First Haircut at Disney

As mentioned below, our first day at the Magic Kingdom also included a major milestone. Carter's first haircut! We headed to the Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street USA for Carter's first battle with shears and clippers. Carter was a bit apprehensive at first (he had to sit on a weird booster with no belts and all sorts of people were looking and smiling at him).

But eleven stickers later, provided by his nice barber, we were all smiles for the whole haircut.

We sat very still for the entire haircut, it helped that the barber had a light up Lightning McQueen toy from Cars to provide entertainment. Here is carter loosing his fresh, untouched locks.
You can tell he was really torn up getting his trim.
But then came the scary part, trimming behind the ears with clippers. The barber was very nice and made the clippers fun to Carter by rubbing his back and shoulder with them first.
Then the trim, those clippers tickled!
Even Mom and the Grandparents (look in the mirror for Grandpa) were having fun.
At the end, Carter was given a special set a Mickey Ears (his first set) with the back embroidered "First Haircut" on them.
Carter was very proud that he was so good and earned his ears. They even gave him a certificate of bravery for going through the whole process with smiles.
We highly recommend the Barber shop for all!

Holden's Magical Get-a-way (Part 1)

On Friday we packed up the bags and took Carter to the airport. He didn't know where he was going, but he could tell it was going to be fun and he started to show his excitement but started to get a bit nervous when he couldn't get his seat belt fastened.
He was very relieved when he was told he didn't need a seat belt and would be sitting on Mom and Dad's lap. After a quick look out the window, we decided a nap through the flight would be the best way through the flight.
When we go to where we were going, there was a big bus waiting for us which was fun because this was the biggest car we had ever been in. The big bus took off and we headed to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, we saw that Grandma and Grandpa were already there! We had a

quick dinner and headed to bed as it was a long day of travel.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and had a big smile on our face wondering what

we were doing in this new hotel room.

After a bit of teasing from Mom and Dad, they finally spilled the beans. We were in Orlando at a Disney Resort and were going to Disney World! Carter could not contain his excitement!!!

So we were off to the happiest place on earth... but then realized we wore ourselves out in the buildup and needed a nap on the way to the park.

We were then awoken at the Magic Kingdom. We spent the day seeing the sites and riding the rides until all were exhausted.

We tried to ride Space Mountain, but were a few inches to short to be allowed. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa were allowed to go on and do a rider swap with Mom and Dad while Carter watched all the people getting on and off.

Carter was an Ace Shot on Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers game and had the Holden High Score of over 174k points

It was then onto the Astro Orbiter to see the great views of the park and get some wind in our hair!

Right before lunch, we determined a quick stop on Pirates of the Caribbean was a good call. Carter really liked this one and tried to convince Mom to get him a pirate hat by doing some modeling. Looking at the gift bags that came back to Atlanta, he did not succeed in this sales job.

Then we were off to a little known activity at Disney World... to the barber shop we went (there will be another post on this).

Once our hair was a bit shorter and we had earned our Mickey Ears, we were off to more rides and fun! Off to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House!

We rode the Jungle Cruise through the Amazon, Nile, and Cambodia

We continued around the park finally ending up at Carter's favorite ride, Winnie the Pooh. While in line we had fun playing with the playground toys with Grandma and Grandpa.

Carter rode the ride with Grandma and Grandpa, it really grabbed his attention.

We then were off to Sanaa for dinner with Great Aunt Marry, Uncle Jerry, and Cousin Ken and then called it a night. It was a long and fun day for all!

Month 8 - Week 1

This week Carter made his long awaited return to daycare after the holidays. He made sure to show off his new wiggle and crawling skills. So far he enjoys crawling to the kitchen area where he is promptly shooed away only to return a bit later. He also got a new crib since he is showing signs of pulling up so they had to make sure he was in a place where there wasn't anything he could grab.


With Carter's new crawling skills, our physical therapist recommended we go ahead and lower his crib so we did. Carter now likes to pull down the bumper and peer over the sides to see what is going on. We also switched Carter to his new big boy car seat. So many changes for the little guy but he seems to be taking them all in stride and with a big grin!

