Carter's 7 Month Stats

I don't think I ever posted Carter's 4 month stats, so here they are, along with the 7 month stats. (Should be 6 month, but because of his bout of RSV we delayed his check up a few weeks.)

Carter is long and lean, with a BIG head! We were concerned he might need a helmet, but thankfully the shape of his head is much-improved and the doctor says it looks fine. Yeah!

Some random pics...

Why should Facebook get all the fun? These are mostly pics that I have posted to Facebook but haven't gotten around to posting on the blog.

Here is Blake's latest haircut. He was SO GOOD for me as I cut his hair. Sure, it helped that I gave him a tootsie pop (his favorite flavor, chocolate) to eat while I was cutting his hair, and he watched a favorite episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Mommy's computer, but he was even good for the various "follow up" snips where I came after him with scissors to get the spots I missed.

Every Sunday after church Blake asks to go to the front to admire the drum set and to put on his own "air drum" performance. The drums have truly captured his heart!

Here is our poor big boy in the ER getting an IV. We took him in because his breathing rate was 65-75 breaths per minute and his Pulse-Ox was between 88 and 92. They gave him fluids via IV, did a blood text, confirmed that he had RSV, and took a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. The IV was not pleasant; the "getting of" the IV wasn't fun, but also as he woke up various time throughout the night and saw that it was still attached he got very upset again. Praise God a few days later he was back to his old, fun, playful self!

Here he is at home laying on Daddy's belly. Before we took him in to the ER all he wanted to do was sleep on our chest.

Tummy time with Carter. Ain't he cute?

Here he is enjoying some "mush" (rice cereal). I have tried bananas various times, and each time it produces green poop. He took some green beans the other day, and had diarrhea after that. But I'm going to keep trying - I refuse to believe he is allergic to bananas and green beans!

Mom Mom put him in the laundry basket the other day, and he really liked it, so here Carter is "helping me" with a load.

And giraffe is helping, too.

Big boy helping make brownies. When he started to feel better after having RSV his appetite was slow to recover, but he kept asking for brownies! So Mom decided a brownie wouldn't kill him. He is a faithful helper, licking the spoons and testing the batter.

Our Budding Worship Leader

Here is Blake's rendition of the Sovereign Grace worship song, "Jesus Thank You."



If you listen carefully you can make out some of the words, "...completely satisfied, Jesus thank you, Father's wrath completely satisfied, Jesus thank you." To hear the original you can go here.

This song plays over and over again all night on an iPod in his room (per Blake's insistence, I should add). I must confess this is one of my favorite songs on the Sovereign Grace "Worship God" album, but I didn't expect my occasional re-playing of the CD tract in the car to turn into this obsession by our toddler!

Christmas!

Blake is finally old enough to appreciate Christmas, and it was a real blessing to tell him about the upcoming birth of baby Jesus, drive around to see the lights, to make Christmas cookies, and to build anticipation for the gifts he would open. By the time Christmas was here Blake could recite much of the Christmas story. At one point a little before Christmas whenever I asked Blake "who is coming on Christmas?" he would promptly respond, "Baby Jesus!" (However, as Christmas got close and he learned that Mom Mom was planning to arrive on Christmas day, he changed his answer to "Mom Mom!")

We (Mom and Dad) only gave Blake one gift, and Baby Carter gave Blake another, so there wasn't a huge pile of gifts to open at home. But don't worry - grandparents and other family members quickly added to the stockpile.  And I am finally starting to understand that it really is better to give than to receive - Mike and I couldn't wait to see Blake's face as he opened his "big" gift from us.

First, however, he opened a gift from Baby Carter. It truly was a hit! A set of small yellow diggers. Blake loves the dearly.

Next, Blake gave his gift to Baby Carter. When you asked Blake what he wanted to get anyone for Christmas his consistent response was "John Deere tractor." It isn't a John Deere, but Blake got Carter this cute "Little People" tractor that makes animal noises. Carter will appreciate it some day.

And what, do you guess, Blake got Daddy?

Yup, a John Deere tractor! (And some Junior Mints.)  I am sure Daddy loves his new tractor, and Blake had NO selfish motives. For some reason Daddy's gift has found its way to our playroom...

At long last Blake opened the big box that had been sitting in the dining room for almost three weeks. I think he was excited.

What was it? A JOHN DEERE TRACTOR! A "big one" that Blake could ride!

Blake helped us put it together (maybe next year we'll do this in advance, but Blake really enjoys the assembly process and is a big help). Now Blake just needs to learn how to peddle his tractor!

I think it is safe to say that this was The Year Of The Tractor at the Thompson house. Blake got one more John Deere tractor with a wagon from Mom Mom to complete his collection, as well as a John Deere hat. It is God's sense of humor that Blake loves tractors so much and Mike would much rather never see or need a tractor in his life.

We spent Christmas Eve at Mike's parents house and I never seem to manage to take good pictures there - the house is full of excited kids, and I am busy keeping track of my own kiddos, but here are a few shots of the chaos...er...excitement...

Carter came home with some great gifts, too, but he didn't notice - he much prefers hugs and giggles!

To be sure, our family was VERY generous to us an the kids and we came home with a playroom full of new toys.