Halloween and More

Halloween was a busy day for the Poling family. The Friday before was Rick's last day working for the Austin Country Club. He turned in his resignation a week prior and offered them up to 3 weeks to stay on but in the end they decided to promote from within and just did it quickly. Good think that was the same day he got a final offer from the Miramont Club in Bryan, TX. We already had prayed about this change of jobs and cities and knew that it was going to happen and was the right thing to do for our family. Yes, we are sad to leave friends and family so close in Austin but thankfully we aren't going that far away.

So for the past few weeks (really since Rick's interview there the first week in October) I have been getting the house sell ready. I felt this rush that I needed to get it done quickly. I am so glad I did. So I've been painting and repairing and getting glares from the neighbors seeing me up on a ladder. They've scolded but they also chipped in to help when they realized I wanted to chop down a tree growing in between our fence and the school's fence behind us all by myself. I was grateful for their help there. I have to say I'm proud of myself for fixing the fence, painting the gutters and wood trim on the house, cleaning and organizing all the closets, etc. etc.

Okay, back to Halloween...Rick painted the chimney as I wasn't about to go on the roof. I'm not crazy you know. We also planted flowers, weeded the garden beds, laid mulch, mowed and trimmed the lawn. Then dad came over, who is our realtor, and took pictures. The entire family took a nap after all that and we woke up so late we already missed the chili cook-off at church! Whoops! We came in time to get a little and to see everyone at the trunk or treat. Well, in my rush to get the house done, I failed to try on Cole's costume to make sure it would fit. When I first put it on him he kind of grimmaced - especially since his feet were pushing, pushing, pushing against the length of the little pea pod! Silly mom! But I showed him what he looked like in the mirror and then he was all smiles and laughs. He didn't mind keeping it on even though he was crunched and a bit warm. He even complained when we finally took it off for the night. I thought he would have been relieved!



Cousin Cannon wasn't thrilled with his costume but he managed to crack a little smile for me...


After the trunk or treat we went to my mom's house. There Cole saw trick or treaters and had his first lollipop! He LOVED it!

So our house was officially listed on Monday and we had a couple look at it on Tuesday. Their realtor called my dad last night and said they want to make an offer but are waiting on an approval letter from their bank. Wow! Let's hope it is a good offer so we can just move on to the next stage. I'll keep you posted.


So ever since planting flowers, Cole has been dying to pull off the mums. So the other day I just let him. He LOVED that. I didn't let him pull them all off though...

Oooh, flowers!

How many more can I pull off before she stops me...

It's okay this time??

So happy to have gotten what he wanted...

Cole's 1-Year Check-Up

Well, we went to the doctor today for Cole's 1-year checkup and all is well. His growth has increased like it should so she was pleased with that. Here are the stats, percentiles are estimates:

Length: 29.5 inches / 40% percentile
Weight: 19 lbs 10 ounces / 10%
Head: 46 cm / 40%

He still gets little red dots on his belly which are caused by allergies but there were three others that don't fade when you touch them. They are little blood vessels that burst. She said this could be a hereditary thing from me because I bruise easily, but if more show up he needs to have his blood platelet levels checked. The burst vessels can be caused from the way I hold him or even his car seat straps, etc. It apparently doesn't take much just like it doesn't take much for me to bruise.

Also, because he doesn't drink a lot of milk regularly (soy though, he's REALLY allergic to cow milk products), I need to make sure I feed him salmon (good thing he loves it), broccoli, or even try veggie patties with tofu. I'm going to try to find some soy yogurt too which will help him get the calcium as well. The problem with him drinking the soy milk is it doesn't come with as much Vitamin D I guess as regular milk which prevents absorption of the calcium. I didn't realize that they didn't add it. I'll have to check the labels and be sure before I start feeding him those awful tasting baby vitamins. They are so stinky and make his breath smell all day long. Ew.

He had a short morning nap today which meant we went to the doctor right when he was ready for another nap. Ugh. He SCREAMED bloody murder just taking his clothes off to get weighed. I have a feeling he also remembered the place from the week prior getting his flu shot because any instrument against his skin made him cry out and grab me like they were pinching him. Holding him down for the shots was awful. He didn't even want to lay down to get measured so you can imagine what it was like getting him to lie down for shots! We opted to wait until the 15 month visit to get his MMR that way he only had 3 shots this time and will have 3 shots next time. I asked a lot of questions about the MMR vaccine and the possible connections to Autism. He's going to get the shot for sure, especially since there was a measles outbreak in Houston just last year, but I wanted to wait a little bit. We have to take him back in about 4 weeks for a second round of the flu vaccine anyway since it takes two doses the first time you get it.

