Day in the life - Cole's 1st two months of daycare

When Cole started school in October, I left a disposable camera for them to capture some fun moments throughout the day. His teachers always tell me stories so it's fun to see pictures and remember when he first started. The camera was there for his first two months - October and November. It took me quite a while to get it developed and then to get photos uploaded. All the more fun to see now!!

I remember getting a note this day about Cole falling asleep when they went to change his diaper. He was zonked with a full belly!

Cole & his entire class dressed up for the Halloween parade

Oh no, the paparazzi

Hanging in the exersaucer

Playing dress up with his teachers - love the do rag!

Flirting with the girls - does this count as a date since no parents were around?!

Cole's class and his wonderful teachers - Ms. Alicia and Ms. Tracy

Cole & Will - you can't really tell here but Cole and Will look a lot alike. Looking through the window at school, it is easy to mistake Will for Cole. We learned that Will's parents have done it too! I can usually tell better because I know the clothes we do or don't have but they do look alike.

Play-a-polooza with Grandma C

This weekend Grandma C came to see us - uh I mean came to see Eli & Cole! She says hi to Tim and I when she's here but it is full on play time with the boys when she comes to visit. She plays so much better than we do!

Grandma arrived Friday night before everyone's bed time and got some loving in before the boys went to sleep. Saturday morning, Tim & I took a trip, just the two of us, to Lowe's to pick up a few things for projects. During the day, we did some outside chores while Grandma took care of the boys. Tim finished moving the last of the mulch to Eli's swingset and I cleaned out Belle's dog run. After naps, we enjoyed some good outside time in the back yard. I made some bread and Grandma made country style steak for us for dinner - super yummy!! Sunday we went on a family walk when there was a break in the rain and then it poured rain almost all day. Tim & I then worked on (finally) getting all the Christmas boxes back in the attic. Grandma left at nap time after more play time. They had so much having her visit. And we enjoyed the extra hands and time to get some things done.

Friday night - Cole trying out a teething biscuit

Monster trucks with Grandma

Eli supervised the installation of mulch in his swingset area

Daddy & Cole swinging

Eli swinging and having fun with Grandma C

Playing in the tower

Peek-a-boo Eli!

Even Belle enjoyed the nice weather and being outside

Eli & Grandma threw a birthday party for Flo at her V-8 diner. This was a big game throughout the weekend. Eli kept wanting to have birthday parties and sing 'Happy Birthday'.

Mommy & Eli wrestling in the bounce house

Baby Cole trying out the bounce house

Look at Cole sitting up, getting very big!

Grandma C and Baby Cole (notice he stole Eli's monster truck)

Grandma and her boys

Eli teaching Cole how to jump on the bed. Cole just kept laughing.

Look at those blue eyes

Sunday night Eli decided that his Monster trucks needed a bath

All sudsy

Rinsing them off (Eli got himself pretty wet in the process)

Cole's 1st tooth!

Noticed today that Cole's 1st tooth - front lower right - has broken the gum line. Once I can get a picture, you know that I will!!

Other quick updates:

Tubes for Cole scheduled for Feb 2nd.

Knee surgery for Evia scheduled for Feb 11th.

With pre-op, post-op and other regularly scheduled appointments, our insurance is getting a work out already this year! Hopefully we'll get everyone healthy and better than normal soon.

6 month picture time

Today we went to have Cole's 6 month pictures taken. And, of course, in the process there are some of the family and Eli. There were so many good ones that it was hard to narrow them down. Here are my final selections - and don't worry Grandmas, we got some for you!

We also managed to stay busy all weekend and have probably our best weekend in recent memory. Friday night, Tim & I went to the Hurricanes hockey game for a work outing - ok, so maybe a night off was what made us have a great weekend!! Saturday, we took a trip to the mall to walk around because it was so cold outside. Well, that "trip to walk around" ended up being pretty expensive as we found something for everyone. The things were needed and since we weren't looking, that's why we ended up finding, I'm certain. After nap and some playing, we decided to talk a walk around the neighborhood and that's when we discovered that one of Eli's shoes was missing. We looked everywhere and Tim went back to the mall parking deck to see if he could find it. Didn't find it so the tally for the day got higher - ugh! Today we did pictures, dropped by to see Tia & Maya for a few minutes, lunch / naps and then a late trip to BJ's. So that's it, oh yeah, there was some bread and cooking making too. That's our weekend. And believe it or not, I took a break from taking pictures this weekend - not totally, I do have a few cute ones of the boys but I didn't take it anywhere with me.

We're tired from the weekend but had lots of family fun. Hope everyone else had a great weekend and stayed warm. Here we go again, full speed into Monday - like it or not!

6 month report card for Cole-man

Today was Cole's 6 month well check at the doctor. Thanks to the 2 hour school delay and an 8:45 appointment time, Eli went to the doctor with us. Both boys behaved very well; Eli got antsy towards the end and was driving me a little crazy but including shots, we were there 1-1/2 hours so I can't really blame him.

Cole got a thumbs up from the doctor. All body parts, systems, etc checked out perfectly. I had to fill out the 6 month survey about things he is or isn't doing and he's right where he needs to be. He does still have fluid (as we knew from the other day) in his right ear but since he's acting better, we're not going to put him on another antibiotic. If it starts bothering him, we'll just get a prescription then. After Cole's check, the doctor listened to Eli's heart and lungs (at his request) and it was so funny how serious he was about the whole thing. He was actually breathing deep breaths and was so happy when she said he sounded great. Our doctor is so wonderful. Both boys love her - and so do we!

