15 Months!

Cohen is 15 months old and acting like a little boy more and more every day! Today at his appointment his stats read: 32.75 inches tall (91%), 25 pounds (58%), and 18 inch head circumference (13%)! VERY tall for his age and average for his weight!

* Gives lots of hugs and kisses (especially to Naismith)
* Loves to read - backs up to sit in your lap or will sit on the floor and just flip through books for hours
* Copies the "peeee ewwww" and plugs his nose
* Say mama, dada, uh oh, oh wow
* Signs "more", "please", "all done", and "fish"
* Sings along to Old McDonald by say "eeeiiiieeeiiiiooooo"! (is that how you would write it! :-))
* Become very good with animal noises - dog, kitten, cow, monkey (his favorite), lion, elephant, and pig
*Favorite food: mac n' cheese, meatballs, chicken nuggets, crackers, gold fish, yogurt, bananas
* Still sucks on his tongue with tired and wants milk
* Size 4 diapers and 18-24 month clothes
* Had his first professional haircut on the 13th of December
* Love to play tug-a-war with Naismith
* Starting drinking out of a straw tonight (December 16th)!!

October Fun!

October has been a very busy month! At the beginning of the month, I went solo out to California to meet my new niece, Chayse, and visit Madison (and of course my sister). It was a great 4 days of bonding with my nieces and sister.
Cohen and I then flew out to Colorado to visit Mimi Marty for a week. We got to play in the snow, play with new toys and just relax. Here is a picture or two.
We got back to Kansas the day before Halloween. We had a very busy day on Halloween, filled with the pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating on Mass Street, and then a fire pit party with friends. As you can see from the last picture . . . Cohen was a monkey for Halloween!

Cohen's has been doing:
* Rolling of the tongue noise
* "Jumping" and "Marching"
* Learning to brush his teeth
* Makes a monkey noise, dog noise, learning cow and cat
* Learning body parts . . . still confused on a few!
* Signing "more" and still learning "please" and "thank you"
* Bringing you things when you ask for it
* Pointing to things he wants and making a seal noise as his version of talking
* In to "The Wiggles" and "Barney"
* Very good and opening and closing things and learning what buttons do
* Play tug-a-war and fetch with Naismith. They are still best friends!
* Learning to drink out of a water bottle on his own . . . tends to get a mouth full and cough a little, but still learning!

Cohen's 1st Birthday!

Cohen is one year old . . . where has the time gone! I feel like it was just yesterday that Mike and I were headed to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning and welcomed our little bundle of joy a few hours later! We had a wonderful birthday celebration . . . my mom flew in for the occassion and a few extra days. We had a KU themed party, with a bucket hat (since he hates any other types of hats), cake, bbq, and lots of new toys! Here are some pics of the day:
A few days later, Cohen had his 1 year appointment with the pediatrician. No fun because he had 4 shots and his finger pricked to be checked for anemia (which apparently they do at 9 or 12 months). He was a trooper and cried briefly while being poked, but calmed immediately once I picked him up! His stats are: 30.5 inches (73 %), 22 lbs and 11 oz (49%), and 17.5 inches head circ (6%)!

Some new things that Cohen is doing lately is:
* Car seat is now forward facing
* Says "woof woof" (kind of) and really says that for any animal
* Blows kisses
* Wiggles his fingers in him mouth when we say "brush teeth"
* Drinking all whole milk . . . no more formula!
* Eats very well, breakfast is his favorite meal
* Walking like a champ, holds his hands up like he is "under arrest" :-)
* Still loves peek-a-boo
* Holds his hand up to his ear when he hears the phone ring or I am on the phone
* Gets grumpy when I take something away from him that he's not supposed to have
* Whenever he hears patty cake, he immediately claps his hands
* Still loves reading books, he would sit all day and do it. Goes to bed with a book and wakes up and reads for a few minutes before he is ready for me to come get him!
* Hates wearing shoes. Really working on it, since walking outside so much right now

So many changes . . .

