Cousins!

Last Tuesday we were honored to have Jefra and Cannon come stay with us. Jefra spent Wednesday through Saturday taking a training to be a car seat technician. We spent those days playing with Cannon and teaching him lots of new things like how to go down the stairs properly,

put the rings on the stacker,

play T-ball,

mow the lawn,

play in the sprinklers

(which he didn't like so much),

chill in the pool,

and watch "Baby Signing Time".

Yep, we love our little Cannon.

He is such a happy little guy to have around!

Cole literally smothered him with hugs and kisses the entire week. By Friday, Cannon would scream and bat at him to get away. Then it seemed Cole did it on purpose just to annoy him. Oh boys!

Lyla is having fewer fussy periods and sleeping longer at night. There was even one night with an eight hour stretch! Yea for mom!


She is smiling so much that I can't stop taking pictures of her. I have a million but here are a few favorites.




Cole and Mom spend so much time outside that we usually come back in with itchy eyes and ears with lots of sneezing. Well, he must have touched something in the field across from our house and then rubbed it all over his face. He broke out in hives in a matter of minutes and his eye was almost swollen shut. He looked like he got beat up. My poor boy!


I gave him Benadryl and taught him not to scratch. He did so well after I showed him what his face was doing. His little hands would reach up to scratch and then he would remember and drop them - mostly by himself but needed some reminders too. The next day he was still a little swollen and started itching and rubbing the next night so I gave him Benadryl again before bed just because I also noticed he scratched the back of his neck so much the night prior that he bled! Needless to say, I am now restricting outdoors time. We still go outside just not all day like we used to.

So Jefra is now an official car seat technician which means we switched Cole back to rear facing. He has been okay with it for now. We'll see how he does the next time we have a long drive to Austin! Thanks Aunt Jefra for making us safe!!!

2-Month and 18-Month Updates!

I pulled out the infant playmat the other day and Cole was SO excited to lay next to Lyla for some fun. She was pretty thrilled to have him there too.

But pretty soon the fun turned into a cuddle fest for Cole. He first tries to pick her up and since that doesn't work he lays next to her and pulls her in close. Then he tries to snuggle with her like he does with us - on top of us - but that's not so good with a little baby!


(NOTE: So apparently, one of the time Cole actually got ahold of my camera for a minute without my watchful care he changed the video settings and this awesome video is VERY poor quality. So you'll have to look hard to see what is going on.)

So little Lyla is now 2 Months!! Her well-check went, um, well. She is now 10lbs 13oz. Cole wasn't this big until he was almost 3 months and at that time he was 2 inches longer so he still seemed little to us. I call her my little buddha because she is so cute and chubby like one. I love it! But after saying that, she is pretty average - 50th percentile for weight and head size. She's only 20th for length but that could change in a matter of days really. Lyla still spits up and vomits quite a bit in her sleep - a sure sign that the reflux continues. The doctor says holding off on starting solids has been found not to be true so is suggesting we consider it at 4 months as it usually helps with the reflux. I don't know. We'll see how it goes. She was pretty well-behaved during her visit too but I totally forgot to give her Tylenol when we got home. Cole always handled all his immunizations so well that I didn't even think about it. Well, a few hours later her leg was so swollen and red and she was SHRIEKING. She would try to sleep through it while I was holding her but even then she would wake up and scream. I felt so bad for her. I've never heard her make that sound before. When I finally did get her to sleep, she was exhausted and well, she is still sleeping and it's been 4 1/2 hours!


Now Cole at the doctor's office is a completely different story. He is crying and kicking the minute we walk in. I brought lots of things to try and distract him and once we were in the room alone he was fine but after someone walked in, everything falls apart. Poor boy. I decided to just give him the rest of his shots today (3 left) so we won't have to have any more until he is 4 years old. Hopefully, over the next 2 1/2 years he will get over his fear now. But the nurses handled it all in stride with both of my babies screaming at the same time, Lyla wanting to go to sleep and Cole justing wanting Mama and OUT of there! Can't say I blame him though.

And finally, as promised, the video of him saying "more". I realized today that for a few weeks now he's been saying "door". It dawned on me because he says it the same way he says "more". So I tested to see if it was right. I pointed to the door and asked him what it was. He said "Doh" just as he says "Moh". Eeek! He has been going "Doh, doh, doh" for DAYS. I just thought it was gibberish but it all makes sense because he loves shutting all the doors, going to the doors and asking me to open them, etc. Hmm...I wonder what else he has been saying...???



