Halloween, Jack

Jack-o-lantern by day and Cowboy Jack (fastest drooler in the east) by night. Thanks to Jyll for the pumpkin costume, to Kirstin for the cowboy boots and to Mama Helen for the hat.


 

Car Travel

Carter usually doesn't like riding in his carseat. We blame it on the fact that he's a New York City baby - we don't have a car, so he's just not used to riding in one. Taxis are okay because the ride is usually quick, but buckle him into a regular car for a road trip, and he's usually an unhappy baby. This past weekend, however, he did quite well in the car. Only one meltdown the entire trip, and, as you can see, he actually enjoyed most of the rides!

Pictures from the Wedding

Our friends Cindy and Paul got married in El Paso this weekend. For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures from the wedding on Friday night. More pictures from the weekend below.

 

More Pics from the Weekend

Carter and the bride!

We took a tram to the top of the mountain in El Paso from which we could see Texas, New Mexico and actual Mexico. Here's Stubbie and Shannon at the bottom of the tram.

Carter and I at the top.

Shannon, Carter and I got into the Texas spirit of things.

 

Off to Texas

We're off to El Paso for a wedding. Carter will hit his seventh state, and possibly his first foreign country! We probably won't have internet access, so don't expect any posts until Sunday night at the earliest.

Gone, Baby, Gone

Since I had Carter, my major worries have been as follows:

1. What if something happens to Carter?
2. What if something happens to Thomas?
3. What if something happens to my frozen stockpile of breastmilk?

Sadly, we're about to discover the answer to #3.

I woke this morning to discover that the freezer door had been left open all night, likely spoiling all my milk. Unless you've toted a breast pump back and forth to work (and across the country on business trips) and hooked yourself up to it every 2-3 hours so that your baby will have his mama's milk when you are separated, you can't fully appreciate how distressing it is to have all that milk (and all your hard work) go to waste.

I don't have time to write any more about this. I've got three business trips planned for November - I have to get pumping.

Happy 5 Months, Carter!

 

More Pictures from Mama Helen's Visit

 

Big Boy

We started Carter on solid food this week. Sort of. We made solid food, and we spooned solid food into his mouth, but we aren't convinced that any actually made its way into his stomach. It pretty much just got pushed back out onto his clothes. But that isn't what this post is about. We'll post some pictures of Carter's solid food experiences another day. Today, I wanted say one thing:

Look at the picture of Carter below. I grew that baby from nothing using only my own body (and a small contribution from Thomas). Isn't that neat?

Mama Helen's Pics

Here are Mama Helen's favorite shots that she has taken over the last two days. She promises more cute ones to come...

She didn't believe me until she saw it herself, but he does love to swing.

Ah, vanity...

Toes are yummy!

Feeling Better

The boy is back to his usual charming self this morning! Check out the cute hat that Mama Helen brought him:
 

Sorry, No Pics

I had hoped to post some new pictures tonight along with tales of how wonderful it was for Carter to see his Mama Helen again. My mom arrived with no trouble, but, alas, the boy was uncooperative. Instead of showing off how usually sweet and easy going he is, he was uncharacteristically fussy. We hope that he isn't getting sick. We chose to believe that he's just sad that Daddy Phil didn't come too. Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow, in which case, I promise some new pictures!

Weekend Pics

Here are a few shots from our weekend:


 

Andy

My friend Andy is in town this weekend, and he stayed with us Friday night. Andy met Carter at Mikael and Sally's wedding, but inexplicably, Andy never got to hold him. We quickly remedied that on this visit. Andy was a very good sport about the early to bed, early to rise lifestyle that we now lead - especially since when we lived together back in college our routine was quite the opposite!

Cool Feet

It's getting chilly here, so that means it is time for...abominable snowman booties!
Thanks to Aarti for his cute feet!

Photo Booth Fun

My friend Andy is in town, and he has introduced us to one of the best new time-wasters. Photo Booth. Those Macintosh people really know how to provide hours of entertainment.



 

Yet Another Hat

It is starting to feel like fall here, and so we are delving into the long sleeves and hats. I found the little number Carter's wearing below in some things that my mom gave me. It must have been Patrick's when he was a baby. In this picture, I really think that Carter looks like his Uncle Patrick. Not so much like Patrick in the bottom picture, but like Patrick did as a baby!

Toys

Carter is really starting to enjoy his toys. He is quite grabby these days, and loves to put things in his mouth. If he could, he'd put all his toys in his mouth simultaneously. Sometimes he seems to have forgotten that he can use his hands to pick something up and bring it to his mouth - instead, he just dives for what he wants with his mouth open!