Baby's First Christmas

The holidays finally arrived! Matt got an early start on decorating our house and it looked beautiful.

It was very challenging to resist pulling on the tree.

We had our first snow that Carsen engaged in. It did snow after he was born in February but he obviously didn't get to play in it then.

His snowsuit is so padded, he could barely move.

He probably would've enjoyed it more if he could have easily moved. Instead, he just sat there. Eventually he rolled onto his hands and knees but then looked confused about what to do next.

At his 9 month checkup, he was doing very well. Just over 20lbs and 29inches tall. Had a head growth spurt apparently :)

Carsen seems to be learning something new every day! Including, but not limited to, unrolling the toilet paper... This month, he started answering my "What does an owl say?" by saying "whoooooo." I'm so proud! He can also point to the owl on his quilt I made. He also started saying "nanana" for banana. But still no "mama" :(  He tries to say "dog" and to say "duuuu" for duck. Mainly he calls everything "dada."

Also just this week, he started using his sign language more; he finally signed "more." He occasionally signs "milk" but usually just says "miiiiiiii" (he's pretty much stopped saying "bah bah").

 "More" is tapping your fingers together...

 Clap, clap...

He's also been really into climbing stairs. We had to put this baby gate a few steps up and he is CONSTANTly climbing up to it, then shaking it like a caged gorilla. It's cute but he has fallen backwards a few times down the two steps, and it's onto carpet but I still try to minimize the head hits.

We had a great time at our annual family Christmas. Carsen met his great-grandpa Roy & a few other family members he hadn't yet met.

Carsen dressed up as Santa...

He got very sleepy though...

He slept through the whole gift exchange

My dad was sweet and took our holiday photos for us:

first family holiday card

We had a little holiday brunch with his baby friends:

Carsen, Katie (2 days older), Oz (same birthday), and Olive (3 mos younger)

Carsen is generally in a good mood but did not like the idea of being mailed to Idaho ;)

Lately Carsen is interested in feeding himself... or he wants whatever we're eating (not his purees). Feeding himself makes a total mess. He loves to rub food in his hair.

His hair is so blonde now and gets so adorably curly when brushed correctly ;)

Thanks to the holidays, my good friends were home visiting their parents. C got to play with the three H. boys- Chase, Ryan & Parker. Carsen just kept squealing! I think he loved all the action.

 

Carsen was fascinated by the big boys

too small of pjs

 There were so many obstacles to avoid before Christmas. Can't pull on the tree. Can't rip Daddy's train off the track. Can't rip open Mama's present. For a 10mo old, he did great! And this is the funniest thing I read all month, the 10mo old's wish list for Santa, sooo TRUE!

For Christmas Eve, we went to my parents' house to watch Oregon State CRUSH the Boise State Broncos (go Beavs!) and do a gift exchange.

Then on Christmas morning, Matt & Carsen & I were up at the usual 6am to open presents, and later my parents came over for brunch.

Mom enjoyed some slow cooker coconut oatmeal and the rest of us enjoyed some candied, baked bacon, "green" eggs (ie had spinach and green onions in it) and AMAZING eggnog soaked french toast.

 

He was totally exhausted by Christmas. Didn't nap well all day. Maybe too much stimulation? Look how serious he was. He would not smile despite my best attempts.

Needless to say, he went to bed extra early that night.

passed out from the xmas fun

We tried our 10 month shoot again the next day, so these are technically 10 months + 1 day old :)

 

Looking forward to 2014!!