Whoops! Almost forgot to provide the stats on Cole. He normally floats between the 5th and 10th percentile for weight. Well, for all those who wondered if he really is getting enough to eat (because he kind of picks, although since we've tried to give him more freedom to feed himself and *GULP* make a mess, he eat A LOT more) he is now 20th percentile. Doc was very pleased. He is 23lbs and 32.5 inches tall (55th percentile for height).

Signing Time

Cole and I have been watching clips of signing time videos we don't have on the internet. There aren't too many out there but this by far is his favorite and asks for it again and again so I thought I'd share for all those interested. He has the "Baby Signing Time" series but there are a lot more videos in the "Signing Time" course.

Nick Jr.'s "Signing Time" - Feelings Music Video from NickPress on Vimeo.

Video Overload

So I finally was able to grab Rick's iPhone from him to download all the pictures and video he has accumulated so I could share it with the world. Since a lot of it is old I will just move on but here are some recent videos of Dad's time with Cole.

At the park swinging: I asked Rick why he was screeching at Cole like that. His response, "Because it made him laugh!" Oh. Good answer.



At Gatti's playland on the Carousel. Cole just looks totally bewildered on this ride like "what is going on?" It just makes me laugh.



Saying Lyla. Sometimes he actually says it and other times it's "lalala" and others just the "L" sound rolling his tongue along his teeth. He knows we think the latter is funny so he I think he does that one just to make us smile.



Cole's first sign was "more" and now he is saying it but leaves off the hard "R" sound so it ends up sounding so cute. I have some video to upload from my camera and then I'll post that one along with him smothering Lyla with love.

Today he realized he could actually say "Ball" and so has been saying it quite a bit today. He also can say "Peas" (he loves them).

His new favorite past time is looking at my family picture taken when I was pregnant with him and pointing to all the people. If he can say their name, he tries. He is pretty good at me saying the name and he will point to the correct person. Oddly enough, though he hasn't really warmed up to my sister, Kylene, 99% of the time he points to her right after "Papa" and he even says "Ka". How's that Ky?!?! He is trying to say "Jade" and usually can pinpoint her right away too - no surprise there. They adore each other. But his all time favorite is "papa". When he wants to play with the picture he points to the piano it's sitting on and says "papa".

More Pics from Rick's iPhone:

Cole and Daddy at Chick-fil-A while Mommy is in the hospital with Lyla. (Post edit: this is NOT Chick-fil-A but Gattiland - I used the wrong pic. Oh well!)


Daddy and Lyla a few days old. Amazing how quickly they grow!


Cole loves to be outside. I'm glad that most days are sunny and beautiful here so we don't have to have the battle of why he can't go outside. I'm also grateful for a fenced in backyard but wouldn't you know it, he prefers the front (I'm sure because there is A LOT to explore).

Here he is pushing his mower around. This mower turns into a vacuum inside the house. He drags this thing everywhere!


Yep, he's playing the cool card here.

Picture Post

Cole at the Park - we played with Robert, Beverly and their kids on Saturday. Cole had the best time ever. He loves playing with big kids. Jade is a little mother to him. I love watch them all interact.


Lyla chilling in between naps.


Lyla was sitting in the corner of the couch propped up by the side and a blanket in front. Cole was standing in front of her so she kept trying to lean towards him...so I let her and this is where she landed.


Aunt Kylene and our Princess Lyla


Cole has decided this is his seat too...He loves to sit in the bouncy seat and turn on the vibrations.

Daddy Day

Cole and Daddy spent the entire day together. This was AWESOME for mom as I have been trying to work on an actuarial project in between naps and playtime with the kids. Dad first had to take him to the doctor, which Cole absolutely hates. We are afraid he has a UTI. We should know more by tomorrow. But after that he got to go tie shopping and then off to Gatti Land for pizza and games. Rick said he had a blast. But to end it all he got to play in the water while dad washed his car. I love watching him play with the water. He gets so giddy. By the end of it all Cole was exhausted but you could tell he didn't want the day to end so he still fought sleep. Poor baby! I actually missed him today. But here are some captured moments while washing the car. He is growing up WAY TOO FAST for my liking!



(the video quality is very poor when I upload this to youtube as I was holding the camera the wrong way...)

Happy Easter and More

Tomorrow is Easter and it seems it came too early for me. I didn't get out the baskets or the bunnies or anything at all so it doesn't seem like the normal Easter holiday for me. I blame it on the daze of new mommy-dom.

