PARTY time!

Cole had a SMASH CAKE on his actual birthday so we could get some good pictures of him eating his cake.  He got into it but lost interest pretty quickly and kept looking at us like "is this okay?"  It was FUN and I'm glad we did it before the birthday party so Todd and I could really enjoy the moment with him without a audience. 

Second Smash Cake at his birthday party! 

Party details.  I had so much fun making the decorations for Cole's party.  I did primary colors with polka dots and stripe accents.  It turned out really cute!

Long OVER DUE!

I have been seriously slacking on the BLOG post!  We have been BUSY BUSY BUSY since my last post in June (oh my so LONG ago)!

Here are the monthly pictures.

 

One week after he turned 11 months, this little guy finally got the confidence to walk on his own. After 2 months of teasing us with little steps here and there he took the plunge and hasn't looked back! We now spend our days chasing him around, he is 100% on his feet!

Last week was this little cutie's first birthday! 

 

Check back for a recap of the b-day party that was yesterday :)!

Making a mess is fun to do!

This little guy is into making a mess these days!!  He has found independence and wants to always hold the spoon which turns into more of a painting party than eating.  I had him in my room the other day with me while I was getting dressed and walked into my closet and right back out to find him eating the toilet paper.  Then today he wasn't interested in his bottle so Todd suggested putting it in his sippy cup...well that turned into a fun game of motor boat and smearing the formula around on the wood  floor.                                                              

But how can you not LOVE this SILLY MESSY BABY!!

Little Steps...

June 7...Cole pulled up on his lion and pushed it taking a few steps.  He has done it again several times but I can never catch him with the camera.  Hopefully, I will get a better one soon!  Crazy to see him up on his feet so much!!

Fun new Toy!

Caleb let us barrow one of his walkers and Cole LOVES it!  We aren't ready to push it on our feet yet but like to push it on our knees and practice pulling up on it.  It plays fun music too!!  Today I caught him doing a little dancing while playing with it.  Silly boy!!

Video

Here is Cole standing in the living room watching Chuggington the other afternoon.  He of course gets distracted when he sees me with the video camera :). 

8 Months Old

Cole turned 8 Months Old last week while we were in Nashville visiting my parents and Graham! 

8 Month Update:

He is in full crawling motion, up on all fours moving all around the house; he can find me anywhere in the house.  He is also pulling up on EVERYTHING and starting to cruise on the furniture.  Cole really likes the electronic equipment in the family room (cable box, receiver, DVD player, surround sound speakers)  he pulls right up on the TV stand and starts going to town pushing buttons and turning knobs!  OMG...I am constantly pulling him back and telling him "NO!"  It's impossible not to laugh when I pull him away because he laughs and smiles, this little cutie might be related to Dennis the Menace ;). 

The two bottom teeth have fully come in and the top two are working their way in right now I can see the white but can't feel them yet.  These top teeth have been causing this poor little guy a lot of pain!  We started introducing meat a few weeks back and he seems to be enjoying that, so far we have just had chicken and turkey.  I'm looking forward to starting on some new fruits this month, melons, YUMMY!! 

We have baby proofed the kitchen cabinets to keep the little stinker out.  His crib is dropped to the lowest level and we had to move his video monitor and take down his mobile because he was pulling them both down!  Needless to say he is getting into EVERYTHING!

It is getting more and more difficult to take his monthly pictures.  Now that he is crawling it was hard to get him to stay in the chair for the photo session.  The pictures below most definitely capture his personality at this age!

CrAzY Little Man

My sweet little boy is turning into a crazy little man!  He is on the move and getting into EVERYTHING!!  I turn around and he is right under my feet or getting into something while I'm not looking.  Here are a few things I have caught him doing recently...

It is so fun to empty the baskets in my bedroom!

 Trying to decide what else to dump on the floor

Obsessed with the garbage can that is in his room,
EVERY chance he gets he darts to it and dumps it over.
His only interest is the garbage bag he could care less about the diapers!

Pulling apart the play mat and chewing on it is a favorite pass time.

7 Months

Little man is 7 months old, he is growing and changing right before our eyes.

