Weekly Recap

Parker (2 Months)

Parker has been a mixed bag this week.  He isn't coughing as much but it has turned into a dry cough.  He is sleeping better but he coughs a bit in his sleep and then cries.  It doesn't feel good because he makes this face =(

or this one

Poor baby.  Hopefully he'll work threw it over the next week or so.  He also seems to be going through a growth spurt as he spent most of the weekend eating and sleeping.

On a more positive note, Parker is getting better at his head control, seems to enjoy putting weight on his feet, making more eye contact with mom/dad and gives us an occasional smile.

He was smiling up a storm at Carter at breakfast the other day.  Carter kept smiling back and laughing.  It was adorable!  We also heard Parker's first 'coo' this week.

Here are a few more of Carter's fun faces from the past week.

In the Bumbo for the first time... deciding if he likes it.

Cute 'Half' Smile face

Surprise!  Sometimes his arms move and he seems to have no idea what they are doing.

Trying out tummy sleeping

Baby can sleep anywhere

Carter (20 Months)
Carter has been going through a rough sleep patch.  He either woken up in the middle of the night or decided to get up for the day at 6am many times over the past few weeks.  After lots of trial and error we seem to have concluded that his teeth that are coming in are bothering him more than he is letting on.  A dose of Tylenol right before bed seems to help him get back on track.  He also had a rough nap weekend which led to poor night sleep as well.

On a potentially related note, Carter has developed a need to carry something with him everywhere.  He has two blankies that are his primary go-to's (we try to make sure BoBo the paci stays at home!).  He takes one into daycare with him about 3 mornings a week now.  He seems to enjoy having something to chew on so it could be related to his teething.  Or it could be just a phase.  One day this week he insisted on taking his spoon from breakfast with him to school.  Silly kid!

Carter is a typical toddler where his interests seem to change weekly.  This week he had an obsession with basketball for a few days.  He actually dragged mom around the neighborhood to the houses with basketball goals in their front yard and made her throw the basketball in them.  Fortunately no one yelled at the crazy neighbor (though I'm sure several were laughing from behind their windows).  We don't have a big basketball goal at our house so dad decided he would pretend we did and throw the basketball on our roof instead.  Carter found it hilarious!

Playing "Basketball" off the roof with dad.  Can you find the basketball?

Playing 'Whack-a-Mole' with Uncle Reid

Making daddy sit in the Bumbo

Brothers
The boys had a good week in addition to Parker's smiling fit.  Carter takes his role as big brother vary seriously.  He tries to help when Parker cries.  He gets concerned if he is in the car with mom and Parker isn't there.  And he has started preparing the swing for Parker (lots of blankets and a paci) and then helping push once Parker is in.

It's so much fun to watch the little guys interact more each week.

Saturday at the Zoo

Saturday was gorgeous in Atlanta so we decided to take the family to the zoo.  It was Parker's first time so Carter had to be the tour guide.  As expected he had his lion blanket with him so we made our first pit stop at the lion statues!

We then took sometime wandering around and when we got to the African exhibit, both boys needed a lift to see the action.

The zoo was packed and Carter had a great time zipping between everyone while Parker hung out with mom.

 He was more adventurous than in the past and eagerly went through all the tunnels on the playground all by himself.

We eventually got the little guy to take a load off so we could snap a picture.

But soon we were off again.  The petting zoo was last on our list.   Carter ran over to see his pals.

He took sometime to pet the goats and sheep.

But he was a little apprehensive of the older goats who were chowing down on special "old goat" food.

But that didn't stop him from sharing his love of good hygiene with his furry friends.

 After a quick stop at the Kangaroos, Carter was pointing to the exit.  So off we went!

I could really get use to this January weather every year!

Weekly Recap

Parker (2 months)
Poor baby Parker had a bit of a rough week.

After the cold passed, he got a pretty good cough early in the week.  He even lost his voice for an evening.  His appetite plummeted by midweek so we went to the Pediatrician.  Apparently since he is a preemie his lungs can't handle the post-cold stuff like the rest of us.  So he was given a nebulizer to help break up the phlegm that getting stuck and make sure he can breath.

We had to give it to him every 4 hours so we're back to a rough sleep schedule.  This means sneaking in a few of these whenever possible!

By the end of the week, Parker was feeling better so we can cut back on the nebulizer some.  Our pediatrician said it can take 4 weeks for the illness to run its course but hopefully it won't take that long!

In other Parker news, he is starting to outgrow his newborn size clothes so we are adding a few 0-3 month options to the rotation.  Parker is very good at getting mom to change his outfit 5 times each day so having some more options is very helpful ;)  We are still using Newborn diapers during the day, mainly because we still have lots left and diapers are expensive!

Here are a few Parker pictures from this week.

Morgan checking on her little brother

Sleepy Baby

"Waving" hello to everyone!

Tummy time on dad and working on head control.

Carter (20 months)
Carter had a typical toddler week.  Lots of activity, books, balls, music, showing independence and a few tears. Carter's teacher made a point to mention how far his vocabulary has come.  He has added a few colors to his repertoire this week.  His favorite word this week is "No" and his favorite song is the "Wheels on the Bus".  He can do all the hand motions.  His favorite is "sshhh".  Carter also said the first three word sentences that mom/dad could understand:  "What is it?" and "I Love You".

He seems to really be bonding with his friends at school.  He has been actively playing with someone when picked up each day this week.  One day, he and two friends were wrestling on the floor.  Carter was on the bottom and dying laughing.  Boys will be boys!

Here are a few pictures of Carter from this week.

Watching the Packers play football

Helping fill out the weekly grocery list

This week's favorite food... carrots!

More Sister Shubert rolls Please!

Watch out... baby behind the wheel!

Bye everyone!  See you next week!

Saturday Morning at the Aquarium

Saturday morning we decided to take a break from gym class and head to the Aquarium to meet the Whitney's.  It had been a while since we were there and dad Carter were really excited!  We immediately hit the big fish tank.  Caitlyn and Carter had a great time pointing to the fish.

Carter would wave 'Bye-Bye' to the fish when they swam away.

Parker enjoyed the view as well.  There was light on all sides for him to look at.

It was nice to have Mark and Carrie there to help keep an eye on the little guy.  Carter is quite the master at running through crowds.  Plus Mark seemed to have an extensive fish knowledge.

Carter has been in a phase lately where he wants to take his blankie everywhere.  Mr. Bear made it through the first half of the visit mainly in Carter's mouth.

Next was the kid's area.  Carter has psyched to touch the rays.

Dad had an interesting technique for getting Carter as close as possible.

Luckily when it was time to touch they used the recommended 2 hand technique.

What's Parker up to while Carter and dad are having all this fun with the fish?   Don't be too surprised, he is a baby!

After a good hand washing, it was time for a snack.  Carter decided he wanted a view while he ate.

He then noticed the fish tanks on the ceiling an decided to take a different position for a good view.

At this point, the snack cup had obviously replaced the blankie.  So we kept on moving to see the whales.  Carter's pointer finger definitely got a good workout today.

And at the penguin exhibit, Carter's pointer was still in action.

After all that walking, Carter decided to take a break at the first table he found.  

Since it was obvious our little guy was hungry, the whole gang decided act like local tourists and head to a local hot-spot for lunch.  Parker was really excited ;)

Carter had a great time until the brain freeze from his frosted orange kicked in ;)

Overall it was a fun morning and it was great to see the Whitney clan.  The entire Holden family took great naps afterwards!  Can't get much better than that!