9 Months

Happy Halloween!

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:50:32 -0500

Cole started celebrating Halloween a day early. He was able to leave daycare a little early to attend my school’s Halloween parade. He got dressed up in his baseball player costume and watched all of the kids in their costumes. After, he spent some time exploring the main office. Our secretary, Julie, let him play with an old keyboard, he was in heaven! Of course, I forgot my camera. I did manage to get 1 photo with my phone of Cole with his friends Beckett and Noah (our music teacher Lindsey’s boys).

I’m hoping to add a picture my friend took of Cole and me at the parade once she emails it.

On Halloween, Cole explored the backyard. He wore a pair of boots (hand-me downs) for the first time. He didn’t like them at first since he’s never worn real shoes.

My little baseball player!

After dressing up and posing for pictures, Cole and I watched “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and waited for trick or treaters. Since Cole hasn’t been feeling well and he can’t eat candy anyway, we decided to stay home.

Cole wore his Halloween jammies and had some milk while he watched the show.

Rocking and texting

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:47:27 -0400

Cole has been enjoying his little rocking chair recently. He wasn’t being very safe so we decided to put it in another room. Last weekend he discovered it again and Brian taught him how to sit in it correctly. I came home from brunch on Sunday and saw him rocking away while watching the Pats with Daddy. We now keep it in the living room and Cole climbs in and out of it regularly and with some reminders can sit safely. I tried to get a few pictures the other day while he was rocking at playing with my cell phone. It was not easy with him hoping in and out of the chair!

Getting into trouble!

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:19:48 -0400

Now that Cole can confidently walk, he loves to explore all aspects of the house. One of his favorite areas to find trouble in is the recycling. He takes out containers and paper and plays with them. We find yogurt containers and plastic tops in his toy box all the time.

Here he is trying to sit in a pizza box.

He showed off his daredevil skills last weekend when we visited the grandparents in CT.

He loves to climb on things. Here he is standing on a little rocking chair. It’s a good thing Grammy is there!

“Look, no hands!”

Cole and Grampy bang on the door while waiting for Greta to come back in.

It’s so much more fun to throw all of the toys out of the box and climb in it!

Daddy, Cole, and Greta wrestle at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Oh, and I completely forgot to document that Cole is now 13 months old. Hopefully I’ll remember better next month.

Apple Picking

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:27:52 -0400

Brian, Cole, and I went apple picking today. It was a beautiful fall day, just perfect to be outside. Unfortunately since it is late in the season, most of the apples were on the ground. We still managed to pick a peck and I plan on making some apple sauce and possibly an apple pie this week.

In his overalls, ready for the farm!

His first time eating an actual apple. He liked it, but had a hard time getting anything, but a little juice.

Brian did most of the picking.

Cole was not content to stay in the sling, he need to get down and stumble around!

“Hmmm, this one looks good.”

Cole and Brian checking out the “cheese pumpkins”. Cole liked their bumpy skin.

Cole eats with a fork

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:16:32 -0400

Cole mostly uses his hands when eating, but lately he’s been interested in the fork. I usually use the fork to cut up whatever is for dinner and occasionally will feed him when he starts to slow down. The other night though, he took the fork himself and with help ate with the fork. I put the food on it and would then guide it towards his mouth.

I was able to get some video of Cole walking Monday night before...

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:09:00 -0400

I was able to get some video of Cole walking Monday night before he went to bed. He’s been walking well for a few weeks now. He still does some crawling, but is choosing to walk more and more. He sticks his arms straight out and we call it the “zombie walk” which is very appropriate considering Halloween is right around the corner. Enjoy!

Ready for the Playoffs

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:47:01 -0400

Cole and I are ready to cheer on our Red Sox in the ALDS. Today was Red Sox spirit day at school so we wore our matching jerseys! I asked the teachers at daycare though to take his off before lunch. I figured he would get jelly (from his cream cheese and jelly sandwich) on it. We’re looking forward to the series coming back to Boston, because these late night games are tough. Go Sox!

Cole was way more interested in his car than looking at the camera.

Cole's Big Party

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:20:52 -0400

On Sunday, September 20th, we celebrated Cole’s birthday. It was a great day and we had a fun time with our families and a few close friends. Unfortunately, Cole was still feeling under the weather and wasn’t his usual happy self. Of course we took tons of pictures. Here are a few of my favorites!

