2 Month Checkup

Ok so technically our two month check up was at 9 weeks 5 days, but I was excited to finally see how much Carson is growing. Drumroll...

Newborn: 8lbs 6.3oz and 20.5in

Two Weeks: 9lbs 1oz and 21in

Two Months: 12lbs 9.5oz and 25in

Yeah for a growing baby boy!! He is 50th percentile for weight and 98th for height. Doc said he's on track to be tall and skinny like his parents (I laughed, me tall?). It is so fascinating to see Carson discover new things each day. He is still obsessed with mobiles, fans, etc and has now taken to bright colors. We went to a BBQ a few weekends ago and he was just staring at this Asian person. The guys asked, am I his first Asian? Lol!! Just last night he saw a picture of a baby girl on a magazine and just stared at her. Already digging the chicks!

Fascinated with his teddies

Carson also loves to lay on his playmat. He's now swatting at the toys and occassionally will grab some of the rings hanging down. Yesterday he also grabbed the binkie that was laying right next to him. We are still working on our arm strength for tummy time, but he sure has his leg strength down. His legs are so strong it looked like it was going to do a somersault the other day. Silly boy!


Paying attention to my first book with Grammie

Bedtime stories with Papa

Also in the last week Carson got his first outdoor adventure with a walk in the Ken Caryl area of the Denver suburbs. Once we made it to where he could face out and look at the surroundings, he did quite well. He even discovered trees which was too cute to see. We can't wait to take him to the "real" outdoors which will be happening very soon :)

 

In mommy world I started working a little over a week ago. Let's just say things were very stressful so I had to call in reinforcements to help me adjust. Thank goodness for a wonderful mother who had no problem lending her daughter a helping hand (acutally I think it's more she got to spend a whole week with her grandson!)



Back to work with momma

Carson: 8 Weeks

8 Weeks

Where is the time going?! Carson was 8 weeks yesterday and his 2-month mark is on Monday. I can't believe we've been parents for 8 weeks but on the flipside it seems like he has always been a part of our lives. So what is Carson up to these days? Well we are about to graduate from size 1 diapers :) He continues to make lots of silly noises and giving us smiles. His best smiling, cooing time is in the evening before his bedtime feeding. Of course as soon as I get my phone to video him he stops...such a silly boy! Also the other day Carson was waiving his arms around and actually grabbed some rings hanging down from his playmat. And yesterday I put a teether in his hand and he grabbed it and stuck it right in his mouth. He has become quite the drooler over the past couple weeks and our he has found his fist to chomp on. Our two week check-up isn't for another week so we'll have to wait and officially see how big he is getting.

Grabbing toys

Catching some shade :)

Chewing on a toy mom gave me

Silly sleeper

Well unfortunately I can't delay going back to work any longer. I start tomorrow :( and have been feeling very anxious about going back. I think it's mostly because I'm eager to see how I'm going to balance him and work. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to take client phone calls and now train a whole new set of workers in the upcoming months. Oh and let's not forget I'll probably have to travel to Dayton, OH before the year is over...but I'll deal with that later. I'm sure it will be fine, but just eager to see how it will actually go. At least I get to work at home and have Carson by my side!

Leaving you today with a video of Carson practicing his soccer skills...



Me and My Papa

We all know Carson spends enough time with me so we have been working on his interactions with Reid. Reid claims that whenever I leave the house (even if Carson was dead in his sleep) he wakes up and becomes Mr. Fussy Pants! I'm guessing that can only mean he misses his Mama!! I don't blame the kid when he see's me and hears my voice all day long. Oh and let's not forget I also fill his little tummy. Don't they say the way to every man's heart is through his stomach?

One thing Carson and I have been doing is taking lunch to Reid at his office. I can only imagine he misses seeing his little guy while he's at work so we've been trying to make up for it. Then when it's time to come home, Carson gets as much play time as he can with Papa before he works out, exercises Snyder, showers and eats dinner. Papa is a busy man!!

Lunch date with Papa. The office ladies also love my visits!

 

Papa and Carson tummy time

Life as a 7 week old is pretty grand. We are still working on our smiles (I even got a laugh noise the other day with one) and our tummy time. Carso has super strong legs and will stand up (with support of course) for quite some time. He's all ready looking forward to hiking with mom and dad :) Oh and can you believe he has outgrown his three month pajamas?! Some of our three month onesies will soon follow, but his long legs couldn't take the pjs anymore.

