Brothers

8 months

At 8 months old Karter is a very social baby. He LOVES going out to eat and being in public. When he first meets someone he doesn't recognize he stares them down for a bit then warms up and gives a big smile. Lionel is his BFF and he adores animals. I taught him how to him Lionel a treat so now Lionel is Karter's good friend.

He is able to get on all fours and rocks back and forth but isn't crawling yet. He still doesn't have any teeth. He weighs 24 pounds and has grown out of his infant car seat. I just got the best carrier - It's called the Ergo and I recommend it to every mom/dad. It's so comfortable for both Karter and I.

Spinach

FL - The Beach and Pool

Family Trip to Florida

New Milestones

On Thurs Feb 5th Karter picked up his first Gerber Graduate Puff (cheerio size) and fed himself.

Around Jan 24 I stopped breastfeeding - BTW my boobs shrunk a whole cup size .... anyone know if this is the norm because i miss my boobs. Around the same time we started sleep training again. I knew exactly how much food he was getting during the day. I started him on stage 2 food for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with 4 - 8oz bottles. He is still on soy formula - I tried some yogurt and he became very gassy and constipated. His habit of waking during the night to feed was created by me because he would wake up and I would go in a feed him. It took a couple of nights of listening to him cry before he started to sleep through the night. He now sleeps from about 8:30 until 7:00 ish.

Even Bigger Baby Boy Karter - 6 months!!

We had Karter's 6 month check up today and he's as healthy as can be! He weighs 21 pounds and is 28 inches long. Again in the 90 - 95th percentile.

The past 6 months have been been a roller coaster of emotions. No one can ever prepare you for a baby - the raging hormones, lack of sleep, overwhelming feeling of love, learning how to trust your instincts... Looking back I saw a different side of me. Being a mother is so different than anything else I have experienced in my 30 years. I have a new appreciation for all mothers - especially mine. I learned patience, how to ask for help, how to care for a baby who is so dependant on me and to give 100% of myself not because that is what is expected of me, but because it comes so naturally. It was certainly difficult at times and I cried while he was crying but you get through it all and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. I LOVE being Karter's mom. He makes me so happy - more and more each day.

A few things I learned along the way...

• I got too hung up on a getting him into routine too early.


• I read too many books and I drove myself somewhat nuts.


• Go with your gut and talk to your pediatrician.


• The one thing I didn't realize at first is how much sleep babies need. The better they nap during the day the better they sleep at night.

Holidays 2

Christmas and Hanukkah 2008

We went to the Lavaia's this year for Christmas eve. It was the first year at Bonnie's since Frank passed away. We missed him very much and it wasn't the same without him. Stace and her friend Sam joined us for the first time. Hopefully Stace can join us every Christmas eve and make it a new tradition. Christmas day was at our house for the first time. We had 15 people over for dinner. Craig cooked a fantastic meal - lamb and ham with a ton of different sauces. Everyone contributed and everything turned out perfect for Karter's first holiday! For Hanukkah we lit the menorah everynight and Karter got his first dradle.

Snow Storm 2

Karter's first Snow Storm

Lionel and Friends

Karter and Friends

Karter had his friends James, Andrew and Cooper over last month. If taking these pictures were any indications of what is to come.. we're in trouble... James was holding Karter for the first round of pics and Karter ended up on the floor face first so we scratched that and decided to prop Karter on the floor right below Andrew and he puked on Karters head so this is how the pic ended up.. more to come throughout the years..

Sitting Up

Karter started to sit up by himself this past Tues. It's more like a balancing act but he's getting the hang of it.

Weekly Visits with Bubby 1

My Bubby [Karter's (Great) Bubby 1] and the Maslowsky family get together weekly. Most of the time she insists driving from Queens to Rockland just to see Karter - and us but we come second these days... She even slept over! And if you know my Bubby she loves her bed and her house and very rarely sleeps over anyones house. That night I had 4 generations at our house - my mom slept over as well. She loves him so much that she got down on the floor next to him - she's 88 years old and nothing stops her!!