Carter's 1st Christmas Tree

We had fun picking out our Christmas tree yesterday. There are actually two Christmas tree farms just down the road from our house. The weather got cold this weekend and there were even a few snowflakes as we went searching for our perfect tree (although the real snow is supposed to start tonight and last through Wednesday). We had fun finding our tree and Carter even got to see some goats and reindeer. We intended to cut down our own tree, but it was so cold we decided to stick with one of the many that were already cut and on display. I was thrilled, to say the least, that we finally bought a tree that's taller than I am and I actually used ALL of my Christmas ornaments!

Stairs!!!

Carter braves the stairs, Mommy gets out the safety gate and Daddy figures out how to install it.



















Here are some more video clips too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLiu6UDgVC4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFXGtLq654

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We cooked up a wonderfully huge meal for Carter's first Thanksgiving (not that he actually ate it). It was a nice and peaceful day with lots of great food. Oh, and Carter's new sound was ma...it was pretty cool listening to him say, "mama, mama, mom" even though he had no idea what he was saying.

On Friday, we drove to Virginia to visit the Cole Family. We did some sight seeing in DC and had a great time! It was nice to see my friend Cynthia and the rest of her family...not to mention, it was REALLY great to get out of the house and go somewhere with familiar faces!

Riley, Reyes & Hunter



Jefferson Memorial


Cory, Carter & Kristina in front of the Washington Monument


Carter hanging out while Daddy takes a picture of the White House.



If you click on the picture to zoom in, you can see a sniper on the roof of the White House.


Iwo Jima


Washington Monument reflecting in the Reflecting Pool
Why is it while taking this picture, on the very steps that Dr. King gave his "I have a Dream" speech, I can't help but think "Run Forest, run!"?



Cory in front of the Lincoln Memorial (and Carter too)



Another picture of my guys

I can STAND....

...all by myself! Well, I have to hold onto something for balance, but I got up here all by myself! Here's a video of me.November 18, 2006 (8 months 1 week)

Oh, and I'm really good at grabbing and holding onto things now too. I use the pincer (thumb and forefinger) grasp instead of fumbling with my toys and food like I used to.
(11/17/06) I haven't decided yet if I like egg yoke or not, but it's definitely fun to play and make a big crumbly mess with!

(11/18/06)

Comparison Photos

Ahh...this is one of my favorite pictures.

Carter with his daddy at 1 week

12 weeks and 7 ½ months

Carter at 3 months (6/9/06) and



nearly 8 months (11/3/06). He keeps getting more and more cute!


In his swing at 3 months and 7 ½ months

Carter LOVES Cats!

Here’s a picture of Carter with my parents’ cat Skittles (10/21/06). I’m pleasantly surprised by how well our cat does with him and have a video of Carter and Sydney (our cat) together to show you. When she walks by, Carter gets very excited and even laughs sometimes. I let him chase after her and she usually will lay there and take his fur pulling (he even pulled her whiskers once…poor thing). The video was taken November 3^rd and 4^th (about 7 ½ months). Click here for video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y341yUPvwgk

Happy Halloween!

Carter got to get dressed up as a monkey for his first Halloween. No candy for the little guy yet, but he can have banana for dinner ;-)

Lots of video

These aren't really clips, but more like full length videos. Okay, they're not really all that long, but I did get a little carried away videotaping yesterday. I figure the grandparents will probably enjoy watching the unedited versions, so if you have some time, enjoy!
Carter licking his bowl clean
Carter crawling and getting into Daddy's things (10 min)
Carter sitting...and crawling

Check out Cory's pictures

I know I said I would post a link a couple of months ago, but we've been busy. Click on the link to see some more of his photos http://corwingraves.smugmug.com/gallery/1765890/1/104284377
They're mostly from our trip out here, but there are a couple of the beautiful Pennsylvania fall color he recently took near our house too.

First Teeth Brushing

Okay, so I'm not brushing his teeth so much as I am relieving his sore gums. Can you believe he already has 3 teeth coming in? I figure now is as good of a time as any to get him in the habit and am adding brushing his teeth to his bedtime routine.

Moving...but not quite crawling

Carter is mobile now! He rolls, scooches and inches his way across the room. Here's a video of him practically crawling!

Jumperoo (Video)

Here's Carter enjoying his newest toy. He seems very enthusiastic about playing in it, so I'm hoping it'll last long enough for me to do the laundry or dishes. He was quite the kicker while I was pregnant and has recently started jumping up and down on my lap while I hold him so this just seemed like the perfect thing for him. Video of Carter jumping

Teething

Carter's first tooth broke through the gum on Wednesday. It sure is sharp! I bought him some teething biscuits at the store today...I had no idea they'd be so messy. As you can see, he loved it! He sure pitched one heck of a fit when I took the box away from him though.