Pickle Face

On Friday afternoon, we stopped over to Sara's cousins', Becky's and Jim's, house to visit the out-of-towners. Carson got to meet his Great-Great Aunt Sandy and Great-Great Uncle Bob, cousins Brad, Trisha, and Braylen; and got to see cousins Becky, Jim, and Kristin again (after a very long time). He was kind of shy at first, just waking up from a nap in the car and having a serious case of stranger anxiety lately, but he warmed up quickly and was soon showing off and playing with Braylen (who is 2). While we were there, Kristin broke out the pickles and Carson wanted to try one, so I gave him some small pieces of a dill pickle. He LOVED it! He's had a couple here at home now, too. He's our little pickle face! (And don't worry, I don't let him walk around with a whole pickle as it looks in the picture - that was just a prop for the picture).

Carson's imagination is coming out more and more lately. He's starting to make noises in his throat/mouth when he's rolling his cars around while he's playing. I also noticed him playing with his Little People the other day, holding one person in each hand and talking while moving one of the people, then looking to the other hand and talking and moving that person. Its so fun to watch him progress through all of these developmental stages! I feel like every phase is my favorite, then the next phase starts and that becomes my favorite!

Carson is loving his little four-wheeler! He's learned to push the button to make it go... he just hasn't quite realized he needs to release the button to stop yet. :) This morning he tried to run over Jet, who was lying on the floor in front of him. Since then, Jet has been much more alert when Carson is riding the four-wheeler. :-P

Carson's 1-Year Check-Up

On Monday, I took Carson in for his 1-year check-up. We had quite a long wait in the very fulll waiting room, which I was dreading with RSV going strong right now. But Carson did pretty well and sat on my lap for most of the wait. He did get down for a short while, but thankfully stayed right near me and wasn't trying to play with the toys that the RSV and common cold kids were playing with. When we got back to the exam room, we washed our hands - so I really hope we avoided most of the germs. I cannot handle RSV right now - it scares me so bad after having a rough time with the croup. Hopefully if he does come down with anything, its just a common cold and nothing worse.

Carson had a very good check-up. He is a very healthy little man and is far exceeding all of his physical and mental development milestones. He is 31 inches tall, which puts him in the 90th percentile! And is 21 pounds, 6 ounces, which puts him half-way between the 10th and 25th percentiles. I can't remember the head circumference measurement (I want to say 18"), but it was in the 75th percentile. No worries about the lower weight, though. He's almost tripled his birth weight (which is what they look for at 1 year, I guess), so the doctor isn't concerned at all. And its not like he looks skinny or anything. He has a belly and has some chubby thighs, so he looks healthy.

We now are starting the weaning from the formula and phasing in of the whole milk. And no more baby food at all now... though I will have to use some stuff up still. We generally do normal foods for Carson anyway, but I still have been buying 3rd foods to have on hand in the diaper bag and to travel with. But Dr. Akrawi said no more - that he should've been eating all normal foods for the last four to six weeks, at least. Carson did get two more vaccines - chicken pox and another installment of MMR. He's tolerating them very well this time, thankfully. He's still running around and playing hard core. Speaking of playing, he's getting so good at rolling and tossing his plush soccer ball back and forth between you and him. Its so fun! He still loves Jet dearly, giving him hugs and kisses all the time, and puts his forehead up against Jet's to look into his eyes... and wait to get Jet-kisses. Carson is the only one that seems to enjoy Jet-kisses. :) Oh, and we do indeed have eight teeth now. I'm so glad these last two teeth have seemed to come through very quickly. Its a nice change after the long-hauls on the others.

Carson's 1st Birthday Party

Yesterday we had Carson's 1st birthday party. We invited both sides of our families and Auntie Jaime and Uncle Jeff. It was a little crazy, but I think most everyone enjoyed themselves. I wish I'd have had more time to visit and enjoy things, but that is how it goes when you're the hostess, I guess. :) I've heard that all the kids had a lot of fun, which I'm very glad to hear! Just wish I'd have remembered to give the kids their treat bags - oops! Luckily we'll be seeing them all again on Saturday this week for Kevin's mom's birthday, so I'll have to remember to take them then.

Carson got so many nice gifts - tons of new toys, a savings bond, some Veggie Tales videos, and some very cute clothes, too! Several books, some Little People sets, a mailbox with letters, a wagon and blocks, sand toys, a big truck to push around outside, a remote-controlled car, a mini tool bench toy, an outdoor playhouse, lots of balls, and his first four-wheeler! (And I'm sure I forgot to list some things, too) He has enjoyed playing with every single one of them at different times this morning already. He'll have lots of fun with these new toys over the coming months - and especially when we can take the outdoor toys outside to play! We're so looking forward to summer this year!

Aunt Mary made Carson's birthday cake for us - it turned out AWESOME!! Thanks, Aunt Mary!! Everyone loved it! Carson didn't really feel like digging into it and getting very messy, but he did enjoy eating a few bites during the party. And I'm sure he'll love it today when we share a few bites with him again.

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate this special day with us! It was great to see everyone and we're so happy that everyone made it! Thanks to Auntie Jaime and Uncle Jeff for taking so many great pictures! And thanks again to Aunt Mary for making a deliciously wonderful cake!! Thanks for all of the great gifts, too! We'll be having fun playing with them today while the three of us are home together!

I'll be uploading all of our party pictures today, so watch for them in the albums!

I also should mention that Carson now has 7 teeth! He woke up yesterday morning with his third bottom tooth (to the left of his two center teeth). The tooth to the right of the center two looks like it'll be through today or tomorrow, too!

Little Man is ONE!

