November and Thanksgiving 2010

November was a busy month! We started off with an adults weekend away to Lake of the Ozarks to relax and unwind. There were 3 couples total and the weekend went too fast! Cohen spent the weekend home with Julia (our wonderful weekly babysitter). He, of cours

e, had a blast and kept busy all weekend!

The Sunday we returned from the Lake of the Ozarks, my mom (Mimi) arrived for a 2 week stay to help out with Cohen while Julia had some time off to spend with her husband who was home from Iraq for a mid-tour break. A fun unexpected treat, was that my uncle also was in Lawrence for 48 hours while performing a radio play at the university. Cohen loved seeing Uncle John and sharing an ice cream!

We had so much fun while she was here. She treated Cohen to story time, pet store visits, his weekly gym classes and much, much more! The time, as usual, went way to fast and we are always waiting for the next time we will see her. Here's a picture from the park!

The end of the month was Thanksgiving spent with Mike's family! His sister, Kelcey, nicely hosted lunch with everyone. It was so fun to have a relaxing Thanksgiving with everyone!

Halloween

Halloween was a fun-filled weekend. Saturday was spent at Pendleton's Farm, which is a local farm with a pumpkin patch, maze, and much more!! We went with our good friends, the Lawrence's, which you have seen their twin girls pop up in the blog more than once!!

On Sunday, actual Halloween went to our good friends house for pumpkin derby, bounce house, yummy food and finish the night with hayride to trick or treat! And of course Cohen was BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!

Fall Time Activites

Having a 2 year old boy means that we keep very busy, always liking to do projects, activities, exercising, playing, or something of the sort. So this fall and winter I enrolled him in a gym class every Wednesday morning and he LOVES it!! They start out with stretching and then go thru the "course" which involves trampoline (his favorite), rope swing, balance beams, etc. I absolutely love having such a active child and will definitely keep him in fun stuff like this!!

He also loves being on the phone and the computer. I caught him doing some "office work"

today!! :-)

On the 2nd of October we headed to the Renaissance Festival. Cohen thought it was fun. So much to look at and see!! It reminded me of when I used to go with my dad every fall, get the flower head piece, eat funnel cakes and turkey legs and lemonade. So fun!! He had so much fun

and was so tired that he fell asleep in the car with kennel corn in hand!!

And here is to a little friend gathering with s'mores!!

St. Louis

Middle of September called for a trip to St. Louis for Mike's sister's wedding. We had a great time, did lots of fun stuff, and celebrated a wonderful occasion!! Unfortunately I think Cohen was starting to come down with a little something over the weekend, as the following week resulted in a full-blown sickness!!

But, while in St. Louis we went to the zoo, some museums, and play time in the hotel pool!

Cohen's 2!!

Cohen's 2nd birthday was a hoot!! We figured this was the last year Mike and I got to choose what to do for his birthday, so we decided on a KU football tailgate party. It was so much fun, with great food, friends, and weather. We sang happy birthday, had cake and played hard. Then we had a little fall and gashed open our thumb, so had a meltdown, a nap and was in good spirits again!!

Thank you for all the family and friends that spoiled our little boy rotten!! Here are some fun pics of the day:

Vegas

I had the pleasure of taking a solo trip to Las Vegas to meet my precious niece, Paizley (oh . . . and to see Tim and Kinzie too!! :-)). It was so relaxing and fun to just sit, with no agenda and googoo and gaagaa over this little bundle. Paizley is so cute and such a good baby. And Tim and Kinzie are amazing as well. So relaxed and parenting totally seems to come naturally to them.

Thank you so much for having me for the weekend and I can't wait to get my hands on her again soon!!

What Cohen is up to . . . .

Here's what Cohen's up to as we close in on his 2nd birthday. Where he stands at 23 months:

* Size 4 diapers

* 2T & 3T shirts

* 18-24 month pants/shorts

* Size 6/7 shoes

* drinks whole milk, but switching to 2% this week

* Favorite foods: yogurt, apple sauce, meatballs, fries, crackers, and a new favorite - fruit snacks, Popsicles (pop pop)

* SO vocal that I couldn't even start to write down all the words he has been saying. Some that I can think of are: touch, watch, keys, juice (which means milk), beden (bed), daden (dad) - for some reason some words are ending in "en" - walk, water

* LOVES to swim and be in the water, whether it's the pool, lake, or sprinkler

* wants to take walks all the time. Will say "walk" and point outside

* counts 1, 2, 3

* remembers books very well and will read along with you

* plays his guitar and sings at the same time - very rock n' roll like :-)

* working on putting on and taking of his clothes and shoes. He's close . . .

