Mr. Walker

It's been so long, and I honestly feel terrible, but Cole has kept me busy as well as a promotion at work , planning a wedding, planning Cole's 1st b-day and taking a MBA class. Either way, I have news, and I am MAKING time to post this the same night it happened. It started only 2 days ago, with a step or two here, then yesterday Cole took about 5 steps. Today, he walked, and with each passing second he is getting better and better. He is especially fascinated in my overly loud and squealing celebrations with each step he takes. It's only been about 30 minutes since he took those first real steps but he is already choosing to make that his main mode of transportation. Oh, how did we get him to decide he was no longer afraid to walk? Only, by Pizza Motivation! Wow, I cannot believe ... already... to think he was still not even born at this time last year...

p.s. please exuse the mess, just got home....

Dinnnnner!

I decided to let go of my worries and feed Colton his FIRST all big boy dinner tonight. On the menu, prepared by Mommy, Chicken and Pesto Pasta with a side of fresh green beans and half of a fresh banana for desert. I gave him a pretty decent sized portion and he ate 80% of it , at least. The other 10% was left on the plate and surprisingly only about 10% on the floor ! Of course I have video, but that will have to follow.. been a long day and Im too tired!

Cole has been sleeping well, eating like a king and trying very hard to walk.. soon soon soon.

One other thing, yesterday Cole had his first experience with a swing at the park, he was not amused, complacent only. I will post those pics when they are available! Okay, sorry for the quick and non witty post. Cole is too much fun to play with !

Developments

I have said time and time again how interesting it is to watch the developmental stages that Cole goes through; and I will say it many more times, it is so interesting and so much fun. Scott and I had NO idea what people were talking about before we had Cole when they described how rewarding a child is. We get it now, and believe that as much as you want to get it, you never will until you go through it... A lot of things in life are like that (being in a war, marriage, .... have to stop my train of thought there because Cole is currently destroying my printer... o my , why am I excited that he's crawling? hahahah.. here are new videos of coley's new stages... trying to learn to walk and giving mommy big sloppy kisses....

Crawling ........ For Real

Yesterday, Colton crawled for real, forward, on hands and knees. I got so excited, I swear each milestone makes me more and more excited. Watching a baby grow up is so fascinating and I am so thankful for this experience, especially to be experiencing it with my amazing son and all of our loved ones. GO COLEY!

TOOTH!

On Wednesday (1/13/10) I got a text from Nana Harris that said "COLE HAS A TOOTH!!! HE BIT ME" ... His first tooth finally came in!!! It's one of the bottom middle teeth.

YAY - he is really growing up!

Scoochy Scoochy Lemon Poochy

I guess as he gets older, the posting is going to get less often because I am more entertained spending time with my soon to be toddler. Cole has turned yet another corner in the past few weeks. He has become even sturdier and has now started scooching to get to what he wants. This transition became evident this past weekend when he was reaching for his Pap's Ipod and learned that if he got on his knees then went to belly and back to knees he would move forward- Crawling is just around the corner, o help us!

Last Friday evening we spent some time with the Friedrichsens and Cole had a blast playing with his buddy Aspen and eating Grace's amazing sweet potato fries. We are so lucky to have friends like Mark and Grace in our lives. Not only are they friends, they are mentors because they had their son a week more than a year before we had Cole. Like ours, theirs was an unexpected pregnancy. Mark and Grace have been so supportive of us and have helped us through such a scary (due to the unknown) time in our life by showing us the lessons they had learned and encouraging our every move. I can not wait to watch Cole and Aspen grow up together!

Another recent event; Cole was promoted to Infant room B at daycare. This means he will be socialized more, learn to nap elsewhere than cribs, and taught more independent skills. He will have new teachers and new friends, but I hope his girlfriend, Emma joins him soon.

Below are some pictures and videos displaying the above :) Enjoy!


