8 Months

• Weight: 19 lbs 10 oz
• Eating: You are still eating 5 5-6 oz bottles a day and are 3 meals a day.  You absolutely love food! So far you have not been allergic to anything.  We offer you a sippy cup occasionally, but you haven't quite figured out how it works.
• Sleep: You still sleeping close to 12 hours a night.  You are usually in bed by around 6:30pm.
• You are wearing size 3 diapers
• You are wearing 9 month clothes.
• You have mastered sitting up alone, but you have not yet started to crawl.  You will lean forward like you want to but you can't figure out where to put your legs.  Sometimes you do get in your hands and knees and rock, but you don't go anywhere.
• You love the dog and think its funny when he licks you.
• You got your 1st tooth.  I first felt it on October 27th, but it didn't start showing for about another week.
• You have really become a talker and you love to laugh.
• You love to play peek-a-boo on FaceTime with CiCi and Papaw.

7 Months

• Weight: 18 lbs
• Eating: You are still eating 5 5-6 oz bottles a day and are now eating 3 meals a day.  You absolutely love food! 
• Sleep: You still sleeping close to 12 hours a night.  You are usually in bed by around 6:30pm.
• You are wearing size 3 diapers
• You are wearing some 6 month clothes and some 9 month clothes.
• You sat up on your own for longer than a few seconds for the 1st time this month. (Oct 9 - you sat up for about 15 minutes on your own)
• You are starting to think Oliver is soo funny.  We caught you just laughing up a storm at him when he was shaking his toy.
• Still no teeth
• I love you soo much my heart could burst.  You are a great baby and a wonderful traveler.  

6 Months

• You had your 6 month shots on Monday and did great.  They didn't seem to bother you at all and you didn't even cry very much when the nurse stuck you.
• Weight: 16 lbs 3 oz (26.78%)
• Length: 26.9in (62%)
• Head: 17.25in (52.82%)
• Eating: You eating 5-6 ounces about every 3-4 hours (5 bottles a day).  We started oatmeal cereal about the time you turned 5 months old and a 5 1/2 months we started solids.  You LOVE food.  So far we have had apples, bananas, sweet potato, avocado, butternut squash, and pears.  We are hoping the eating solids will help with your reflux.  We switched from Zantac to OTC Prevacid and that has seemed to help some.
• Sleep: You are a great sleeper.  You go to bed between around 6:30-6:45pm and you usually sleep until I have to get you up at 6am.  You love to sleep on your tummy, with your butt in the air.
• You are wearing size 3 diapers
• You wear mostly 6 month clothes although most of your shorts are still 3 month.
• You have start rolling from tummy to back. The 1st time we saw this was on September 2nd.
• You are such a happy baby, but you always have a serious look on your face and it takes some work to make you laugh.
• You have started to hold your own bottle.  This started on September 6th.
• You have started trying to scoot, but so far you only go in reverse.
• You still don't have any teeth.
• You changed classrooms at school and your new teachers are wonderful.  I am amazed by what you have learned and I am soo happy I found a great daycare close to my work.

Happy 1/2 Birthday sweet boy.  I can't imagine my life without you.  We hoped and prayed for you for sooo long and you were definitely worth the wait.  

5 Months

• You had your 4 month shots on Monday and did great.
• Weight: 15 lbs
• Eating: You now drink 6 ounces every 3 hours and 15 minutes (5 bottles a day).
• Sleep: You go to bed between 6:30 and 7:30pm and we get you up at 6am.  You wiggle a lot in your sleep and most mornings we find you a totally different direction in the bed then when you went to sleep.
• You are still in size 2 diapers
• You are now mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes.  Most of your pants are still 3 month but the 3 month onesies are too short.
• You have start rolling from back to tummy.  I was totally shocked the 1^st time I saw you do this.  It took you a few tries to figure out what to do with your arm, once you rolled over but you eventually got it.
• You still smile a lot and are "talk" more.
• You still LOVE the jumparoo.  You go crazy jumping in it and love to watch Praise Baby on TV while you jump.
• You still love TV, music, and bath time
• You got your first cold.  You had a terrible cough and looked like you felt terrible for about 3 days.
• Most babies lose hair on the back of their head, but you lost it on the right side of your head from all that sleeping you used to do on your side.  From one side you look like you have a mohawk.

