five senses: hear

Another way Carson is learning about the world around him is through his sense of hearing. He began hearing our voices even before he was born, so once he was born they were another way of providing comfort and safety. Talking, singing, and reading to him not only calm him down, but they are also how he begins understanding language.

talking

singing

reading

In addition to our voices, Carson enjoys toys that make noise. He likes things that rattle, squeak, and jingle.

I drink ridiculous amounts of peach tea, so I toss 3-4 of these handy dandy cylindrical containers in the recycling bag every week. I knew there had to be some way to repurpose them, because, after all, cylinders are the coolest three-dimensional figure:), since they’re the only one that stacks, slides, and rolls! Finally, I had an idea; these would make fun rolling shakers for Carson! I filled one with rice and one with pasta for two unique sounds and secured the lids with packing tape.

Then, I found some cute scrapbooking paper, cut it to fit, wrapped the shaker in paper, and covered it with packing tape (to protect it from slobber, of course!).

Carson's having fun exploring his sense of hearing (and touching and seeing, too) with these free toys! I wonder what other trash can become a treasure around here?!

five senses: touch

As a first grade teacher, one of my favorite units of study was the five senses. I always introduced the unit by popping popcorn, because it engaged all five senses. We heard it pop, smelled the buttery goodness, saw the small cloud-like pieces, touched the warm light-weight morsels, and finally tasted the yummy popcorn flavor seasoned with butter and salt.

Now that I’m a mama, teaching the five senses is even more fun, because everything is brand new! The first sense that’s been important to Carson is that of touch. Immediately following his birth, the cold air felt quite different from the warm moist environment he’d always known. Touch is what made him feel safe in this great big world. While we were in the hospital, Keith and I both spent time skin-to-skin with our little bundle of joy, and what a special experience it was!

Touch has remained an important way for Carson to feel safe and learn about the world around him. Snuggling, hugging, and kissing are all ways we show love.

Bath time is a fun way we engage the sense of touch in a totally different way! Carson loves to feel the water on his skin.

When it snowed, Carson got to touch a completely new temperature and texture!

One day, Carson and I had fun experimenting with flour. What a fun (and messy!) new way of engaging his sense of touch!

As I mentioned in the last post, Carson loves playing with placemats. He enjoys rubbing their rough texture. Similar textures he enjoys are carpet and the upholstery on our furniture. More great “toys” that have a unique texture are a bath puff and bath glove. They feel kind of scratchy. Sometimes while I’m getting ready, Carson lies on our bed and plays with Daddy’s shorts. They feel nice and soft and smell like Daddy!

I look forward to continuing to explore the five senses with my baby boy!

six months

feburary 2, 2011

17 pounds 14 ounces (55%)

27 inches (68%)

head circumference (41%)

Six months!! Happy half birthday, Precious Boy! We can hardly believe you’re half a year old. What a joy this half a year has been! We have LOVED getting to know you. Watching you grow and learn has been an honor and a privilege. We’ve already made so many precious memories snuggling and playing with you. This has been a month full of more growth and change. We had to put away lots of clothes that were getting too small. You are growing quickly and are now wearing size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. You’ve become a lot more mobile this month, which you’re enjoying! Because of that, we were concerned about you sleeping in your woombie. You were moving so much, and we didn’t want you to flip over and get stuck with your arms and legs zipped up. However, when you slept on your back without your woombie, you’d wake yourself up by moving your arms. That’s why we decided to start putting you on your belly to sleep, and it’s worked really well! You’ve been staying awake for longer chunks of time during the day, which is fun because it gives us more time to play! When you’re sleepy, you’ve started rubbing your eyes to let us know you’re ready for a nap, and you fall asleep more quickly than you used to. You love to move, and you’ve gotten really good at scooting backwards, which is sometimes frustrating to you, because you’re trying to go forward. You’ve accidently scooted under the rocking chair, crib, and dresser at different points while playing in the floor in your room! On Saturday, January 28, you started pulling your knees up and rocking back and forth, and it’s really cute! You make the sweetest sounds. You’ve started saying “mama.” I think you’re just experimenting with various sounds, but I pretend you know you’re saying my name! You’ve starting laughing out loud more often, which we adore! Daddy is the best at getting you to laugh! You like zurberts, kisses, peek-a-boo, stand up/fall down, and airplane. You love for us to sing and dance. You’ve continued putting things in your mouth, especially your fingers and toes. One day, you scared me because you were sitting on the kitchen table in your bumbo, and you escaped! You fell on the table on your belly, and it didn’t faze you a bit! I was so thankful you didn’t fall in the floor. From then on, we only use the bumbo chair on the floor in your room where there is carpet. Christmas came at a good time, because you’ve really begun enjoying your toys! You like to play in both your floor gym and jumperoo. You have a couple of toys that light up and play music that are lots of fun. You enjoy playing with your barn and farm animals and have started opening the gates to make the animal sounds all by yourself. You like rattles, stuffed animals, your stacking rings, and your puzzle. But really, you aren’t picky, you grab anything to put in your mouth and play with! One of your favorite “toys” is a placemat! You like to grab them off the table, rub their bumpy texture, and throw them on the floor. You still like being read to and are getting better at turning the pages. Reading books is one of the calm things we do before your naps. Because you’re staying awake longer, you don’t eat as often. You wait three hours or longer between nursing now. You eat about seven times each day. You still wake up once or twice during the night to eat. We gave you rice cereal a few times towards the end of the January, but you weren’t too interested in the new texture and flavor, so we didn’t push it since you still weren’t quite six months old.