Sitting with Auntie Erin and checking out the balloons before we put them on our front porch.

Rocking in the chair Grammy and Grampy gave him. It belonged to my grandfather and my dad cleaned it up and painted it (with non toxic paint, of course)!

Opening up the Elmo doll from Auntie Erin.

Having fun with the wagon from Grandma and Grandpa.

Cole really got into opening the presents. It was nice that he could help open them, not like at Christmas where we opened them for him!

Riding on the rocket Auntie Meg gave him. It’s cute, makes lots of noise, and lights up. Unfortunately, there’s no off switch so it can get a little loud in our house when he’s riding it!

Grampy and Cole playing with the toys that came with the rocket.

Time for cake and Cole could care less.

Even though we cleaned him up, he still smelled like frosting all day!

Logan takes Cole for a ride while Abby shows off her crawling skills.

Grandpa, Cole and Grandma

Grammy, Grampy, and Cole

Cole and Auntie Meg

Big birthday hugs from Logan!

Here we are almost exactly a year ago on the same couch!

Cole is growing up!

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:01:38 -0400

There are two things I need to mark down in my “baby book blog”. One is that Cole is now actually walking. He has walked across the living room a few times and today he walked from the living room into the kitchen to greet me when I came home from the store! We’re hoping to get a video of it soon.

Cole’s most recent milestone is a little sad for me because he is now weaned. I’ve been working on weaning him since mid July. We took it slow and gradually worked down to only 2 nursing sessions by the time he started at daycare. Over the last month I’ve been supplementing his morning and evening nursing sessions with a bottle since my supply had dropped. Over the last week or so I’ve noticed Cole isn’t as interested in nursing before bed and I decided to stop trying. It has been 3 days and he seems to be fine with no nursing. Though I am sad, I know it is the right time. I’m proud of the fact that I was able to exclusively breastfeed (with a few bottles of formula here and there) for 10 months and continue to nurse through a year.

Cole is now eating real (non baby) food for all of his meals. He continues to love yogurt, cheerios, puffs, crackers, toast, edamame, and cheese. Some new favorites are chicken nuggets, tortilla chips, hummus, waffles, and whole milk. He used to love most fruits and vegetables, but now that they’re not pureed, he’s getting a bit picky. I still try and offer them to him but it’s hard. Luckily he likes to do what the other kids at daycare do and prefers finger foods. He eats much better for his teachers than he does for me!

Cole is also clapping and waving like mad. He started to do both months ago, but not consistently. He claps along with music, claps blocks together, and generally just likes to make noise. His dad (the drummer) is so proud! He waves good bye to Daddy and Greta when we leave for school, he waves to his friends at school, and basically anytime anyone walks into the room. Cole has also discovered that he can climb on pretty much anything. A favorite is the dishwasher, not cool.

My baby isn’t a baby any longer, he’s now a toddler. I can’t wait to see what new and exciting things are in store for the next year!

Cole turns 1! (the pictures)

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:44:54 -0400

Birthday boy!

First taste of whole milk!

Cupcake time!

Yum!

Exploring the presents!

Who needs toys when there’s a box to play with?

Cole turns 1!

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:09:46 -0400

As most of you know, my baby celebrated his first birthday today. I got as far as downloading the pictures from my camera, but am just too tired to upload them and put them in the blog. It was a busy afternoon/evening and I think Cole enjoyed himself. We all had dinner together as a family (doesn’t happen very often, Cole usually eats first), we had video chats with Grandma/Grandpa C. and Grammy and Auntie Meg (Grampy was at choir practice), and Cole ate a cupcake. He loved it, of course! I sang (very poorly) Happy Birthday and we showed him the candle and I blew it out. He opened up some presents and played a bit before going to bed. Cole also tried whole milk for the first time and seemed to like it. He didn’t drink a ton, but didn’t refuse it either. I’ll be putting pictures up to go with this post tomorrow so if you subscribe via email, just check back if you want to see the pictures. Also, you may have noticed that some pictures in my old posts aren’t showing up. We are having some issues with some changes I made to my flickr account and hope to have it fixed in a few days.

Cole plays with trucks

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:43:54 -0400

Cole has played with trucks for the past few months but he usually just chews on them. He is now actually playing with them and “driving” them around.