Here are a few pics from this week. Carter decided to try out the sing for a bath this week. It's so funny to think he use to fit in one. Now he sits right up while we brush his teeth. My how times have changed!
Carter is really loving being mobile. He crawls everywhere on all fours now, the army crawl is SO 7 months! Despite all the Christmas fun, Carter's favorite toys this week are his furry pals. He can't get enough of crawling after them. Madie has even tried out some of Carter's favorite activities like standing on the coffee table.Carter thinks Morgan is hilarious. She has been surprisingly more tolerant with him than we expected. He grabs her fur and she doesn't even flinch.

But more than that, Carter loves playing with dad (and mom). It just melts your heart to pick him up from Daycare and he gives you that big grin as soon as he sees you. Such a sweetheart!It was a great 1st week with Little Man and we can't wait to share pics from our adventures during the rest of the week!

Crawling

Carter is seriously mobile. He seems to have gone from nothing to fun on crawling in under 2 weeks. It's crazy how quickly things change with a baby. Here is a video of Carter showing off his new skills.

8 is Great

That's right Carter is 8 months old today! The little guy continues to grow up despite mom telling him to stay a baby forever. His unofficial weight was 20.7lbs (this was right after dinner) which is around the 65th percentile. No luck on a length update as Carter is moving too quick to keep up! But he is definitely getting closer to that 3' mark.

To celebrate his birthday, Carter decided he would crawl all the way from his room to the bath. He made it a good ways on all fours and stopped long enough for mom to get a quick picture.Then it was back to the action.He gave up on the all fours after a while and moved back to the tried and true army crawl. Soon enough he made it all the way to the bathroom with no help. He didn't even have to stop for directions. He just heard that rubber duckie calling his name!

Little man is growing up so quick! We can't wait to see what all he has accomplished by month 9!

Month 7 - Week 4

We saw Carter's physical therapist this week and she diagnosed him as a typical boy... lots of energy, always moving, into everything and loves to play HARD. She said to be prepared for lots of the 3 B's: bumps, bruises and band aids. He make look all cute but we are beginning to realize what a handful this little one will be one day very soon!
Carter spent this week playing with his toys...watching lots of football and even attended a few GT basketball games. Carter is particularly into his new toys that involve him moving such as his Trike and Walkers. Luckily Carter is very concerned about safety and is taking all the necessary precautions to protect himself in case of an accident.Another new toy that has Carter mesmerized are his bubbles.He is amazed at how they work.In the continuing saga of Carter's teeth, there isn't much to report. He has been chewing on everything he can get his mouth on. Luckily he has been making sure to include healthily items in his repertoire like this corn cob.And while he is often happy going to town on his latest object...His teeth are also a constant source of pain making for lots of tears and early morning wake ups. We are all hoping those new teeth break through soon! Carter's other big activity of the week is crawling. He has been scooting backwards for a while and now he has the army crawl down.He is so determined when he is moving.

By the end of the week he was even stringing together a few crawls on all fours! He is continuing to push up on all fours regularly and has started moving his knees forward while in this position. He always tries the all fours method first and then moves to the army if he has to. He improved tremendously over the past week so we have no idea what next week will bring!

It was definitely a big week for Carter's development. We're excited and nervous to see him becoming increasingly mobile! We'll see what next week brings.

Cute but Messy

If the bib says it... it must be true.As Carter's desire to feed himself has grown so has the mess that ensues. Carter isn't quite sure what all the fuss is about. To him he's just being a typical baby boy.

Carter takes his meal time very seriously. It is a two handed job.And usually requires the use of several bibs.

Carter has gotten pretty good at feeding himself larger finger foods but he is still working on the pincer grab. He still likes to make fun faces whenever he tries something new which thoroughly amuses mom and dad.Carter's appetite is continuing to grow and he has taken to most everything we have offered him. Hopefully that will continue!

Happy New Year

2010 was great but we can't wait to see what 2011 brings! Happy 2011 everyone!