Today's broadcast is brought to you by the letter, C

I think it may be time for a new edition of ... what is Carter doing? This edition will be broken into catagories (rather than chronological, or an as it happens report)

Chow:
Carter is now eating some of his softer foods, like avocado, diced. It is pretty tempting to squish the softer foods in your hands. I know, it is hard to resist that urge even now. It is also amazing to see Carter progressing with a cup. He can actually use a standard sippy cup. Matt and I just leave the cup on his tray, and he takes a sip whenever he wants. A further extension of how his demands and needs are becoming more obvious to him, and he is even able to act on them as well, rather than relying on us.

Mobility:
Carter has quickly gone from rolling everywhere, with great accuracy, to the beginning and now mid-stages of crawling. He has gone beyond rocking on all fours, and will now get up on all fours and launch himself forward. Sometimes he is a little close to a wall, door, or object, but he does not seem to mind the collision. Ruth mentioned today that Carter was "this close" to sitting from a laying down position. Try that at home, kiddies!



Carter in mid crawl

Going for Gold:
Along the lines of mobility, and being able to achieve and get what he wants, Carter also is motivated to get to places. Often places he is not supposed to go, and I think he also knows he is not really supposed to be there. He hears the "no no no", because he will turn back at times, and then keep on truckin' to the target. I think the favorite is cords. How nice, eh? Yes, the monitor cord on Matt's computer, the tv cord under the entertainment unit. Ahhhh, safety boy.

Vocalize
Carter has added to "mum mum mum" with an occasional "ba ba ba" and "da da da". However, the most interesting development to date has been the growl. I can"t say how long he has been doing this, but not too long. When I say growl, I mean, yes, that guttural noise that starts at the base of your throat and comes out from often sealed lips. He will often do it during times of concentration. The other quite funny thing that he does is making a noise and then taking the back of his hand and rubbing it back and forth over his mouth to make the sound come out different. Coupled with talking into his "measure up cups", it all makes for a noisy household (where on earth did he get that from?)

Bath time game
Carter has been doing this for a while now, but I have not posted it yet. Since Matt is in LA this week at PDC (even the guy on the logo LOOKS like Matt!) I have been bathing Carter regularly (he smells better that way). For some reason, I think it is the buttons on our shirts, Carter likes to make a game of trying to pull us in his little baby tub with him. He will pull on our shirts while he is in there and just keep yanking towards him. Quite funny for the bather, and bath-ee.

I know every one tells you "they change so fast." You really don't have any comprehension of what that means until you see them changing before your very eyes. When Erik was a baby, he was always different every time I saw him, but I saw him only every few months, so I expected that. I just had no idea how quick the changes were. I guess you really don't until you are there at the time.

Basically, I am saying, I am sure I am forgetting things that Carter is doing, that are new, but I don't quite know what they are-they seem so natural. He is still the little boy full of smiles, giggles and grins, ready to figure out the next puzzle.