I fell asleep eating my evening bottle- wooo I was worn out


Aspen shows Cole how the dump truck works- how sweet



They could be brothers

The Christmas Post

I know it's a week after the fact, but I just now finished putting away all Cole's new toys from Christmas and finally have time to make a post about his first big holiday. Going into this Christmas, I thought Cole would be fun, but he surpassed my expectations. He got excited for the presents and had a blast with the family, attention and new toys. Some of the things he got for his first Christmas :

Tons of clothes

A TRAIN
Bead Maze

Mittens

Drums

Piano

Fire Truck - ride on

Rocking Horse

Blocks (baby's 1st)

Puzzle

Bath Seat

Megaphone (which was originally Pappy's present but was given to Cole when he liked it too much)

Table for his room

Too much more to even remember

Cole is growing up before our eyes and surprises us every day with his abilities. Sometimes we will see him do something and be like "WHAT.. where did that come from" Christmas night he started waving bye-bye and proceeded to do that when someone left for a few days. However, he doesnt seem that interested in it much anymore... He also started holding his own bottle in the past two weeks... He is too adorable, when he gets all excited he bounces and bounces ... cute little Monkey. I still enjoy every second I am with him. Below are some pictures and video from Christmas and more.

Poor Boy

If you haven't noticed, it has been a while since I have posted anything. It's not because things have been boring around here, in fact it is quite the opposite! As previously mentioned, the poor lil man had Bronchialitis. He finally got the OK from the doc that he was over it, but shortly thereafter relapsed and it was beyond a nightmare. He was coughing nonstop, put on a nebulizer, and he HATED that thing. So, once he finally got better from that.... we had maybe 2 days of calm, and then the ear infection hit. He was put on his first round of antibiotics ever and took a few days to feel better but finally did. However, during those 2 weeks of sickness, he had no appetite and therefore, is now playing catchup, even in the middle of the night, he is hungry 24/7. It seems like we may now be in the clear of these chain reactions now.

Today it has snowed since we woke up and they are calling for up to 20 inches, Im sure it will not amount to that but its the biggest snow we have had in a LONG time. I guess that makes this Cole's real first big snow. We let him watch it out the window and he was mesmerized. We had a good snow day with him, we all ate breakfast, watched a movie, made christmas cookies and then more movies and dinner... It is so nice having time with Cole on the weekends. I barely get 2 hours in with him on days that I work. I never realized how hard it is to find a balance in life. But, I am happy, and so is my family and that is what counts the most.

Last night we started letting Cole learn to eat finger food, we started him on those melting little puffs and it blows my mind away that he immediately knew how to chew. It's not that I thought I would have to teach him, I just never thought about it at all. Babies are amazing, every day, in every way. :)

We took some festive pictures today :)

Christmas Fever

Cole really got a good dose of Christmas today. Oh, by the way , he is FINALLY feeling better. We took him to the doctor Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday. (doctor's orders). Finally he got a clean bill of health on Friday after many agonizing nebulizer treatments, I guess I wouldn't like someone shoving a fog machine mask over my face either.

So , now that Cole feels better, we took him to the mall, he saw all the great big trees and loved them. OH yeah, and he saw his FIRST snow today!!!!! He actually smiled really big when it started hitting his face while we were walking to the car. Then, Cole helped decorate his first Christmas tree :) He is just amazed with the lights and it is so much fun to watch him enjoy the festivities, which makes us enjoy them again like we did when we were kids. Aw, sweet sweet childhood bliss.

And now I would like to introduce a new segment...

Daddy's Corner:

Hello blog readers! Jenn asked me if I would like to add something to her post, and I feel that it is appropriate that I tell you, the reader, how wonderful it is being 1/3 of this family. Watching Colton grow each day is a joy that cannot be explained to those who have not experienced the ever changing world of a parent. Now that Colton is approaching the 7 month mark, Jenn and I have come to appreciate each movement forward in his development. Today, we began to notice his affinity for mimicking Mommy and Daddy's speech and actions. Although this behavior is generally relegated to 9 or 10 month olds, it is evident that our little boy is going to be a "brain over brawn" type of kid.

