Just a few weeks shy of his six-month birthday, Carson is able to sit up without immediately falling. That’s good timing, as we’ll likely have six-month portraits taken of him, like we did with Braden.

Brian also got Carson to stand all by himself by having him hold the bar to his bouncy chair. We’ll post a video soon of this. Carson appears to have strong but chubby legs. Braden, on the other hand, had much chubbier arms at the same age.

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Yesterday, Kristin fed Carson some solid food (rice cereal mixed with breast milk). Carson didn’t seem to like it but ate it nonetheless. We’ll post a video and photos soon.

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Congrats to Marcie and Josh, who welcomed Parker William Kurtz on July 5! Brian and Kristin are now an uncle and aunt.

Journal new skills

Just a few days ago, Carson held the bottle that Brian was feeding him. Carson held it low, so after a while Brian had to assist to get the milk flowing toward Carson’s mouth.

And on the subject of grabbing things, Carson grabbed his foot and put it in his mouth this weekend. Braden did that all the time around the same age.

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Braden knows how to spell his name. In fact, he pulled the magnetic letters out and spelled it out for Brian on his chalkboard. Very impressive.

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We constantly can’t believe what things Braden says. About a week ago, while he and Brian were at the dinner table, he yelled to Kristin, “Mommy, your food is getting cold!”

This past Saturday we told Braden we were going to the Farmers’ Market “by the Capitol.” He said, “Oh, by our old house?”

Braden also copies what Kristin says. For example, he calls Carson “little man,” as Kristin does.

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Brian will always remember the look on Braden’s face when he woke up from his nap the day we moved into the new house. You could see the smile gradually appear as he realized he was in his new room. His face further brightened when he saw all his toys–previously in storage, at Kristin’s parents’ house and at Brian’s mom’s house–altogether in his basement playroom.

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Carson likes peak-a-boo now. In fact, sometimes he will laugh, in his chirpy sort of way (see video from previous post). Braden enjoys playing peak-a-boo with his brother, too.

Journal laughing, new skills, spelling

Here’s a video of Carson “speaking” (more like squawking) last month:

Video talking

We were fairly certain that Carson is bigger than Braden was at two months old, but we were wrong. Despite being born bigger than his brother, Carson is only 13 lbs 13 oz. and 23.75 inches compared to 15 lbs 2 oz and 24.5 inches for Braden at two months, as we learned at Carson’s recent check-up.

Maybe it’s because Carson poops so much that he hasn’t gained as much weight? That doesn’t explain the height differential, though. Still, we have a feeling Carson will be taller someday.

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Kristin returns to work next week, with two straight weeks of night shifts. We’re thankful that our parents can watch both kids for us during the day.

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As mentioned, the “Bringing up Bebe” book has been a life-changer. We’ve now had three nights that Carson didn’t get up! That didn’t happen for several months with Braden.

Journal pediatrician, size, sleep, work

A couple of Fridays ago, Braden’s teachers called us because he may have eaten a peanut or something else that was in the same container. When Brian arrived, Braden seemed shaken up, but only because the teachers were so closely monitoring him.

When we got home, Braden’s eyes puffed up slightly, and the doctor’s office said to give him some Benedryl (the first sip he puked up, but he swallowed the second sip just fine) and to monitor him. Fortunately, he didn’t have any trouble breathing, and he seemed in better and better spirits as the day progressed.

We think that Braden didn’t actually eat a peanut but maybe a raisin or whatever else was in that container. In the meantime, we got another refill of his EpiPen.

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Braden no longer drinks his soy milk. This just occurred over the past week or so. He won’t tell us why he doesn’t like it anymore. He has proven he would rather be extremely thirsty than to drink even one drop of milk.

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Braden is getting better and better at potty training. At home, he’ll often head to his potty to pee (sitting down) without our prompting. He still won’t poop in the potty, though.

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Carson smiles so much more easily than Braden ever did. When we smile at Carson, he’ll often smile back. He’s also discovered his thumb, and he’s able to calm himself down by sucking on it (Braden never did this).

Journal allergies, potty training

Brian called Kristin the other day, and Braden answered the phone! At first, Brian just heard some background noise, then he finally heard Braden make some noise.

Brian: Braden? This is daddy.

Braden: Hi daddy.

Brian: Where’s mommy?

Braden: Upstairs changing Carson’s diaper.

Brian: Braden, please give mommy the phone.

Braden: No.

Brian: Braden, tell mommy that daddy’s on the phone.

Braden. Okay. (Walks to the bottom of the staircase and yells:) Mommy, daddy’s on the phone! (Proceeds to climb stairs and hand Kristin the phone).

As far as we know, this is Braden’s first real phone conversation. Even more amazing, he was just playing with the phone and knew how to answer it.

