6 months post partum

       It's been 6 months since that traumatic, glorious day when my little guy was born.  I wanted to document my journey, so I can look back one day.  My recovery was very fast after having Carter, but I'm still not back to my old self completely.  I'm the new and improved me, with an appetite like Takeru Kobayashi, the competitive hot dog eating champion.  It's all because of nursing, which doesn't explain my eating up until Carter.  I'm burning 500 calories a day, is that per feeding?, I wish!  Seriously, I think I'm always hungry, especially for sweets.  Please pray for my addiction to sweets (I'm eating cookie dough as I type).  Blair's concerned about me.   :)  That being said, I'm still 7 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight.  My tummy may never look the same, but I'm ok with that.  I read that my hair would fall out more than usual and boy does it ever.  I can't believe how much hair I shed everyday.  I hope it stops soon.  Maybe due to my lack of exercise and addiction to sweets, I still struggle when walking upstairs and hills, like I did when I was pregnant.  I feel so out of shape, huffing and puffing up the stairs.  The one work out I do is picking up Carter all day, he has got to be over 20 pounds now.  He's packing on the pounds now that he's eating solids.  Also, it's a blessing in disguise that my school has 7 floors and I'm on level 6; I'm up and down those stairs all day long.  I also walk to work everyday (and taxi it home).  God helps me out by making some exercise unavoidable.  Other than that, I feel great, full of energy, and getting by just fine with work.  To be honest, I can't wait to go through the whole experience all over again.  Isn't funny how you completely forget 9 months of crazy symptoms, followed by the scariest medical event of your life, and then look forward to going through it all again?  I find that very interesting and I'm glad that you only remember the best details when you look back.   

6 months old

   
    Precious Carter is now 6 months old!  What a difference each month makes.  I went to visit a friend's newborn baby yesterday and I couldn't believe how much bigger Carter looked compared to him.  Carter looks so much sturdier these days.  He can sit up on his own now, which gives us a little more versatility with what toys he can use and it's easier to feed him.  Little by little we've worked up to eating 3 solid meals a day.  I kinda cheated and gave him blended foods earlier than suggested.  Well that didn't matter to Carter, he'll eat whatever I offer, with one exception.  After 5 bites of a spinach and apple mix, he tightened his lips, turned red, and started grunting loudly.  I took that as a sign that he was done.  Of course, I would not waste all that spinach baby food I bought, so we mixed it with some other flavors and then he woofed it down.  (TMI alert) With all these new foods, Carter's diapers have become absolutely disgusting.  They barely even smelled before.  That is one good thing about being at work, I miss some of the diaper changing.  It's like russian roulette, who will get the nasty diaper.  I'm sorry to share such horrible details with you.
     Children must instinctively know if something is expensive, because Carter lunges for cell phones, computers, remotes, and cameras.  He is passed the out of sight, out of mind phase.  He will continue looking around and throwing a fit, even after you take the object away.  He also shows a big interest in our food and drinks now.  We have to push everything at least 2 feet away from him.  This week, he pulled an electrical cord until our lamp fell off the bookshelf and broke.  Whoops!  We're so used to him being immobile.
    Carter can only scoot or shimmy if he's on a cushy surface.  On the tile floor, he can't manage to scoot.  He's yet to get up on his hands and knees.  I'm not overly anxious for him to start crawling.  I like being able to take my eyes off of him for a few minutes. 
    On September 9th, life got much better because our helper, Mila started.  She worked for another family at my school for 16 years.  She is such a God send.  Carter loves her and I feel so comfortable leaving him with her each day.  Asia is thrilled to death to have someone give her some more attention.  Everyday she brings Carter to school at lunch time, so I can feed him.  Hallelujah, no more pumping! 

First Taste of Veggies

Asia is licking the butternut squash!

Now we're talking, real food!

Why is that dog so interested in my food?

Asia's Tiniest Bama Fan

Roll Tide from HK

Is this bus headed for Tuscaloosa?

Drinking from a Sippy Cup

   Carter knows how to use a sippy cup now, and by use, I mean he can hold it and chew on it like it's a paci.  After 10 minutes of slurping on it, there was still the same amount of water in it, as when he started.  The good news is that it doesn't leak.

Funny face

   Little Carter is starting to smile and laugh all the time now.  He finds the most random things funny.  Like the word "bonk" or the word "go."  He will get really tickled and become delirious, especially if he's tired.  I love wrestling with him, of course very gently.  He enjoys it when I flip him around and throw him in the air.