Birthday and water fun

I have been meaning to post this for two weeks now and have finally caught up on older pictures that I wanted to blog about. I feel very blessed to be able to be at home with Cole for so very many reasons and having fun other stay-at-home mommy friends to visit with is one of them! We started hanging out with my friend and her daughter when Cole was about 3 months old and I can't believe how much they both have grown since then! Lizzie is Cole's girlfriend, well, as long as he quits eating her crayons! Lizzie had a fun monkey-themed birthday party, complete with a monkey cake! After eating a yummy meal and cake, the little ones enjoyed some water activities. I had decided we would leave then since Cole hasn't been a big fan of water but, boy, did he prove me wrong...he LOVED the water sprinkler and then crawled over to where the 3 "big" girls were in the pool. He never got in the pool but enjoyed splashing on the side. Russell laughed so much when he saw these pictures (unfortunately he had to work that afternoon) of his son checking out all the girls in the pool!

Photo shoot

Now that Cole is a mover and a shaker (he has taken a few steps on his own!), getting a photo session in is just plain difficult. Gone are the days of having 30 plus photos to pick from....most shots are blurred as he tries to move on to something more interesting or involve a scowl because he's sitting still. We were about to leave to go somewhere the other day and had a few extra minutes so I thought I would try to capture some pictures of Cole in his baseball t-shirt and new Astros hat. There is actually a good one of him smiling (which he does alot during the day, just not for the camera!) and his new "ooohh" face! He looks like a "little boy" instead of a baby in these pictures so much which we makes me sad and glad. I'm sad to see him grow so fast but excited to see what God has planned for his future!

Me and Dada

I was organizing some of my photos the other day and found a few random cute ones of Cole and Russell and thought I would share. Cole still prefers a cup with a straw over a sippy cup which is good because it is one less thing we have to wean him from but is bad because he can't really drink by himself without making a huge mess. Since he likes straws, he tries to drink from every cup that has a straw or remove the straw and chew on it, even Russell's protein shake!


Even though he tried to eat his friend Lizzie's crayons a few weeks ago, I thought we should go ahead and get Cole some crayons to broaden his resume (sous chef, personal trainer, and now artist!) Despite our efforts to show him how to color, he only scribbled for a few minutes and then dumped out all the crayons and proceeded to chew on them. He hasn't quite grasped the fact that crayon wax is not on the food pyramid. When Cole does decide to use his hands more and teeth less with crayons, he will hopefully have Russell's artistic ability and not mine (see the nice forest emerging in the bottom corner!)

How to eat applesauce

First, you put the spoon in the cup of store bought applesauce because that is one thing mama hasn't tried to make (yet)....

Second, you spin the cup around on the spoon...

Third, you give up on the spoon and use your hands...

Last, you give up on your hands and just use your mouth! Accuracy, as in actually getting applesauce in the mouth, is optional:)

Just like Dada

Many of you know Russell enjoys working out and, with our tax return money, purchased a home gym so he can see Cole more in the evenings. With two fans going, it's still hot but not too bad in our garage so Cole and I will sit out there some because he is fascinated by the weights. I had to go get something out of the oven the other night and my little speedy sous chef has no fear of the oven so I asked Russell to hold him for just a second. When I came back, I had to go get my camera to capture what I saw! I guess my sous chef is also a personal trainer:)