He also had fun playing with his new light-up caterpillar that he got as a birthday gift from my friend Erin.

Daddy and Greta also joined in the fun!

Labor Day weekend in CT

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:49:19 -0400

We spent time at both of our parents’ houses this past Labor Day weekend.

Cole played with Daddy’s old horse again. He was actually able to use his feet to move a little this time.

He also discovered that he can climb the stairs. He had so much fun climbing up and down the stairs. Of course he needed constant supervision. I don’t think those railings are up to code :)

Cole loves to take Greta for a walk…

Cole also was able to play with his “new” cozy coupe at Grammy and Grampy’s. It’s a used car, but Grampy did a great job cleaning it up.

He looks so cool riding with one hand on the wheel and the other on the door!

Cole and Grampy had a lot of fun!

Since it was so beautiful out, we made sure to spend some time outside. Of course, Greta spent most of the day running around the yard.

This weekend was a big one in terms of Cole’s eating. We decided not to bring any baby food and to have him just eat whatever we were eating. Some new foods he tried were pizza, pancakes, pasta salad, turkey burgers, and buffalo chicken dip…Brian’s idea of course!

We spent Labor Day weekend in CT visiting the...

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:59:09 -0400

We spent Labor Day weekend in CT visiting the grandparents/aunts. I have many pictures but haven’t uploaded them yet. Brian blogged about this photo and I figured I would too. He brought out the snare drum from his drum set (currently still living at his parents’ house). Here he is teaching Cole how to drum!

1st Day of School and Daycare

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:28:56 -0400

I’ve been meaning to blog about my experience of going back to work, but I have honestly been so tired every night. I’ve been getting up at around 5:30 in order to get ready and have Cole ready to leave by 7. Luckily, Brian has been getting up with me and helping out with Cole so I can get myself ready and pack our lunches.

So far Cole has been doing very well. He doesn’t cry when I drop him off and the teachers report that he is laid back and happy all day. He has made a new friend, Caeden, who is about a year old. I guess they like to “chase” each other through the tunnel! There have been a few babies though that are crying when I drop Cole off and then crying when I pick him up. My heart goes out to those moms, I’m not sure I could get through the day if I knew Cole was upset. The only negative is that he hasn’t been napping regularly. He didn’t nap at all the first day, got about an hour the second (I had to wake him up to go home), and got about an hour and a half today. I’m hoping that he’ll continue to get more comfortable napping there and settle back into 2 naps a day. It has been very difficult to keep him up any later than 6:30 since he is so tired and crabby.

Aside from being tired, I have been doing well too. Luckily, I’ve been so busy at school I don’t have time to be sad. There have been a lot of changes in my duties, many positive ones, and it looks like I’ll get to spend less time in meetings and more time with kids, yay!

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Cole on his first day at daycare.

Brian got a picture of me cleaning some food off of his face!

This picture is from the open house last week. As you can see there are some really fun toys for Cole to play with!

This picture we took today on my official first day of school. My mother has always taken “first day of school” pictures. Even when I was in college, she would take a picture on the day she and my dad helped me move in. I’ve tried to continue this tradition. I took a picture last year when I was 37 weeks pregnant. I’m sure you could find it in the archives of my blog if you’re interested :)

These have nothing to do with the first day of school, but I had to include them because Cole looks so funny. Last week Cole and I went for a walk and then out for lunch with our friends Kelly and Owen to celebrate the end of my maternity leave. The boys did very well eating out and even let the moms enjoy their lunch!

Preparing for a change…

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:27:38 -0400

Sorry, no pictures today folks. I wanted to jot down a few feelings about the impending change Cole, Brian, and I will be going through. I include Brian because even though his work schedule is staying the same, things will be different around the house.

Tomorrow my maternity leave will come to an end and Cole will be starting daycare. As many of you know, I’m very lucky to have him attending the new daycare at my school. Cole and I went to an open house last week and we met his teachers and the other babies who will be in his room. He will spend the first 4-5 months in the infant room and then transition into the toddler room. Cole had fun exploring the space, checking out the toys, and meeting his new friends. I was able to talk with his teachers and get my many questions answered. All in all it was a good experience and helped me to feel a little more at ease about the whole thing.

