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!