Funny Bones

Cole's first continuous belly laughs? Caught on camera! I was doing laundry and folding clothes. Cole likes to pull the toys off from his bouncy seat. I kept reacting when he would pull them off so he eventually realized this is a FUN game! It totally tickled his funny bone. I was ecstatic the camera was handy!

Feet, Babbles and Cars

Cole has become quite the talker. In just the past two days he talks almost nonstop when he's awake. He used to only do it when he was upset or tired. But now unless he is studying something new or distracted by toys, he babbles. What's funny to me is that it almost always sounds like he's telling a sad story. The other night when we were reading a book before bed, Rick commented that it sounds like he is reading the story (since he feels he most hold the book with mommy too).

Also new in his development is he now enjoys grabbing his feet. Sometimes it makes it very difficult to change his diaper now because of it. I love watching him entertain himself with his play and babbles. Despite the fact that Cole HAS rolled from his tummy to his back, he seems to have forgotten. I can't get him to do it again at all. Little stinker. But he does enjoy rolling onto his side from his back. He can reach his feet better that way!

My friend Catherine got Cole some super cool sunglasses. We have some fabulous weather here lately so Cole and I laid outside for a bit and later took a stroll with his sunglasses on. What a stud!

Rick left this morning for Colorado. Why? To pick up a new car for us (used to the rest of the world). I'm super excited to see it! Rick has been wanting a "fun" car that is still somewhat practical for a family. This one allows him to enjoy one of his favorite things - riding with the windows down - except this is ALL the way down. See for yourself!

Hope he makes it back safe. Although it's beautiful and 70's here, he said it's snowing and 30's in Colorado. Lucky for him the drive back brings him through cities he lived in while serving a mission there. Guess who I don't expect to be coming back in too much of a hurry?!

Oh yes, and the marks on Cole's face is because he really, REALLY scratches his skin ALL the time. Poor guy has eczema. I do all I can to keep it from getting dry and peeling and keep his fingernails short, but sometimes it gets away from me. It's worst on his forehead and the back of his knees though he has other patches on the back of his head and on his tummy. He scratches his head and tries to scratch the back of his knees but since he doesn't know how to get there he ends up scratching the tops of them. The kid was doomed to have bad skin though with both Rick's psoriasis and my sensitivities!

Photography and Sleep

The past week Cole and I spent time dealing with photographers and their crazy rules. Well, at least one photographer's craziness. She took AMAZING photos but unfortunately we didn't find out her pricing until the picture viewing. You have that one chance to order at discounted rates and the pictures aren't posted anywhere online so family can order what they would like. Well, the discounted rates are still ridiculous. The cheapest "package" was an 8x10 and 5x7 of one pose for $115. Usual prices for a 5x7 is $70 and $120 for an 8x10. Needless to say, as much as I loved the pictures (I totally got teary looking at them) I walked away with none. I just couldn't reason spending so much money on a couple of pictures for just the 3 month sitting when we would have another at 6, 9 and 12 months. The package with the amount of pictures we would want would have cost $600-800. That's insane. Even if I was rich I'm not sure I'd spend that much. What would I do with all those fancy canvas prints when he grows up? So I spoke with other photographers and we even did a photo session at JCPenney to see if cheaper versions would suit my taste (um, they didn't). We did a photo session with the photographer that took our Rees family photos last summer. She's great but she's also 8 months pregnant. We hope she can finish up the pictures and post them for family and orders before her baby comes. Keep your fingers crossed! But until then, we will have to be satisfied with my camera and cheap lighting. I'm sure you don't mind though! I'm just a photo snob really. I would love to gets some books on photography to learn more and be able to take better photos or do retouching after the fact, etc. Ahh...someday...

