things as of late

This week, I learned...

2010-09-08T16:21:00.000-05:00

how to crawl with my knee in Truman's bowl.

how to raise my hand and wait to be called on.

how to "wantz a cheezburger."

how to make scrunched up faces.

how to make funny noises.

how to be a handsome boy.

naked is more fun.

never to use the block I was sitting on again.

how to eat like a big boy.

Being cool at La Cantera

2010-08-28T17:24:00.000-05:00


It's hard being Carson. I need a drink.


I hope you take pennies.


None of that cheap stuff.


Hey ladies, like what you see?


Woah, woah...


...woah!


I think I threw up a little in my mouth.

I'm cool, don't worry. How's my hair?

Ranchin' it

2010-08-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

Heading out to the ranch


I'm not filling those deer feeders again.


I'm too pretty to work.


Don't sneak up on me out here, I almost shot you.

Is this how you do it?


Or like this?

This is how you do it--TOUCHDOWN!

No more pictures. I am not an animal, people.

9 month stats

2010-08-20T11:52:00.002-05:00

Carson had his 9 month check up today and it is more of the same: tall, skinny and with a big head.

Length--29.5 inches (91st percentile)
Weight--20 lbs (50th percentile)
Head--18 inches (80th percentile)

Oh, and he's starting to use the doggy door.

Truman said if I wasn't a baby I would go out the doggy door.

Where's the party at?

Do I get an ice cream cone? Truman said I would get one if you saw me use the doggy door.


That dog is a liar. I'm outta here.

Fun with Daddy

2010-08-16T17:44:00.000-05:00

When Daddy was home, we went on lots of walks...

went to the Children's Museum...

learned how to drive...

and just pretty much hung out and learned how to be cool.

Puppy kisses!

2010-07-26T17:52:00.000-05:00

Photoshoot with Aunt Ana

2010-07-22T19:58:00.000-05:00


This is my serious face.


This is my really serious face.


Check out my triceps. I'm all natural.


Are you getting this shot of my flexed quads in my diaper jeans?


Are the paparazzi still out there?


I can't believe Truman told them where I live.


Ummm, your legs taste salty.

Oh help me. My thongue ith thuck.

The life and times of Carsonito

2010-07-22T09:22:00.000-05:00


Learning to stand is hard work


"Is the camera ready? I want you to get this shot when I try again."


This slide is kinda scary.

Don't let go of me!


OK everyone, now you can clap.


I find the "no shirt, no shoes" policy discriminatory.


I like to wipe my nose on people.


Grandma Strong is lecturing again.


This is my friend, I just met him. He's pretty cool.


Pool time

Truman gets a bath, too.

OOC

2010-07-12T20:30:00.001-05:00

Carson is in the habit of screaming at people and animals to get a reaction. He was already screaming for 10 minutes prior to this at me and Truman before I took out the camera. If you can believe it, he was winding down at this point.

the week of 5 july

2010-07-11T19:05:00.000-05:00


I ate peaches on the porch


I practiced my dunking on my lion car.


I considered running away from home.


But then I came back.


I watched Truman relax.


I did some dancing.


I woke up Truman from a nap.


I fought with my remote control.


I was a cute boy.


I watched Truman nap some more.


I was a cowpoke at the ranch.


I got thrown in the air.


Truman says he will give me a dollar if I can climb this.

I took a nap.

Cowpoke Carsie

2010-07-05T09:48:00.001-05:00


Before I go to the ranch, I need to count my toes.


Wait, I think I am missing my dewclaw.


Phew! Truman didn't tell me only he has dewclaws. OK, I'm good then.


Follow me everybody, I know where I'm going.


I don't think I brought my keys.


Someone needs to get the gates...NOT IT!


I'm the driver. Driver doesn't get the gates. That breaks all kinds of ranch laws.


Is that a rhinoceros? Get me my gun! I don't have a gun? Get me my Sesame Street TV remote!


I don't know which way to point my Sesame Street remote! That rhinoceros is going to get away! And the fire is going to go out!


I'll get you next time rhinoceros. I got demoted to watching the fire.