Today's stats:

Weight - 18 pounds, 12.5 ounces - 75th percentile

Length - 28 inches - 90-95th percentile

Head circumference - 46 cm - 95th percentile

The funny thing about all these is that they're oh so darn close to Eli's at 6 months!! Cole is 1/2 pound lighter, 1/4" shorter (same as at birth) but his head is more round so his head is bigger than Eli's was at 6 months. I just cannot believe how close they continue tracking after being almost identical in birth size.

Cole also got two shots - Flu shot and Pentacel - and one oral vaccine, Rotavirus. I take him back in four weeks for three more shots. Ugh! He did great for the shots and barely even cried. Eli wasn't sure why the nurse was making his brother cry but I told him it would happen so he handled it ok.

Today we also scheduled for Cole to get tubes in his ears. I ended up making FIVE doctor's appointments today - 2 at our doctor for regular stuff and 3 for the surgery (pre-op, surgery, post-op). Cole will get his tubes on Feb 2nd. We're hopeful that we can keep him healthy between now and then. We'll be happy to get him some relief.

The rest of our 6 month report card is how are we doing these days. We're doing much better now that everyone is pretty much healthy. Still not sleeping as much as we'd like but it is getting easier. I think just Cole being bigger and not as fragile makes it that way. I looked back and Eli didn't sleep through the night until he was 10 months old so we have hope! Mentally I'm doing better balancing everything and really happy to have two sweet crazy boys!

Going tubing

So today was Cole's appointment with the ENT and we're going to get tubes put in his ears. We met with Dr. Stan (he wears a bow-tie, how can you not like a doctor with a bow-tie?!) today to check Cole's ears and see how they're doing after the 4th antibiotic. The fluid is still there in his right ear but the left one looks pretty good. Based on the number of antibiotics, that it has been there since before Thanksgiving, that it's winter and cold / flu season and that he's in daycare full time, it seems best that we do it. Hopefully it will give our poor little Cole some relief. Inserting tubes is apparently a very quick process and Cole won't be asleep but about 15 minutes (I'm nervous about that part of it). They do it outpatient so it shouldn't be a big deal. After the exam, they did a hearing test to see if he has suffered yet because of it. I had to hold him on my lap in a sound proof room while they played sounds out of speakers to see if he would turn his head. He did pretty well and it doesn't look like his hearing has been affected - we want to make sure it stays that way. They have to run everything through our insurance company and then we'll get it scheduled - will probably happen in 2 weeks or so. Not too thrilled about surgery but definitely happy to have a plan that might give Cole some relief.

Happy 6 months Cole!

Hard to believe Baby Coleman (as Eli now calls you) that you're 6 months old today. It seems like just yesterday that we had you but also seems like you've always been part of our family - how is that possible? What do we have to report for Month 6, let's see......

• Still waiting for to witness the roll over. You don't seem to like laying down these days so it may be a while before we see it.
• The past month was spent with lots of doctors visits, lots of antibiotics and not a lot of sleep - for anyone. Ear infections and viruses have continued to plague us. You just haven't been able to shake your ear infection that started before Thanksgiving. Hopefully we will get it figured out soon.
• You're trying very hard to sit up. We've been working on it and today when I picked you up from school, you were chillin' in the u-chair.
• You're putting a lot of weight on your legs and trying to stand up all the time. You like playing in the exersaucer because you can stand on your own.
• You've been eating more solid food and, just like your Mommy, didn't take very well to green peas. =)
• We had fun celebrating your first Christmas. Santa and the Grandparents were very good to you!!

The past month has been a hard one and you've had a rough go of it. We've started seeing our happy Cole again so that is wonderful. Hopefully once we get your ears figured out, you'll be back to happy all the time! We're still looking forward to you sleeping a full night. So far you haven't been a fan but we can still hope!!

Happy Half-Birthday Cole, we love you sweet boy!

Welcoming 2010

We had a great day today welcoming in the new year - starting with a hike at Umstead. We let Eli walk as long as he wanted to and then Tim carried him in the back pack. Cole was "Ergo"d to me the entire time. We had fun looking at rocks, trees, roots, trail markers and just being outside. Eli probably hiked 3/4 mile and wore his camelback the entire time. When he got tired, he told Tim that he was ready to ride and that he needed to stop to pick him up - it was pretty funny. Cole enjoyed his first hike at Umstead, so much that he dozed for most of it!

Ready to hit the trail

Cole snuggled and so excited (can't you tell) for his first hike

Navigating lots of slippery roots Eli held my hand

How did he get so big?!

Look at my rock, Mommy

He went at his own pace

Mommy, Cole, Eli and, of course, Lightning McQueen (who rode in Eli's backpack)

Happy to be riding

Our best attempt at a family picture

See how much Cole enjoyed the hike

Tim's got quite a load - Sherpa Daddy

I was quite impressed that Eli identified this tree, out of the blue, as a triangle

Such a happy trail marker!

When we got back to the parking lot, Eli wanted to call Pop-Pop

Post hike snack time

I also welcomed 2010 with a baking experiment. I have wanted to make bread for a long time so, using a cookbook that Tim gave me for Christmas, I made a whole wheat sandwich loaf. It was totally new to me but ended up being pretty easy and fun. Waiting and watching the dough rise (twice!) - I was like a little kid so proud of her creation. The whole house smelled yummy of fresh bread. After we put the boys to bed, Tim & I got a chance to sample it and it tasted just as good as it smelled. Definitely a repeat!!

Recipe, ingredients measured out, ready to go

My little helper during the mixing phase

The 2nd rising

Finished product - yummmmmm