Mother's little helper

So far this monstrocity is the only toy that Carter amuses himself with for longer than 15 minutes. Yay! I can finally eat a complete lunch again!

Uncle Alan practices babysitting

"Carter, it's time for your Uncle Alan to teach you an important skill."

"What happens when I press it?"

"Ohhh! Wow!"

I'm not sure Carter or Alan is ready to be left alone together, but they seem to get along just splendidly.

All the fanfare but still no teeth

Carter has been sucking on his hands and drooling for awhile now, but recently he has begun to go after his hands with more vigor. He is not fussy however, so it's probably still not teething time yet.

Carter out and about

This weekend Carter got to go to his first birthday party. He was in super good spirits and smiled at all the new faces he saw. He enjoyed particpating in all the frolicking with modifications. We didn't go inside those bouncy things, but he did enjoy bouncing on the steps leading up to them.

Carter's weekly top 20

Here are Carter's current favorite things...

20. grabbing his bottle with both hands

19. "Ducks Like Rain" by Raffi and hearing mommy quack.

18. sounds: whistling, blowing raspberries, whispering

17. Being brushed in the face by hair

16. stuffed zebra and mobile at naptime

15. bathtime

14. Watching mommy play with long pieces of food in her mouth like pretzels and green beans or saying Ahh while opening her mouth to eat

13. noticing Willie and grabbing Willie's fur (down this week from number 5)

12. Patty Cake, This Little Piggy, Charlie Chaplin, Asserin Asseran, and Ride a Cock Horse rhymes

11. our dining room

10. his hands and feet

9. standing up after I say one, two and three

8. peekaboo and other versions of peekaboo.
8. tied with Daddy lifting him up high and then making a Karate sound as he lowers him

7. I'm gonna get you games involving tickling

6. The frog in the Rainforest Jumparoo

5. play mat with dangling toys and rattles

4. Me raising a beach ball over his head and moving it toward him and then quickly away from him while saying weeeee!

3. Visiting Grandparents

2. Milk

1. Mom and Dad

Traveling with Carter

Over the fourth of July weekend we went to stay with Aunt Patty and Uncle David. Carter did not sleep much in the car on the way up to their house and once he got there, he did not enjoy trying out the portable playyard crib, but boy did he like those cows and the wide open vistas! Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of all that good stuff because we were enjoying talking so much, but we did remember to take pictures at the end.

Carter's Comedy Hour

Carter's laugh has developed from a short "huh huh" to the beginnings of a chuckle. Here he demonstrates his new ability.