Here's my ranch horse. It has a lot of attitude. I'm gonna shoot it and the rhinoceros next time.

Evan at the Al Faw Palace

2010-07-05T11:03:00.003-05:00

Evan and Damon Baggs flew down to Camp Victory on business last week and had the opportunity to tour the Al Faw Palace. Al Faw, also known as the Water Palace, and one of Sadaam's 99 palaces, is located about 3 miles from the Green Zone. This palace was declared off-limits to UN arms inspectors in 1998, and both of Hussein's sons had villas nearby.

Damon and Evan

The 450,000 square foot palace has been converted to offices and serves as the headquarters of the Multi-National Force and Joint Operations. Evan was told that Hussein's vacation palaces were always constructed as islands due to the fact that Allah was not able to see their actions if they took place on water.


Al Faw from the air

The palace was built to commemorate the sacrifices made by the Iraqi Army in regaining the Al Faw peninsula located in southern Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war.

Al Faw from land

While known for its ornate fixtures, much of Al Faw is fake. Walls are paper thin, gilded metal work covers the inside and the elaborate chandelier is part plastic.


Evan and the famous chandelier

Sadaam's throne, given to him by Yasser Arafat, has become a famous photo op for soldiers as they pass through.

The emblem in middle is representation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, also know as the Dome of the Rock. The inlay says “Holiness to us.” On the sides and on the top it says “victory from God and success is near.” The book at the top has a verse from the chapter of the Koran entitled “The Israelites.”

Used as a hunting and fishing resort for Saddam's cronies, Al Faw's artificial lake is filled with fish. Rumors that the lake contained bodies of victims of Hussein have not been proven – nor has the lake been drained to find out. The large and elusive “Saddam Bass” are a specially bred fish with diamond scales and a green color.

Thanks to the abundance of catfish, carp, and the Sadaam Bass, which are actually asp, the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Fly Fishing has been established to encourage fishing at Camp Victory.

I couldn't find any information on this thing, but I am sure that Evan had to resist the urge to jump on the back of the horse.

Goooooooooooooooooal!

2010-06-21T16:58:00.000-05:00


Future US soccer star--following in the footsteps of...you know, that one that runs...and can kick it far.


"Did you catch me saving the goal? Can you upload that pic to my Facebook?"


"Check me out, Liony. I can defend the goal with one hand and play with my truck with the other."


"Not in my house, Liony."

"I have one more yellow card with your name on it, Liony."


"This is my favorite leg to kick the ball with."

"You can go ahead and start a Facebook fan page for me if you want. It's cool, I won't mind."

Dog Show

2010-06-21T16:44:00.000-05:00


I'm getting ready to go to the dog show, but I have to eat first.


This is my new buddy, Ozzie. He was competing in agility. I'm giving him a good luck rub.


See this dude behind me, he was Truman's college roommate.

I'm exhausted. Cheering at the dog show was hard work.

Current family favorite--is this like the Best in Show award?

"Cubs win! Cubs win!"

2010-06-17T20:54:00.001-05:00

Carsie's homage to Harry Caray.

"Aww, how could he lose the ball in the sun? He's from Mexico!"

''There's Andres Galarraga. Spelled backwards it's A-G-A-R-R-A-L-A-G.''

The road to Lakehills is paved with good intentions.

2010-06-14T14:30:00.000-05:00

Our intent was a noble one. We set out to take Carsie to the Witte Museum to see the dinosaur exhibit, but we were faced with a packed Saturday afternoon parking lot. What happened next will forever be replayed at Thanksgiving dinners with knives in hand, at inappropriate times when strangers are present and whenever alcohol is involved. One of us decided that Carson would not know the difference between a dinosaur and Stein-Mart and that the educational field trip was officially over. I say it was her. She says it was me. Obviously, she is a liar. I guess Carson will have to be the deciding vote in a few years when he is old enough to lie for his grandmother.


Thumb on his cheek and legs crossed. Always a gentleman, even in slumber.


"I didn't know there were so many shoes at the museum."


"Somebody told me there were going to be dinosaurs here."


"Maybe Nordstrom's is the name of the dinosaur. Wake me up when he comes around."


