Carter turned 6 months old on September 18th! Where has the time gone?!
He's getting so big! As of last week he can now sit up by himself for short periods of time, and he had his first ride in a shopping cart a few days ago. He rolls both ways easily and every time we lay him down on his back to sleep he flips over onto his belly which makes me SO nervous! I usually wait til he falls asleep and flip him onto his back. I know I'm overly paranoid, but I asked the paediatrician last week if I could just leave him on his belly and he suggested that we really should be rolling him back onto his back. Obviously we can't control what he does when we are asleep, but if we find him on his belly before we go to bed we flip him back.
Carter continues to be tall and skinny at 28 inches and 15lb 11oz. He had bloodwork done last week to rule out any cause for his lower weight and everything was fine so that was a relief. He now eats solids 2-3 times a day on top of his bottles. He enjoys fruit but flat-out refuses any vegetables other than sweet potatoes! I think we'll have to start mixing the veggies in with his fruit and see how that goes. We've been using his
Safety 1st Lux Nosh High Chair for a few weeks now and are pretty happy with it. I don't have any other experiences with high chairs so don't really have anything to compare it to, but it does the job. The tray comes right off (maybe they all do this, I don't know) which is handy for getting him in and out, and theres a plastic piece on top of the tray that can be removed to put in the dishwasher. Although, we haven't found the need to put it in the dishwasher yet as we just give the tray a good wipe down with a lysol wipe after each use. I do find the straps quite loose on Carter as he's so skinny which I don't like, but he's fine with the tray on.
We bought a second hand
B.O.B. Revolution stroller for little man and we love it. I've jogged with it a couple of times; it was really smooth and Carter fell asleep both times. The front wheel can be fixed for jogging or swivel for everyday use. We use it out and about shopping, walking, etc. and find its nice and thin so we can get around with it easily. The one we bought came with an added handlebar console which has drink holders and a little zippered pocket for keys, etc which is super handy.
After much deliberation we also bought Carter a new carseat. He's just getting too heavy to carry in the infant seat, and since we are using the B.O.B. more often we have to take him out of the carseat anyway. We also don't have any side steps on our truck so it's really awkward to get him in and out of the infant seat. We went with the
Britax Marathon 65 from Babies R' Us for $299 + tax.
While we were shopping their happened to be a car seat technician there who was helping a friend shop for a new seat. She is part of a lovely group of people that offer advice/information on choosing an appropriate car seat, as well as assist in installing them properly. The Facebook group can be found here:
Vancouver Island Car Seat Technicians. I had a good look through the information, asked a few questions and bought the Marathon the next day. We will be installing it this week; I'll let you know in a few weeks how we like it.
Carter and I had a wonderful time in Ireland! I started off the trip wearing Carter in the Beco as I thought it would be the easiest for me. However, I had to take him right out of the carrier to go through security which was a pain in the ass. I decided to just use the travel system from there on out.
Here we are saying goodbye to Ralph in Victoria
Although I'm not a huge fan of our travel system I have to say that it did come in really handy on our trip. Like the other times I've flown with Carter I was able to use the stroller around all the airports then gate check it before boarding each flight. We flew with Air Canada and British Airways, and had 3 flights going over, the longest of which was from Calgary to London. Prior to our trip I had read about baby bassinets on Air Canada flights and when I booked the trip through Itravel2000.com I asked them to put a request for one on our reservation. From what I had read from other peoples experiences it seemed the chances of me getting one was low as there are apparently only a few to go around and they only work on certain air crafts. Luckily there was one available on the Calgary to London flight and I had to take some photos since nobody could figure out what I was talking about.
It clips right into the wall, baby must be 25lb or less and should not be able to sit up by themselves. This was a lifesaver on that 8 and 1/2 hour flight! Carter napped for 4 hours and I got to eat. Yay!
It was so nice to visit with family and of course everybody fell in love with Carter! Here's some photos from our trip.
The last week I was there I had a cold and was fairly miserable for a few days. My sister got sick too and we thought Carter had somehow dodged it until his nose started running a few hours before we left to come back home! The trip home was HORRENDOUS!!!! If you can avoid it, never ever ever travel by air with a sick baby!! The poor little guy was absolutely inconsolable from the second we took off in Dublin til landing in Victoria. He screamed through 3 flights! I didn't eat for over 16 of the 27 hours traveling back as I couldn't put him down for a second. I was so tired and stressed that I cried at one point too :(
I was really disappointed with Air Canada's service. I asked if somebody could help me transfer in Toronto as I knew I had to pick up my bags and go through customs, and I had absolutely NO WAY of doing it myself! I was pushing a stroller, so it was impossible for me to pull 2 suitcases too. I was told I would be helped, but never was. I ended up having to pay a porter in the airport $10 to take my bags... Thank God I had $11 in my bag. I also had a ton of other issues with them... too many to write about. I plan on writing them a letter to complain. I'm sure it won't do much good, but I'll feel better! Ha!
Aaand an update on me..... Ralph and I started
Weight Watchers online last week and are doing pretty good so far. I lost 2 pounds this week and Ralph lost 5. We've signed up and paid for 6 months so I REALLLY hope we stick with it! I like the concept of Weight Watchers as it allows you to eat whatever you want in moderation. So I don't have to stop eating the things I love, I just can't eat 2 chocolate bars everyday..... The program designates a point value to every food item and you are allowed to eat a certain amount of points per day. I am allowed 26 points per day while Ralph is allowed 49. The points value is based on fat, carbohydrates, fibre and protein. You are also given 49 flex points each week that can be used however you like. You can use them all on one day or spread them out throughout the week. Ralph and I had a weekend away in Victoria this past weekend and we had saved up most of our flex points so we could go out to a nice restaurant.
The livestrong ticker at the top right of my blog shows my current weight loss. I am hoping to lose 34 pounds. I've had a couple of bad days where I ate waaaaayyy more points than I should have but I got right back on the program the next day. The key is not to give up, there will be good and bad days.
I had my first soccer game a couple of weeks ago. I had a lot of fun, and it felt so good to get back out there. However, at practice last week I started getting pain in my left hip/lower back area while running. It's now been a week since the pain started and it hurts so bad to walk! I had a physio appointment today and was told that my hip joint is unstable and the muscles around it are weak. So I've got some stretches to work on and hopefully I can get back to soccer in the next couple of weeks.
- Amy
