Papa and Carly

It seems like July just came and went and now August is slipping away, too. I am sad about time going by so fast, but I am not sad about the hot months slipping by. Oh my goodness, could it be any hotter? We enjoyed some time off as a family with Zack. We got to eat some sno cones, we went to the zoo, we went swimming, and did some relaxing. Zack also went to Colorado with his Big Bend buddies. He has six college buddies that usually go to Big Bend in the spring every year, but this year they tried something different. They had a great time in Colorado with beautiful weather! I have been meaning to do Carly's four month write up but we have just been busy. Zack's grandfather Papa passed away almost two weeks ago. His health had been declining for quite some time, so it was not totally unexpected. We are sad that he is no longer with us, but glad that he is no longer suffering. He was 88 years old and lived a wonderful life. We know that he is now celebrating with the angels in heaven! We love you Papa! Kate got to spend 3 nights and 4 days with Nana and Papa while we took Carly to Fredricksburg for Papa's funeral. That was Kate's longest time away from Mommy and Daddy. She had a great time playing with her cousins and going to VBS. Carly also did really well with all of the driving. We had a time of mourning and celebrating of Papa's life.
I can't believe Carly is almost 4 1/2 months old now. It appears that she is going to be full of smiles like Kate. She is very quick to smile at others. It is fun to interact with her now and get little coos and laughter from her. She has also started rolling over from her tummy to her back, so we are now letting her sleep on her tummy all the time. She has been wanting to do this for some time! No more sleeping in her car seat! She loves to lay on her back on a blanket and play with her feet. It is humorous to watch her concentrate so hard on grabbing toys. She will sit in her exersaucer for awhile now, too. She isn't quite on a schedule yet. It is much harder getting her on a schedule when you are also working around a toddler's schedule. She usually will take one long nap a day and goes to bed around 9:00 pm. She will typically go between 6-8
hours before waking up for a feeding at night. Then she will sleep till she has slept a total of 12 hours a night. Carly is more of a snacker when she eats. She likes to nurse off of one side and then about an hour later she will nurse off the other side. I think her reflux makes her get full faster and she doesn't like to take in a lot of milk. Her reflux is a lot better, but it is still at a point that we feel she needs her medicine. She still has no interest in a pacifier or a bottle. My pediatrician said to just not push it right now, especially since I am staying home. She will do this funny, odd thing when she is tired. To help soothe herself she opens her mouth real wide and makes loud sounds. Some times it can take her awhile to fall asleep. She likes for you to rock her standing up while she is laying on your chest. Overall, we still think she is pretty laid back. She doesn't always have to be held, which is nice! She is like Kate in that she likes to be able to do her own things, too. Carly loves Kate! She just lights up when Kate is around. She even smiles real big when Kate rather aggressively helps bathe her. Kate is very helpful with her, but doesn't have that much of an interest in playing with her. They pretty much do their own thing. I know that will change eventually, though. Her weight at her four month appt. was 14.85 pounds which puts her at 75 percent for her weight. Her head and length were at 50 percent. Kate was 75 percent for length and 25 percent for weight at Carly's age. They seem to be really different in their bodies at this point. I know that can change, though. Carly is wearing 3-6 month clothes. Since Carly is a little bigger than Kate I think their clothes are not going to overlap as much as we had thought. A lot of Kate's 6 month clothes are long sleeves, and we are certainly not ready for long sleeves any time soon! We are just loving both of our girls! Kate has enjoyed playing with baby toys again. Almost every day Kate likes to sit in the exersaucer just like Carly! Kate is constantly coming up with new words . One of her favorite new phrases is " hold you" for when she is wanting to be held. She will often call Zack by his name instead of Daddy. I think it is because she is always hearing Aubrey call him that. It cracks us up because she will sneeze and say bless you to herself. We still cannot make out a lot of her words, but she seems to be speaking more and more clearer. Overall, we have enjoyed our summer. Zack is back at work now and gearing up for the new year!

Here is a picture of the three Pruett men taken last November:Dad Dad, Zack and Papa
Papa was a fighter till the very end. He would rarely complain about his health.

A couple of 4 month pictures of Carly. I love her cute little ears! Everybody thinks she looks like somebody in the Pruett family. I have heard Zack, Lindsey, Lauren and Debbie!