However, we had an AWESOME visit from Rick's dad and brother, Jim. Jim was a natural with Cole and Lyla. I think Lyla attached herself to him. She was so cute holding his finger and snuggling up with him.


Cole has been having so much to deal with that he hasn't been the best of spirits, but he is an amazing trooper. He is getting all four 2-yr molars at the same time, new baby sister, new home and nap transition - all at the same time. He seems to be coming out of the worst of it now. But through it all, he LOVES his sister. I expected some animosity to creep in towards her but nope, just love. Aww...


I laid her on the boppie and he laid right beside her and put his arm around her legs. I was glad to have the camera handy.

I finally got a double stroller - just an umbrella one - but it works for now. I wasn't sure how Cole would like sharing his space but he LOVES it! He doesn't even want in his previous stroller. I think he mostly loves looking over at Lyla because he does it about every 5 minutes and won't let me pull the shade over her because then he can't see her. He pushes it back up every time. Awww...what a cute big brother, right?


We usually walk to get the mail. We used to do it when Lyla was sleeping because the monitor works all the way to the mailboxes (yes, it is further away than down our driveway). On our walk yesterday, Cole wanted to stop to play with these weeds.


You can see how pleased Lyla was with this momentary stop.


Lyla is growing leaps and bounds and is basically out of anything in newborn sizes. I can't believe how fast that happened because Cole seemed to be in them forever. Seriously, does this look like a 4 week old baby?


She's our little angel and she puts up with a lot as she is often left to "work it out" as I go help Cole or put him to sleep, feed him, etc.


And she is definitely keeping those blue eyes. I can't say this is the most flattering picture but you can see how blue her eyes are so I thought I'd share. And you can see she is getting lots more hair in to fill in the empty front. Yea! If her hair grows as quickly as Cole's, it will be no time before I'm curling it and putting in hair bows. (Yea!)


I've been kept busy this week and am thoroughly exhausted, but all in all it is such a rewarding time for me. I'm so lucky to have this beautiful family!

Borrowed Pics

Jefra got some great pictures of Cole and Cannon together as well as some of Lyla. See her blog for details but here are the pics borrowed from her blog - thanks again Jefra!

Peanut Butter and Bubbles

So I went to get little sleeping beauty out of the car while Cole was in the kitchen...


Little did I know that Cole can turn a half-screwed-on lid and within one minute I came back to this...


My first instinct was to tell him "NO!" but instead I said, "Stay there!" and ran for the camera. He thought it was hilarious too...as you can tell.


Cole loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but loves to eat peanut butter straight from the jar even more (thanks to Daddy for teaching him that).

Cole is just so much fun every day. I want to squeeze him every minute of the day and smother him with kisses. Some days he feels the same for me because he'll give me hugs and kisses all day. His new favorite way to give me hugs is from behind while I sit on the floor. I just love that he thinks he is surprising me.

Cole's new favorite toy is bubbles. "Auntie B" was kind enough to introduce him to bubbles and even bought the most amazing bubbles I've ever seen. Seriously, if you've never used Gymboree bubbles, you are missing out. They float around forever and you can catch them without popping. I think they have silicone in them or something like that. He squeals with delight trying to catch them or just running in them.


Cole is communicating more and more everyday. He saves his words for only the important things like "Mama" (which is for Mom or for Dad), "Papa" (Grandpa or sometimes Dad too), "B" (for Auntie B), and "Beebee" for baby. And he is just now starting to use "Dada" for Dad - Phew! But he nods his head yes and no with the "yes" being so pronounced and in slow motion it cracks us up every time. He signs A LOT and therefore tells us most things he wants. He understands an incredible amount. For example, if I'm feeding Lyla and he wants something that I can't get for him while feeding her, I ask him to wait until she is finished. "Can you wait?" and then he nods yes and politely waits a minute or two and then asks again nicely, unless of course, he is tired and then everything is dramatic and a crisis. I'm going to add a list to the right of the ideas or words he can communicate either through sign or words so the grandparents can keep up.

We had Jefra and Cannon and Beverly, Ally, Jade and Jeremiah visit for a bit this week. We had so much fun. Cole loves visitors and we loved getting together with the babies and visiting. Jefra had planned to stay the entire week but Cannon got a really high fever and since he was recovering from a recent bout of croup, the doctor thought it best he go get checked out. Cannon is such a calm and happy baby it was so sad to see him so sick! We are going to Austin this Sunday and Monday since Rick was asked by his boss to go to a conference in San Antonio. We are excited to see everyone again!