Graduation

So we graduated to the "big" car seat this weekend. Normally you don't have to go to the bigger car seat until the kid is about 22 lbs (at least, that's the case with our infant seat), but Carrie HATES the infant seat. And I mean HATES. I think she just starts crying when I even think about taking her somewhere which means putting her in the infant seat. She's fine in it...for about 5 minutes. Then she starts whining a little, crying a little, and if the ride's not over in about 10 minutes, it's full-scale bawling. I can't say I blame her. She's all wadded up in there. Halfway lying down, no room to move, and strapped in the five-point harness (which is a great thing when Jerry's driving :) )

Since we have a ridiculous amount of traveling coming up for the holidays, we sprung for the Britax Boulevard seat. This thing will last till she's 65 pounds, or so the box says. Jerry brought it home from Atlanta this weekend (no Babies R Us in Gainesville, and we had almost $200 in credit there, so you better believe we got it in Atlanta). Sunday morning found him dragging out the base of the infant seat and installing the new monstrosity of a car seat. This thing is HUGE. It's still rear-facing like the infant seat, and will be till she's too big for it to be rear-facing. I'm not sure where her legs will go once she gets taller, but we'll worry with that later. Jerry got it all installed, and next came the big moment - we put her in her new car seat for the first time. We drove from our house around town to do a few errands, and never heard a mad peep out of her. She got a little fussy on the way home, but that was just because it was 2:30, and 3pm is usually naptime, so that was to be expected. But all in all the new car seat seems to be a success. The true test will be on Tuesday when we travel up to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for us!

I never thought I'd be so sentimental about switching to the bigger car seat. Sure, it's exciting that she (hopefully) won't be so unhappy in it. But I couldn't help but think while looking at her in her brand new "big girl" seat that all too soon she'll be all grown up and be off on her own adventures without Mommy and Daddy. Everyone tells you to enjoy babyhood while it lasts because they grow up so quickly, but you're never really prepared for just how quickly time passes...I think now I have a pretty good idea of what my dad meant when he said regardless of how old I got I'd always be his little girl. :)

Almost 7 months old!

I can't believe Carrie will be 7 months old next Monday! It's so hard to believe that much time has passed since we brought her home. A lot of things have been going on in the past couple of months since our last post...

• She can roll both ways now, no problems. In fact, she thinks it's her mission in life to roll. Everywhere. At any time. In the stroller, in the high chair, sitting on my lap, doesn't matter.


• At the 6 month check-up she weighed 15 lbs, 6 oz!


• We've started solid foods! Right around her 6 month birthday we tried bananas. They were a definite hit. Next came avocados, which were met with a lukewarm reception until I mixed them with some bananas. Yes, it sounds revolting but I had read that the banana-cado combo was a hit with many babies, and now it's her favorite. We've also tried sweet potatoes (yum), pears (HATES), and carrots (yum). She is most definitely Bailey's best friend now. If she's not slinging bits of food around, he can at least sniff at her hands and lick off any extra food off her fingers.


• She's really trying to crawl these days. She'll get up on all fours and rock back and forth, then collapse back on her belly. It's pretty entertaining!

We're gearing up for a big travel season coming up. We'll be visiting Atlanta for Thanksgiving, and I am SO happy about getting to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving with Mom :) Then we'll be back up in Atlanta that first week in December for Jerry's week of classes. We're having the book club Christmas party at our house on 12/14, and will be heading to Savannah for Christmas on 12/21. Check back after that for pictures and stories about her first Christmas!