Many people have asked if I’m looking forward to going back to work. Honestly, not really. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my job (most of the time) and have missed the kids, my colleagues, and the routine. However, I have absolutely loved being a stay at home mom for the past 11 1/2 months. I certainly don’t glamorize it in my mind, there were some rough days, especially in the beginning, and there were many days when I would countdown to Brian’s return. I loved being able to spend all day with my son and watch him grow and change throughout the year. Cole and I loved our get-togethers with our friends, playing and relaxing at home, and in the nice weather, going for walks in our neighborhood.

Daycare will be a good thing for Cole. I know he will be confused and maybe a little scared at first, but I do know that it will be good for him. He will learn so many new skills from the teachers and other babies. He will also learn social skills (a must for all kids in my opinion).

So I will head to school tomorrow, tissues in hand, and send my baby off to daycare. Here’s hoping that I’m the only one who needs them :)

Summer fun

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:39:40 -0400

Cole and I have been enjoying our last few weeks of summer vacation. We went to the beach last week with our friends Kelly, Owen, Kristy, and Jack. We also spent an afternoon in New Hampshire with cousins Michelle and Logan. I’ve been very busy this week, squeezing in last minute appointments and shopping for daycare supplies. I also went to school yesterday and helped put together some toys and move some furniture at the daycare. Cole and I are going to the Open House Thursday morning and we’re looking forward to seeing the space completed. We will also meet his teachers and some of the other babies he’ll be spending time with.

Here are some pics from the beach. Cole enjoyed crawling around in the surf, eating sand, and digging in the sand. We brought our lunch and I think we both ate more sand than food! It was fun, but certainly not the usual relaxing day at the beach. I guess those days are over for a while, not that I mind!

Cole is “swimming”. I think he also had some sand in his mouth. In the background you can see Owen and Jack.

Cole and Owen are trying to figure out how to build a sand castle.

Cole always has fun playing with his cousin Logan. He actually did some sharing which was nice to see. He took Logan’s sippy cup (not nice) but did attempt to give it back. Hopefully daycare can help with the whole sharing/taking things away from others thing.

The boys are pushing the big truck…

but the pace was a little too fast for Cole!

Adirondack vacation (part 2)

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:07:55 -0400

Cole spent some time splashing around at “the beach”. Gull Pond does not have much of a sandy shoreline but a friend of Uncle Jim and Aunt Diane’s who lives across the lake was nice enough to let us use his beach a few times.

Cole doesn’t look very happy, but he really did have a great time! He stayed in the water for about a half hour. It was very warm, almost like bath water. Cole also ate a lot of sand, yum!

We had to stand him up and walk around a bit to distract him from the tasty sand!

Brian is helping Cole get all of the sand off! Cole is sporting his cloth “water diaper”. It has cows on it :)

This is the view from the beach. Uncle Jim and Aunt Diane’s house is somewhere towards the right.

Brian and I were able to get out for a hike up Mt. Arab while the Grandparents looked after Cole. Here were are at the summit.

Family portrait on the deck.

You can see a few more pictures on my flickr page.

Adirondack vacation (part 1)

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:08:31 -0400

I was able to blog a few photos from our vacation in the ADKs from my phone but here are better pics from my camera. We had a wonderful time. Cole celebrated his 11 month birthday, splashed around in the pond, went for a canoe ride, observed birds, bugs, and other creatures of nature, but most importantly was able to spend quality time with Grandma and Grandpa C and Uncle Jim and Aunt Diane.

Cole watching the chipmunks and birds from the screen porch.

Exploring the woods with Daddy.

Out on the rock on the edge of their property. You can see a great view of the pond and mountain in the background.

He’s having way too much fun to pose for a photo with Mommy.

Enjoying a bottle with Grandpa.

Grandpa tried to get Cole to wear his Yankees hat, but of course he didn’t want to, he wanted to eat it instead!

Cole and (Great) Aunt Diane. She was so busy with her hosting duties, we didn’t get many photo ops unfortunately.

Cole was very amused by (Great) Uncle Jim. He especially liked when Uncle Jim would speak in his “language”.

Cole is celebrating his 11 month birthday splashing and playing...

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 08:12:51 -0400

Cole is celebrating his 11 month birthday splashing and playing in Gull Pond. I forgot to post it yesterday (8/15).