First Stomach Bug

Yesterday was an interesting day!  Our poor baby boy was the victim of his first stomach bug.  It started yesterday morning when I was trying to get him to drink his first bottle.  He only drank 4 oz., but he also had a dirty diaper, which usually prevents him from drinking the entire 8 oz., so I didn't think too much of it.  At his next feeding at 11:15am, he only drank 3 oz.  We had a busy day planned, so I packed him up and headed out the door, thinking that I would just take the bottle with me and would feed him when he got hungry later.

We meet with our Square One playgroup (through Watermark church) each Thursday afternoon.  This week we were all meeting at Bookmarks library at NorthPark at 12:30pm for their Baby Bounce class.  We ended up being late (and Carter had fallen asleep in the car), so we missed out on the class.  I went ahead and ran the two errands that I needed to complete at the mall and then we headed back to the car.  I had noticed while we walked around North Park that Carter didn't look like himself.  He wasn't smiling at me or paying much attention to his toys.  Well, right after we pulled out of the parking garage, I heard a little cough in the back seat, but it did not sound like a regular cough...more like a spit up, which is not very common for Little Dude.  I pulled over at the back of the parking lot and hopped into the backseat to check out the situation.  Like I thought, he had spit up a little bit, so I pulled out the burp cloth to clean him up.  Just as I was doing this, he looked at me with the saddest face I have ever seen and threw up all over himself.  I was so glad that I had pulled over and was not driving down the highway!!!  I wiped Carter & his carseat down as best I could, held him in my lap to make sure he was okay and, after waiting for 15 minutes or so, started driving down the road again.

I had to make one last stop at Tom Thumb for a few items that I needed to get while we were out.  Sweet boy had fallen asleep again in the car and was asleep when I walked into the store.  While I was shopping, I heard him start to whine and when I looked down, he had drooled quite a bit all over his chin & chest.  When I went to wipe it off, the flow began again!  He threw up three different times!!!  There was a poor lady on the same aisle as me who was trying to tell me to lean him forward, etc.  I was trying to get him out of his car seat and, in the process, I had gotten throw up all over me, too.  Of course I had left the diaper bag in the car since I was only planning on grabbing a few items, so I didn't have a burp cloth or anything to clean up the HUGE mess.  After the sickness stopped, we ran over to the bathroom and got cleaned up, using their changing table & paper towels.  Mother of the Year award, anyone?!?!  I had to strip him down into his diaper because his clothes were too far gone to continue wearing.  I went through self-checkout (so I didn't have to talk to anyone) and then we headed home.

Carter has been chewing on ice cubes, drinking Pedialyte and resting a lot since then.  The interesting thing is that he really has not been too unhappy or fussy.  He is still a sweet, pretty easy baby even when he is sick!  We have enjoyed walking around with him in the Baby Bjorn, rocking back and forth & cuddling more than usual.  He actually slept really well last night (8pm to 6:30am) and he is currently taking a nap in his crib.  We are hoping that he is back to normal by tomorrow.  It is so hard to watch your 6-month old feel bad and not be able to do much about it!  We love you, Carter Lee!

Our sick baby

(yes, we have a towel underneath him in case he gets sick again)

He has been very cuddly today

(And yes, I know I look like the sick one in this picture)

***Update: Carter got sick again first thing on Sunday morning, but it is now Thursday and I think we made it through our first stomach bug!  The doctor put him on soy formula for the next few days to get his stomach back to normal, so besides that we are back to normal around here.

Say Cheese

We recently had Lindsay Rosenbaum come take pictures of Carter during one of our trips to Temple.  She did a great job and caught quite a few "classic" Carter faces.  Below are a few of my favorites of our 4 1/2 month old:

Five Months Old

Today Carter Lee turns 5 months old!!!

Look at those chubby thighs!

Time is flying by! It is so hard to believe that our sweet boy has already been in our lives for five months. It seems as if we have known him forever and it truly is hard to remember life without him, but at the same time, it seems as if he grows & matures overnight! The Lord continues to teach us through you, Carter Lee Johnson. Our lives would not be complete without you and we love you more than you can possibly understand. Thank you for being the light of our lives!

A few highlights from this past month:


* Carter is eating 8 oz. of formula every four hours (7am, 11am, 3pm & 7pm). He is holding his own bottle (or trying to – sometimes it is too heavy) and puts it in his mouth by himself when we hold it out in front of him (Tyler’s idea). We have not started solids yet, but plan to try the famous rice cereal tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes!

* The swaddle blankets and sleep sacks have been fully retired! Carter now sleeps in footie PJs only. This is because he began immediately rolling over on his tummy when we laid him down in his crib at night. He LOVES sleeping on his tummy and seems so much more content being able to move & cruise around the crib all night long. I can hardly believe he has already outgrown the swaddle. Kind of makes me sad that he is growing up so fast!

