Carter's 9 mo check up/Ethan's 1st movie

While Mommy's away, the boys play...Dave pulling the boys around the house in the wagon. Cute little brotherly pose

Carter had his 9 month check up last Wednesday. He's in 50% for height and head circum. and 75% for weight...and this boy DOES love his food. Foods we've tried since the last update:

*french toast (w/o syrup), eggs, toast w/butter, banana, cheerios, mandarin oranges, hot dog, bits of our cooked ham. There might be more, but these are the ones I can remember. It is funny to watch him eat though because he definitely is selective about what he picks out to eat.

As far as other Carter happenings..I think he might start really crawling in maybe a week or two?? He seems to go up on all fours more often when doing his army crawl, so he'll eventually get the crawling motion instead of scooching. Then - watch out!! We just got his 9 month pics at JCP last Friday, they turned out good. We did a pose with him in the tub with some rubber duckies - very cute. I wish I could post them on here, but the new system with JCP doesn't allow you to download them to the computer anymore. :-(

Ethan updates - well, we went to our first movie at the theatre today (Ethan and I as a little Mommy bonding time for him). We saw 'Hop' and he really enjoyed it. We went with a friend of mine and her daughter and the kids were so cute and shared little goodies to eat. I guess I'm behind the times because people I told that it was going to be his first movie seemed more surprised than anything. I guess I just always saw him as a construction movie kid and only recently has he gotten into the animated disney's etc. He continues to do well and enjoy preschool which I'm so happy for. He'll finish up in another month, just in time for us to head off to FL in May. I think I'm going to be signing up for a t-ball clinic this summer and he's already signed up for swim classes. Then, we'll try soccer in the fall (I completely missed the spring deadline - ugh!). I don't know that he's that into sports, but I'd at least like to keep him trying things. If this weather will ever break, it would be nice for us to take him out and kick a soccer ball or hit balls off the 'T'.

That's all for now!

Houston...we have a scoocher!

That's right...Carter is officially scooching around and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he's crawling. I've caught him a few times up on all fours, so once he gets used to the forward motion, I'm sure he'll be chasing Ethan around the house! Two things I've taken note of with Carter that I thought I'd mention..most people hate to clip baby nails because they won't sit still...I had to cut his nails again this weekend and it hit me...Carter is just so good with it, he sits there very still for me. It's probably because he's trying to figure out what I'm doing, but he is just so patient with it! The other thing with Carter is he seems to actually have a few books that he prefers to read before nap/bed. We have a few of those touchy Usborne books and if he sees it sitting on the table and we pick another one, he literally reaches over towards it! He did this to me for the first time last week and I cracked up! I guess even at 8 1/2 months he knows what he wants!

More table food that we've tried with Carter lately:

*Chicken Canelloni and Mac 'n Cheese @ Biaggi's Restaurant, Watermelon, avocado, bits of american cheese, blueberries, bread & butter, pears in a can and carrots & peas in a can. Most things he seems to be okay with. Sometimes we get a funny look for the first few bites, but we keep trying the different tastes with him, because they say it can take up to 10 times with kids to like something. We also let him eat puffs with almost every meal to practice his pinscor grip...he's getting real good with it and putting them in his mouth. Everytime he does it by himself, I clap and say "yay" and he gets the biggest grin on his face - like I accomplished something and I'm proud!! :-)

Ethan never ceases to amaze us with the things he says and does. Some things he's said to us lately:

*I told him not to stand on his 'sit 'n spin' because I didn't want him to fall. His response..."If that's a sit 'n spin, I want a stand 'n spin'

*He has a favorite tractor pull video on you tube and I was looking for it and he kept telling me that I missed it...so, I finally clicked on the small picture he was showing me and sure enough, there is was - this kid has a sharp memory!

*Carter and I were playing with the toy kitchen and Ethan insisted that he didn't want us to play with it. When I told him he needed to share, he decided he was going to use the toy telephone and call Grandma Sandy. His conversation with Grandma Sandy when something like this..."Grandma Sandy, I don't want Mommy and Carter to play with my kitchen....okay, thanks, bye". Then when he got off the phone, he proceeded to tell me that Grandma Sandy said we should stop playing with the kitchen.

*The funniest thing that Ethan has done lately happened today. He had his small toy car, lawn mower tractor and construction grader. He was carrying on a conversation between all 3 cars. As each one spoke, he lifted up the front end of it, as if it had a mouth. The car and grader were teaching tractor how to jump over the remote control on the table. The cars would say things like "yeah, that's a great idea" and "come on, follow me". I was literally cracking up!

Ethan with Grandpa Dennis

We took the boys to 'All Aboard' diner in Downers Grove this weekend where a litle train brings your food to you.

Carter getting in to trouble...just the beginning!

Carter's first experience on a swing! :-)

Carter at 'all Aboard'

Ethan helping Dave drop Carter's mattress

With Grandma and Grandpa Hickman and new dog, Zoey.

Carter showing off his 6 teeth.

I swear this kid has a lot of hair, but every picture I take he looks bald! :-)