Cousins

I know this photo is posted on Jefra's blog...but they are just too stinkin' cute not to put it here too!

Cole (6 months) & Cannon (days old)

Rice Cereal

Big day for little man Cole. Dad came home earlier tonight so we gave Cole rice cereal for the first time. He was a bit timid with it at first but after letting him play with the spoon (which he has been doing for a few days now - and yes, it's pink but out of the four colors we have, that's the one he picks every time) he got really into it. I added more cereal to thicken it since he really wasn't spitting any out and he did much better. He seemed to enjoy it!

Getting ready!


The feeding...(the video isn't uploading to youtube so a pic will have to do until I get it working)


Just look at that face! Oh yea, he likes it!


And, the boy slept from 7:30pm to 5:30am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, the video...

"Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits!"

So no shaving here, but Grandma Rees did trim up the boy's C-R-A-Z-Y hair today. It looks so much better. Thank you!

Chillin' in the sink (see the wacky hair - not that you haven't seen it before...)

Before we got the scissors out we had fun spiking the hair and seeing just how high we could get it to go! Cole was a little fidgety so it wasn't as successful as I would have like it to have been, but that's okay.


And the after shots...

The good news is he doesn't look like he has such a drastic bald patch now that the rest is cleaned up. We didn't want to take off too much because we still want him to look like a baby. See, he likes it too!

High Chairs and Bunnies

In preparation for food we bought Cole a high chair yesterday. Cole looked so tiny in the chair but seemed to get acquainted with it fairly quickly.


Also Grandma and Grandpa Solotes sent Cole an Easter package with fun books and the cutest singing bunny. Cole loves to watch it!

Little Cannon is here!

Our little nephew - Cannon Taylor Rees - was born yesterday around 6:30PM weighing 6lbs 4oz and 19.5 inches long! Exactly 6 months and 1 day younger than Cole. Mom and baby are doing fabulous!!

Doctor Update and Rolling Over

Cole's doctor visit went well today. Turns out our baby boy isn't as "tall" as we thought he was - else he shrunk a 1/2 inch in 2 months. Last month's measurement was just probably wrong as he was perfectly still today while she measured. He is now 25.5 inches long and weighs 15lbs 6oz. He has started this little noise that we thought he kept doing because it was new and different. The doctor thinks he might have a little collapsed trachea but it's nothing to worry about since he's not waking up with a cough or sounding hoarse or anything.

The doctor also feels it's important to go ahead and start Cole on food. She suggested starting with barley cereal instead of rice cereal since he has shown allergies already. I can also use Beechnut brand rice cereal but not Gerber as it has milk proteins in it. If he has a reaction to the cereal I should hold off but give him vegetables as almost no one is allergic to vegetables. He hasn't shown any hunger or calorie need for solids - he's even down to one feeding in the middle of the night. Well, actually it's more like early morning as it's most often at 4:00am. I love the longer period of sleep but after getting so much I have a hard time going back to sleep. I usually don't fall back to sleep until 5:00 or 5:30am now which doesn't leave me feeling all that rested.

In other exciting news, Cole will have a little cousin by the end of today! Jefra's water broke last night and she's already on pitosin to speed up the delivery. Here comes little Cannon - he'll be 2 1/2 weeks early just like Cole was!

Oh, and here's video of Cole rolling over!

6 Months Old!!!!!!

I can't believe my baby boy is already six months old. It seems he is growing up all too quickly. Everyday there is something new he learns or does that is different. I have a few little anecdotes for you - I'm not so hot at writing in a journal for Cole so this blog will have to do!

Cole will sit in the swing beside our desk while I'm working at the computer. He doesn't like to lay back in it so I prop him up with a blanket. Well, he discovered a new "toybox", namely our trash can before I emptied it! He was having a field day pulling all the paper out!