Cole is pretty much on a regular sleep and nap schedule now which is GREAT for mom. He goes to bed about 8:00pm and wakes somewhere at 7:30am. We were putting him to bed at 7:00pm but that just isn't sufficient time for Rick to always be able to see him or spend time with him even though he is tired at 7. He naps around 9:00am and sleeps for 1.5-2 hours. His second nap is about 1:00pm. He usually gets another small nap around 4:30 or 5:00pm but not always. I am LOVING schedules. However, I have issues with my sleeping. It seems that now when I nap while he naps I can't sleep at all at night. Grr!! So I'm just pushing myself to make it through the day without naps. He wakes up twice during the night. We were down to one waking but I don't know what happened because we're back to two. I don't mind though because they are short and he goes back to sleep quickly.

In other news, Rick accepted an offer for a new job at the Austin Country Club. So we've been making decisions surrounding that this past week as well. It's definitely been eventful. Interstate Hotels and Resorts made him a really great counter offer but in the end he just felt the decision to go to the club was best for now. I'm excited for him and hope that he'll be happy there. He doesn't start for a couple of weeks. He is however getting a new phone from the job and is UBER excited about his upcoming iphone! :-)

Now for more pictures and video!

Cole upgraded from his carseat in the stroller to the big boy seat!! He really is growing up too quickly for our liking.

I bought a couple of baseball type outfits for Cole but Rick didn't think he was big enough for them...ahem...just see for yourself!


We love Austin weather. We go from 80 degrees to 40 degrees in one week. How can we say we love it? Well, the cold and rain don't ever last long. We're back up to 80's! But the cold weather gave Cole a chance to wear this cutie outfit from Grandma Solotes!

Cole is very ticklish on his thighs. He even laughs when I'm changing his diaper because he's so ticklish. I was tickling his thighs with one hand while holding the camera with the other so forgive the shoddy views. Also, I think the music definitely needs explanation...we were playing with a Baby Einstein CD on in the background.

**I have no idea why I lose all video quality when I upload to YouTube. Any techies have any genius solutions?**

Progress!

Last Thursday Cole rolled from his tummy to his back. He did it four times but has since to do it for the camera so I can't give you video to prove it. Little stinker! But the same day he figured out how to use his hands to sit up in the "tripod" position. He starts out pretty tall but after a minute or two starts weakening and ends up folded over in half. It's super funny to see and oddly enough he doesn't mind it which makes it even funnier. Here are a few pics...




Yesterday we went to a photographer to get his pictures taken. He was all smiles and super cute so I can't wait to see how they turn out. Rick had the day off so he accompanied us and the entire day was so much fun just playing with my men.

We made tacos for dinner and had Cole in his Bumbo seat as we were in the kitchen. Rick first gave him his hefalump to play with, but Cole was more fascinated with the Old El Paso taco shell box. He is so cute since he grabs for everything now and wants to play with my phone, my ipod and whatever is beside him. (Oh and it was super hot yesterday and Cole LUVS being naked, hence the clothing-less attire.)

He uses his little voice now more than ever too. He'll talk to his toys and then as he gets tired of playing with them he'll get a little agitated in his cooing until it turns into a full blown "Get Me Away From These Creatures!" He cracks me up. His "talking" sounds like he's saying a long drawn out "Hi".

We started watching "Baby Signing Time" this week and BOY does Cole love it! The first time we watched he would look at the TV and then me (who was doing the signs as well) and finally thrust his hands out and looked at them. I think he knew he was supposed to do something with them but that's as far as he got. I think most of all he just likes watching the babies on TV. We don't really let him watch any television so it's probably pretty exciting in general for him.

Here are a couple of video clips of Cole!

4 Month Update

Just thought I'd post these pics taken of Cole after we got home from the doctor last week. Look at the rolls he's getting on his legs. He looks big and healthy to me so I don't know how he's only the 10th percentile for weight. I did just realize that he grew 2 inches in 6 weeks though! He really handled the shots so much better this time. However, he was vaccinated for "whooping cough" and oddly enough has developed a rather loud "barking" cough. It isn't all day coughing so I'm not worried...yet.

He now smiles and gets excited when you clap your hands. He also tilts his head and does his half-smile when Mom laughs. He knows he's dang cute!

And this photo just makes me laugh...he is one crazy boy!