Cole also grinds his teeth. A LOT! Doc said that it's actually hereditary and that me or Rick must grind. I've already caught Rick doing it in his sleep before so we're blaming this one on Daddy. I hope he stops it soon because it is the WORST sound!

Overall baby is healthy and on track!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Yes, it's been birthday time for the Poling family. All of our birthdays are in October so we got together with family Monday night mainly to celebrate Cole's 1st Birthday. I seriously can't believe he is a year old already. Rick had to work on his actual birthday, the 20th, so we opened all his gifts on Monday too.


Cole wasn't really interested in opening them but was a little interested in the ribbons and throwing around the clothes once they were out. This little man loves clothes. Every time he sees an open closet he must go touch the clothes. He is the same way while shopping. He must touch and pull all the clothes off the hangers. I think it's hilarious. Anyway, Cole was definitely spoiled by his grandparents, as he should be! :-) He has had a great time discovering his new things like this rocking horse and walker!

He ate a HUGE dinner. Seriously, more than I've seen him eat in a long time. It must have been the meatballs. He's never had them before and he devoured like 3 of them! When it was cake time he wasn't too keen on having a hat on.


But calmed down so we could light the cake. He didn't know what to make of all this. We were going to just let him dive in, but then cut him a piece. Cole is going to be a neat freak I swear. He is always shaking his hands if he gets food on them and didn't mean too. He also points to the food that dropped on his leg or foot or floor or where ever so I wasn't really expecting him to "dive in" to the cake and he didn't.

He was very timid about it like he is with most new things. But I gave him some and he liked it. He just didn't want very much on account of having filled up on real food. (yea!)


Overall it was a fun celebration for the family. As you can see Cole continues to crinkle his nose...


And he is now officially drinking milk. He chugged an entire glass TWICE today. He didn't stop until it was gone. His eyes were turning red, he would breath through his nose and keep drinking. I was ecstatic! I don't want problems with not getting enough calcium so this comes as a great relief. The trick? He likes it after sitting out about an hour. He doesn't really drink it cold or hot, just sort of cool. Crazy. He definitely likes meatballs. I gave him more on Tuesday and he chowed down. He loves salmon too though we aren't a fan of his fish breath afterward. It's worth it for the nutrition though. He is just growing up so quickly. He doesn't army crawl anymore. I haven't seen him do it for weeks. He also doesn't nurse at all. It's been a little over a week for that too. He doesn't even act like he wants any. But I get plenty of cuddles, probably more than when he was nursing. He has really become a snugglebug when he gets tired and I love it!

Thanks Jefra for the additional photos! Luvs to all!

Videos and more

So life continues...Cole is getting to be the pickiest eater ever. So we've had a few days of struggle. When he throws the food he doesn't want on the floor or whines about it I take him out of the highchair. He cries and throws a fit. We start the process again. It's getting better. Thank heavens! His favorite is hotdogs and rice cereal, though he loves oatmeal, peaches, bananas and sweet potatoes but is finicky about when he wants to eat them. I try to get him to eat other things like more vegetables. He is so strong-willed which I love and hate. I know this is just a phase. Besides, he has had a runny nose and more icky teething days so he's probably like his mom and pop and wants comfort foods. Poor guy.

This is Cole's new favorite expression. Uncle Robert just loves it. I think it's cute but it is usually accompanied by a high pitched whine which doesn't thrill me after a while.


His favorite form of entertainment - pulling out dvds, turning the dvd player on and watching TV like this.


Him watching Baby Signing Time ....he cracks me up when he does this!


Sunday we tried on the suit Aunt Jefra bought for him at my shower. It fit! Unfortunately he had a cold so wasn't in the mood for good photos. This is the best I could do. Still adorable!


I have gotten some cute videos of him lately doing some of his favorite things like riding in the laundry basket and driving cars. The last one is him mimicking Rick licking his lips. It was so funny. He kept doing it too. I love those moments!

Lilah, Lila or Lyla???

