Swim Lessons

Last year, Levi and I took the Mommy and Me class at one of the local pools.  It was fine, but Levi was one of the oldest- and most adventurous- in the class.  On the very first day, all of the kids were sitting on the side of the pool while the moms tried to coax them into the water.  Levi stood up, and said, "Scoot back, Mom!  I'm gonna jump!"

This year he was in the Preschool 1 class, and Mommy didn't have to get in the pool!  Yay!  There were two teachers and three little boys which is pretty perfect if you ask me.  Levi LOVED his time with Miss Alyssa this year.  He followed directions (for the most part) and showed her how adventurous he can be when it comes to the water.  

There was one moment where he was sitting on the side of the pool while she worked with the other boy in the deep end for a few minutes.  Levi was playing and being silly on the side of the pool and fell in!  Before I could get up and yell her name, Miss Alyssa scooped him up and put him on the side.  Later that day, I asked Levi about it thinking it might have scared him a little bit.  All he had to say about it was, "I sank!"  Yes you did little guy.  Thankfully someone was close by.

Levi practiced making "big arms" across the pool, putting his face in the water, blowing bubbles, kicking legs while floating on his tummy and his back, and on the last day they even learned how to do a cannonball!  (Levi of course wanted to practice in the bathtub that night)  

It's really tough to get Levi to stop long enough to take a picture...especially when he's in the pool!

My little fish sure loved his swim lessons this year, and is already talking about seeing Miss Alyssa next year.

Nine Months

Dear Cole,

I am enjoying this age and all of the fun things you are doing right now.  You are all over the place these days and into everything- Levi's magnetic chore chart (don't worry Mom and Dad- it's been moved!), the train table and toy box, pulling night lights out of the wall, and eating dog food- YUCK!

Stats:

We don't go to the dr until the next week, so I'll update this then.  You are still wearing 3-6 month clothes and size 3 diapers, but you're close to moving up to 9 month clothes.

Likes:  You love the freedom you have now that you can move around on your own.  Like I said earlier, you are all over the place, and we all have to keep a close eye on you.  Levi is even pretty good at making sure you stay out of things (I think he likes having someone to boss around).  You especially love the dog food, and it totally grosses me out!  You love to crawl into Levi's room and watch him play while you explore his things.

Dislikes:  Levi likes to have control over where you go and what you do.  He'll build forts out of his little table and chairs and pillows to trap you or close the door when you make it into his room.  You HATE this!  You're also not a fan of an empty high chair tray.  You scream and hit your tray until more food is added.

Eating: You love food, and you'll eat pretty much anything we give you.  Some of the foods you've tried this month are peaches, cantaloupe (a new favorite!), cottage cheese, chicken, bread, and cheddar cheese.  You still get your fair share of all the yummy fruits and veggies you've tried- carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, blueberries, apples, mangoes, pears, avocado...

Sleeping: After a few nights of sleep training, you are we are ALL back to sleeping through the night.  You sleep from about 8-7, and still take two good naps during the day.  You usually nap from around 9-11 and then again from about 1-3.  You are pretty good at taking your morning nap on the go since thats usually when we're out and about.

Playing:  Two of the newest things you're doing are clapping and giving kisses.  I love seeing how much fun you have when you interact with the people around you.  You love cell phones and remote controls, so we have to make sure they're put up high where you can't reach them.  If they're up on the entertainment center, you try your hardest to CLIMB up there!  You'll get one foot on the bottom and try to pull yourself up.  You love to pull yourself up at the lego/train table and play with the Legos while Levi builds.  You are still pretty laid back when he grabs things from you.  We love your little laid back attitude, but we know the day is coming will you will hold your ground and get upset when Levi takes your toys!

Cole, you are a precious addition to our little family.  You are a sweet, laid back little guy, and we are so thankful for you!  

Eight Months

Dear Cole,

In the last few weeks you have changed SO MUCH!  Your little personality is coming out even more now, and our little mellow child isn't quite so mellow any more.  I still wouldn't say you're high maintenance or difficult, but you are definitely letting your likes, dislikes, wants and needs be known!

We've done a lot of traveling and had a lot of guests at our house over the last few weeks, and you've handled most of it like a champ!  This month you took your first plane ride and first train ride.  You did well on both and slept a lot.

You have been rocking back and forth acting like you were going to start crawling any day for probably 6 weeks, and you finally did!  You are all over the place now and into everything.  You have also started pulling up and cruising around our ottoman toy box which has opened up a whole new world to you.

You are 17 pounds now.  You wear 3-6 month clothes and are wearing size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night.

Likes: You LOVE the new freedom you have with crawling and pulling up.  You smile and giggle and are so proud of yourself.  You love to follow Levi around and see what he's up to.  You love to chew on anything you can get your hands on but no teeth quite yet.  You also make a beeline for shoes and remotes!

Dislikes: You have started showing some signs of separation anxiety, but hopefully that will be a short lived phase.  We've been traveling a lot over the last few weeks which means you've been held a lot.  This also means that you now HATE for us to put you down and leave you.  You love to crawl and play...as long as one of us is sitting right there with you.  You have also grown to dislike your carseat even more than before- probably because you've been in it so much lately.

Eating- You have 4, 8 ounce bottles, 2 or 3 meals of solids, and two snacks a day.  You seem to love just about everything we give you and SCREAM until we get the next bite in your mouth.  Your newest favorite is yogurt!  You've also started eating small bites of soft foods (bananas, avocado...) and puffs.  You're doing a great job perfecting your pincer grasp.

This was in between bites the other night...Don't worry...I didn't make him wait long!

