Ten random things...

that have happened since Mommy last blogged:

1. Mommy has worked a lot.


2. Daddy has worked a lot.


3. I have a really bad cold and now take Tylenol like a pro.


4. Mommy, I hate to tell you this, but I have a girlfriend. Her name is Rylee, and we hold hands during buggy-rides at school.


5. Mommy bought me new Pedipeds because my feet are huge.


6. Mommy, Aunt Melissa, Aunt Melissa's friend (Amber) and Mommy's friends (Kathy and Susie) stayed out until 5a while partying it up in Chicago last weekend for Aunt Melissa's bachelorette party.




7. Mommy and Daddy worked outside all day yesterday and got everything "summer-ized"...whatever that means.


8. Daddy and I hung out last weekend while Mommy was out of town. You get an A+, Daddy, for taking care of me!


9. I need to sleep more. I really am a happier baby when I nap more than 1 hour a day. Go figure.


10. I got my first tooth. I told you not to stress out, Mommy!

It's Tricky - It's Tricky (Tricky) Tricky (Trrrrrricky)

Here's how this went down...Mommy, Daddy and I were at a friend's house last night for a BBQ. Fun! Mommy and Daddy seemed so impressed by Jonathan's walking and Sophia's "big girl bed" that I felt I had to pull a little something out of my bag-o-tricks. So, I clapped my hands together last night AND fed myself a banana cookie - both for the first time.

Who knew eating kabobs, or chicken-a-bobs as Sophia calls them, with Mommy and Daddy's friends would inspire me so much?!

Monsters, Inc.

Angels and Demons

I loved this book. Let's hope the movie is better than Ron Howard's take on "The Da Vinci Code."

My little bug has learned how to throw fits. And quite well, actually. He tenses every muscle in his body, wrinkles is nose, closes his eyes and squeaks out a very high-pitched sound. This can go on anywhere from 5 seconds to two minutes, depending on how long I can stand it. I'm not sure if the fits are caused by separation anxiety or frustration, but what I do know is this -- Goodbye, child-care books. Hello, parenting books. (Sigh.)

Angel...

Demon...

Dance Party USA

The Casey Clan was in Missouri this weekend visiting family, so we road-tripped it to Salem to join in the fun. (Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Casey for letting us crash your party...again!) The day was filled with great food, good conversation and genuine family-time. We even managed to "bust-a-move" to Mr. Casey's Elton John renditions on the baby grand. Thanks for the serenade, Maestro!

And it was great to see you Jason, Kori, Jackson and Sidney. Safe travels back to Sooner-country!

Weeeeeeeee!

The weather last Sunday was beautiful, so we loaded up the bug and his stroller and headed to a nearby golf community that has its own lake/beach. After a stroller ride around the lake, we put Carson in a kiddie-swing. He loved it! Another family was there playing in the sand and heard me say I forgot my camera. They offered to take pictures of Carson and email them to us. How nice!

Thanks to the Westhughes, Carson's first swing-ride was documented. : )

Chatty Cathy

Parent-Teacher Conference: Yes, Carson's day care hosts parent-teacher conferences for all ages. What did I learn about my blue-eyed wonder? He's a social butterfly - so much so, that he insists on facing outward while taking his bottle so that can keep his eyes on his friends. He's even had trouble napping lately because he cranes his neck while in his crib to check out " the action" in the room. I can't wait to see what first grade brings.

I mentioned to my friend Kim that I distinctly remember getting reprimanded by my first grade teacher, Ms. Campbell, for talking during story time. Typical first-child-and-therefore-pleaser that I was, I was mortified by the scolding and cried.

Note to self: Self, do not over-react when Carson brings home a note from his first grade teacher saying he's too chatty. You were, too!

Family Ties

Did anyone see that Michael J. Fox special that was on a week or so ago? God love Marty McFly.

This weekend was another family-filled couple of days. My sister flew in on Wednesday; Carson loves her! He didn't really take his eyes off of her at first. I think he was thinking, "Umm, you kind of look like my mom, but you aren't her. This is weird." My parents joined us on Friday for a day of shopping. I actually left them all at the mall for a couple of hours to go get my hair cut. When I rejoined them, Carson's diaper was hanging down to his ankles. No one thought to change him in my absence. They all got an "F" for the day with that one. (Mom, your grade was raised to an "A" after your Baby Gap spree. :)

Nate spent all day yesterday with the boys for Boog's bachelor party, so Mom, Dad, Brooke, Carson and I had a relatively lazy Saturday morning. (Okay, so my dad planted some stuff for me outside and didn't "lounge" as much as the rest of us. But my landscaping looks better than ever. THANKS, DAD!)

Needless to say, I barely know what to do with myself today without the Flesner clan around. I miss you guys already!

GQ

Carson may not have had on his "Sunday-best" today, but he's still a cutie in my book.

Backlogged

I have done a terrible job of blogging these last few weeks. I guess that means I am getting busier at work, so I try not to take the "Where are the blogs?!" comments I get from my parents personally - it's PwC's fault!

LAST WEEKEND
My parents were in town! Nate and I actually spent Saturday evening at Busch Stadium (No, the Cardinals weren't in town. Friends of ours invited us to an exclusive tour of the stadium - appetizers on the field, a tour of the clubhouse and press box, dinner overlooking center field, etc. And in case you are wondering, Albert Pujols' boxer-briefs hang on a plastic hanger just under a picture of his kiddos in his locker.), so my parents manned-the-fort and watched Carson for the night. I honestly think Carson had more fun than they did. Being "entertained" 24/7 took on a whole new meaning for him.


On Sunday, we had breakfast with my parents before they headed home, which was followed by a very lazy afternoon for Nate, Carson and me. The three of us then met Nate's mom and dad and Greg and Carrie for dinner. What a great first Mother's Day?!