I can't believe how much Cohen has changed in just the last month of being in Kansas!! Some new things he is up to:

* Walking - took about 15 steps on August 28th and hasn't stopped since then!
* Loves to play peek-a-boo
* Fake laughs all the time - if he sees Mike or I laugh he will too
* Drinking whole regular milk . . . NO more formula! YEAH!!
* Loves to snack, breakfast is his favorite meal!
* He could read all day. Loves to read before bed time, nap time and all the time in between. Goes to bed with a book too!

His 1st birthday is right around the corner! Will definitely have a new post with details and pictures after that!

What we've been up to . . .

Well since returning from Michigan and Aspen we have been very busy and made the move back to Lawrence, KS for a wonderful job opportunity for Mike! It is nice to be back and a little weird at the same time. Last time I lived here, it was completely different and my lifestyle was quit opposite (to say the least). Below is a picture of Cohen and Sydney (Beth and Christian's one year old) and Cohen in his new favorite "ride"!

Some new things that Cohen has been up to:
* New sounds with "talking" - n's, d's, p's
* Slowly experimenting with walking. Walks all day behind things and only attempted unassisted help a few times, but learns that crawling is much easier and quicker!
* Eats all "adult" foods and LOVES to snack
* When he is done eating/drinking he just throws it over the high chair - Naismith really likes this one!
* Mastered waving "bye bye"
* Clapping (very quietly however)
* Likes the sound of his own voice . . . so resolves in screaming!
* Could crawl from inside to outside and back inside over and over again!
* Learned to climb down from things . . . feet first.
* Still obsessed with Naismith, but learned to be gentler with him. Even though I don't think that Naismith is convinced.
* Tooth #6 has just broken through. Now has 2 front bottom, 2 front top and one on each side of those!

Aspen

We had a pleasure of heading to Aspen the last weekend of July for my cousin, Liz's, wedding. It was wonderful and so pretty! We were lucky enough to bring Jackie, our babysitter from Colorado Springs, to help with Madison and Cohen. Unfortunately the last night we were there, both kiddos came down the something. Ending with croup for Cohen that took a long week to recover! Here is some pictures of our trip!

Michigan 2009

Michigan was definitely a new experience for me this year. No more sleeping in, reading multiple books on the beach, staying on the beach for 2, 7 or 12 hours at a time! But it was still a fabulous magical time and I was so excited to share this special place with Cohen.

We were very busy with boat rides, playing with new toys, hammock time, playing on the beach and non-stop in and out of the lake. Cohen LOVES the water!

We had to cut our trip a little short with having to pack the house and get ready for the move! Here are some pictures from our trip!

First ride on the boat!

Beach Time
Kayak Ride with MiMi

Daddy styled my hair on the beach!

9 Months!

I can't believe it . . . Cohen is already 9 months old! He had his appointment two weeks ago and is growing so fast. He was 20 pounds, 11 ounces (56%) and 30.25 inches tall (96%). Tall and skinny!!

Some of the things he is doing lately:
* Crawling all over the place
* Pulling up onto everything and everyone
* Fascinated with cords, fans, everything he shouldn't be playing with
* 2 bottom teeth and one coming through on the top
* Repeatedly says "dada", not sure what he is saying, but working on "mama". No such luck!
* New this week . . . his current form of talking is to make a "uhhh" sound over and over again. Joy!
* Walking along furniture and toys
* Throwing things
* Mastered self finger feeding. Not so much into baby food anymore . . . likes what mom and dad are eating
* Loves the outdoors
* Completely infatuated with the dog. Kisses him, pulls his hair, tries to feed him his food (big no no)
* Kisses have become HUGE . . . except his form is open mouth and then closes. Kind of gross, but too cute to resist!!

Playing on TOP of my toy!
Small waist + long legs = sagging pants

Assisted Walking

Cohen has been on the move NON STOP. Crawling everywhere, pulling himself up onto everything and all around just into everything! Today he had another milestone . . . starting to walk. A little assisted, but walking to say the least!

