9 Months

Independence Day weekend in CT

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:38:04 -0400

We went to a picnic at my Aunt Terry and Uncle Ave’s house on the 4th. Cole was able to see some of my aunts/uncles and cousins. It was a beautiful day and we spend much of it on the deck. I was only able to get pictures with my parents since they had Cole most of the time!

Enjoying a bottle with Grammy.

We also spent some time with my in-laws. Grandma searched through the basement and dusted off a few of Daddy’s old toys.

Cole had a lot of fun with the horse and dog.

Cole woke up very early so he could read some of Daddy’s old books with Grandpa.

Cole reads (rips apart) a magazine

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:29:45 -0400

I decided to let Cole play with a magazine the other day. He had so much fun ripping it apart. I really didn’t mind the mess, though I did mind when he put it in his mouth.

Cole waves! (part 2)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:23:15 -0400

Here is a picture of Cole waving. The first actual wave was not a full arm wave, it was mostly just him opening and closing his hand.

Another Haircut

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:07:41 -0400

Cole and I went to get his hair cut today (for the 2nd time). We went to Nicole’s Salon and Day Spa in Stoneham. The hairdresser, Julie, specializes in children’s hair. She was fantastic! Cole didn’t cry at all. He sat on my lap and had a good time :)

I didn’t get any pictures of the actual haircut since he was on my lap the whole time. I did get some pics of him in the chair when we were done.

Julie gave him a comb to hold halfway through when he was getting a little distracted. He of course wanted to chew on it!

Cole waves!

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:16:55 -0400

Cole waved for the first time today! He was getting ready to go down for his afternoon nap and I asked him to wave good bye to Brian. It’s so cute! I’m going to try and get a picture of it tomorrow.

Until then, you’ll have to make do with these cute pictures I took last week. My friend Sarah gave Cole this “Expert House Mover” tee shirt. This is the name of her husband’s family business. She wants to hang up pictures of the babies in these shirts in their office.

Hux and Kelley's Wedding

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:32:37 -0400

Yesterday Brian and I went to a wedding. Brian and Hux used to work together at Apple. It was a Quaker “Meeting for Marriage” and was one of the most simple and lovely wedding ceremonies I’ve been to. There was no minister or justice of the peace, the couple said their vows and exchanged rings. After that, guests were welcome to offer their well wishes, memories of the couple, and advice. All guests also signed the wedding certificate.

My mom and sister Meg came up to babysit. There were kids at the wedding and we were welcome to bring Cole. We decided that there would be no way that we could enjoy ourselves and visit if we were chasing him around!

Here we are before leaving for the wedding.

I forgot to bring my camera, but Brian took this picture of the ceremony with his iphone. Here Hux and Kelley are signing the marriage certificate.

Playdate with Julia

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:23:12 -0400

Our friends from UConn, Aimee and Jay had a baby girl in February. Last Friday, Cole and I traveled down to southern Massachusetts to meet her and play. Julia recently had heart surgery and before that wasn’t able to have any babies/kid visitors. We had a great time visiting and Cole and Julia were able to “play”. Cole was fascinated by Julia, especially her beautiful curls. He tried to pull her hair a few times. Luckily, she didn’t seem to mind :)

Fun at the park

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:28:34 -0400

Today our playgroup was able to meet outside. The weather in Boston has been awful for the past few weeks. We went for a walk at the Wakefield Lake and then hung out at the playground to let the babies play and have some lunch. Cole tried the swings for the first time. He loved it! I wasn’t able to get a good picture of him laughing, but he really was laughing and smiling. He wasn’t so sure at first, just hung on and watched the kids next to him. After I pushed the swing a little faster, the laughter came.

Just hanging around

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:36:57 -0400

Cole is much better now at getting around. He’s still not crawling in the typical fashion, but has no problem getting into trouble!

Here he is trying to crawl under his exercauser.

Today he took a break from his walking toy to hang around at his exersaucer.

He enjoys and actually prefers standing and walking around (with help). He stands really well on his own. Here he is standing at his music table.

Cole brushes his teeth

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:23:56 -0400

Here are some pictures of Cole brushing his teeth for the first time. He actually just chewed on it, but it’s a start!

First Father's Day

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:05:59 -0400

Today we celebrated Brian’s first Father’s Day. He is an amazing father. I could tell he would be from the first moments in the hospital when he held Cole and made up funny songs to soothe him. That became his job, especially during those rough first weeks when I was so focused on figuring out the whole breastfeeding thing. He continues to sing funny songs and dance around with Cole whenever he’s in a bad mood.

We had a visit from Brian’s parents and celebrate the day with them. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see my dad, we were lucky to see him last weekend.

Cole is showing Grandpa his climbing skills.

Cole and Brian wrestling :)

Fun with Owen

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:41:21 -0400

Today Cole and I went over our friends Kelly and Owen’s house. It’s so much fun to watch the boys play. Cole is so much more aware of other kids now. As you can see, they had lots of fun!