MONDAY & TUESDAY
I spent Monday and Tuesday in Chicago for work. Other than writing down Carson's food specifics, Nate was on his own and did a great job. It was almost as if the boys didn't miss me. What's up with that?!

Weekend Warrior

That's me! My parents don't seem to be slowing down and are keeping me on the go constantly. This weekend we went to Table Rock Lake for an awards banquet for my Grandpa Ross. He received the Physician of the Year award from the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. (Wow - what a mouthful.) This was my first time in a hotel, and I loved it. After we settled in, Mommy and Daddy pushed me around the resort in my new pimp stroller. It's for big boys - I face forward in it and can see everything that is going on. Some lady in the gift shop told me I was cute and gave me a green smiley-face sticker. Mommy smiled and put it on my bib. I'm pretty sure I scratched it off at some point during our adventure and stuck it to my sock, at least that's where it was when Mommy got me ready for bed.

Anyway, I slept in my pack n' play all night long. It was cool. I can't wait for our next adventure!


Dad's checking out the hotel specs while I read my lady bug book.

Don't Grandma and Grandpa look nice?!

Is this thing over yet?

I'm checking out Great Grandma's necklace....it's a toy, right?

Awwww...

Take me home, please.

Clips

At my parents' request, here are my attempts at capturing "Da-da":

Attempt 1


Attempt 2


Attempt 3

I'm 7 months old today!

"Lieutenant Dan...ice cream!"

Another busy weekend for me...let me just say that I am getting used to looking out the window of my mom's car!

On Saturday, we drove to Mascoutah, IL so that Mommy and I could go to Susan's shower. Susan and Mauri went to Hawaii with Mommy and Daddy when I was a bun in the oven "baking." I distinctly remember making Mommy feel sick after she, Daddy, Susan and Mauri took a helicopter ride over the active volcano. (Hello, I was getting motion-sickness up there!) Anyway, Susan got lots of cool stuff and I cut Mommy a break and did not cry or throw a fit the entire shower.

On Sunday, we had lunch with Mommy's friend Jackie. She is a Lieutenant in the Navy and was in St. Louis this weekend for an air show. Jackie can land planes on giant ships that are in the ocean. Can you believe that? How cool! Check out pics of me with Lieutenant Jackie, one of the Navy planes and ordinary Mommy. Ha!

(For those of you who don't understand the blog title, rewatch Forrest Gump. :)

da-da

Carson said it! He spent all weekend working on his "Ds" - deddee, didididi, daudaudau, etc. But this morning, he managed to blurt out "Da-Da" with a smile. Of course he has yet to associate his daddy with his new-found word, but it's adorable none the less.

Today's performance is one for the baby book. (This is assuming I ever get around to writing things in his book. It's completely empty at the moment!)

Taking One for the Team

(I originally titled this post "Puke" but now think the above is more appropriate.)

My husband is at the Cardinal game tonight. I just sent him this:

You are really missing out - Carson just projectile puked the equivalent of 2 milk jugs. This is just as I was about to put him to bed for the night. He soiled all of my clothes down to my underwear, his pjs, and the chair and rug in his room. The rug is actually ruined because of the large orange stain. I had to put Carson back in the tub to clean him up, all while I was half-naked because my clothes were literally dripping of puke and are now in a pile on the floor. And then I had to line the rocking chair with bath towels because the entire seat cushion was covered in barf, and I needed some place to rock our dazed and confused son (after he had barfed up his entire body weight, of course!). Oh, and before I put him in the bath for the second time tonight, I had to run downstairs to make him a Pedialyte bottle....you can trace my steps when you get home. Just follow the barf foot-prints.

Now I'm about to get in the shower because every inch of me SMELLS LIKE PUKE. Who's winning?

Hiatus

It's really hard to blog when you have the stomach flu. It's even harder to blog when you've passed the bug on to your hubby and your baby! Nate had it Sunday night. I was glued to the porcelain God all day Sunday and Monday, and just as I was about to walk out the door this morning for work, Carson puked all over the place.

Lovely.

Let the games begin.

Hoop games, that is. Nate will make sure Carson has his jump shot mastered shortly after he learns to walk.

Funny Bone

Carson has found his. See for yourself. (And I'm not tickling him; I'm making funny faces!)

My First Easter

We were so busy this weekend...

Mommy, Aunt Carrie and I went shopping on Friday for Aunt Melissa's shower. (We didn't really buy any food that I could eat, but the chicken salad croissants did look yummy!) While we were at Sam's some lady came up to me to "check me out" -- she said that Mommy and Aunt Carrie were having way too much fun with me and she had to see what I looked like. I got her to smile back at me by flashing a toothless grin!

Saturday was a loooong day. I decided not to take much of a nap in the morning while Mommy was getting ready for the shower. And I stayed up all afternoon while all of those women were at my house. I finally crashed around 3:30p and didn't get up for 3 hours. Anyway, I hope you liked all of your gifts, Melissa. I really loved playing with the wrapping paper!

Mommy put me in plaid on Sunday. Come on, plaid? Not very manly, Mommy! We went to church and then to Grandma's house for dinner. And by the way, I was very "active" the entire church service. Mommy and Daddy now know that I like to "sing" along, too.

Needless to say, my first Easter weekend was a success!

Show me the money!

Gotta love Jerry Maguire, although I can't stand to look at Renee Zellweger. Are her eyes open or closed? I can't tell. Anyway, check out my pics from Sunday's trip to Nate's office:

Week(end) in Review

We had a great weekend with my parents...thanks for all your help outside, Dad! And Carson loves his new board books, Mom!


Carson's favorite weekend activity - The Jumperoo!


Carson meets "Donald Duck" for the first time!