First Tooth and Vacation

Cohen's first tooth came in and we noticed it about May 14th. Could see the whiteness in the gums but he wasn't particularly crabby or bothered by it, so that is good.

My aunt, who is a professional photographer, did a photo shoot with us as a gift. It was so much fun and we got some great shots that will be wonderful to have for the rest of our lives. Here are just 2 of my many favorites!
Mike and I headed to Jamaica with our good friends, Christian and Beth, for my 30th birthday. We were supposed to go to Mexico, but with the swine flu issues we diverted our destination. My mom, so graciously, took Cohen for 6 nights. It was so hard to leave him for that long but I knew he was in great hands. According to the report he was very well-behaved and slept and ate well! We had a fantastic time in Jamaica!

Right before we left his first tooth started to pop through. And the second one was right behind it! Everything is happening so quickly! :-)

On the move!

Well, Cohen is officially crawling. And it is non-stop and all over the place. He loves his freedom and access to move from one toy to another or one room to another. And follow us and Naismith all around.

He had his first over night stay at MiMi Marty's on mother's day. He slept wonderfully and was good for her. It was weird for me to sleep without the monitor on buzzing into my ear, waking up in the morning without him and to be able to shower without him in his exersaucer right outside of the shower! Very peaceful!

Will post some updated pictures soon!

Crawling (kind of)!

I can't believe how much Cohen has changed in the last month or so. He is being his usual awesome sleeper that he has been since about month 5 of sleeping through the night from about 7:30pm to 6:30am. Mom really likes this one! :-) He occasionally has a rough patch of one or two nights of waking up, but does not last long!

Cohen rolls and moves himself around the living room like you would not believe. He has mastered going from lying down to sitting up and also gets on all fours and rocks back and forth. He is so independent and loves to sit in the middle of the living room and play with toys and move around for ever! He has also become more of a "little boy". I feel like he already knows how to easily get my attention and go after things he should not.

We have already slowly started to baby proof the house! Also, this last weekend we made the change from the infant seat to the convertible car seat. I can't believe he is already at this stage! It is quite a change, especially if he falls asleep (which he almost ALWAYS does on the car) and I have to wake him up to go in anywhere. Where in the infant seat, he could continue sleeping if he wanted! Oh well, just one of many changes to come.

I am LOVING this stage . . . he is SO funny and cracks me up all day long. It is so fun to watch him change, learn new things, and remember things. He repeatedly says "DaDa", but I don't think he means to and definitely doesn't know what he is saying. But either way . . . very cute!

And today . . . he crawled for the first time (kind of). It is more of a hop and drag. But cute, either way! Check it out!

Easter and Baptizm

This last Easter weekend was a big one for us. We had Cohen baptized, so Mike's family came in from Kansas, Katy and Madison from California, and Christian, Beth and Sydney from Kansas! We had a fun weekend with all the kids, watching them interact and play. At church on Easter Sunday myself, Mike, Christian (Cohen's Godfather), and Katy (Cohen's Godmother) all headed up front - along with 5 other kids to be baptized by Father Casey. Cohen did great and thought the water he was getting poured over his head was pretty amazing! It was very touching for me as this was the same church that I was baptized in and where Mike and I were married. It has a lot of meaning . . . and I know Grammy (my mom's mother) would have been proud! Thank you all for making the trip out to CO and being there for this special day of Cohen's!

Cohen and his baptism outfit!

Swimming

Cohen had his first swimming lesson this morning and it was so much fun. We are signed up at the local YMCA for the month of April to do lessons every Wednesday morning. It is a child/parent class, so we are in the water with them. There are 2 other kiddos in the class with us - a 1 year old and a 2 year old . . . so Cohen is the youngest. He did awesome and absolutely LOVED the water!! He had so much fun and had no issued when splashed in the face. We are looking forward to the pool to open and to head to Michigan so we can spend tons of time in the water! Here are a few pictures of us in the water!