Next update . . . Birthday #2

Colorado July 2010

End of July we headed to Colorado Springs for a quick weekend wedding. It started off rough with a delayed flight out of Kansas City. But Cohen was a trooper of a traveler and slept on the flight out and on the drive to my mom's. Again, we spent most of the weekend in the water at the pool or out on the deck in the little play car my mom has. Cohen absolutely loves to hang with my mom and seems like he is at home in her house. Knows where to find his favorite toys and get into things he shouldn't. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Going down the slide at the pool:

Playing in the car on Mimi's deck:

Ear Tubes and Michigan

July was a very busy month for us. It started off with Cohen getting ear tubes put in. He had recurring ear infections (6 in 10 months) and it was time to put an end to them. On July 1st, we took him into the Surgery Center at 8am. Got him signed in, took him back to the nurses for some paper work at 8:05am, handed him off (the most painful experience I have had to go thru in Cohen's life so far - and yes, i know there will be more!). But 8:15am then called us to the consultation room and by 8:20am the doc came in and told us all was done and everything was great! And we got to go back and see him by 8:25am and walk out the door by 8:30am. I couldn't believe how quickly it all happened. We walked back to Cohen and he was quite alert (at least more than I expected) and ready to go home. Since then, we have seen no issues. In fact, it is so nice to not have to worry or think about ear infections and wonder if that is a problem. The guessing game is over!

We then headed to Michigan for our annual trip to the cottage. This year was a little special because it was a Getz (my mom's side) family reunion, which we do every 10 years. It was a gathering of about 100 people, 4 different generations, and SO much fun to see aunts/uncles and cousins that we don't get to see very often. We were there for a long weekend, July 15 - 19th and spent most of our time on the beach and water. Cohen has become a huge water baby this summer and could live in there all day long. Here are some pictures from our vacation:

Family Shot on the Golf Cart (of course)

Cohen and Madison (my sister, Katy's, daughter)

Sharing Snacks with Cousin, Chayse

May and June 2010

Here is a list of many words that Cohen has started saying and repeating over and over again!!

Bath

Yes

Bed

Julia (our AWESOME nanny)

Mama and Dada ALL the time

Mimi

Memo (Nemo)

Buzz (Toy Story)

WiWi (Wiggles)

Dar (Car)

Apple

Bahaha (Banana)

Wa and the sign for milk (Milk)

Loves the Barney song "I Love You" and gives you a kiss at the approprate part of the song

Says "baby" in a sweet little voice and turns his head (I must do that a lot when I see babies)

And many, many more!

In the last few weeks, have spent a lot of time at the pool, parks, and always wanting to play outside!

Very good with the body parts and loves singing "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider"!

You can now have a full on conversation with Cohen - it completely amazes me. Sometimes there is a lot of questions have you have to ask him to get to your end result, but he will answer you as best he can. Say yes and no for things he does or does not want or will work hard on learning or saying the word. It is truly incredible how different he is in his communication in just the last month.

We went to the ENT last week to get Cohen's ears checked as he unfortunately had his 6th ear infection in the last 10 months. And we have come to the conclusion that he will/should get tubes in his ears. This is a VERY simple procedure - in and out within an hour and back to 100% and normal activity the next day. The gas him to put him a sleep and put tubes in his ear where there is a little hole which helps to drain any fluid that may build in his ear drums which then would come infected. The tubes fall out when his ears are fully developed (usually at about 2 1/2 years old). We are looking forward to NO MORE EAR INFECTIONS as it has been a long year with lots of trips to the doctors!! We will be doing this procedure on tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Will send an update once we are all done.

Also, will post some new pictures with that update!

