#41 - Check

Number 41 on my list of 101 things to do in 1,001 days was to have my sister, Lindsey Smith, take Carter’s newborn photos.  I’ve been blessed with a photographer for a sister.  She’ll be doing Carter’s pictures his whole life and it saves us money!!  Photogs are EXPENSIVE!! Anyway, if anyone is interested in my sister’s work or using her, go to her website at www.lindseyrsmith.com or find her business, Lindsey Smith Photography, on facebook. Lindsey took so many incredible pictures and I can’t put all 60 on my blog, so I’m just going to pick my favorites to put on here. To see them all, go to my facebook page.

Absolutely LOVE all of these photos, but yes, I know I’m a little bit bias towards the subject of them

#65 and #66 - Check

#65 on my list of 101 things to do in 1,001 days was to re-vamp my blogs look since we’re a family of three now.  I’ve wanted to do this even before Carter was born because I haven’t changed my header in FOREVER.  It was well overdue.  Well, if you’re reading this, you see the new header and background.  I feel like it’s very “boy” since our newest addition is a boy! 

#66 was to enroll Carter in Mother’s Day Out at our church.  We did this last week actually.  Our infant class at church only allows up to 6 infants and it was first come first serve.  Our church members were given a couple of days head start over non-church members.  My mother-in-law was the first person at church the day the enrollment opened to turn in our application as well as the application for the twins and we got spots 1, 2 and 3.  So half of the infant class are in the Morris family.  I’m so glad Carter will be in class with two of his family members.  That makes me feel so much more comfortable leaving him with other kids.  He’ll go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-1pm.  My sweet mother-in-law is our day care provider so we wanted to put him in MDO to give her a few hours twice a week to do things she wants to do so she doesn’t get burned out on taking care of him.  The program starts in September and runs through May, so Carter will be 9 months old when he starts going, a great age I think!!

Carter - One Month

Carter at Month 1

• His next appointment at the pediatrician isn’t until February 14th, so I’m not 100% sure on weight or height, but if I had to guess on weight, I’d say he’s over 9 pounds now.  For height, I think he’s about 23 inches or more (his tummy time mat has a measurement stick on it).
• He’s eating 7 times a day, most of which is breastfeeding from me.  Usually only one feeding is from a bottle and it’s a breastmilk  bottle that daddy feeds at the middle of the night feeding.  The only time we really feed him formula is if we’re out and about.
• During the day, he eats about every 3 hours, sometimes shorter, sometimes slightly longer.  At night he may go as long as 5 hours between feedings.  Usually, mommy does the 11:30pm feeding and then daddy does the 3:30/4am feeding.  This will change when daddy starts going out of town for work though…momma will be doing all feedings (a little nervous about that).
• Literally, today, on his 1 month birthday, he smiled at me on purpose.  Justin did some research and told me the other day that the way to get a baby to smile is to smile at them all the time until they begin to mimic your facial expressions.  So I’ve been smiling at him all week and today, he smiled back at me.  It was quick and I couldn’t get him to do it again and wasn’t able to get a picture.  Boo.
• He sleeps in a little basinet in his pack n’ play.  He was originally sleeping in a small co-sleeper that attaches to our bed, but after realizing how noisy of a sleeper he is, we kicked him to the living room.  His nighttime sleep and all naps with exception to one are in the pack n’ play.  His late afternoon nap is done in his crib upstairs.  We just started putting him in the crib this week and he doesn’t love it yet.  We’re hoping he warms up to it soon.
• At the beginning of month 1, Carter was sleeping around 10-12 hours a day.  At the close of month one, he’s averaging from 13-14 hours a day.  Much better!!
• He loves to sleep in his woombie
• We just started watching Baby Einstein videos during waketime and he seems to like it a lot
• When he hears my voice, he gets very quiet.  I definitely think he knows who I am and if he hears my voice, but can’t see me, he’ll be quiet and start looking around the room for me.  At least it appears that’s what he’s doing.
• I wouldn’t say he likes bathtime, but he doesn’t hate it.  He doesn’t cry during his baths at all, but he doesn’t have a joyful look on his face either.   I think he’s just confused.
• He hasn’t realized yet that Gizmo exists.  She’s licked him in the face several times but she does it so quickly that she’s gone before he notices anything..
• He falls asleep pretty easily in the car, but he does it much quicker in Justin’s Jeep than in my Acura.  I think it’s because the Jeep is so much louder and vibrates more.  My Acura is pretty quiet.
• He’s still wearing newborn diapers
• He’s still wearing newborn clothes.  We’ve even tried on 0-3 months clothes and they’re too big.