Friday night Rick and I went to a dinner and listened to Janice Kapp Perry and her husband speak. The event was put on by the Austin Management Society (chapter of BYU management societies) of which Rick is now the President-Elect. Grandma and Grandpa Rees watched Cole for us and Grandpa couldn't wait to tell us what Cole did on the piano. Almost every day I will sit at the piano with Cole on my lap and we will play. It takes his entire upper body to push the keys down but he loves it. He will even sit still as I accompany the primary children as they sing in church. Anyway, Grandpa was playing on the piano with him and Cole was moving his hands as usual when my dad says Cole decided it was better to put his little hands on Grandpa's and let him show him how to play. I wish I'd been here to see it (and get a pic of those two hands playing)! Grandma Rees has her own little thrills with Cole too. I've never seen it but she swears he throws his arms up in the air and starts whining for her whenever she comes to meet Grandpa as he's babysitting.

On Saturday Cole officially sat up on his own. I'll sit him up and try to let go and he'll be okay for a few seconds but it's me letting him go. Well Saturday was different. We were playing and he was sitting and holding my hands for balance when all of the sudden he let go of my left hand and then let go of my right hand and sat there (although a bit wobbly) for a good minute or two before he toppled. I sat him back up and he immediately let go of me. My little man - He thinks he's such a big boy now. He wants to sit up BY HIMSELF all the time now.

I'm glad he's making these developments but I'm in no rush to have him really crawl or anything. (I don't even want him seeing babies crawl or walk because I'm just not ready for that!) I don't think I'll be able to contain him though and he might just skip crawling all together. Sunday morning he was sitting and playing in front of this mirror. (What do you think of that CRAZY hair?!)

Cole likes to stand so I stood him up and instead of holding onto my hands I had him hold on to the sides of the mirror, when all of the sudden, just like he did with sitting, he let go with his left hand and then started to let go with his right when I grabbed him - NO WAY am I letting him stand on his own or even try it right now!! I need my baby to stay a baby!

The funniest but unexplainable little event happened Saturday afternoon as well. I was holding Cole on my hip as we were walking around the yard. (I was measuring the perimeter of the fence since we are replacing it soon.) All of the sudden Cole started laughing. I looked at him to see what was so funny but he just stared at me. I proceeded with measuring again and he started laughing - well he laughed SO HARD that milk came out of his nose!!!!!!!!!!! Cole doesn't really belly laugh very often so for him to laugh and then squirt milk was crazy exciting. I was dying to know what was so funny! Sadly, it could have just been a tickle in his nose from allergens or something too. It was hilarious nonetheless. Too bad I didn't get a picture of all that milky goodness on his face!

Cole will sit in his bouncy seat in the bathroom as I shower and get ready. I was blow drying my hair and when I turned around this is how Cole had rearranged himself in the seat! He was thoroughly enjoying sucking his socks and lounging but stopped when I pulled out the camera. I think I'm going to have to start buckling him into the seat!


And one last little fact - Cole will usually start crying - I mean REALLY crying - when he sees another baby or toddler crying. Since he almost never cries it always shocks me when he does. We were at a friend's home today when her daughter started crying because her kite broke. Cole was a mess he was so upset. He would calm down but then the little girl would start crying again and he'd start back up. My friend heard that babies that do that are developing compassion or empathy. I certainly wouldn't be surprised. Cole already shows many tendancies to be like his father - and Rick has the biggest heart and love for others.

Well, we go to the doctor tomorrow for his check-up (and shots - ew). We were told something today that Rick and I have never heard about Cole: that he looks big for his age! He's so light and small but he is tall and he does have sort of an older looking face - maybe because he's so observant. I'm pretty sure that's where the comment came from because trust me - he isn't big!

And just for fun - a close up of the boy eating his toes.


P.S. We can't wait for Grandpa Poling's Visit!!!

Cole's 4-Month Photos

These are scans of some of the prints we ordered. If you would like to see all the pics and order prints just email me and I'll send you the pdf file of the pictures and where to order them. I have all the pics of the prints we ordered on facebook as well as colepoling.shutterfly.com.