Sorry to all those who have been patiently (or impatiently) waiting the results of the today's ultrasound. You can pat yourself on the back for all those who voted GIRL! She was being very modest but then decided to help us out in the end. However, our DVD didn't turn out as well as Cole's because the placenta is on the front of the uterus and baby was snuggled up to it most of the time therefore, no good 3D shots or even much movement on the dvd. Oh well. Here's a great profile shot and you can see the placenta (the big blob right in front of her that is about as long as she is).

We already agreed on little baby girl's name, however we do disagree with the spelling. Rick totally picked out Cole's name and vetoed every name I offered so I say we should spell it however I want since he's picking out the middle name here as well (because I still prefer to have no middle name for girls). So there is a new vote - let us know which spelling you prefer. Rick wants Lilah Noel but will compromise with Lila. I think it's best as Lyla Noel Poling. What do you think?

By the way, the baby is still measuring for a due date of February 22nd rather than the 16th but I'm not changing the countdown because I'm expecting to go early with Lyla just like Cole. (Keep your fingers crossed, but not too early, K?) She weighs about 11 ounces right now and everything is there in perfect order. Another thing about the placenta being in front is that it dampers me feeling movement from the baby. I had been wondering about that because I feel her move but definitely not like I felt Cole by this point and it's really only been a couple of weeks when I should have been able to feel movement before that. Apparently, it will make me more "comfortable" since I won't feel big rhythmic hiccups and kicks as much. I've only gained 4lbs thus far which mimics how much I'd gained with Cole by this point as well. I'd like to not gain as much this time around but we'll see.

On a downer note, I think we are all coming down with a cold here. Ugh. I blame it on my brother, Ryan, who is a high school teacher and just had to share all those ugly germs with us. Thanks a lot bro! However, Rick did just return from a trip so who knows what he picked up on the plane either.

And By The Way. . .

We are past the half-way mark in pregnancy #2! Only 3 days left to vote before we *hopefully* find out what this little one will be...it's now 50/50 for boy or girl! I have no clue which it is either so maybe that's why everyone else is too!

P.S. I'm not a very big Halloween fan. I like fall and the colors and the crispness of the air but I don't like scary, oozy, sticky, webby things or masks so I'm not a fan of all that. I'm not big at getting into costume unless it's really dressing up so that limits what I usually do. I know, I'm drab. Speaking of drab...am I the worst for not wanting to do a huge shindig for Cole's 1st birthday?!? I mean, we'll have cake and let him eat it (he probably won't since he sort of has an aversion to sweets...but he did chomp down some cherry fruit snacks at my mothers yesterday...hmm). We'll have family get together and such but as for themes, elaborate schemes, lots of people, etc. it just seems like more energy than I have right now. That's okay, right?

Teething Mania...

Right after posting about how well Cole was handling teething, we hit a week of crying and sobbing. Poor guy. I didn't realize until this week how very little tolerance I seem to have for crying when there is nothing you can do to soothe the child or stop it. Sometimes Motrin and Orajel just don't cut it either. He's just unhappy. He seems to be getting his right bicuspid in as well and it is causing a noticeable swelling in his face too. Anyway, I'm definitely learning patience. It started last Friday but he gave me a breather last Sunday. This was him during breakfast. . . soooo cute.


He isn't sleeping well so on top of hurting teeth, he is cranky. Every diaper change is an ordeal this week. I practically have to hold him upside down to get it on. He won't even stand up for me to put it on and he screams when I start undressing him to change it. He started the same reaction when I go to put him in the carseat when he just wants to be held. That being said, let me also state how AMAZING he is at playing by himself so mommy can get a little work done now. This has developed while he is hurting and wanting mom all day. Incredible how they mature in phases in the blink of an eye. His new favorite hobby is pulling out his pajamas from his changing table. I don't mind. They are just pj's! The bottom drawer is filled with odds and ends like bottles, pacifiers, changing pads, etc. He pulls those out too but his favorite is the pj's. He will turn around and look at you and seems to say, "See how great I am!?" Goodness, I love that boy!

My little man is really too smart for his own good. I was talking on the cell phone the other day and he wanted to talk as well. After I was finished I gave him the phone slid shut (you have to open it to unlock the phone). He was NOT having that. He grunted a little and handed it back, and then squealed. So I opened it and he was very happy pushing all the buttons. My word! Yesterday he was playing with the dvd cases in the TV stand where the dvd player is also. Again, I don't mind him pulling them out because they are so easy to just put back. I was then able to do other things...like check email on my ipod on the couch. When he crawls over to me and hands me a dvd. My first thought was shock since all the dvds are in the cases, where did he get it? Then I looked at it and realized it was "Baby Signing Time" which was IN the dvd player. He had opened it and pulled it out and brought it to me right away. (I know because I had looked up at him just a few seconds earlier and he didn't have a dvd in his hands or mouth or anything.) I laughed and went and put it back in and we watched it. He loves that video, well, at least the first 10 minutes or so of it.