1 year appointment

Wednesday was a crazy busy day. Cole had his 1 year appointment where he weighed 29 lbs and was 31 inches long. We bypassed his vaccines due to his allergic reaction to something (dr. thinks it could have been milk protein in yogurt or the lactose or the vanilla flavoring or one of the additives or even the packaging!) last weekend but will probably get a few of them at his next check-up (still not convinced on the necessity of vaccinating children for diseases (such as chicken pox and rubella) that are typically mild in children and severe for adults...why not vaccinate adults who don't have those as children?) Anyways, jumping off that soap box quickly for a public announcement: I promise we are being good parents and following doctor's orders by depriving our child the enjoyment of the following foods to circumvent potential allergic reactions (will try again when he is closer to 2 yrs old with hope he has outgrown his allergy): milk products (including my beloved ice cream), eggs, soy, nut products and strawberries. If you are around him, then please help us by not letting him eat any of these...not that that will be a problem as he will probably be busy trying to scrub the toilet with his toothbrush or eating random particles of dirt or grass off of the floor:) My mom is doing well after her surgery on Wednesday to remove her possibly cancerous (is that spelled right?) thyroid and is enjoying soft, cold ice cream as part of her recovery! Continued prayers for a speedy recovery are greatly appreciated! Cole has not gotten to see Nana yet and will hopefully not try to poke at her awesome and somewhat gruesome scar on her neck if he sits in her lap...not sure if we will let him get that close to her yet. To start off the 4th of July weekend right, I thought I would end with some pictures of Cole representing America in his blue jean diaper and John Deere gear! Have a fun and safe weekend!

First and Last

Saturday was going to be a"getting things done around the house" day with Russell at work and alot of my family and friends out of town. I had bought Cole some organic baby yogurt but hadn't given him any yet as we have been busy with this or that and was nervous it might give him a tummy ache. I have been suspicious of a milk allergy since whenever I drink milk or eat ice cream, it seems to effect my breastmilk (yes, I used the "b" word on my blog) and he has extra yucky diapers, an irritated bum and even a little blood in his diaper. I have cut back on my dairy consumption and have found eating cheese or yogurt doesn't seem to bother Cole as they are considered the least allergenic dairy products. Since he isn't a big fan of meat products, I thought I would try the yogurt to give him another source of protein. Well, his first (and last) try of yogurt resulted in hives after 5-6 bites. I didn't notice them at first as there were only a few where yogurt had touched his chin and chest but saw them when I took a picture with my phone to show Russell that he seemed to like yogurt (ironic I know). Honestly, I thought it was just a drool rash because he has been drooling alot and chewing on everything to cut his molars. But as I watched him eat some cheerios, the redness spread and then he rubbed his eye (he was getting ready for his morning nap and was tired) with a yogurt covered hand and that eye turned red. After a few more minutes (despite me cleaning him off), his face and chest were covered with hives and his red eye was swelling. I called Russell, then the nurse hotline with our insurance who asked if he had facial swelling and by then his mouth area was a little swollen but he was playing like nothing was wrong. She was very helpful and encouraged me to do contact my dr. and do what I thought I needed to after that. I was trying to stay calm but when he started rubbing his throat and coughing a little I panicked (did the hives on his throat itch or was it swelling shut?!), and we made our first (and hopefully last) trip to the emergency room. They admitted us and gave him a good look over very quickly and didn't laugh at me for being an over-paranoid first-time mom bringing in a naked child (why let a 1 yr old eat who uses his food as hair gel eat in more than a diaper?) dressed in her house clothes with no make-up on and a 1980's blue fabric scrunchy in her hair and saying things like "I thought yogurt was supposed to be healthy". Luckily, he wasn't swelling anywhere else and an oral dose of Benadryl (which he spit back at the nurse despite her telling me how to get him to swallow it after me telling her he always spits medicine up) cleared him up and he has been fine since. We have his one year check-up this Wednesday where I'm sure my doctor is going to love my 8.2 million questions I have lined up to ask her on top of my other questions (such as "I read children outgrow milk allergies, so when should we try milk again?" and "I read children allergic to one thing are morely likely to be allergic to other foods so should we try soy, eggs, strawberries?" and "Do we need an epi-pen" and my favorite, "How much alcohol can a 150 lb (give or take 15-20 lbs) 28 yr old woman consume without it affecting her breastmilk to calm her nerves after experiencing a mild child-induced heart attack?"). I will end with a few pictures of Cole looking adorable to let ya'll know he is ok before I go make me a margarita!