Cole tried out the tunnel. Kelly is an OT specializing in early intervention and has some fun equipment we played with. She also watched Cole “crawl” and gave me some suggestions of ways I can help him to use his knees.

The boys are both a little tired after a fun afternoon of playing!

1st Trip to the Farmers’ Market

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:20:45 -0400

Cole and I took our first trip of the season to the Arlington Farmer’s Market. It happens once a week from June to October and I try to get there as often as possible. I bought some zuchinni, summer squash, strawberries, tomatoes, and a french baguette. It was a beautiful afternoon to be outside. After the market Cole and I strolled around Arlington Center and did some shopping. I bought him his first toothbrush! It looks like a banana and is super cute. Don’t worry, they’ll be a blog post about the first toothbrushing session!

This morning Cole played some more with his new toy.

New Snack and New Toy

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:57:49 -0400

Today Cole tried “Mum-Mums” today. They are a rice snack that he can hold onto and eat. He really enjoyed them. I think he liked the fact that he could feed himself. We’re working on trying more finger foods so he can practice feeding himself.

Cole also played with his “new” toy from his cousin Logan. Here are some pictures of him sitting on it. It can be converted into a walking toy as well. Cole had fun, but unfortunately took a little tumble. He has a little bump on his forehead. I think it was more upsetting to Brian and me than him. I guess this is the first of many bumps that will come along the way as he becomes more mobile and independent.

9 Months old

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:04:47 -0400

Cole is 9 months old today! We had a very busy day with grocery shopping this morning, playgroup, and a party. Our playgroup met at the mall where they have a really cool play space for kids. I was a little worried about Cole as he’s not terribly mobile yet, but we were able to stake out a corner for the babies to play. Some of the babies are really fast crawlers and Olivia, who just turned 1 is even walking!

Cole is trying to climb on the rocket like Audrey. Luckily, Audrey’s mom was there in case he fell backwards.

Hanging out with Emma and Cormac.

Cole and Emma both up on their knees. This is Cole’s newest progress in crawling. He can get up on his knees or toes and propel himself forward. We took a video of it the other day and I’ll try and post it soon.

Cole and I had to leave group a little early today so we could go to a party. My friend Julie (our school secretary) had the office staff over to her house this afternoon to say good-bye and thank Amy for doing such an awesome job filling in while I was gone. Cole had a really good time with the ladies and was in a surprisingly good mood considering he had only a half hour nap all day.

Irene (my assistant principal) is telling Cole what happens to little boys who don’t behave in school. Not really, but she’s the enforcer at school and knows how to keep the kids in line :)

Standing up with JoAnne (my co-counselor). He’s not a big fan of sitting anymore.

Family Picnic in NH

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:54:00 -0400

On Sunday, we went up to my cousin Michelle’s house in NH for a family picnic. It was really nice to see many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my dad’s side of the family. We don’t see each other nearly as often as the kids have grown up and a few of us don’t live in CT anymore. Also, now that we are starting families of our own, holiday get togethers are more difficult to plan.

Cole was able to play with his favorite cousin, Logan. You may remember from a previous post that Logan has a really cool playroom. Cole enjoyed the fun toys and was very amused by Logan and laughed hysterically whenever he saw him. Logan wasn’t really sure what to make of him. He was probably wondering who this crazy baby was playing with all of his toys and laughing at him.

Logan gives Cole a kiss.

Since Logan is such a great walker now, Michelle said that we could borrow one of his walking toys (it doesn’t move fast enough for him now). Cole loves to stand and walk around and will have lots of fun with this new toy! Thanks Logan!

Playdate with Will

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:41:24 -0400

One of my best friends, Sarah and her son Will came over to my parent’s house for a visit last week. Sarah lives in Maryland and was up visiting her parents. Cole and Will had a good time and so did the moms! We laugh about the fact that the boys look like they could be brothers because they both have so much dark hair.

They are good friends already.

Cole and Will are “wrestling”

Sarah and me with our boys. Please excuse the mismatched outfit, I needed to change Cole’s pants and this is all I had in my bag!

Playing on the porch

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:40:04 -0400

Playing on the porch

Playing with Abby

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:10:52 -0400

On Saturday we went over to our friends Katie and Aaron’s house for a cookout. Cole and Abby played in the yard. Cole shared his toys and for the most part played nice. He did however try to put her hand in his mouth…I guess he thought it would taste as good as his does!

Holding hands :)

Here he is trying to put her hand in his mouth.

Abby and Cole both tried some beer. Of course they didn’t really drink any, but they sure enjoyed chewing on the bottles.

Vroom, Vroom

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:41:53 -0400

I don’t have any new pictures so I thought I would post a few from last weekend in CT. Grammy and Cole played with his new car that came all the way from Michigan (Thanks Matt, Lisa, and Ethan)!

In the mouth of course!