Cole also loves the swing. He usually squeals with delight. I decided to bring the camera with me this morning but it was a little chilly out which I think hampered his excitement but here is a short video and a few pics anyway. This is not a look of terror but pure of pure ecstasy!

Happy 29th Birthday!

9 Month Photos and More

So pics from this post are those we ordered from Cole's 9 Month Session. It seems we just had them done but here it is almost time to get the One Year! Just remember these are scans of the actual photos. Which technically I guess I'm not supposed to do that but since I did let me say something about the photographer. She's awesome. She's really good at what she does if you like the studio type shot. For the young babies, I do. We did some with natural lighting (see 4 months) and in the end with all the skin fixes for babies blotchiness, etc. the pictures we got just weren't his coloring really. They were beautiful but I think I prefer studio shots for babies and outdoors or natural lighting for older kiddos. Just my opinion I know. She is great at being patient, having a million different classic poses and backgrounds with new toys for babies to enjoy. She used to do it out of her house but just moved to Round Rock. Yuck. Anyway, the BEST thing about Lesley is the prints you get. I cannot adequately describe how beautiful they are. I've never seen a print like it - ever. They are basically like thin pieces of wood almost with gold around the sides if you looked at it from the side. There is not a print paper name or anything because it isn't paper. It isn't canvas either. But it's sturdy and the clearest picture I've ever seen. I will end this with a disclaimer: She's expensive. Had we not gotten 4 free session we would NEVER have gone with her. The prints, though beautiful, are paid for in the price.

In other news, last Monday I decided to try and give Cole baby Whole Wheat Cereal. He had some around 6 months but didn't handle it too well. I remember he spit it up. Well, I only gave him 3 bites and almost instantly he started acting sick. He got really pale and just wanted to cuddle and he whined while we rocked. I was so sad for him! About a half-hour later he seemed to be feeling a little better so we went and sat on the bed and talked to Rick. Suddenly, from out of nowhere he vomits (over me and the bed I might add...ew...) I threw him in the tub and started to wash him down while Rick cleaned up the bedroom. (Thanks Honey! So glad you had the day off work!) Cole didn't like the bath at all and jumped into my arms soaking wet to get out. I wiped him down quickly and got him out. He cuddled in his towel with Dad for a long time, then seemed to be doing a little better. I gave him some Benedryl and we started to get him dressed. When I stood him up he vomited again. This time a little over me but Rick caught most of it with the towel. (Thanks again!) Tears filled my eyes. How could I do this to my little boy!?! How was I to know such a violent reaction was going to happen?! It took a few hours before our little man started smiling and laughing and willing to get down from our arms. I was so baffled by this reaction because Cole eats wheat bread all the time as well as regular cereals with wheat in them, pastas, etc.

Well, we ran out of soy milk on Tuesday but when we went to the store I thought, "Well, he's had cheese and a little milk and hasn't had hives like usual so maybe he's ready for milk. It's cheaper and has more fat which is better for him." I bought whole milk. So onto Wednesday. He had eaten some lunch but was still a little hungry so I mixed up some oatmeal with whole milk. Again he had three bites when he shivered and grimaced his face like he had with the wheat cereal. I instantly stopped and waited for the sick reaction. I didn't really get one but I quit feeding him. I had a piano student come by for her lesson about 20 minutes later and about 20 minutes into her lesson Cole started throwing up. I was faster to recognize his signs and got him to the sink ASAP before everything I was wearing was ruined as well as the carpet. The poor guy emptied his stomach for sure. But this time he felt better very quickly afterward. What kind of mother am I?!? I was so distraught. I pulled the wheat cereal out from the trash and read the ingredients..."whole wheat, whey protein"...wait, WHEY PROTEIN! That's a milk protein. Oh my goodness my son is allergic to whey. That has to be it because why else can he eat cheeses and other milk products and not get so sick? Now granted, he never eats a lot of them but he doesn't grimace nor does he get sick at all. Well, now we know. By the way, unlike other instances with milk when he was younger, no hives, no rashes, nothing. Just vomit. Such a weird reaction for an allergy. Maybe it's not an allergy? He's definitely not sick though (besides the bad 3 days of teething we've had this week...ugh...just when I wrote how good he was doing too...)