We had more company this month. Aunt Laura got to come visit and stay for a whole week! She played with you and sang to you. While she was here we got a big snow. You’d seen snow before, but never this much. This time it was enough to play in, so we bundled you up to take pictures and so you could touch the snow! After a little while, you and Daddy came inside where it was nice and warm while Mama and Aunt Laura built a snowman. We had lots of fun with Aunt Laura, and we’re thankful she got to come visit. Only a few days after she left, she came back, but this time she brought Bobel and Reenie, so they could see you and so that we could celebrate Christmas together! It was a quick trip, but a fun one! You showed them how good you are at opening presents and got more books, toys, and clothes.

Life with you is so special, Baby Boy! We knew we’d love being parents, but you’ve made it even better than we could have imagined! It’s been an amazing six months, and we prayerfully anticipate many more precious months with you! We are so thankful to God for you!

We love you,

Mama and Daddy

five months

january 2, 2011

about 17 pounds

26 inches

Dearest Carson,

You continue to be an absolute joy in our lives! You grow and learn new things everyday! In the mornings, when I hear you wake up, I unzip you and sing “Good Morning” and “This is the Day”. You nap every couple of hours during the day. You usually take four naps that are about 45 minutes each, however many days one of your naps is longer, but we never know which one it will be. You nurse about eight times per day. You get up once or twice in the night to eat, and still sleep in your woombie. At bedtime, most nights you take a bath, you eat one more time, then Daddy and I say a prayer with you and sing “We love you with the Love of the Lord” while we tuck you in. It is a special time for our family! You’ve really started enjoying your bath, which has made it one of our favorite parts of the day. Your bath seems to be relaxing, and it’s fun to play with you while you lay back and enjoy the warm water. You still wear size two diapers and 3-6 month clothing. You’ve filled out and gotten chunkier this month, especially your belly and legs, and it is super cute! It’s made you even more kissable! You love belly and leg kisses. You still like to look around and seem very interested in everything that’s going on around you. Sometimes we wish we knew what you are thinking! You continue to enjoy putting your hands in your mouth, but this month you’ve also started putting your feet in your mouth. In fact, it has become a little tricky to change your diaper, because as soon as we lay you on your back, you put your feet straight in your mouth! We’re impressed with how flexible you are as you suck on your toes! You’ve started reaching for and grabbing stuff a lot this month, and of course, as soon as you get a hold of something, it goes straight to your mouth. Putting things in your mouth seems to be your way of exploring and learning about new things. We have lots of fun playing with you. You love zurberts, peek-a-boo, and airplane. All three of these little games are sure ways to get a smile from you! This month you’ve even initiated peek-a-boo a few times when you’re in your floor gym and we start talking to you, and it is precious! We’ve heard you laugh out loud a few more times this month and it’s absolutely wonderful! Tickling your chin and neck with kisses is one way we’ve gotten you to laugh. You’re still enjoying tummy time. When we lay you on your tummy and leave the room, by the time we come back a few minutes later, you’ve almost always scooted around so that you’re facing the opposite direction. You enjoying sitting upright too, that way you can see what’s going on. When you sit in your bumbo, you always pull one leg up, and it looks kind of like you’re trying to escape! The bumbo is a great place to sit in the kitchen while Mama cooks. If you’re awake while we’re eating dinner, you sit in your high chair. It’s pretty funny, because the last eight or nine times you’ve sat in your high chair, you’ve filled your diaper. We’re not sure if it’s the highchair or our dinner that’s been causing this, but it’s given us a good chuckle!