Playing:  You loving having some more freedom to explore the world around you.  You are still so smiley and happy most of the time.  One of your very favorite toys is your Hungry Caterpillar Colors book - it crinkles and rattles and you love it!  Yesterday I got down this cruise and crawl musical jungle that Levi loved.  I'm not sure who loves it more now- you or your brother.  He had a really difficult time watching you slowly move along the toy and take it all in, but you were both entertained for quite a while!


Sleeping: All of our traveling has changed your sleeping habits quite a bit!  You're still taking two pretty good naps during the day, but you are waking up a lot during the night.  Some nights you end up in our room, and some nights we end up in the chair in your room- but there are very few nights that you sleep on your own through the entire night.  We're gearing up for a few nights of sleep training soon so that we can hopefully all get back to sleeping through the night!

Here is a glimpse into what our little photo shoots are like these days...

We love you, sweet Cole!

Seven Months

Dear Cole,

You've changed and grown so much over the last 4, no 5 no 6 weeks!  Your brother has shortened your nickname from Coley Moley to just Moley, and the other day I heard him call you "Moley Baby".  Interesting...

Likes- One of your favorite things to do is watch your brother.  As soon as you hear him, you search the room, crane your neck and flip over so you can see him.  You especially love to watch him throw a fit!  It's pretty cute to see your big toothless grin (all while there is wailing and gnashing of teeth in the background!)  You still love to grab glasses (especially Levi's) and hair!  OW!!  You also love to hit things.  Daddy has started calling you Bam Bam!

Dislikes- You still don't like to sit (and won't independently) because you'd rather be rolling around!  We're working on it every day but you don't like it.

Eating- You are still eating six, 6 ounce bottles during the day, but sometimes on the weekends As far as solids go, you've had sweet potatoes, apples, pears, bananas, and avocado.  You seem to like them all, but I think avocado is your least favorite.  It was one of your brother's favorites!

Playing- You love toys, and most of them go directly into your mouth!  Some favorites right now are your duck, your squishy hungry caterpillar book, and your brother's puppy.  You have a puppy too, and you like it just fine- as long as your brother's isn't around.  (He wouldn't have anything to do with "the other" puppy either...)  You also LOVE your jumperoo.  You bounce and giggle and squeal, and it's one of the cutest things ever!

Sleeping- You are starting to work yourself into a new schedule.  You're taking about a two hour morning nap and another two hour afternoon nap.  You still like to have a little cat nap with Mommy at around 6:00 (or just as the timer on dinner starts buzzing!), but I don't mind the snuggles one bit!  At night, you're sleeping from around 8 until about 7 in the morning.  We're working hard on dropping that 5:30am feeding because Mommy does NOT want to spend all summer getting up that early!

I am so excited about the next few months at home with you and your brother.  We've got lots of plans, and I'm hoping that your easy-going personality will continue even with all of these changes in your schedule.  We love you sweet Cole!

This is what you looked like during most of our little photo shoot...

Levi

When I finally got around to taking Cole's six month pictures, Levi decided he wanted his own little photo shoot!  It was almost as easy to take his pictures as was Cole's!  :)

Silly faces

 Standing on his head

 Planking...sort of...

Sweet brothers

#1 Draft Pick

Cole- Draft Day 2013

Levi- Draft Day 2010

Six Months

Dear Cole,

It is hard to believe that you have already reached half a year!  Taking your pictures this month was a little bit more challenging.  You didn't want to sit still for even a few seconds!  You are such a joy and still so low-key and relaxed most of the time.  You weighed 14 lbs, 6 oz at the doctor this month.  You are still wearing size 2 diapers and 0-3 month clothes.

Likes:  You love to watch Levi play, and if he's sitting close enough, you love to reach for his hair and glasses.  You also like to watch your brother throw a fit!  You smile and kick your feet while he screams and kicks his feet!  You are a mover and a shaker- always reaching or rolling for something.  So much so that you don't want to sit still for anything.  You still won't sit up on your own, but you are getting up on your hands and knees rocking back and forth like you're going to start crawling or scooting soon.
       
Dislikes:  You have become quite an eater, and you will certainly let us know if you're hungry.  When I'm feeding you solids you scream in between each bite.  The carseat doesn't seem to bother you as much these days but it's still not a favorite.  You don't like sitting.  As soon as I prop you up, you turn around and roll over looking for something to watch or play with.

Eating: You are still eating about 6 ounces every three hours.  In the last few days, you've started acting like 6 ounces isn't enough, so a few times we've bumped you up to 8 ounces.  You've gained almost 4 pounds in the last few months, so the doctor has said we can go back to the regular formula (instead of the high calorie preemie formula!)  We're also excited to start adding in some real foods.  I think Levi may be most excited about this.  He tried to share his graham cracker with you the other day.  :)  So far you've had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and bananas, and you've liked them all.

Playing: You still love to people watch.  You have especially loved putting toys/hands/burp rags (or whatever you can find!) in your mouth over the last few weeks.  You have also become even more vocal.  You love to take your paci out of your mouth and talk to it and play with it.  I've even found you in your crib smiling and talking to your paci!

Sleeping: Most days you still take a pretty good nap between most of your feedings, but I think we're moving towards just two (or sometimes 3) naps a day.  You will usually take a little cat nap in the evening.  At night, you usually go to bed between 8 and 8:30 and sleep until about 7 in the morning.  Some nights you sleep through the night and other nights you wake up a few times.  You and your brother like to take turns waking up!  I wake you up for what is basically a dream feed at about 5:30 in the morning.  (This helps make Daddy's morning a little bit easier.)

Hey Mom- Look what I can do!

We love you sweet Cole and are so thankful for you!
Love,
Mommy