In pregnancy news, I already feel as big as a house and every night I am so bloated and gas-y from all the day's food I'm guessing (just what you wanted to know, right?) that I feel monstrous before bed. I'm glad that each morning I'm back to somewhat normal. Still, I know I wasn't this big at this point with Cole. I feel so much larger in my hips and butt than I did with Cole too. Guess the second just feels different. Oh well!

And finally, stolen from Jefra's blog (Thanks!) a pic of Cannon and Cole. Cole kept trying to put his finger in Cannon's mouth but we failed to get a pic of that and we were heading out at this point because it was Cole's naptime so he wasn't too excited about a picture session. This is the best we could do. :-) Cutie Cousins!

And We're Back!

It seems I've become a slacker blogger. My apologies to everyone! So much has been going on and to be truthful the time I could update the blog has been spent napping. Even my house and chores are in need of an "update" from my lack of attention. But all in good time...

Pregnancy Update: Things were going swimmingly when all of the sudden I started getting a little cramping. Not anything that caused pain but enough that I knew something was off. I started to pay attention to when it started each day and it was when I was nursing Cole. So I called the doctor and they said I was probably dehydrated (not good) and that I was to STOP nursing him ASAP. That's always a risk when you get close to 20 weeks and still nursing that it causes actual contractions. More on that later. I'm having Braxton-Hicks contractions two or three times a day. I don't mind them at all. They just remind me, "oh yea! I'm pregnant!" And, yes, my belly popped. I'm definitely showing. I'll have to see if I can get a picture. Last night I was particularly bloated too and even Rick said "WHOA! Look at that belly!" Besides that things are great. And for those of you who think it's a girl, I might add that this baby is particularly low - often sitting on the ligament above my leg, preventing me from standing up straight sometimes after sitting down for a while. Still think it's a girl? Guess we'll see soon enough!

So back to Cole...I immediately decided to stop nursing Cole during the day and move him to just a morning and night feeding. I prepped myself for the worst possible reactions from Cole. When I had tried this earlier he would scream and claw at me to nurse and no matter what I did he wouldn't move on and be happy until he nursed, even if it was just for a little. He normally nursed after each nap and then would eat. So after his first nap he was fussing and did so until I got food in him. And then he was great! The same thing happened after the second nap. It's been six days since stopping those feedings and if anything, it has matured him. He goes down easier for naps (aka. not begging to nurse to go to sleep) and often falls asleep quickly while singing to him. He would NEVER fall asleep in your arms previously. Maybe the timing was just all right but I'm grateful. He nurses very little for the morning and evening feedings as well so I'm sure those will be easy to get rid of too. At this point, the morning feeding is more just Mom being lazy and wanting to lay down longer!

No smiles but still my cutie-pie!

Obviously, without the nursings in the day, he is taking a sippy cup and doing very well. He really only likes water though which I guess is okay. He likes to feed himself and hold the cup by himself too but in both cases when he is done he throws the cup or the food. So I'm not a big fan of letting him do it all by himself. I hate messes and broken cups.

He has figured out that when we are in the kitchen we are most likely preparing food. If he is eating baby food he will instantly stop and beg for "real" food. For example, last night Cole and I went to a mexican restaurant with my parents. He was eating his baby food just fine until he saw dad eating chips and salsa. My parents thought I was insane for telling them to give him a chip (He'll choke! It's too hard! He'll scratch his throat!) But Cole started fussing and begged to get out of the highchair. As soon as they gave him a chip of course he was just fine and ate it just fine too. I've learned that if he starts choking, you just get it out and he won't ask for that item again. If he doesn't like the taste or texture, he'll just spit it out, but you HAVE to let him try it or there's no end to his complaining. He just wants to be a big boy. So he enjoyed tortillas, rice and a little guacamole for dinner instead of baby food.

Cole got this little puppy from Grandma and Grandpa Solotes when he was born.

It's always been out in his play things but he just barely developed a fascination with it and particularly his nose. He will grab him, hug him and then eat his nose and laugh. It's adorable. I have yet to get a good picture of him playing with the puppy (which also makes barking noises which he also thinks is cute). He's just so quick to stop once he sees the camera.