One of the most special things this month was celebrating your first Christmas! You enjoyed looking at the lights and ornaments on the tree and had fun grabbing the ornaments and branches if we held you close enough. You really seem to like music, so we had fun singing Christmas carols this month. Your favorite is “Jingle Bells,” and you smile every time we sing it to you! If you’re fussy, we can always count on “Jingle Bells” to cheer you up, so we may be singing it all year long! Other songs you like are “Bears” and “Tractor Tractor”. Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty got to come and stay for a whole week of Christmas fun! What a blessing it was to have them visit! Aunt Misty taught you to open your Christmas gifts. I thought you were too little, but she knew you could do it! You had fun pulling ribbon and tearing paper. You received some fun new toys, books, clothes, and your first Bible. You also got some special ornaments for our tree. We’ll have fun remembering your first Christmas as we pull them out to decorate the tree each year. Pops and Granny got you a jumperoo, and you have loved playing in it! It’s been fun to watch you discover the colors, lights, and sounds while you bounce and play.

You are an amazing blessing from God, and we are honored that God is trusting us to love and care for you! Thank you for being you! We can’t imagine a more perfect addition to our family! We love you, Wee One!

Mama and Daddy

Happy New Year!!!

These are a few of my favorite things.

2010 edition.

Hearing a healthy heartbeat.

Feeling baby kicks inside me.

Planning. Preparing. Praying.

Buying blue.

Walking. Talking.

Watermelon. Peanut butter.

Family. Friends. Church.

Anticipation.

Childbirth.

Baby snuggles.

Breast feeding.

Seeing my dear husband become an amazing daddy.

Baby bath time.

Chunky baby legs.

Kissing my baby.

Footie pajamas.

Baby smiles.

Baby laughter.

Carson Robert Clark!!!!

What a BLESSING 2010 has been for our family.

We anxiously wait to see what 2011 brings.

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. Carson's first Christmas made ours especially wonderful this year!! We were thankful that Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty were able to visit us and that we were able to spend the week of Christmas with them!! See facebook for lots more pictures if you're interested:) Blessing to you and yours in 2011!!!

four months

december 2, 2010

15 pounds

25 ½ inches

Carson Robert,

You continue to grow and learn everyday! You are very interested in what is going on around you. You’re always looking around and seem to be taking it all in! You nurse seven or eight times per day. You get up once in the night to eat, and you’re still sleeping in your woombie. After you eat, and before you nap, we have lots of fun playing. You like to be held, but you have become quite the wiggle worm! You love to play with your hands! You look at them, hold them together, and chew on them a lot. You have lots of slobber! We talk, read books, and sing songs. You’ve had lots of fun in your floor gym this month. You’ve gotten really good at grabbing and pulling the toys that hang down. Your favorite toy seems to be the blue bird. You have fun playing by yourself for longer periods of time. You’ve stayed in your gym for as long as 30 minutes several times. It is lots of fun for us to watch you having fun! You actually enjoy tummy time now! You even prefer it to lying on your back sometimes. You’ve started to scoot and move your arms and legs while you’re on your tummy. We think you really want to crawl, because it kind of looks like you’re crawling in place. You’ve started sitting in your highchair or bumbo when we’re eating sometimes, and you’re usually happy, interested, and patient. When you are tired or upset, the best way to calm you down is to let you suck on one of our fingers. You love to suck our finger, but you will not suck on a pacifier. We’ve tried several different kinds, but you aren’t interested. You’ve just started grabbing our hair, ouch! You also grab Daddy’s glasses sometimes. On November 16, you laughed out loud for the first time, and it was music to our ears! You’ve only laughed a couple of times since then, but you make other sweet sounds and coos quite often. We love to hear you! You still wear size two diapers and 3-6 month clothing.

This has been a month full of grandparent love! Pops and Granny came to visit and got to stay for a week and half! Then, we traveled to St. Louis to visit Bobel and Reenie for the week of Thanksgiving. All four of your grandparents had lots of fun playing with and loving on you! You are blessed to have such loving grandparents. While we were in St. Louis, you had both your first Thanksgiving and your first snow!

It’s been another joyful month with you, Baby Boy. Being your mama and daddy is absolutely wonderful! You are a blessing to us and to everyone who meets you. We love you!