couple weeks that will be his new venture. It is interesting as he only rolls to his right.

Carter also has learned to sit up and continues to get stronger with that as well. He also spits a lot making bubbles with his saliva and has been noticing his hands. He will hold them in front of his face and look in pure amazement.

Carter is a thumb sucker! Funny how with Logan, he was pure pacifier. He found his thumb a couple times, but I was wanting him to be with his pacifier - it is easier to take away from them...the thumb is always there. Carter, we try the pacifier, but he tends to spit it out and find his thumb. While he's sleeping he doesn't suck on it that we've noticed, but he does find it a lot. In fact, while eating oatmeal he sucks it in-between bites. I think part of that is to help him suck it down, which is very smart of him. :)

Carter remains to be a very good baby, but when he is hungry or has an upset tummy (needing to burp or toot) he gets maaaad!!!

Carter before food:

Carter after food, but thinking, stop taking pictures of me and just feed me already!!

Here are some cute Carter pics:

This is Carter's messy hair look. Posting this picture should please his Aunt Sandy & cousin Meghan. When we visit with them, they usually mess his hair up, then on automatic, I walk by and comb it all to the side. ;)

This is proof as here is a picture of Carter with his cousin, Meghan! :)

Logan Updates

Logan helped Grandma water her plants. It had rained a lot while we were there (go figure the surrounding days were 80 and sunny), so we brought Logan's rain boots. He wasn't very into splashing into puddles though, but he is a pro at watering plants.


While at my in-laws two weeks ago we went strawberry picking. My niece Brittany watched Carter while my SIL and I went with Logan to pick strawberries. Last year was our first year doing it, but with Logan in a backpack and it being 90 degrees by 9am, it was not the most fabulous experience. This year, he could walk, put the strawberries in the basket and it was only 65/70 degrees - much nicer. Logan tried to pick a couple, but wasn't tugging hard enough. He really just enjoyed looking around the field and every so often throwing the strawberries Aunt Brittany and I handed to him. Brittany and I enjoyed eating a few freshly picked ones, but Logan didn't want to.

Haha...the place where we pick doesn't really do anything about weed control, so every so often Logan had to stop to get a weed out of his shorts!!

Then last week the boys and I went to a Strawberry Festival (we love strawberries!!) with some of our friends. We had a nice time and Logan even had his first solo train ride. I wasn't sure if he would cry while in it being separated from me. He loved it!!! He sat in a car with 2 of his new friends and was amazed the entire time. He kept an eye out for me as I was furiously snapping pictures between my regular camera and my iPhone camera. When it was over...that is where the problem was - he didn't want to get off - he wanted to go on again. But at $2.50 a ride, that was not happening....plus there was a long-ish line.

Logan continues to say more words - his latest that is super cute is pacifier...which in toddler speak is 'Pa-a-at' or when trying to say the entire word is 'Pa-a-a-sip-eh'. He also says thank you and please very well. Another super cute one is 'Cheese' and here is a picture of his 'cheese' face.

In the meantime at home he has been practicing his chin-ups on our drawers while trying to get a spatula!

Check out who can sit...

Wow as of late Carter has been enjoying the Bumbo for a few minutes...then stretches to get out of there (same goes with the bouncer and the exersaucer). So, I thought well let's try sitting...and voila - he sat up, a little hunched over, but nonetheless, sitting up. Then he'd tip down. So I fixed his legs and arms all set to sturdy himself and he did it longer - he even yawned, sneezed and looked around and remained sitting. So as any mother with the camera glued to her hand would do, I attempted to arrange a cute photo-op with Logan and Carter...and Buddy - he is always there and actually listened better than the toddler this time. :)

About 10 shots later and me trying like a nut to get both of the boys to look at me at the same time, I got a decent one...then realized my background had the load of laundry I had just brought up to fold - and who wants to see that in the background? So I moved it...took a few more, then realized that it wasn't going to work. Earlier we had been outside playing with the hose and some tupperware to splash in the water and Logan's shorts got all wet...so he wasn't wearing shorts. I am not a huge fan of partially clothed children for an important milestone photo-op...so I kicked Logan and Buddy out of the picture and got cute little Carter sitting all by himself. I was so impressed as he was still sitting while I was trying to get the right picture - what a cutie!!

***Here are the pictures - my regular camera is having a couple issues, so the camera I've used most lately is my iPhone and in an instance such as this where the lighting isn't great, the photo looks a bit fuzzy.***

Logan (without shorts...nice) and Carter (sporting the deer in the headlights look) the amazing sitter!!

Here is my impressive Carter at 4 months, 3 weeks. (And yes for those of you wondering, Logan sat up in almost the exact timeframe)

Houston we have a roller!!

This past week Carter has been getting soooo close to rolling over, but he just gets stuck on his arm. This morning I set him down on his back and I was brushing my teeth and I was watching him try to roll...and he did it!! He moved that arm right out of the way - Go Carter!! Randomly throughout the day I'd try it again...and he would do it, with a little struggle, but it is getting easier for him all the time.

A new pic of the boys....

Lately Carter is enjoying time in the Johnny Jump Up.

And Logan continues to think he's hot stuff with his hands tucked in his pockets...his Daddy flipped up his collar for extra coolness....