Cole loves to play the "jumping" game (where he turns around and jumps - or rather falls sometimes - into your arms). He also loves to try to get away from you so you don't "get" him. He particularly likes this when dad holds him and can move him away really fast from mom, the getter. Here's a video of one instance. (Warning: I cannot watch this from all the moving of the camera - it makes me sick. So if you are sensitive to that, just listen to that little boy laugh. It's good for the heart!)

In other news, this week marks the official start of traditional crawling. He has lifted that belly off the floor and stays on his hands and knees. Now, he is faster scooting or army crawling, as some call it, so if he's in a rush he resorts back to that. He is acting more and more like a little boy. Cole now has two bottom teeth and is getting his top two. He has some bad teething days but for the most part he's a trooper. I also noticed a bump in the back of the left side of his mouth - a molar! Yikes! That should take awhile to break through. No such bump on the right side though. Also, he has "found his voice" and "talks" so much of the day. I love to hear his babbling. I try to figure out most of it. Sometimes it's easy because he'll point outside and start talking. I'll look outside and see a bird or know that he wants to go outside and we'll go. Now this past Sunday I wasn't so happy he was so vocal. At church, due to Rick's position in the church, he has to sit up front. Now, normally there are adults sitting in front of us so Cole has a hard time seeing his dad up front. Well, last Sunday there was just a family with a bunch of little girls sitting in front so he had a clear shot to see dad. This was fine until Rick started smiling at Cole. Cole instantly starting screeching for dad. Grabbing for him and standing on his tippy-toes. It was adorable but none the less bothersome as it was church! I had to keep distracting him and get him to look behind us or down so he wouldn't see dad and start reaching for him again and get loud. I wasn't really bothered by it because I love to see how much he adores his daddy. Just worried that he would be bothersome to others around us. I guess we have lots of years of that to look forward to!

On a totally different note, while Cole and I were on our front porch waiting for dad to get home I spotted this little critter. I don't know what it is...locust, secada? It was dead or dying but what the heck is on it's rump??? Any ideas??

And finally, I can't believe my little babe is almost ONE! 1! Un Ano!

Getting Bigger

Cole loves to be a big boy. He wants to eat anything you are eating, hold anything you have, be anywhere you are (which often means at your height too...which requires lugging around over 19lbs of reaching, grabbing and turning), unroll the toilet paper like you (except ALL of it), brush his teeth, etc. You name it and he tries it. This is a video of the first time I let him eat a banana without me slicing it. You don't see it here, but he often took HUGE bites and I had to fish it out of his mouth so he wouldn't choke. But no worries, he's got the hang of it now.

Cole is also attempting to stand up without holding on to anything. It's mostly because he forgets and tries to grab a toy with both hands. Sometimes he will be able to balance for a second or two but mostly he falls. He's cruising across the furniture which is normally fine except when he tries to do it along the dining room chairs. They slide so he loses balance pulling up and I'm petrified he is going to fall and crack open his head on the tile floor. We are considering getting a rug for under the table so the chairs don't slide and he can still play on them (because he LOVES the chairs and table).


His favorite toys are balls. He rolls them around and crawls after them. He likes to play catch as well. His second favorite toy is a leap frog pop up toy (as pictured). He would continually go back to it multiple times a day. He also loves big cars. He just started pushing them around. He was getting kind of bored with his toys so Jefra loaned us the bigger kid toys she had that Cannon isn't using yet. He's been enjoying them this past week and I am SO grateful!

I was getting worried about Cole being dehydrated. He started taking a sippy-cup more but it wasn't enough. So I decided to start giving him Popsicles (up to 3 a day) since he LOVES those even though they have lots of sugar. He gets so excited when you pull them out. He and I both prefer the Wyler's Italian Ice Pops. They don't get so messy and they aren't as sweet.


Cole still loves to play in his sink in the bathroom. He now has two bottom teeth so when he sits in front of his mirror he rolls down his bottom lip and wrinkles his nose and laughs at his teeth. He really gets a kick out of his new teeth. He had a few weeks there of waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning. He hasn't done it for a few days now but I'm pretty sure it was teething issues. We also keep him up a little later too. There were a few days we kept him up until 9 or 9:30pm but now it's settled to about 8 or 8:30. I try to go to bed as soon as he does since the napping has been irregular and the night wakings too. I feel so old going to bed so early but it feels so good!


I don't have a lot of pictures lately because this is what most of them look like:

Little man loves the camera now and wants it - BAD. And I don't know what is going on with my camera. It doesn't seem to want to focus anything perfectly anymore...so sorry for the blurries.

