Sushi with the Family

We decided to have a nice family dinner out tonight at a local Sushi spot! It was big night for Carter and trying new things. He has Miso Soup, Tofu, Ginger and Lobster for the first time. But best yet, he ate off chopsticks for the first time.
He loved it all (especially the Tofu). But the chopsticks were the biggest hit! Carter thought eating off them was pretty fun but they had all sorts of different uses. Carter enjoyed playing out his drummer fantasy best of all.

After all the playing, Carter decided to wow our fellow dinners with his walking skills. He was all over the place.

His favorite was walking with his chopsticks which let him turn everything into a drum!

It was a nice night out with the family.

Carters New Skills

Here are a few videos of Carter showing off his new skills. First up in clapping with dad.

Next here are a few snipits of Carter's first walking session with mom and dad.

Month 11 - Week 3

What's that you say? Carter is another week older?That's right and what a big week it was for the little guy! No longer can we keep Carter entertained in his Exersauser.
That's right the little guy is walking! Despite dad's best efforts to keep him in one place. But Carter can't be kept in one place. He has recently picked up baby yoga and I think is getting pretty good at the Downward Dog ;)He is also climbing on everything. He has been using his Zebra to replicate his pony ride from last week (notice he even grabbed a diaper jean for the occasion!He also likes to climb on his piano. Carter is a frequent musical quest for the evening Holden dance party.When Carter "takes a break" from all the footwork, he grabs a book and curls up with mom/dad. He loves turning the pages and playing with his peekabo books (notice the empty bookshelf!).

Carter has also been keeping his hands busy with his he new activities... pointing, clapping and playing catch. Carter starts getting smiley once he sees a ball come out.Then you start throwing it at him and he thinks it's hilarious!Though he could also be laughing at dad's dance moves =)Carter has also been working on his sharing. He likes to share with mom and dad but his favorite friend to share his toys (and food) with is Madie.

On the food front, Carter's favorite item is Mac and Cheese. Carter usually gets whatever we are eating for dinner but when he can get it, he screams for the Mac. Colin has been indulging Carter's love by making Mac from scratch! What a good dad!Carter is getting closer to the big 1! He started getting in the party mood with his birthday crown from girlfriend Caitlyn. He liked wearing it around and showing off for the pups.

There will be lots more birthday stuff to come as Carter will be 1 in just a week!

Carter's First Birthday Present

After Carter woke up from his Easter nap, he was surprised when mom and dad immediately took him outside. He was even more shocked when he walked over to the previously barren part of the yard that now housed a wonderful, magical treat.... Carter's very own play set!
It was a very early birthday present from Pops and Maemae. Carter immediately jumped in the swing and took off! He was all smiles!
After he recovered from his dizzy ride, Carter gave the play fort a try. He played race car driver for a while before he spotted something fun behind him.
Carter immediately sat down and leaned forward to get a good jump start (no idea where he learned the proper technique)!

He was so good at the big slide we decided he was good to go on the little slide all by himself.

He did great! It was a fun evening of swinging, sliding and swaying (to recover from all the movement). Carter's first birthday is off to an amazing success!

Carter's First Easter

Carter's first Easter started off with a lot of excitement! Someone decided they wanted to start walking. With the 3 naps a day he has been taking, it isn't too surprising that somethings is up. Carter was so excited about his new skill, luckily so was dad!

After lots of walking fun and a long morning nap, we headed off to Grandmommy's for some Easter fun. Carter was surprised that the Easter bunny found him at GM's house.

He had fun playing with his new bunny ears and doing some finger pointing (his favorite hand motion du jour).

The whole family got in on the Easter fun!

But soon it was time to head outdoors to hunt Easter eggs. Carter found a good spot and plopped down to survey all the action/shake Easter eggs.

Carter did a great job pointing mom where to go get him more eggs.

After the Neighbor's yard was cleared, Carter headed to the shade to gather (have mom/dad gather) him more eggs.

After all the eggs were gathered, Carter came back inside to help go through his loot.

After one last snuggle with Grandmommy...

And a giggle with Uncle Reid....

It was obvious that Nike wanted her house back.So we headed home to get the little guy some rest while mom and dad enjoyed a few chocolate treats!

Fun Filled Saturday

Saturday was a fun day for the Holden's. We started the afternoon with a trip to GT for the annual Spring Football game. Carter loved all the people watching.

He also had a fun time watching the cheerleaders. Their shiny pom-poms were a big hit!

And when the pom-poms got old, luckily there were benches to bang on.
Carter also had a great time showing off his new skill... clapping. He has started imitating people (preferably mom and dad). So his hands got lots of work at the game!

After the game, Carter got a quick nap and then we were off to an early dinner with some of mom's college friends. Carter had fun standing and watching the cars go by while we were waiting.

Carter was in a standing mood...

while he also showed off his waving skills!

Once we sat down, Carter had a quick snack of hush puppies, unfortunately for him mom didn't do a good enough job picking out all the jalapenos. The little guy had 20 seconds of rubbing his cheeks before we could get some yogurt to cool him off! After that things were smooth sailing. Carter flirted with all the patrons and had a crowd of employees hanging around his high chair.

After a dinner of zucchini, crab and potato (thank you Hill), Carter was ready to move. He spent some time cruising around the tables and visiting the patrons at the bar. After all his strolls...

Carter took a break to explore the rooftop jungle (really just a large planter but it was like a jungle to Carter).After all that activity, the little guy was exhausted so off to bed he went. He needed all the rest he could get for his first Easter!

Easter Bunny (Visit #2)

After Carter met the Easter Bunny for the first time last weekend, he was surprised when the Easter Bunny came to visit him at daycare with all sorts of treats!He made sure to give everything a good taste to make sure it was real. Luckily it was!

Carter was most excited about his animal crackers and his new rubber duckie. But he got even more excited when he heard that he might get to see the Easter Bunny one more time this weekend!

Month 11 - Week 2

It was a week of recovery as the Holden House got back in our normal routine after all the excitement from last weekend. Carter had a rough few nights of sleep and we weren't sure what was going on until we noticed 2 new teeth had popped through... his top left and bottom right incisors. When not being bothered by his teeth, Carter had his usual fun playing all sorts of crazy games... Including some silly fun at dinner time! He has even started playing peek-a-boo by himself with a small blanket or his bib. Carter is continuing to love the warm weather and being outside more. When not playing, Carter has become very chatty. He will repeat the sounds you say to him especially when it's "words" he knows like Mama and Dada.

Carter had another big first this week when he got his first pair of shoes. He tried them on at brunch Sunday morning before breaking them in for good at the Easter Egg Hunt. Carter didn't even blink when we put them on. He was too excited about cruising around Pop's house. Time is flying by and our little man will be 1 before we know it!