 

This post I'll leave you with some hats that a co-worker of mine knitted for Carson. They are too fun!! Reid and I can't wait for the cool weather so he can wear some. (ps Reid's favorite is the owl hat, hehe)

 

 

Carson's First Trip To Kansas

Happy 4th of July

 
With Reid having last Friday off, we decided to make the trip back to Kansas for the long holiday weekend. Some may call us crazy to travel with a 6 week old, but we were ready! The first drive actually wasn't too bad. We left Denver late in the afternoon so a majority of our driving was overnight which meant sleep! Carson has always fallen asleep in the car so we weren't too worried anyways. After three stops to feed, we made it pretty smoothly. Now let's talk about the drive back :( Carson had other ideas for this part of the journey. He was a hot mess (to put it nicely) and I don't blame him. Our first road feeding was outside Russell, KS and the car told us it was 103 degrees. Let's just say we were both a sweaty mess after that one. After this stop, Carson refused to sleep for more than 30-45 min (and that was a forced sleep non-the-less). Not only did he just want to get out and stretch, he would also poop his pants 15-20 min after we started driving again. That was followed by more short stops to get him out to burp again. By the time we made it to Flagler, CO for another feeding stop, it was 69 degrees and storming. Crazy weather!?! Only 1 1/2 more hours to go...please Carson don't have another melt down. FAIL! At this point he was over the carseat I think. Thankfully he took another short nap and woke up just in time for us to pull in the driveway. Freedom!!

The two extremes of our trip back to Denver

We had lots of fun during our trip back to Kansas. Carson got to meet Val and Fred and we joined them and their little boy Anthony at the pool. We were hoping to take Carson in for a dip, but there was no shade. Also while we were back we decided to have a "Come Meet Carson" get-together for close friends. We always seem to be running around like crazy to see everyone when we go back, so this time we decided to have everyone come to us! It was perfect and it was great to see some family friends I hadn't seen in a while. Carson also got to meet a couple of his great grandmas. It will be nice to have these pictures of them together.

Invitations for Carson's get-together

Carson and Grams

Carson and Grandma Joyce

 Also while we were back I had this bright idea to run a 5K. As I had only done a couple Insanity workouts prior (and did fine), I was excited and ready for a run. Well the run went just fine, I didn't have to walk, I didn't push myself to exhaustion just to finish, and I averaged an 8:15 pace. I was so proud of myself when I crossed the finish line...then post race hit me. I think heat was the biggest factor but that along with lack of sleep, below-par cardio, a banana too quick post run, I tanked quickly! I broke out in hives that swelled and Reid even had to pull the car over on the way back to his mom's...embarrasing :/ But after a cool shower, OJ to replenish my fluids and a nap while Reid and his mom went shopping for Carson I was back to my normal self (minus trouble walking down the stairs from sore legs). And finally before heading back to Denver, we made a pitstop in Topeka to see the Watts family. Grayson is growing so fast and I can't wait for him and Carson to play together on future family vacations and at K-State football games :) 

Before the Darren Sproles 5K

Steph and Grayson; Tara and Carson

 

I'll leave you this time with a funny video I took of Carson. Whenever he is startled he flails his arms. It's so goofy because he has such long arms. While he has had better "freak-outs" as Reid and I have dubbed them, this one was still funny.

Mommy Check-Up

I just got the "all-clear" from the doc at my 6 week check-up today. Time to resume all activities...music to my ears! I have truly missed a good sweaty workout and can't wait to get my butt back in to good cardio shape. One of my biggest fears about getting pregnant was gaining weight and having difficulty getting it back off. Even though I'm tiny, I also had issues with gaining weight quickly. But thanks to my P90X and Insanity, I got myself into great shape pre-pregnancy which helped me bounce right back to my "almost" original self.

On top of getting news I can workout again, I got more exciting news just as I was about to take a nap. My benefits department from work called me to discuss my timeline for returning back to work. I didn't know what there was to "discuss" as I was only approved from 6 weeks from insurance and can't afford to take any unpaid leave with FMLA. Little did I know my work grants an additional PAID 2 weeks for parental leave for "bonding." Excellent!! I went from bored out of my mind around 3 weeks and ready to return to work, to 6 weeks and not wanting my leave to end. Glad I get a few more weeks to "bond" with my guy :)

39 weeks: 130lbs

6 weeks postpartum: 107lbs

In the world of Carson we are working on our smiles!! I have yet to capture a real good one, but don't worry. One of these days I'll get it. I also believe he just went through his 6-week growth spurt. We've got some 3 month onesies that all-of-a-sudden fit pretty darn well. We are also testing Carson's car riding abilities as we have decided to head back to Kansas for the 4th. I'm very excited for Carson to see family and friends!!

Looking fly in my plaid overalls for church