Carter's 4 month well visit

Today Carter had his 4 month well visit and all went well! Since his appointment 2 months ago, here are his stats:

17 pounds 1 ounce (90th percentile) - gained just over 3 pounds

26.75 inches (95th percentile) - grew 3 inches!!!

head: 17 cm (70th percentile)

To compare to Logan, Carter is about 7 ounces heavier and a half inch shorter. However I do find it interesting that between Logan's 2nd - 4th visit, he grew just about 2 inches whereas Carter grew 3 inches. It is clear to me that both their boys will be tall like their father, but may grow differently to get there. :)

When Dr. M. walked in he noticed Carter meeting a milestone. He told me that when pediatricians walk in to the office they are not looking at just another cute baby, but what that baby is doing - what goals they are meeting. Phew, Carter was meeting a milestone - he was laying on his back and had brought his hands together and was putting them in his mouth. Go Carter! Other milestones he has met are: he puts weight on his legs (just like his big bro, he is very strong!), holds his head at a 90 degree angle, grab for objects out of reach and is attempting to roll over.

Carter had to take an oral medicine - not as big of a fan of it as last time. He took it slowly and didn't spit any out, but he did not suck it like a bottle like he had done last time. He also received 2 shots and didn't take kindly to either of them. He was not a fan and needed a bit more consoling.

The doctor mentioned that he appears to be starting with stranger anxiety a bit early. He said that this tends to happen with breastfed babies since they are clearly with their mothers quite often. He said this because Carter was a little sketchy when he would touch him and would always look around for my face and then stop whining or just whimper while locking eyes. Granted after I picked him up he let out a little burp, so I think that was a real reason for whining. But I do also remember Logan going through some 'stranger' anxiety early on, but it ended really early too. I think it was around 3-5/6 months. I think because we do see family or friends or because I am so involved with my Mom group that it helped to get him over anything he had....let's hope that works for Carter as well.

Carter still has some random spots of eczema which I continue to treat with aquaphor or cortizone. Other than that he's peachy keen!

Mom Group

Last March when John and I were vacationing in Arizona with Logan, who was only 3 months old, I decided that I needed a Mom group. A couple others new mom's I knew had found one close to their home and really enjoyed it. Knowing that I am internet-search challenged, I asked John to help me and within minutes he found a group in our hometown. I filled out the request form and met a few of the moms for lunch about a week and a half later.

Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without this Mom group. It took some time attending some meetups (with a baby who didn't interact with the older kids) for me to get to know some of the other Moms. One Mom that joined within a month after I did contacted me since her daughter was 3.5 months older than Logan and out of the whole group, there weren't many kids our kids age. We have now become close friends with Kathy and Maddie. :) We started getting together several times a week for walks or hanging out at each other's homes or going to parks to push our non-mobile children in swings. Slowly we got more involved with the group and have started making more friends.

Recently, the organizer stepped down and one of my friends that I just started getting to know took the group over. I had told her that I would help her out; so now I am a co-organizer to the group I started just over a year ago. So now we are trying to think of fun activities for the group to do during the summer - fun kids crafts to partake in. It is pretty exciting! The group has about 50 members, but about 35 of them are active - which is a lot of different people to hang out with. I have gotten to know several of them and it is truly a great group. It has made being a Stay at Home Mom so much more fun. I feel like my kids are getting much more of a social interaction. We attend weekly playgroups and also go to museums, zoo's, parks, mall play areas, splash pads - all kinds of places. We also do Moms Nights Out and go to a restaurant, see a movie or go to one of our houses. We do book clubs and other things with just the moms. It really helps to have adult conversation during the day when I otherwise would not have. I highly recommend finding a Mom group to any new or experienced mom!

Just wanted to share an exciting part of my life!

Short Stories and Exciting Times

Logan was just about to clank the toys above Carter's head again and I stopped him. I said 'shhh, Carter is sleeping'. He tilted his head to the side as if to pretend to sleep. As I kept saying 'shhh', he put his hand to his mouth, so I showed him that 'sh' is one finger. So he did one finger to his lips...but in addition, put the finger up his nose!! (For the recod, that is NOT what I was doing)

I just got Logan a Little Tikes slide for $2 at a garage sale (what a major deal...yay me!). After Logan sits down, I count '1, 2, 3, weeee!!!'. He typically slides his butt backwards down the stair part to help gain momentum, but then holds onto the handles until he has to let go. He kind of looks like he is a luger.

Logan has also taken out his shopping cart or walker toy and zooms it around the house, but tries to go in place that are difficult to maneuver - just for the challenge. Granted, when he gets stuck, he gets very frustrated, but we've been trying to help him problem-solve. Sometimes he figures it out on his own, but when he is tired, it is meltdown city!

Carter enjoys laying under the toy play gym. I think this weekend we will take out the exersaucer, bumbo and Johnny jump up. Ah, I can't believe he is ready for those things!!

In the meantime, the boys are excited to find out if they will have 2 new girl or boy or one of each cousins to play with by the end of the year. On the Battermann side, my sis-in-law Brittany is pregnant with their 1st baby and due mid-November. And on the Madorma side my brother and sis-in-law, Melissa are due Jan. 2011 with their 4th baby! So it is going to be a very busy time of the year celebrating Logan's birthday, my birthday, my Mom's birthday, my father-in-law's birthday, a new baby, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, another baby and Carter's 1st birthday!! All within 3 months!!! I am exhausted just thinking about it - but cannot wait to be an Aunt again and again!!!!