Can you believe it?! We sure can't! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago we were bringing our little guy home from the hospital. Though some things haven't changed all that much... for instance he still rarely sleeps through the night. ;-P Although that is getting much better. There were four nights this past week he slept through - like 9-11 hours straight. So hopefully that trend continues. Carson it at such a fun stage right now. Its so fun to see him develop. He's trying to say so many words right now. He says "up" clear as day when he climbs up on things or when he wants out of his high chair. He tries to say "on" and "off", but they usually sound a little like "up" just not as strong of a "p" sound at the end. He says "eye" clear as day, too, and can point out your eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. He still doesn't quite understand where his are yet, though. Carson has started saying "Dah-EE" for Daddy. Still the "Ma-Ma" for Mama. He says "Ded" for Jet and still just says "bah" for ball - can't quite get the "l" sounds yet. He tries to make most sounds, they're just a little difficult to make out still. I'm sure in the next month or so, we'll be understanding more and more of his language. He's also making lots of animal sounds when you ask him what the different animals say - his favorite is the lion since he loves to growl. :) About three weeks ago, I taught him to hold up his index finger and "tell us one" - as you can see in the picture. Hopefully we'll be able to get him to tell us he's one tomorrow at his party.

Carson is quite the climber these days. We're back to the times of not being able to get much done while he's up and running. We just can't leave him for a second now. If we do, we're likely to find him standing on the arms (yes I said the arms) of his rocking chair trying to reach into the pack-and-play for a toy... or standing on top of his children's table... yes on top of it... or sitting on top of his musical table... or standing on top of his chair trying to get over the baby gate. He has fun doing it - and it is fun to watch... but I also know it could be very dangerous.

Carson goes for his 1-year check-up on Monday. We're anxious to see how much he's grown. I'm assuming we'll be starting the phase-in of the whole milk next week, too. Hopefully that goes well and doesn't mess up Carson's little system too much. He still just has the six teeth he's had for awhile now. Lots of them look so close, but none have broken through. And his teeth haven't seemed to be bothering him too much lately, though I've noticed today he's been chewing on things a lot more than normal.

Tomorrow we are having his first birthday party. Both sides of the family and Auntie Jaime and Uncle Jeff. Should be a good time! We're looking forward to seeing everyone, I just hope Carson does well and isn't too overwhelmed.

Grandpa H's Birthday

Yesterday we headed west to Grand Rapids to meet up with most of the Holleboom family to celebrate Grandpa Holleboom's birthday (which was Friday). We all went to a Calvin basketball game. Much of Kevin's family attended Calvin College - his dad, both sisters, and one brother-in-law. This was Carson's first time at any type of sporting event. We were quite worried about how he'd do at the game - whether or not he'd be content sitting in the seats for any portion of the game. We anticipated not seeing much of the game, rather walking around in the concourse with Carson most of the time. But he surprised us and did very well! He was just fascinated with all the lights and sounds and liked watching the ball on the court. He was also a little intimidated by the hundreds/thousands of strangers all around us. I think that was our saving grace. :)

After the basketball game, we all headed over to Aunt Mary's and Uncle Justin's for a yummy taco dinner, cake, and time to visit. Carson and Rebecca had fun playing together again. Although this time Carson was having some issues with sharing. He got quite upset when Rebecca took her turn on her bike toy. Luckily he got over that fairly quickly. He also didn't really like sharing his Grandma Holleboom with her. :) We'll have to work on that one. It was great to see everyone and we're looking forward to see them all again next Saturday for Carson's birthday and again the following Saturday for Grandma Holleboom's birthday. There are just a few pictures here, but check out our photo albums for more.

The War Zone That Is Our Front Yard

This past Monday, we had a tree guy come to cut down three trees in our front yard, one tree in the back yard, and trim/re-shape one huge tree in our front yard. While it is great to have the trees gone and the huge Maple looks so much better and we're not worried about it falling on the garage or our cars anymore... we have quite the mess to clean up now. All before Carson's party this-coming Saturday... :)

Little Mischief Maker

Carson is becoming quite the little mischief maker these days. He's definitely good at trying Mama's and Daddy's patience - testing us to see how far he can go with things. I guess that is all part of learning and developing, though. He knows what "no-no" means - and has generally been very good at listening to you, leaving things be, and going to do something else when he's told "no" so far. And he still is when its anyone else but Mama and Daddy. Our biggest struggles with him are getting him to sit down (not stand) in his rocking chair and to leave his night-light in his bedroom alone. He's also turning into quite the climber these days. Trying to climb on everything he can. He still can't climb onto the furniture yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before he does.

I also finally caught him on camera feeding Jet his food. For quite some time now, he's been feeding Jet his food. Especially once he's full and doesn't want anymore. But even when he's not, and you're not looking, he'll feed Jet a few pieces here and there.

Cousin Charlie's and Great Grandma's Birthday Party

Today we went out to Sara's Aunt Sharon's house to celebrate cousin Charlie's 16th birthday (which was on January 27th) and Great Grandma Burge's birthday (which was on January 17th). Carson had a lot of fun playing with everyone, wandering around everywhere and playing hard-to-get... his latest game. He enjoyed his nap with Great Grandpa very much. Aunt Sharon found either Becky's or Charlie's old rocking chair and brought it out for Carson. He loved it and thought he was such a big shot sitting in it. He even figured out how to get in and out of it all by himself! He loved it so much that Aunt Sharon gave it to him! He'll have lots of fun sitting in it and rocking. Here are a few pictures, but there are also more in the Shutterfly albums. I also uploaded all of the January 2009 pictures if you're interested.