April and May

Cohen is growing up so fast I can hardly believe it. He is "talking" more than ever and learning new things every day. Some things about Cohen as he passed 20 months:

* LOVES bananas (says the word too - with his tongue out on the "n's"
* Always wants to be in a "dar" (car) but up in the driver seat turning the wheel, pushing buttons, etc. It's a serious temper tantrum when we have to say no.
* Speaking of temper tantrums - we are a pro at those! Throwing ourselves on the floor, wailing arms and legs, fake crying, and wiggle worming around. And immediately stops once he realizes that no one is paying attention to him and he is NOT going to get his way!
* Dancing has become his new favorite. Anytime there is music he is dancing!
* Master on the stairs. Comes and goes as he pleases upstairs and downstairs
* Buzz from Toy Story is a new obsession. He could watch the movies over and over again.
* Become attached with his green minky dot blanket. Huge comfort thing for him (though it is not allowed to leave the house) :-)
* Favorite foods: bananas, meatballs, crackers, cereal, chicken nuggets, apple slices, french fries (who doesn't), milk, milk, and more milk. And a new favorite - Popsicle!
* Tons of teeth came through in March and April
* Size 4 diapers
* Size 2T/3T in shirts, 18/24 month in pants, 6/7 in shoes

April wasn't too crazy, so we had lots of time outside, parks, and getting ready for warmer weather. The first weekend we headed to Chanute for Easter. It was a great weekend with wonderful meals, Easter egg hunts, and family time!

Daddy and Cohen walking towards the pond

May has already been very busy. Beginning of the month, my mom arrived for an extended stay (almost 2 weeks) to help watch Cohen during the day while my babysitter took some time off to spend with her husband before he heads to Iraq for a year (he's a black hawk pilot in the Army). She arrived on the 4th and then her and I headed to Las Vegas on the 7th for the weekend to celebrate the baby shower for Tim and Kinzie's arrival end of June - Miss Paizley! It was great spending the weekend with Katy, Tim, and my mom. Here is a group shot:

Mom and I flew back to Kansas on Mother's Day and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon resting and putting our feet up. Mom was with us the remainder of the week. She got lots of quality time with Cohen and she became obsessed with her. Following her and always wondering where she was and yelling "Bailey (mom's dog) and MiMi (Mom's nickname" (Keep in mind that Bailey came out a little distorted with the tongue out on the l). It was great having her here and she spoiled us all and nicely gave Mike and I the opportunity for nights out a few times! She sadly left us on the 16th. I'll try to see if I can find a picture of our time with Mom here. But any time you bring the camera out, Cohen HAS to put his hands on it and you never actually get a shot!

Cohen loves singing as well . . . . here is his first singing video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXQoyGo5MOs

18 months old!

Holy cow . . . I just realized it has been almost 2 months since our last post!! So much has happened that I don't even know where to start!

February started a new lifestyle for us with me going back to work part-time in preparation for full-time in March. We have this WONDERFUL babysitter that comes to the house during the week to take care of Cohen and he loves her. She used to be a third grade teacher, so had lots of tools and knowledge to teach him some great things. Every time she walks in in the morning - he lights up.

Then beginning of March approached quickly and I was back to working full-time (for those of you not up to speed on my new adventure - see notes at the bottom). It has been a transition for me as I haven't worked full-time in 2 1/2 years. I miss Cohen so much every day and all the fun activities we used to do, but I am also enjoy "my" time and being back at work and learning new things and putting my thinking brain on every day. Don't get me wrong . . . I RUSH home from work every day to spend some quality time with my little man before bed time!!

Here are some stats on Cohen right now:
* Weight: 27 pounds (65 percentile)
* Height: 33.75 inches (85 percentile)
* Wearing 18 month pants, 2T shirts and size 5/6 shoes
* Still wearing size 4 diapers
* Will sit in his booster seat for hours and play with the buckles (unbuckle, buckle, unbuckle . . . you get the idea!
* Plays Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Ring Around The Rosey
* Walks up and down the stairs like an adult - scary!!
* Counts to 1, 2, 3 with his fingers (kind of)
* Finally starting to eat real fruits and vegetables . . . been a slow process!
* Dances to the Wiggles . . . song for song!
* Eating solo with spoon and fork
* Continues to suck (some of you know have seen this first hand) on his tongue when he wants milk and is tired
* Become a little attached to a green blanket - only gets very excited when he sees it. Hasn't been too concerned about it when not in sight!
* The letter 'b' has been the new thing . . . kind of says "bubbles and baby"
* Sleeping like a champ still. About 11 hours at night. And still varies on 1 or 2 naps a day. Kind of depends on how much Julia wears him out or what activities they are up to.
* Crawled out of his crib very beginning of March, by leverage of the bumper in his crib . . . so, needless to say that has been pulled. Hoping for a few more months in the crib!