Before Swimming

After Swimming

Playtime!

Cohen has been spending a lot of time sitting up and playing with all of his toys. He could be entertained for hours with his toys and just playing on the floor.

He is "talking" a lot more with new sounds and voices. Working on the "da da" and "ma ma". Everytime I try to catch it on video he becomes completely silent. So will continue to try that.

We are very blessed with him being such a wonderful nighttime sleeper. Sleeping a 12 hour stretch from 7pm-7am. Mommy loves this! Naps are another story, but we are fine with that as I value my night sleeping more than anything else.

About 2 weeks ago we made our way to Rocky Ford, where my step mother has a house and ranch and spent 2 days and night down there. Cohen got to see a baby calf up close and horses and bulls. It was very cool! Here is a picture from when we were there:

Next week we start swimming lessons. We are doing them at our local YMCA for 30 minutes each week for the month of April. Look for an updated post next week with info on that!

Here's just a picture of Daddy and Cohen playing before going to bed!

6 Months

Cohen had his 6 month appointment this morning and he is doing great! Here are his stats:

17 pounds, 13.5 ounces - 60% percentile

28 1/2 inches long - 97% percentile

47.8 head circumference - 97% percentile

He had his shots, but did fine. Just cried initially but cheered up as soon as I picked him up. Feel asleep as soon as we got in the car! :-)

Wiggle Worm and Cheerios

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to update the blog, so this one might be a little long . . .

Cohen is acting like a "little boy" every day. It is amazing how quickly they grow up and their personalities change on a daily basis.

When Cohen is awake - which is mostly from 7am-7pm - as he doesn't take very long naps as he gets most of his sleep during his 12 hour stretch of sleep at night - he is constantly moving, wiggling, arching his back. Just wanting to move. It is quite exhausting, but also so funny what a change it is from just 1 month ago. He used to just sit there, cuddle, etc . . . and now he wants to be standing (with our help, of course) or playing vigerously with something.

Another something that have we started - very slowly - are cheerios. Just to give him a little something. He really enjoys it and it is funny to watch him try to figure out what he is supposed to do with it. He has also been introduced to a sippy cup (with 1/2 apple juice, 1/2 water) occassionally. He is actually very good at it . . . and enjoys giving it a try and chewing on the spout!

As I mentioned in the previous post, he had mastered the back to belly flip . . . well now he has mostly mastered the belly to back flip. He does it a little awkwardly and everytime I am afraid he is going to break his arm, but he makes his way over and with both arms free. With all of his movements it is kind of a guessing game to see what direction and where in his crib he may be in the morning - middle, corner, twisted around, etc.

Katy and Madison were here for a week right after Mike's 30th and we met our dad up in Denver for lunch and a trip to the Acquarium. Here are a few pics from that!

Cohen has pretty much outgrown his infant tub, so we got him a new "duck" tub and gave it a try tonight. He really enjoyed it and seemed very relaxed! And since everything needs to go into his mouth lately, he quickly turned around on his belly and attempted to pu the duck tail in his mouth! His little feet are already touching the other side of it so who knows how long he will even fit in this one . . . geez this kid is growing fast!

We have had such fabulous weather here in Colorado that the family headed to the park today! Here are just a few pictures from the day, but will send out more in the monthly picture album that I send out!

Happy 30th Birthday, Mike and more . . .

Last week, February 19th to be exact, was Mike's 30th birthday. It is so crazy that is already the year of the 30's.

Also over the weekend, we had our good friends, Christian and Beth, in town. As well as my sister, Katy, her husband, my neice Madison, my brother, Tim and his wife, Kinzie! It was so great to see them and have them see Cohen as it had been some time since Tim and Kinzie had seen him (since beginning of October when he was 3 weeks old).