Baby News

Nothing really exciting to note but thought I'd fill you in on the new baby. My nausea has now ceased (THANK YOU!) but I'm still so tired and since I'm still nursing I struggle to stay hydrated and nap. I went to the doctor on Wednesday and heard the heartbeat again. The first time we heard it, it was about 154bpm. Wednesday it was 150bpm. I think Cole's was always in the 140's but I can't recall exactly.

We have the next doctor's appointment and ultrasound on October 5th. Yes, we will find out the sex of the baby then as well. Which brings up the next topic and new poll - Girl or Boy?

Chances it's a Girl: I wasn't at all sick or tired with Cole. Different sex or simply second child? Slightly higher heartbeat. Normal or Sign of girl?

Chances it's a Boy: Rick's father only had boys. Rick's Grandfather only had boys. Hmm...

What do you think? I'm excited about either option. A boy would be easier since we have all the clothes and the boys would have so much fun growing up so close in age. A girl would be fun because it would be new and we would at least have one of each already.

P.S. A gender predictor based on the mother's age at the time of conception predicts a girl.

Also, I think I forgot to mention that they changed my due date to February 22 when it was the 16th. I don't mind. The baby will come when it wants to come anyway!

Crying, Napping and Clapping

Well, let me catch you up on the advances of Cole. For weeks Cole was refusing to eat anything but rice cereal or oatmeal. He wouldn't eat it as soon as I would mix fruit or veggies with it either. Little stinker! So for days he was just carbo-loading. He still is hesitant to eat anything else now but I sneak it in. Here's a little clip I took when trying to feed him applesauce (which he previously loved). Such big tears...the crying sometimes gets hysterical and yelling begins. I tried not feeding him unless he ate what I gave him but it doesn't work. Trying to wean him from nursing has been futile as well. I just can't stand to watch him cry and fuss when really is it that hard to give him cereal and nurse him? Nah. So I give in.

Also, his napping is too short and nothing I've tried yet is fixing it and it's getting progressively worse which then affects his moods and his nighttime sleep. Dr. Weissbluth's book (the bible for baby sleep) says this can happen to babies if they start getting overtired and it gets worse until they don't nap at all. He is starting to only sleep 10 hours at night and wake up at 4 or 5 am. I tried pushing bedtime back but that seemed to make things worse, so now I'm trying to move it up (which is what Dr. W recommends anyway but seems totally counter intuitive so I didn't do it). We'll see what happens.

On happier notes:
One of my favorite things to watch is Daddy and "ColiPoki" (a little nickname we have for him thanks to John H. Groberg's book "In the Eye of the Storm") eating a popsicle.

Cole is so smiley now and his laugh is more like a grunt or growl when he is amused but not enough to give you a belly laugh.

Wednesday he waived "Bye-Bye" at the appropriate moment while leaving Jefra and Cannon. He's waived before but never at the right time. He's starting to get the hang of it. When we left the house Thursday I said, "Okay, we're going bye-bye" and he started waiving his hand. SO CUTE!

Another "new" is he started clapping on Thursday. We were snuggled up on the couch chilling out before a nap when all of the sudden he clapped. It took me a second to realize what he did and then I got so excited so he did it more. He has been doing it A LOT since then. He loves it! I sing lots of clapping songs with him so he probably thinks it's the cool thing to do.

He loves to crawl around the house. He still does it mostly on his belly but he's quick! He loves to be in just his diaper but since his skin is so sensitive to the rubbing on the carpet I usually don't let him. I did once just putting on his pooh-bear diaper cover. He was a mad man crawling all around. It was so adorable. I didn't get a clear video of it. Sorry!

But here's another little video of him playing.

7 Month Photos

We had pictures taken when Cole was 7 Months and just now got the prints. He didn't smile for any pictures during that session which is why these are just sweet ones of our boy. I'm sure the photographer wouldn't love me posting scans of her photos, but I just have to share.



We had pictures taken today with the photographer as well and did really well considering Cole woke up extremely early (5:30am) and I could only get him to sleep 20 more minutes after that. We had a tired baby on our hands and getting his picture taken isn't his favorite thing in the world anyway. But Grandma and Grandpa came and REALLY helped out to get some great shots.

Also, FAMILY, if you know you would like a picture from his latest photo shoot, please call us. We only have one opportunity to order photos at a discounted rate.