* Because of Carter's new-found freedom during sleeptime, we removed the bumpers and sheet savers from the crib.  We replaced them with the breathable mesh bumpers.

* Sleeping about 11 hours at night with a bedtime around 7:30 or 8:00pm and usually waking up around 7:00am.

* Our nap “routine” has finally made a little progress! Over the last two weeks, we have developed what seems like a schedule. Praise the Lord! Right now, he is taking about a 1.5 to 2-hour nap in the morning (going down 2 hours after he wakes up, usually around 9:00am or 9:30am) and a 1.5-hour (+/-) nap in the late afternoon (not as consistent with the time, but between 2:30 & 4:00pm). If we are out running errands, he will usually fall asleep in the car also, especially around lunchtime. The car has always been a good “nap-inducer” for us. I am pretty sure you get that from Mommy, Carter Lee! I think Daddy would tell you the same thing :)

This month Carter:

* Can hold his head up with no extra support! This was a big milestone because it seemed as if it took us forever to get here. Way to go, Little Dude (as we call him often)! This makes him much easier to hold and carry around.

* Had his first experience with a swimming pool on 6/26/11 at Uncle Tanner's new apartment in Dallas.  He was unsure at first, but ended up loving the water!  He was not wearing a swimsuit, so he did not get the full experience, but it was still a fun little adventure.

Carter & Daddy behind the waterfall

Cool dude in his shades

The pool was only 6 inches deep here

* Is still taking a bath in the Tummy Tub, but we had to move the tub inside our big bathtub because he splashes so much that it was getting water all over the floor :)  He also locks his legs when we first put him in the tub.  It is becoming a challenge to get him to bend his knees and sit down.  We think it might be time to transition to another bathtub in the next month or so.

Playing with his bath toys (the zero is his current favorite)

Carter the Lion

* Loves looking at the color yellow.  We don't know why :)

Reaching for Jenna's new Bert doll

* Still enjoys watching his Praise Baby DVDs and now likes to do so from his new Graco swing in the living room

* Continues to love playing on his Baby Einstein play mat

* Loves looking at himself in the mirror!  He immediately turns his head toward the mirror when we take him out of his crib and he also thinks it is so cool to watch himself in our bathroom mirror right after he gets out of the bath!

* Grabs onto everything, including his hands & feet. He loves to “eat” them. It is absolutely precious and his flexibility is amazing! He is much more curious about things that we are holding or doing and he also loves to hold/pull Mommy’s hair (and anything else in reach) :)

* Has the sweetest little giggle we have ever heard! Sometimes we feel like we have to “move a mountain” to make him laugh, but once he gets going, it is adorable. He loves to hear Mommy & Daddy cheer or sing to him – including “Splish Splash” when he is in the bathtub and “Vroom, Vroom” or “Zoom Zoom”.

* Puts everything straight into his mouth and is drooling much more. He has also started to chew on rubbery toys & teethers, but no teeth quite yet.

* Rolled over from his tummy to his back this morning! He has been rolling the other way for quite a while now, but hadn’t picked up on this yet. He rolled over right after he woke up this morning and both of us were in his room. He looked a little stunned!

* Loves the exersaucer and door jumper

* Enjoys sitting in his bumbo, usually on the kitchen counter while we heat up a bottle or make dinner

* Is now sitting in his highchair!  We made this purchase not too long ago and it has been great, especially during dinner time.  We have been sitting together as a family of three around the breakfast room table and it is so nice!  He also finds it fun to roll around the house in his new ride.

* Continues to love playing on his quilt from Grams

* Has so much fun playing with his toys! He has also become fond of his burp cloths and likes to hold them, chew on them and play “Peek A Boo” with them.

* Loves to talk and hear his own voice. He squeals with glee (& sometimes frustration) and it is so fun to listen to! He can be very LOUD if he is really happy or excited. He also “talks” in his sleep at night. It is quite cute, but can be rather annoying when he wakes us up at 3:00am for no good reason :)

* Is enjoying playing with Daddy at night and on the weekends. Tyler is such a sweet dad. The two of them have dreamed up quite a few games, including “Tumbleweed”, “Machine Gun” and the "Dry Off" game after he gets out of the bath each night.

* Loves to stand and sit up (both assisted)

* Wears 3, 3/6 and/or 6 month clothing and size 1-2 diapers

Showing off the cute crab bottom - Thanks, Lissy & Moon Daddy!

* Continued his record of another healthy month!

We love you, Little Buddy. May the Lord continue to grow you into a healthy boy who follows after Him. You are truly our little angel. We cannot wait to see what the next five months bring!

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17