As I previously mentioned in an earlier post, Cohen has rolling all over the place. He has mastered the back to tummy and working hard on the tummy to back. He can do it . . . but not as easily. I have seen him do it only a handful of times, and that is after a LONG time of working at it. Also, I know he is doing it during the night as he is normally rolling right to his tummy when he goes to bed and then this morning I went in to get him and he was on his back. It is crazy how mobile he is wanting to be so quickly. Can doesn't enjoy to sit still and wants to constantly be "standing", obviously mostly us holding him up, and sitting up all the time. He pulls himself up to sit up everywhere - car set, bouncy chair, etc. Pretty funny!

He is also smiling nonstop and giggling is becoming more and more common. It is hard to get it recorded as I feel as though he gets camera shy as soon as I point it towards him. But here is a little shot of giggling . . . until Naismith did a drive by! :-) I'll see if I can get a better video of him giggling and will post! (Make sure to mute the songs all the way at the bottom of my blog, so you can hear Cohen!)

Here are some random pictures of Cohen over the last few weeks:

Chillin' with Daddy with my Montana T-Shirt On (thanks Uncle Tim & Aunt Kinzie)
Falling Asleep After Lunch . . . Couldn't Even Wait To Get Out of Chair!

Cuddling with my cousin, Madison!

Flip Floppin'

So this morning Mike went in to give Cohen a kiss before leaving for work and he was on his stomach! Over the last few days, he had mastered the back to tummy flip, but this is the first time he had done it in his sleep and stayed that way. So no more leaving him on the bed or ottoman and walking away for even a minute. He is too rolly polly . . . and that is asking for a disaster!

Since Cohen's 4 month appointment, the pediatricain ok'd giving him cereal and vegetables and fruits. So we started with cereal, then moved to vegis and are now on fruits. He loves them and eating from a spoon. He is such a good eater . . . it makes it so easy. Here he is while eating prunes!

The last month we have had unbelievalbly amazing weather here in Colorado. We have had many great days, which resulted in us getting out as much as we can. We have been to the dog park a few times. Cohen loves it . . . there is so much to look at and listening too. Here is a picture when we got him, he was so exhusted, he fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

Cohen LOVES bath time, but he has gotten too big and long for his little infant bath, so since I wasn't prepared and hadn't bought him a new baby bath we decided to let him free-fly in the bath one night. He loved it . . . he could finally spread out, splash, and move around as much as he wanted.

On Wednesday the 4th, we were having wonderful weather in Colorado and decided to head to the zoo . . . even though I knew Cohen wasn't going to careless about the animals, it was fun to get out and enjoy the awesome weather! He fell asleep the last 20 minutes or so, so he missed the apes and hippos . . . but there will be many more trips to the zoo!

Four Months

Cohen had his 4 month appointment this morning. He is 15 pounds 5 ounces (61%), 25.5 inches long (73%)! He also got his second round of shots and did wonderfully! He's had a few rough patches this last week since his shots . . . I think he has had some sore thighs, poor little guy! The doctor gave the ok to start solids, so we will start with cereal and can gradually introduce vegetables and fruits. So that will be fun to see how he does with those. If you want to see the video of him eating cereal for the first time . . . check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAw-q4VtQxA

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Playing in Cousin Madison's Exersaucer

He thinks it's pretty cool to hold his own bottle (as you can tell from the smile)

California

Cohen and I had our first plane trip together and he did absolutely fabulous. I luckily had my mom with us - which was a great help as there is so much "organizing" to do as you travel. We spent 3 days in San Jose visiting my sister, niece, and brother-in-law. It was so fun to see where they are living and how much Madison has grown (even though it had only been a little over a month). Cohen was just entralled with everything that Madison did - followed her movements and smiled at her. She was so good with him and gave him lots of kisses and high fives! One day went up to San Francisco for the day as I hadn't been back there since I moved from here over 4 years ago. We went for a walk along Chrissy Field and then enjoyed a fun lunch!

Mom and I at Chrissy Field, San Francisco

Cohen and I at Chrissy Field, San Francisco

Laughing with Uncle Mike Courtney