Grandapa Ron and Grandma Sunye!

December 14, 2015 by Michael Young in Carter, Family, Family Visit, Koniz

It feels like we're always saying family visits feel so short. It can't be cliche if it's true, can it? Grandpa Ron and Grandma Sunye drove from New York to see Carter up close and in person. They arrived Friday afternoon, and were gone by Sunday morning. Although they departed almost as quickly as they arrived, their visit was a blessing, and we still managed to make a good weekend of things.

Grandma and Grandpa played with Carter, and experienced some of Cleveland's great treasures: the Christmas Story house, and the West Side Market. While we never got a chance to go inside the house - the line was down the block and Ron admitted to being a terrible "line stander" - we did get to see the neighborhood the movie was filmed. We'll just have to take a rain check on going inside.

However, the West Side Market was a success! We even brought home fresh fruits and vegetables to cook. Speaking of which, Sunye is an awesome cook, and we are super appreciative that she cooked breakfasts and dinner for us!

Before we knew it, it was Sunday morning, breakfast was over, and departing hugs were exchanged. Thank you, Ron and Sunye for making the trip! We'll make sure to find all of the hidden shapes in the book by the time you return ;-).

5 Months[ish] and Growing!

December 13, 2015 by Michael Young in Family, Carter, Milestones

Yes, we're a bit late with this one, but oh well!

THe last month (and a week) has been filled with lots of firsts and new developments.

1) When getting out of his Carseat, Carter now arches his back in anticipation of your hands going underneath him.

2) Carter started his journey to solid foods. Right now he's only eating rice cereal, and even that's only once every other day. What started off as a rough experience, turned into effortless eating. He even makes little slurping noises when sucking the rice off of the spoon!

3) He discovered that he can stick out his tongue and make raspberry noises.

4) He still hates tummy time, but it's paying off! He's been developing the core strength to roll over onto his side, which adds yet another layer of difficulty to diaper changes :-(.

5) He can sit up with little to no assistance!

Polar Express 2015

November 29, 2015 by Michael Young in Family, Carter, Holiday

The Young family has taken the journey on the Polar Express for three consecutive years, and our passenger list has grown for three consecutive years. However, this might be the first year that no one was pregnant during the train ride. (Maybe there isn't something special about the hot chocolate!) This year's tradition was started with dinner before making a mad dash for the train - thankfully no one was left behind.

If you've never been on the Polar Express, it's fun-filled trip to the North Pole where we get to see Santa's elves, reindeer, and workshop. We sing songs, eat cookies, and even showoff our best PJs. As if those weren't incentive enough, Santa makes a very special visit to the train to see the kiddies! In case you were wondering, Santa is indeed a Browns fan :).

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 26, 2015 by Michael Young in Carter, Family, Family Dinner, Milestones

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Carter's first Thanksgiving came and went with a blink of the eye. It started with a lazy morning filled with tummy time, naps, bath time, and ended with dinner at Grandma Sheri's.

Not to be left out, Carter brought his own solid food with him to dinner. This time was a much better success than the last time. After a messy beginner, Carter was able to open his mouth with anticipation, and even sucked the rice cereal off his little spoon!

Halloweekend and Aunt Peggy!

November 12, 2015 by Michael Young in Family Dinner, Family, Carter, Koniz, Family Visit

Ok, so we're a bit late with this post, but we didn't forget! Although Aunt Peggy didn't say it directly, "Make the most of life," is best way to describe the parting wisdom from her visit. Her plane landed on Thursday, October 29, at Akron's airport (which is about 45min away), she helped us reorganize our house, and kept Carter with a huge smile on his face, joined Heather and Sarah for meal prep, and even relaxed long enough to watch a movie. Although we didn't move anything to storage as she would have liked, we did refocus how we approach our time with Carter. Since Aunt Peggy's departure, Heather has been able to enjoy dance again (both watching performances, and taking workshops), Carter has moved to the crib, and we're more willing to allow family to help us, so that we don't feel tethered to our son 24/7. We never got a chance to have date night while Aunt Peggy was in town, but we're still going to make that happen soon (sounds like time with Grandma Sheri is in order).

Sadly, we didn't get to partake in Halloween festivities, which is a shame, because it's one of Aunt Peggy's favorite holidays - but Carter did get to dress up as a Teenage Mutant Turtle :). The visit flew by; it felt like we were back on the road to Akron the next day, even though it was already Sunday morning. We put a close to the weekend with a brief visit from Big Josh, and November's family dinner, where carter got to play with his cousins.