7 Month Update...

• He is still rolling all over the place and sitting unsupported with no worries.
• Has started to army crawl to get around.
• Cut one tooth and has another one that is trying to come up (bottom middle).
• Loves sitting in the highchair when we go out to restaurants and likes riding in the shopping cart!
• Chit Chats all the time, he says DaDa, GaGa, Geeee and makes tons of other silly sounds.
• Has fun playing with Avery and Caleb!
• Sleeping from 7:30 p.m.- 7:30 a.m. (sometimes he goes down earlier if he is worn out!)
• Drinking 4 bottles a day (26 ounces total/day) and eats solids 3 times a day
• Likes trying to pick up finger foods, LOVES puffs and is working on picking up little pieces of fruits and veggies.
• Weighs 23 pounds and is 30 inches long.
• Size 4 diapers and 12-18 month clothes.

He discovered my little monthly sign that I put on the pack of his chair and wanted to play with it/eat it.  So it is a miracle that I got some good ones :). 

Little Fish

Cole had his first Safe Start swimming lesson today at the YMCA, he did GREAT!!  No crying and he seemed to feel very comfortable in the water.  Today was about getting acquainted with the instructor and seeing if he could float.  He was able to float and did it several times during the lesson.  Looks like he might take after his mom and have a love for the water (lets hope so!!).  We have 6 weeks of lessons so I will continue to share his progress.

6 Month Update

Since turning 6 months Cole has tried a few new things!

Eating Puffs!!

Sitting up in the tub, no more little blue bath tub!!

Big boy in the bath tub

We moved into the big Britax car seat,
no more infant carrier for this guy!

1/2 way to a YEAR!

Our sweet Cole was 6 months old on Monday!  He is getting to be such a BIG boy.  Cole is in constant motion these days, rolling all over the place and scooting on his belly while on the floor.  He loves to bounce on your leg or hip when your holding him.  I think it just might be a matter of time before our little guy is on all fours crawling around the house!!! (AHHH how can this be?)

He is a very HAPPY and expressive little guy that seems to LOVE life!  It just melts our hearts when he sees us and smiles.  He is continuously making new noises and just babbles on and on, in the morning he lays in his crib just talking and laughing until we get him up.  We are still enjoying solids and have started trying yummy combinations, I'm making all his food so its easy to throw different varieties together :)!

We are looking forward to the next 6 months and can't believe 1/2 a year has already passed us by!

Cole's First St. Patricks Day

We wore our green yesterday and looked for the leprechaun! 

Rolling, Sitting and Jumping

Lately our little guy has become quiet the little mover and shaker!  Right around the 4 month mark he started rolling over in his crib in the morning before we got in there to get him up.  He did it a few times and we never saw it!  Of course I would put him on the floor all day and try to get him to do it and nothing!!  I just gave up and decided he would show us when he was ready and boy has he ever... one day last month he just rolled over (belly to back) like no big deal and looked at us like we were crazy for getting so excited.  Then two days later he was laying on his back under his activity mat while I was in the kitchen, all of a sudden I looked over and he was on his belly.  So now we are rolling, rolling, rolling all over the place! 



We also started practicing sitting up with support from the boppy pillow towards the end of last month and he has become quiet the little sitter.  At the beginning of last week I started sitting him on the floor without the boppy to see what he would do, at to my amazement he sat there and smiled like yeah mom I got this!  So now we are sitting unsupported and playing with our toys.  Eventually he leans over to the side and rolls onto his belly or back and continues to play.

Loves the Little People Fire Truck!

Excited to finally be able to sit and play with my cuz!

And last but not least he LOVES LOVES the Jumparoo!  We have been using it for a while now and he just gets crazier as the days go on, jumping and laughing just having a great time!

I took the video on my phone and it won't rotate, sorry! :)

5 Month Update

How did you little guy get to be 5 months old!  His little personality is so sweet and he is just as happy as can be all the time, constantly laughing and smiling.  He is very interested in all his toys and loves to lay on the floor and play with anything he can get his hands on.  Over the past week or so he has been wanting to sit up and play, so we have been working on developing those core muscles so he can support himself while sitting.   I put him in the boppy on the floor sitting up and he does great, with the ocassional tip to the side, forward or back when he falls over he just laughs and waits until I push him back up.  He loves the jumparoo and will jump for as long as you will let him!  We are enjoying going for walks and stopping at the park to swing. 