4 Months

• You had your 4 month shots on Monday and did great.
• Weight: 14 lbs 1 oz (31.96%)
• Length: 24.6 in (37.33%)
• Head: 16.6 in (46.92%)
• Eating: You were still eating 5 ounces about every 3 hours (6 bottles a day), but on the day you turned 4 months old we switched to 6 ounces every 3 hours and 15 minutes (5 bottles a day).
• Sleep: You are still a really good sleeper.  You go to bed between 7:30 and 8pm and we get you up at 6am.  Some mornings you start waking up around 5:30, but you don't normally cry and you are usually back asleep by the time I make it to your room to get you up for the day. You alternate sleeping on your side and back. 
• You moved up to size 2 diapers
• You are still mostly wearing 3 month clothes, but I have started putting you in a few 3-6 month clothes.
• You have start rolling from back to side, but haven't quite figured out how to get all the way to your tummy.
• You smile a lot and are starting to "talk" more.
• You LOVE the jumparoo.  Your feet don't hit the floor, but we put a pillow or towel under you and you jump like crazy.
• You love TV, music, bath time
• Your umbilical hernia is completely gone.  You now have a normal belly button.
• You now have really good head control.
• You are starting to grasp objects and you love to put everything in your mouth.
• Your made you 1st trip out on the boat and did excellent.  You lasted 6 1/2 hours one day and 5 hours the next day.
• You love school and seem to be content in the swing each morning when I drop you off.

Mommy and Daddy love you soo much.  I am soo thankful for you and can't imagine what life would be like without you.

3 Months

• I started back to work this month (May 28th) and you started going to school.  I'm not gonna lie, that 1st day was rough!  I cried all the way to school.  You started crying too and you never cry in the car.  I cried the entire time I was dropping you off at school.  I had to run back in your room after I left and you were crying which upset me even more.  I cried all the way to work and every time someone asked me about you at work I cried.  I checked on you at lunch and you were doing good which made me feel better.  After the 1st day, all the tears were gone and going to school is no big deal.  I put you in a swing each morning and you are happy as can be.
• Weight: We haven't been to the doctor in a while, but my best guess is between 12 1/2 and 13 lbs
• Length: 25 in (my best guess)
• Eating: You are still eating 5 ounces about every 3 hours (6 bottles a day)
• Sleep: You are still a really good sleeper.  You go to bed between 8-8:30opm and we get you up at 6am.  You usually starting waking up around 5:30, but you don't normally cry and you are usually back asleep by the time I make it to your room to get you up for the day.  And have I mentioned that you are a side sleeper?  You love to sleep right up next to the side of the crib.
• You made your first trip to the lake.  Lolly and Pop sold their lake house so we went to help them move into a rental while they build their retirement house.
• Your umbilical hernia is getting better.  It's starting to look like a normal belly button.
• You smile a lot these days.  You are always soo happy in the morning right after your 1st bottle.  I allow extra time in the mornings before we leave for school/work so that we can hang out.  I always get lots of smiles.
• You are starting to make noises and sometimes I even think I hear a laugh.
• You are getting better head control.  You are still a little small for the bumbo seat, but I did put you in the jumparoo.  I had to put a pillow under your feet, but you seems to love it.
• You went swimming for the 1st time.  Although the water was a little cold, you didn't seem to mind.  You love bath time so I was pretty sure you would love the pool and you do!

I say this every month, but I really can't believe it's been another month.  You have become such a good baby and are getting to be so much fun.

Getting Back to Exercise

I never imagined how hard it would be to find time to workout once I went back to work.  I have always been in decent shape and having a kid is no excuse to change that now. 
I started trying, trying being the key word, to get back into an exercise routine after my 6 week follow-up appointment at the doctor.  Carter's napping patterns were all over the board which made finding 30 free minutes hard.  There were days I got a little exercise and other days I got none.  Then Scott and I decided to do the 30 day squat challenge which seems to be all the rage right now.  I wasn't thinking wisely when we started b/c the last 10 days of the challenge were right when I started back to work.  Luckily we never missed a day and today is the last day!  
Now I am trying to figure out what is next.  I need to start working on my abs and the rest of my body and try to mix up my workouts a little. 
It's the "When" that I can't seem to decide on.  I know it's not going to happen in the morning.  I really don't want to get up earlier than 5:30am.  I don't really want to workout while Carter is awake after we get home from work because I would rather spend time with him.  So that leaves after he goes to bed around 8:15-8:30.  By this time of night usually all I want to do it sit down for a bit before I take a shower, but I guess that is what the weekends are for. 
Working out at night kind of eliminates much running outside, but hopefully I can get back into the CrossFit style workouts and get myself back on track. 

So here's to hoping that I can dig deep and suck it up and start working out at night.  I guess the upside is that it will be cooling off outside by that time of night.