My new adventure - Mike and I were given the opportunity to run a liquor store that our friends were purchasing (this is their 3rd store - so quite savvy), with the intention of purchasing from them in 12-18 months. I have learned SO much and am having a great time learning the in's and out's of this industry. It has been something that Mike and I have been interested in for quite some time, so appreciate the opportunity that was provided for us! Will keep you posted on progress . . .

I will put some updated pictures on later this week!

Busy, busy as a bumble bee!

We have been very busy lately and trying to keep active during these cold days. Which is hard to do when you have a VERY active 1 1/2 year old that just wants to run around outside and could do so for hours and hours. Here are some activities that we have been doing:

Open Gym at the Lawrence Gymnastic Academy. He absolutely loved this and didn't stop moving once until I put him in the car!

We have gone to the KC mall twice to play and that is pure entertainment because there are so many other kids there that he can keep his eyes on. This is his favorite car, the blue, convertible BMW. Better not be sign for what he is going to "want" in 15 years!
Today we went to Story Time at the library for the first time. He clapped at all the right times, listened pretty intently at the books being read. But again, was more entertained by all the kiddos there. We will definitely put this on our calenders for future Wednesday mornings!

About once a week we have been going up to the McDonald's by our house which just built a new "playground". We go with our friends Kyly and Anderson (14 months) and the boys play and mommy and Kyly get grown-up time - or as much grown up time you can get in a McDonald's play area!

Anderson and Cohen have become pretty good friends considering they get together and play about 2 or 3 times a week. Here is Cohen and his buddy!
Cohen has been "talking" a lot more. He will walk around the house and just chit chat - obviously I have no idea what he is saying even though with him I pretend I do. Sometimes it is into a "phone" (which could be a calculator, lego, remote, etc) or just at Naismith or at me or the tv. Mike and I just look at each other in amazement at how much he is developing every week.

He got his first middle molar this last weekend (January 23/24, 2010) and wow, it is a sharp little sucker. That is the first tooth to make an appearance since July! I have a feeling the others will start popping through now. He has a total of 7 now (4 top front, 2 bottom front, and the new molar).

Christmas 2009 And New Years 2010

We had a very busy December and made the long drive to Colorado for Christmas. Cohen did well in the car (considering the circumstances) and ate lots of snacks, watched movies, and listened to the same CD over and over again . . . drove mom and dad nuts!! We arrived, settled in and then had Katy, Madison, and Chayse arrive! Cohen was infatuated with Madison - following her around, hanging on every word she said, and doing everything that she was doing. They spent many hours going up and down the slide!
Monday evening my brother, Tim, and his wife arrived for a few days. They shared with us their VERY exciting news of expecting their own little bundle of joy in June. We are SO excited for you Tim and Kinzie. While they were in CO, we did a Cogswell Cousin night out - which consisted of dinner and drinks with our spouses and without any of our kids or our parents. Hoping to make this a year ritual to do at some point each year! Here is all of us at dinner:

Christmas Eve was spent at my aunts house with many, many Cogswells! Cohen did great! Played non-stop. Here he is in his Christmas Eve attire:


Christmas morning was a hoot! Cohen got into it much more than I thought he would. He would slowly rip open presents and then want to play with whatever toy was discovered!
We piled in the car the weekend after Christmas and made out drive home. Very similar to the drive out there, but once we arrived in Lawrence we were met with TONS of snow and 5 foot snow drifts . . . including in our driveway which was left unattended for a week.

Once we got settled in back home poor Cohen got hit with the stomach flu on the 30th. Then I got nailed with it on the 1st and Mike later that evening. So needless to say, the last few days of 2009 and the first few days of 2010 were no fun at all.

Here is a fun video of Cohen during dinner time "speaking" all that he has learned!
Signing Video

And another funny one of him and Sydney playing "Ring Around The Rosey". Sorry, the video is sideways . . . I always forget that I can't put that camera that way when doing video!!
Ring Around The Rosey Video

And one more . . . Aunt Kelcey and family got him this AWESOME vacuum. He is obsessed with it. This is his first time playing with it.
Vacuuming Video


** Sorry for not having the videos directly on the blog . . . I seem to be having technical difficulties and they take FOREVER to load on there! **