On another note, for those of you who have been following this blog, Jenn is a wonderful, caring and devoted mother. To accept the responsibilities of motherhood when it is completely unexpected is a feat within itself, but to rise up and conquer post partum depression in addition to the former, well, it brings tears to my eyes to tell you all how proud I am of my beautiful wife-to-be. She has shown herself to be a loving conquerer. Jenn as proven that she can face her own issues head on in order to give our family a loving, peaceful environment. She should be proud. Proud of her son. Proud of her job. Proud of herself and all that she has accomplished. I love you, Jenn, and I will be with you all the way

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Poor Man

Poor little guy has bronchialitis so we have been up all night with him for two nights and he is so needy and miserable and it breaks our hearts. He refuses to eat much and it's really rough to watch him suffer. We have to use the nebulizer on him, which he HATES. He screams and screams and it is the toughest thing to do that to him while he stares at you knowingly. Feel better soon love.

Christmas Pictures

Cole met Santa for the first time yesterday, he is spending a few days with Nana and Pap and they took him to get his Christmas portraits done as well as to see Santa!

Breathe, Stretch, REACH, let it go....

When you become a mother you are fully aware of the nightmares of messy diapers, endless crying and sleepless nights. However, nobody truly prepares you for the experience of reaching. Cole has now discovered reaching, which do not get me wrong, we noticed a few weeks ago and we are proud of him for accomplishing the reach and grab. At first we thought, "aw, how cute, he reaches for my hair, except ouch that hurts a bit, oh well, its cute". Then we thought, "aw how cute, he's trying to reach for our food".

Now our thoughts have turned into (don't forget, only two weeks later) "Cole, stop that, it hurts... no Cole, that's Mommy's dinner... Cole you really shouldn't be reaching for the steak knife, it could hurt you... Cole, Im trying to feed you, stop grabbing your spoon every time it comes close to your wide-opened mouth...."

Oh my.. what are we in for!?!?!?!? Cute, but dangerous.

Sippy Cup Colton

Last weekend we introduced the sippy cup, but to no avail. This week, cole started to get the hang of it :) Poor thing has a cold, again, and is on an inhaler but he is in good spirits!!!!

LOOK what I can DO!

On Saturday, Cole went to his very first guitar show- he actually seemed to have a very good time, he really loves music.

Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed this significant change in Cole. All the sudden, he is so much sturdier and stronger, I swear he wasn't this strong when I left for work in the AM. I put him down on the floor, and as always , I didnt expect anything. However, even though he could BARELY hold his upper half up a few days ago, he surprised me and got into crawling position! He doesnt crawl quite yet, but a new light has gone off in his head, you can see that in his eyes. He is ready to crawl and trying to figure out how, he even reaches for objects that are in front of him, so I know he will soon figure it out. He's adorable:

Picture Day

Yesterday was Cole's first school picture day (ALREADY!?!?) at daycare. I dressed him in an adorable outfit and can't wait to see how they turned out.

He has been very clingy to Scott and I lately.. uhoh, is he spoiled or just getting old enough to love us back?

The MANY Halloween Faces of Cole

Cole's first Halloween was a success and I know he is going to love the holiday every year. If you don't believe me, check out the first picture... or maybe he turned into a vampire? oh my Cole, I know that everyone is into vampires these days but you don't have to be a follower... hehe Just Kidding. Really though Cole, I hope that you are an individual that takes the best characteristics from everyone you learn from and combines them into one amazing character. With that said, Check out the many halloween faces of Cole:

PARADES

Last night we took Cole to the town's Halloween Parade. Cole was dressed up as a monkey. I will post pictures later. Today at daycare Cole got to be IN a parade, his first, Halloween parade! I can't wait for next year when Cole is a little older and able to enjoy the spirit of the season more.

Thankful Wakeful

So yeah I thought last week, wowwww Im so lucky, I didnt go through the 4 month wakeful... THEN all of the sudden..... Cole decides he'd rather play and cry because nobody is playing with him than sleep. OH yeah I forgot to mention that this is on the night before my busiest day of the month at work... where I have to go in hours early and work late......Sooooo uhm thats what I get for thinking I skipped a parenting nightmare.

SO WORTH IT

MAMA

In the past few days, all the sudden, when Cole whines and fusses it comes out in the form of "ummm maaammma mama maahhmma" and I LOVE IT because I can pretend he is calling me Mamma! Oh, he even makes the sound sometimes when he's just babbling, and thats even better! :)

PUMPKIN

We got Coley his first Pumpkin and then dressed him like a Pumpkin- Happy Halloween Everyone! :)