Journal new skills

Braden turned three two Fridays ago (Feb. 3). We submitted his photo to Ch. 3 News (our CBS affiliate), and he liked seeing himself on TV.

We had a birthday lunch planned, but Brian had a bug and was sick all day. Braden had the bug first; he came into our room Monday night covered in vomit. On Tuesday, he seemed fine, but he vomited when he got to school, so Brian took him home.

Kristin was then sick on Wednesday and Thursday. Fortunately, Carson avoided being sick!

Anyways, we rescheduled Braden’s birthday lunch for the following Sunday at the Nitty Gritty. It was nice to have both sides of the family there. Braden loved his presents.

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We bought the book “Bringing up Bebe,” which is about French parenting. While we’ve only gotten through the first three chapters, we’ve already implemented the “pause” technique. Instead of rushing over to Carson every time he makes a noise at night, we wait to see if he’ll fall back asleep.

Indeed, the majority of the time he falls back asleep. The book says that parents are the ones screwing up the sleep cycle for their newborns by tending to them too often. Babies need to learn to fall back asleep on their own. In most cases, Carson just has gas/poop.

Currently, Carson only wakes up once per night for feeding; previously, he got up 3-4 times a night!

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Braden is very clever. Before, when he needed to reach something, he would pull a chair over. Now, to reach things even higher (like his animal crackers), he’ll use a broom.

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At Braden’s allergy appointment a few weeks ago, the doctor said that Braden’s dairy allergy is subsiding. Currently, we’re giving him just a little bit of real milk or even cheese each day. So far, he hasn’t had a negative reaction. We’re hoping to keep desensitizing him (as opposed to building up his tolerance).

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We had portraits taken of both Braden and Carson a couple weeks ago. Braden did surprisingly well; Carson had a few shots with his eyes open. We’ll order some soon!

Journal allergies, birthday, photos, sick, sleep

Braden stayed at Brian’s mom’s house on Wednesday night, which helped our transition to home life with Carson. With improved nursing comes improved sleep for Carson, which is good. We almost feel he’s a bit easier at night than Braden was at this age.

What could make it better is if Carson didn’t sleep so much during the day. The worst is that he takes a long nap in the evening, which makes it hard for him to go to sleep at a decent time. Right now, Brian stays up with him until he finally goes to bed, which could be 11 or midnight.

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It’s funny, we think Braden looks bigger now, especially in comparison to Carson. For example, Braden’s face looks bigger (fatter?), if that’s possible.

He is getting more acclimated to having Carson around. Sometimes he’ll come up to his little brother to touch his head or leg. Braden usually refers to him as “the baby.”

We’ve been doing our best not to make Braden feel jealous or left out. In fact, we ask him to be our big helper.

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Carson poops a lot! As in, he’ll poop after EVERY feeding. It’s funny, we had to almost overfeed Braden when he was first born to get him to poop out his bilirubin (and get rid of his mild jaundice). Carson has absolutely no problem with his bowels, apparently.

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We gave Carson his first (sponge) bath last night. Just like his brother, he cried the entire time. We’re sure there will be a day when he loves baths, just like Braden.

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We’re unable to get Braden to go get a haircut (isn’t that a problem for when he’s a teenager?). We’ve resorted to cutting his hair ourselves–Kristin trimmed the back of his head last night, much to Braden’s anger. We’re going to wait until he’s asleep next time.

Journal bath, haircut, home

Kristin’s doctor finally came around 12:30 p.m. and said it was okay for us to go home (yay!). Brian had picked up Braden from preschool and was at home to pack some more clothes when he heard the news from Kristin.

It was actually a fast-paced discharge, as our nurse had to do it before the shift change. We got the photographer to come take professional photos (www.serendipityphotostudio.com, code is carsonlee), our nurse contacted our pediatrician and we packed. We didn’t get as many parting “gifts” this time around, but Brian was able to secure a couple bottles of formula.

We got home around 3:30 p.m. We decided it would be best to have Braden sleep at Brian’s mom’s house for the night, just so we could get better acclimated.

Unfortunately, Carson slept most of the evening, which we figured would lead to a long night again. Marcie stopped by to visit us around 7:15 p.m.

Journal home

Well, we got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night. At 1 a.m., we asked for some formula, because Carson is insatiable (sounds like his brother). That helped a lot.

We suspected we were in for a long night, as he slept from about 6-9 p.m. We watched three episodes of “Mad Men” during that time. Brian ordered dinner from Falbo Bros. Pizza.

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Our pediatrician came in this morning and confirmed what his colleague said yesterday: Carson is a healthy baby. We’ll need to have a follow-up appointment two days after we’re discharged from the hospital.

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As of 10:30 a.m., we’re still waiting for Kristin’s doctor to get here and let us know if we can go home today. She was supposed to be here between 8-9 a.m., so we’re wondering if she had to do a delivery.

Journal hospital, pediatrician, sleep