Cole hugs his friend Elmo. He’s been pretty sick over the past few days. He went to the doctors yesterday and had to use a nebulizer to help his breathing. Today his coughing has become barklike and we think it might be croup. We’re hoping he’s on the mend and feeling better soon!
While Mom and Dad are away, Cole will play...
Earlier this month, Brian and I headed to NH to celebrate our friend Jess’s 30th birthday. We had a great time visiting with friends, new and old. Brian and I also got in some cross country skiing.
Birthday girl and me
Jim made the trip up from DC. It was so great to see him!
Blowing out the candles. It’s too bad it was so dark in there and I only had my iphone.
Cole was lucky to have Grammy and Grampy come take care of him. They also took him to his cousin Logan’s 2nd birthday party.
Cole loved Logan’s train set.
He also enjoyed playing with the big kids.
Having some food with Grampy.
Birthday boy Logan!
Rocket Man! Cole is now able to ride his rocket successfully around the house. Brian took this video with my iphone the other night.
Cole liked chasing Aunt Janice’s cat while we were in NJ for the funeral. Every time he saw her he pointed and said “cat”. Another new word!
New Year's Eve
We rang in the New Year at home. We ordered pizza, had some wine (none for Cole), and stayed up late. Cole stayed up a little bit later than normal, but certainly didn’t make it to midnight, Brian and I had a hard time making it that late!
Cole and me before he went to bed.
Christmas 2009
Our Christmas plans changed at the last minute this year. We ended up going to my parents house for Christmas eve, spent Christmas morning with them and my sisters, and then headed to NJ to see Brian’s family. His grandmother’s health was failing and we needed to head down to see her and say goodbye.
Cole has a snack while waiting for the Christmas pageant at church.
Cole liked the bows the best!
Our family sitting in front of the fire on Christmas eve.
Cole (in his xmas jammies) with Auntie Meg.
Cole right before bed hanging out with Auntie Erin.
On Christmas morning Cole took part in a Breen family tradition, cinnamon sticks and apple squares from Aremony’s Bakery for breakfast. My dad gave him a cinnamon stick for a bite and he took the whole thing and tried to inhale it! Grammy is trying to keep him from making too much of a mess.
Exploring the gifts
Checking out the stocking from Santa
Cole loves the puffs he got from Grammy and Grampy!
Cole got a Cozy Coupe from his Aunts. It will stay at my parents house until the spring and he can use it outside.
Right before we hit the road to NJ.
Cole with Grandma and Grandpa after Christmas dinner. We made it to southern NJ from CT in about 5 hours with no traffic and little to no stress for the baby. Unfortunately the trip back wasn’t so smooth.
Cole opening up the Sesame Street guitar from Grandma and Grandpa.
Ready for Grandpa to teach him how to play!
Cole also spent some time playing with his cousins. Here he is with Morgan (Brian’s cousin Jon’s daughter). She is two and the closest in age to Cole. They both worked on sharing. Hopefully Ashlie’s daughter Emmalyn can join in the fun next year (she’s only 9 mos old).
We had a nice visit with Brian’s family though it was a little more somber than past years. Every day we spent some time at the nursing home with Brian’s grandmother. She had a stroke at the end of the summer and never quite recovered. At the time we were there she was in hospice care. We all said a tearful good-bye before we left. Grandmom passed away this afternoon and we’ll be heading back to NJ in a few days for the services.
A little over 15 months old
I was a little busy with the holiday preparations to blog about Cole’s milestones at 15 months and his stats from his recent appointment. We had his 15 month appointment on the 23rd and then of course left for CT/NJ the next day. Cole gained a pound so he now weighs 21 lbs, about the 25th %ile. He’s a little on the skinny side and anyone who knows his dad can easily see that Cole has his genes. I don’t remember what his length was, but I know that it is in the 75th %ile so the doctor isn’t concerned about the weight. As long as his height is moving along there is no need to be worried. Again, he sure didn’t get my height genes (so far anyway)!
Cole is impressing us more everyday with the connections that he’s making and the words that he says. He knows what it means when I say it’s time for bed or for a nap. He starts to wave (he waves to Brian and Greta before bed/nap). He goes to the bathroom for bath time and says “ta, ta”. Cole continues to love bath time and has started to “swim” for most of the bath. He can point to his hair and someone else’s hair and sometimes can point to his nose. Cole understands breakfast/lunch/dinner and goes to his high chair when we say it’s time for bfast/lunch/dinner. He does lots of mimicking and holds the phone to his ear, points the remote at the tv, puts a tissue to his nose, brushes his hair, drinks out of a cup. Cole loves our iPhones! He especially loves to use the Koi Pond app and whenever the phone is within his reach he grabs it, hands it to me and says “fshes, fshes” (for those who don’t understand baby speak, that’s fishes).
Cole has all four molars (he’s had them for months now) so there isn’t much new to report there. He still doesn’t have the canine teeth yet. That doesn’t stop him from eating anything and everything. He tried cheese puffs the other day at a daycare pizza party (not my first choice for snacks) and surprise, surprise, he loved them! He also had peanut butter the other day (by accident) and no reaction. We’re still going to hold off on nuts.
Cole is now forward facing and loves it! On our way to CT/NJ for Xmas
Cole’s last day in the infant room. I think this picture sums up how we both feel about him going to the toddler room. Michelle and Kristen have been fabulous and am I so grateful Cole was so cared for while I was at work. Cole will be in the toddler room starting next Monday. It will be good for him as they do a lot of activities, circle time, and there are older kids for him to learn from. He will also be going with 3 of his good friends from the infant room, Caeden, Keira, and Beckett.
Cole helped clean the kitchen tonight. After a full day of baking, the floor needed a good sweep. Cole watched me sweep and then grabbed the small broom (not sure what it’s called…Brian says he thinks it’s a wisk broom).
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
We’re working on getting into the holiday spirit around here. The tree and decorations are up, shopping is almost done, and Cole was able to visit with Santa.
Cole is intrigued by the candle…
Cole untangled the lights for us or maybe just made them worse!
The visit with Santa didn’t go so well. I took him to Magic Beans (an awesome local baby store chain). They let you sign up to visit with Santa ahead of time so there is no long wait like at the mall. You bring your own camera and can take as many pictures as you’d like. They even had juice and cookies for the kids (and parents). Our time wasn’t until 5:00 which meant the prolonging of an already long day for Cole. Also, he only had a short nap at daycare. Add in the fact that he spilled water on his outfit at daycare and had to wear the extra (not as nice) clothes I leave at daycare and it was a recipe for disaster.
Cole was fine and then started crying/screaming when I handed him over to Santa. He calmed down a bit when I held him and we took some pictures, but it was hard to get him to look at the camera. I’m guessing that we’ll look back on these pictures and laugh someday :)
Cole can’t get away from him fast enough!
Here is one of the pictures from our Christmas Card photo shoot. Hopefully I’ll have them back soon and they’ll be in the mail sometime next week.
Bath time!
Cole is now in the actual tub for bath time. We had been using an inflated duck tub (borrowed from cousin Logan). It was much safer for him and we didn’t have to worry as much. He loves taking a bath and knows what it means when I say it’s time for a bath.
Crazy hair!
There is usually lots of splashing!