A typical day in the life of Cole looks something like this:
-wake up 7:30
-bottle
-play while mommy gets breakfast ready and packs daddy's lunch
-8:30 fruit with oatmeal  (our favorite fruits are apples, pears and banana)
-9:30 Naptime (he usually naps for 2-2.5 hours in the a.m.)
-11:30/12:00 bottle
-Playtime/run errands/go out (this is my very small window to get things done outside of the house)
-2:00/2:30 Nap (this nap is typically shorter since the morning is long, 1-1.5 hours)
-3:30 bottle
-Playtime/run errands/go for a walk
-6:00 Veggie with rice cereal (we have had peas, green beans, squash, carrots, sweet potato, avacado)
-6:45/7 Bathtime (LOVES this!!!)
-7:15 Bottle
-7:30 Night Night sweet Cole

I absolutley love every second of everyday that I get to spend with my sweet boy and I am so VERY greatful that I get to stay home with him. 

5 Months Old

Cole's First Valentines Day

Cole's first Valentines Day was precious.  He spent the day with his "girlfriend" Avery.  GG and Bud brought over balloons for them and we had a blast pulling them all over the house!  I tried to get some pictures of them but Cole was in a very serious mood and didn't smile much (he was playing hard to get).  We spent the day just playing and hanging out.  Todd was out of town, so my parents cooked dinner at my house and spend the evening with Cole and I.

He is such a little love bug!!

4 Months Old

Cole is 4 Months old (we are a little delayed on our post...)

His little personality is really coming out, he is constantly laughing and smiling!  We have a VERY happy little boy :)!!  He discovered his tongue and sticks it out, curls it up and uses it to blow bubbles.  It's so hard not to laugh when he does it because it is so silly, but hopefully it won't become a habit.  He loves playing on his activity mat and pulling all the animals down to his mouth.  He also loves his exersaucer and can spin him self all the way around. 

We are sleeping from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., it is WONDERFUL and we are very thankful that he is a good sleeper.  Taking 2-3 naps a day and eating every four hours. We have him on a great schedule, the doctor said "scheduled babies are happy babies" and it proves true in this little guy.

4 Month Stats:
Weight 19 lbs 10 ounces (above 97 percentile)
Height 28 inches (above 97 percentile) **he grew 3 inches this month
Diaper size 3


This is on his 4 month birthday 1/19/12




This was on his 4 month check-up day (1/27/12)



We still love bath time and really enjoy kicking and splashing the water out of the tub. 

Yummy Yummy I love solid food!

We started solids a little before the 4 month mark. And boy oh boy do we like it!!  He knew exactly what to do when I spooned the first little bit of rice cereal into his mouth, he lapped it up like a little puppy.  Since then we have graduated to thicker consistency of cereal and have tried green beans, sweet potato, squash, avocado, and peas.  So far he has liked everything.  Peas made him a little gassy so I don't think we will have those too often :)!





Here is a little video of him eating his first solids!

Cole's First Christmas

Cole's first Christmas was very fun!  We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Cole got to meet his Great Grandma Cooper (Terry's Mom), spend time with Pop, and play with his cousin Caleb.  This year the boys didn't know what was going on, but we all had fun opening their gifts and showing them their toys.

Santa was very good to us this year at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Kisses from Cousin Caleb!

Christmas Eve Family Photo

Testing out his new toys





lounging in his new chair


Christmas Morning

Our little Rudolph slept until 8 a.m. Christmas Morning
(This will soon change I'm sure!)



 

Checking out the Exerciser from Santa



Trying out his new toy

He really likes the new Jogging stroller Mommy got!

Checking out what was in his stocking 

Hanging out with Uncle Graham on Christmas Morning

Bud and GG

All worn out from the Christmas morning excitement!!