Graduation

Last week was Anderson's 9 month birthday. Marc and I wonder daily where the time has gone and how he got to be the size of an 18 month old--well that's about the size of clothing he's wearing anyway. I guess it's time to find a pediatrician so we can get him in for his 9 month appointment. The big event marking his growth this month was his graduation from the infant carrier to the big-boy car seat. Technically, he out grew his infant carrier quite a while ago. The safety requirements are something crazy like 20 pounds and 25 inches or something. (I can't check for accuracy right now since Anderson is sleeping and the carrier is in his closet.) His graduation also required Carter to graduate to the even bigger boy booster. I certainly wasn't ready for this step and thought long and hard about just buying a new car seat for Anderson, but that would have been an economically silly decision. The car seat would have been $100 and once Carter was ready for a backless booster that would have been another $30 so $130 for two new car seats vs. $50 for a booster that converts into the backless kind--the decision seems obvious, but it took me a while to come to terms since the vision of matching Evenflo car seats in the back of my little car (hopefully a new and larger car soon) was oh so cute. (Yes, I admit it the need for symmetry even in my car makes me a bon a fide crazy!) I thought for sure since I wasn't ready for Carter's new seat he wouldn't be either, but that hasn't been true at all. Carter loves his new red seat and has more than willingly given his old seat to Anderson. He's not great at sharing anything else with him so we are certainly surprised.

Baby food is so expensive that I have started feeding Anderson lots and lots of table food now. He pretty much eats anything which means he better start walking fast so he'll work off those extra rolls he's bound to get. Some days I panic because it is so much easier to peel back the tops of those nifty 2 packs of fruits and veggies, but now that my pantry is basically empty of those, well I've been cooking potatoes and sweet potatoes and steaming lots of veggies and cutting up lots of different fruits. He loves the pizza we make and chowed on the pasta I made last night for dinner. He still has only two teeth so the feet of mashing these foods is still left to his gums. I am dying for him to just cut those teeth already. I haven't slept through the night in months I don't think. But, I'm not holding my breath. If Anderson's stubborn gums are any indication of his inner personality I am in big big trouble. Believe me, when he cuts those teeth there will be huge celebrations in our household.

It seemed Anderson was just waiting for our big move to make his big move. About a day after we got here--I mean to my parent's house--Anderson was pulling himself up to stand next to the furniture and bug his brother. I thought it might be because my parents have slightly lower sofas but that didn't turn out to be the case. Last night as Marc played with the boys he officially declared Anderson a "cruiser." This doesn't please Carter in the least. Carter has always been a sensitive one, which has been fine until now. He literally runs away from Anderson or rolls away during diaper changing time (anybody have any hints as to how to get a 3 year old to want to use the toilet) whining "Aden gep me." (Anderson's going to get me.") For the life of me I can't figure out why my 3 year old is afraid of his 9 month old younger brother. I am hoping someday and soon this changes and they can play together nicely more than on a rare occasion. That all being said, last week when I was busy in the kitchen making dinner the boys got quiet which is always a sign of trouble. I went looking for them and found them in the bathroom playing just like this.