Excersaucer

Cole spent a long time playing in the excersaucer today. I think it was about 35 minutes! Thank you, Thank you Erickson Family for donating his new favorite toy!

Aunt Kylene and Easter!

Happy belated Easter everyone! It is actually my favorite holiday even though I have absolutely no decorations for it and we didn't do candy or Easter baskets this year. Maybe that's why it's my favorite. I like the simplicity of it focusing on the Savior. Although Grandma and Grandpa Poling sent Cole an Easter basket that belonged to Grandpa Poling when he was little which both Rick and Jimmy used. So now Cole gets to use it too! They also sent a super cute v-tech Teddy bear - which Cole already finds fascinating - and some cute clothes! It was a beautiful day here with fresh morning rain followed by the sun. It was just great. Sadly, Rick had to work on Easter so that was a bit different. I actually accompanied the church choir on the organ. I usually just "mock" play the organ since I'll skip the feet. But I worked at this piece so it would sound like it was supposed to with the feet and all. In the end I think it sounded good. I'm very grateful for opportunities to enhance the talents the Lord has given to me.

The best part of Easter weekend was time spent with my sister Kylene! It was our sister-in-law Beverly's birthday Friday so we had a family dinner on Sunday for Easter and her birthday. Saturday night Kylene and I made cupcakes instead of a birthday cake and make a cake stand for them. We got the idea from a friend of Ky's. Our ended up being a little "mad-hatter-ish" but we enjoyed making it none the less. The problem was we had to cut styrofoam so it was difficult to get it to lay even. But here was the end result!


Cole Update:
*He is rolling over more easily now (still need to capture on video though) and he doesn't mind being on his tummy anymore.

*We are slowly reducing his doses of Prilosec and is doing well with relatively little medicine. I've even missed a dose here or there and he hasn't had a terrible reflux fit afterward.

*His naps are getting more stabilized but this past week his evening wakes are totally different. He's been going down at 7:30 but now gets up at 10:30 for a feed! It makes me wonder if we really should start him on cereal soon. We are so reluctant to do so because he has shown so many sensitivities. For example, when we were having cake and ice cream yesterday, we gave Cole just a teensy amount of ice cream to see if he would even eat it. Normally, Cole doesn't even open his mouth to try anything as he hasn't had any interest. Well, he tried it and maybe had 1/16 of a teaspoon all together. He broke out in hives on his face about 5 minutes later! No milk for this boy! I kind of knew that since his skin will get really red even when I drink milk (so I drink Soy).

*Cole is also doing well with sitting up. He still needs a little support because he can't hold himself up very long and if he leans forward too much he doesn't have the back strength to pull himself back up but he is doing so well. I'm so proud of him! I boxed up his preemie, newborn and 0-3 month clothes this weekend. I can't believe how small he used to be!

*In other news, he is losing quite a bit of hair. He has hardly any on the sides or back now. It's just all on top - he's the opposite of an old man! It looks like he still has a lot of hair in his pictures because of how long the top and the very front is though. But here's a pic that shows just how little he has.

He has such a sweet temperament. He is calm, observant and happy almost all the time. Even if he is tired or hungry he will be so well behaved. I look back on those first 3 or 4 months and am so grateful those fussy colic days are well behind us! Oh, and I almost forgot - he likes to hang upside down.


Roll the Pics!

Silly Cousins

So Cole also has a fairly recent fascination playing with his feet. As soon as he lays down his legs go right up in the air so he can grab his feet. It's so cute. I got a couple of pics right before bath time the other day.

Jefra had her baby shower last Saturday. Jade and T were so excited to hold Cole. This was Jade's first time holding him as she had been very hesitant about this new little guy. Now she's all warmed up and ready to hold him. Cole loved her so that got her even more excited. Hopefully, she's all prepped now her for her new little cousin, Cannon, coming soon!

This picture cracks me up! Everyone is doing different things and looking like kids having fun should look - crazy hair and all!