colleen writes: Carter is 1 Month Old! Gabrielle's Summer Fun

Carter was one month old on July 11th. He is the sweetest little baby EVER. I love, love, love this baby stage. He's warm and snuggly. I wish I could bottle his baby smell. He is a big boy. At 2 1/2 weeks he was already over 9 pounds. He's a little chow-hound, so I am venturing to guess he is closing in on 10 pounds-although I am not really sure. He is a good sleeper, thank goodness. He still wakes up every 3-4 hours to eat, but all he does is kick his feet and lick his lips to tell me he's hungry. I'm a light sleeper... After he's fed, he falls right back asleep. During the day, he is up quite a bit more inbetween feedings. He thinks he's much older than he is because he likes to hold his head up. He also likes to watch the mobile in his crib. It's pretty cute/funny to watch his little head and eyes follow it. He seems to enjoy baths, getting his diaper changed, and watching his big sister who loves to kiss all over him. His major dislikes are getting dressed and undressed and that sleepy feeling when you just can't find the right spot. He's not so sure about being in the swing and he thinks binkies are a little weird--unlike his big sis! He also will drink from a bottle, but he has a furrowed brow the entire time like he's wondering what the heck it is, but doesn't care because he's still getting milk! Occassionally he will smile, which melts our hearts, and he has a huge dimple, which is sooooo adorable. We are looking forward to lots more smiles. We love and adore our baby boy if it isn't entirely obvious! For his monthly photos, I got some handy-dandy shirt stickers. No more old-fashioned handmade signs!

Let's see what's new with Gabrielle since the arrival of Carter...She got a super fun play structure installed in the backyard. It's pretty cool. I like to play on it. It has 2 swings, a disc swing, a trapeze bar, a rope ladder, a rock wall, a slide, and a racecar tire swing. It also has a little house at the top. Gabrielle had a camp out in the basement with Poppy. She thought that was pretty neat. She has enjoyed growing her own strawberries in the yard. I told her she did a good job growing them, and she laughed at me and said they grow by themselves. She's funny like that.

She has adjusted well to the baby, but has had a harder time with all the visitor's kids playing with her toys! I can tell that she genuinely loves Carter. She refers to him as "my baby." She smiles at him, and I catch her kissing him sometime, or just sitting by him and playing with him. It really melts my heart. She's a sweet girl--most of the time...HA

Carter, Gabrielle, & the Bunnies