One Week!

++This was supposed to post yesterday - but, alas - mommy duties called, and so you're enjoying this (very long) blog post one-day-late.  Happy Belated One Week, little love.

Today, Carter has been home for one week.  And it feels like he's been here all along.  Yes, we're still adjusting (although we've got the bedtime thing down pat!).  And we have a long way to go - but it feels like Carter has always been a part of this little family.  

A little sneak peak from our Homecoming Photos :)

That's how God works, I guess.  That's how He binds us together, supernaturally.  What a beautiful, incredible thing.  

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Two nights ago, Carter started sleeping in his own bedroom instead of in our room.  This was much, much sooner than we had expected - but he sleeps in his bedroom at nap every day, and seems to sleep better in his toddler bed vs. his pack & play.  So - we thought, why not?!  He did great.  He even slept until after 6:00a!  

Of course, I was up at 4:00a, just waiting for his cries to come through on the baby monitor.  Well, our little guy surprised me.  He just slept right through.  THAT is a gift.  And I'll take it!

Last night, well...that's a bit of a different story.  We woke up at 2:00a to the sound of Carter doing his favorite 'ahhh - ah - ahhh - AH.  ahhh - ah - ahhh - AH.'.  Never a good sign, much like Moses' prancing. So I came down, only to find that he got out of his bed.  He was on the floor, rockin' it out in front of his fan.

Ohhhh no.  I am NOT having this!  After about an hour, he was back asleep, and slept until 7:00a.  I guess the toddler bed is changing back into a crib -  in the very, very near future.

Lord have mercy.

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Carter got his first 'real' haircut yesterday!  He did GREAT - hardly moved!  Well...as long as I was shoving cheerios in his mouth :)  Whatever works, right?!

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It's official.  Moses is HOME.  Dwelling in the same house as Carter.  On Thursday, there was a teeny, tiny bit of us that thought this might never be possible!

For the past few days, we've been showing Carter videos of Springer Spaniels on Youtube.  The first time - he was terrified.  He screamed.  He clawed at the computer.  But each time, he became a little more comfortable.

SUNDAY.
We decided that today would be the day.  Eventually, they had to be reintroduced, and today was it.  We realized that even if we waited 6 weeks to reintroduce them - Carter would still be scared.  So, we might as well just do it.

Before Moses came, Jake and I were just dying of laughter.  It was one of those moments that you wish you had on video...but if you did, you would never, ever share it with anyone else :)  Picture all three of us in front of the computer.  Jake is dancing around the chair with a stuffed puppy singing 'sweet puppy, good puppy, nice puppy, cute puppy!', I'm petting and kissing the computer screen - both of us saying 'ohhh....thats a nice puppy....' in our cheesiest baby voices.  All while we're watching a video of Springer puppies, set to the tune of 'Glamorous'.  Seriously?!  Is this really happening?!  Haaa....oh man.  We had a good laugh.

Carter went down for a good nap around 11:45, so we decided that Jake's mom should bring Moses during nap time and let Moses get used to the new smells, etc.  When Carter woke around 3:00p, we would change him, and slowly bring him out into the living room where Moses would be casually laying on the floor, screaming 'come and pet me' with his adorableness.

Everything went exactly as planned, until I sat down on the floor with Carter, and Moses' nose touched Carter's foot.  Barely.  And Carter lost it.  The next hour or so was Carter screaming, and Moses being the sweetest, quietest dog ever.  As the night went on, Carter eventually calmed down and even sat on the floor a few feet from Moses, playing contently with his toys.

After bath, Carter was laying on the floor with his blankie, and Moses was inches away.  Progress!  By bedtime, Carter was exhausted, and went down without crying at all.

MONDAY.
Carter woke at 5:30a, I took him downstairs to change him, and kept Moses locked up for a while.  When we did bring Moses out, Carter was in his room with the baby gate up so that Moses couldn't get in.  That will be his 'safe place' for a while.  Carter did GREAT with this.  He didn't fuss at all, even with Moses peeking his head over the top :)

Later in the morning, I brought Carter out into the living room where Moses was.  He wasn't on a leash, so he immediately came to greet us.  Carter didn't like this so much - but really, he's just going to have to get used to it.  I let Moses lick his face - Carter screamed, but he's going to learn that Moses is nice - he's gentle - he's soft....and eventually the fear factor should fade away.  At this point, I don't know how long 'eventually' will be...but I'm hoping it will be 'days' and not 'weeks' or,  Lord have mercy - 'months'.  Lord - help me!  I know that this will take time, and I know that eventually they'll be buddies - but right now, it's hard.  Just plain HARD!

I talked to Jake and told him that I think we need more baby gates.  It would be ideal to section off the kitchen for Moses, and let Carter have free reign of the rest of the house.  Then at least Moses is near Carter - which will hopefully help him get used to Moses.  When Jake got home, he ordered baby gates.  They had to be ordered, because the stores don't carry 6ft gates.

And they'll be here December 8th.

Are you kidding me?!  Ohhhh....Lord.

TUESDAY.
Carter has been fine - as long as Moses is behind the baby gate.  Although, at one point I brought Carter out of his room into the kitchen - Moses sniffed his feet and Carter was able to keep his cool.  That's a huge step.

Even after Moses was locked up, I set Carter down and he was constantly scanning the room for Moses.  This is not just a 'stubborn toddler' thing (like bedtimes were).  Carter is truly scared of Moses.  It breaks our hearts to see Carter so scared...but he will have to learn that Moses is gentle and safe.

So - we'll just keep taking it slowly - step by step.  Eventually, they will be buds.  I just know it.

Where it stands now, Moses gets a huge sparkly gold star.

Heck, he can have a gold bone.  He's been amazing.  He has absolutely hit it out of the park.  He's totally rockin' this 'big brother' thing...and we could NOT be more proud of our furry boy!  Big Christmas presents for Moses this year!  Way to go, bud.  Way to rock it.

WEDNESDAY.
We brought Moses in as Carter was eating his breakfast.  Carter paused - gave Moses a few sassy sniffs, and kept on eating.  After he was done, I kept Carter in his high chair, and let Moses wander around.  Carter did GREAT.  He covered his eyes a few times, but there was no screaming, no clawing to get away....it was super.  Way to go - Carter!

Progress!!

One Thing I Know For Sure: Soon, they'll be pals.  I'm convinced.