"Grandma says we are looking for the DSW dinosaurs...then she laughed."


"I don't know if you heard, but I was born cool."


"I'm exhausted. It was hard looking for dinosaurs all day."


"If a dinosaur was going to eat me, I'd stretch out like this so he couldn't swallow me."

"Grandma told me dinosaurs will leave me alone if I sleep with my rear up in the air."

Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle...in INK

2010-06-09T15:48:00.001-05:00

While Carson is not quite at that point yet, he has shown quite an interest in reading and books, just like his mother. His favorite book that I read to him is The Scrambled States of America where, on Kansas' urging, all the states change places with each other thinking they are going to have more fun in their new locations.

He also enjoys these pop-up books about safari and ocean animals, mostly because I let him turn the pages and slobber on these books.

And here are a couple of shots of him being a ham.

"I think that was Truman, no way that was me."

"Ok, maybe that was me."

7 7/8

2010-06-03T07:57:00.000-05:00

Stink's 6 month stats: 17.9 pounds (50%), 28 inches (95%), 17.25 head circumference (75%). In other words, he is tall, skinny and has a big head...he inherited Evan's head, certainly not mine.

Big boy eating from his high chair.

Carson has decided that it is far more fun escaping from me when I am changing his diaper and scooting around the bed naked. These are not learned behaviors.

This is his version of crawling. He throws his back legs up and scoots his upper body forward. His ability to get somewhere without the ability to walk will come in handy when he's on Sixth Street.

Summer haircut

2010-06-01T20:18:00.001-05:00

Truman took Carson to get his second haircut. They figured he would need one since Truman submitted Carson's application to work at Dad's shop retrieving tools and parts that fell under cars.

Thinking that he would look more respectable, or at least someone that is in control of his own bowels, Truman asked for a short cut.

I'm blowing in his face here, he really enjoys the wind in his hair. Maybe he'll be a hitch hiker one day, fingers crossed!

Also, I'm concerned that I may have a goiter I was unaware of until this picture.

Screaming match

2010-06-01T20:01:00.000-05:00

What started out as a fun game of Carson yelling at Truman, and Truman responding in a howl, quickly turned into a screaming match by the time I got my camera going. As you can see, Carson is very upset that Truman can out yell him and is letting him know of his displeasure. I am sure Evan will find some way to contribute to their delinquency, maybe by adding an air horn to the mix, when he gets back.

Butternut Squash

2010-05-31T15:13:00.000-05:00

"Truman made me this special dinner, he said it tastes like pizza."

"Oh man, that's not pizza."

"I think I'm gonna puke, but I'm cool, I've seen mom do this before."

"That's the worst thing ever...I'm ready for some more."

This is what butternut squash does to me.

Evan's not enjoying himself at all

2010-05-28T15:04:00.000-05:00

Evan and Matt Weinrich with the Vikings cheerleaders...and btw, this is the only picture he has bothered to send.

London 2012

2010-05-27T10:36:00.003-05:00

"These are my new sunglasses, but Truman says they look like swim goggles."

"What, Truman!? You want me to try out for the Olympics?"

"Let me think about it for a second."

"I'm scared, and I don't even know where London is...ok, let's do it!"

"This is how I am going to hold my breath when I race."

"Whew, that was hard. Did I qualify, am I going to the Olympics?"

"Truman listed my home country as Afghanistan? I'm not moving to Afghanistan!"

"Oh well, there is always curling in the Winter Olympics."

Stink eyes

2010-05-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

Stink eye

Stink eye and...stink lips?

Puppy stink eye at the vet

Learning to be a pilot

2010-05-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

Pre-gaming before his first flight: "I need a double Nutramigen with a rice cereal chaser."

"All board!"

"Oh God, is he the pilot? I was drinking with him a couple of minutes ago...and he peed his pants!"

"Will there be there be a drink service available on this flight?"

"Hmmm, which Portland? I wish I could read."

"If anyone can read, can you please raise your hand. The pilot has no idea where to go."

"Should have figured Truman can't read. Oh well, let's just take off and see what happens."