Self-imposed deadlines and spontaneous developments...

So I've been slacking a wee bit lately on the blog. You see, I was invited recently to sell at an upcoming craft fair organized by another local Vancouver Etsyian and I decided to sign up for a table! I figured it would be good motivation to make stuff, and I can't wait to see the other folks. Since it's smaller than some of the larger fairs I find it (conceptually at least) a little less initimidating... Crazy though, maybe, since I have more ideas than finished stuff to sell, so I've been patiently crafting during all of Cole's naptimes lately. I prefer to spend my evenings being lazy (aka sleeping or watching tv), so it's just the naptimes that I have to work with. But I'm making progress - yay! I've got a few weeks left to get ready - if you're interested and local, do come on by:

Saturday, March 21st
11-5pm
Cambrian Welsch Hall
215 East 17th Avenue (just off Main Street)
Vancouver

Anyway, the whole raison d'être of this post is to bring the world (and the Grandma's!) up-to-date with Cole's recent activities, since I've not posted for more than a week.

He's walking!!! He started walking last Monday, the day before my birthday, when he decided it was time to let go of the sofa. He had been pacing like a little caged lion around the edge of his play area (our whole living room, barricaded off with tubs of fabric and rearranged coffee tables) holding the edges of things the whole time but just all of a sudden he decided it was ok to let go! He can now take a few steps all on his own and he can walk around the whole room holding on to just one of our fingers. He loves walking back and forth between us too. He's unstoppable! He can also stand up all on his own for quite a while without going anywhere at all.

He's also understanding so much more. We can ask him things like "where is your barn?" or "let's walk to your books" when he's doing something else and he'll stop, turn around, point to them and then go off on a mission to get them. It's an amazing feeling to know he can understand us.

And he just learned to clap on Friday! We clap for him all the time but we didn't really practice it or anything and then all of a sudden he started clapping. I wasn't even doing anything particularly clap-worthy, like getting up at 3 am or wiping up food off the floor... ;-) He is getting really good at it...

Oh, and he's really into initiating peek-a-boo. We'd been having fun with it for ages, but I think he's realized that he can start the game all on his own and he will hide behind random things and then pop out and laugh, laugh, laugh when we "find" him...

More pictures of all this new stuff soon. So much of it happens when you are least expecting it... Or when I'm not willing to grab my camera and trust that Cole won't take a face-first tumble into the floor while I'm documenting his advances! I just got a new external flash (and then had to temper my excitement by waiting to go buy a battery and then spend all day charging it!) and suddenly the dim lighting in here at least doesn't seem like such a problem... Hoorah! I used to have a ban on in-the-house photos (maybe since I'm usually in old sweatpants when at home) but of course with a wee one so many funny moments happen during the regular mundane activities. Must capture for posterity! Pointing! Teeth! Adorable bowl-licking...

10 months

Holy moly, Cole is ten months old today. It's fitting that I do a proper round-up for posterity. I was inspired the other day by a friend's post and so now I present:

15 things about Cole

1. He's not walking on his own just yet, but we think he's close. He's happy to walk around the perimetre of his play area in the living room with one hand lightly touching the couch or chair as he moves. He walks holding our hands, and pushes his little ikea cart around too, when Jamie isn't giving him rides down the hallway anyway...



2. He is on a good eating kick again. He mostly eats food in pieces and can chow down with the best of them. He loves homemade pancakes and weirdo organic waffles, squash and yams, chicken and beef, kiwi, sometimes tofu, puffed rice, water from a regular cup or a sippy and tonight he had his first sandwich! Grilled cheese, but not the diner kind... He had the kind dipped in egg yolk with organic mozzarella inside wholegrain bread - he doesn't know what he's missing with the white bread and fake cheese... I was actually really excited to make him a sandwich - the first of thousands, I'm sure!

3. He loves to play the guitar with Jamie. He's already better than I am! ;-)

4. His favourite books this week have been "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", "Ten Apples up on Top" and "Animal Sounds" (he consistently points out a few of the animals if we ask). He especially loves the taste of "There's a Wocket in my Pocket". Yummy.

5. Cole just recently learned how to wave! It's not quite Queen Elizabeth's style just yet, but he does it with gusto and on cue...



6. He also points! He pointed before, but now he points at everything. He can point to me or Jamie when we ask him "where's Mama?" or "where's Daddy?", he points at strangers on the Skytrain, he points at lights and lamps and the fire alarm and all kinds of stuff.

7. He is a huge flirt. If you are a pretty lady, he will play coy for a minute and then wow you with a grin. And then he'll point at you and grin some more. I think I have a heartbreaker on my hands...

8. He can kiss! Only me so far (aww). It's an open mouthed kiss, planted right on my mouth (ish area) and there is a lot of drool and some teeth involved, but it's so adorable I can't resist it.

9. He is wearing size 12-18 in shoes and pants now too, but they're a bit loose on the waist. He's longer than he is round. Maybe we should start saving up for basketball camp?

10. He's very silly, although he might say that it's Daddy who's the silly one:



11. He has just made a huge leap in understanding, it seems. Suddenly so many things are making sense for him, and he seems phenomenally excited about his world.

12. He is a bit of a ham. I was too, so maybe he gets that from me along with blue eyes and brittle toenails? When he's not mugging for the camera he is trying to eat parts of it.

13. He loves tunnels, climbing under things, up stairs and over obstacles. He'll scale you just to get on to the sofa if there is a delicious pen or cell phone just out of reach.

14. He loves to rip paper. He will grab a piece with both hands and pull it in opposite directions with all his might, looking like Bruce Lee the whole time. When he succeeds in ripping the paper he makes a lovely chortle and smiles like crazy. Then he tries to eat it.

15. He's a happy camper. Still not sleeping thorough the night and we have our moments of course, but he is such a cheery little guy and we love him to bits.

Take that, teeth (and some random stuff about today)

Cole is getting more teeth! I've been suspecting it for a long while now but the proof is finally in the pudding. He is getting FOUR top teeth for Christmas! You can't see them well unless you tip him upside down and get him to laugh, which he certainly loves.

He's taking the teething pretty well, considering. A bit unsettled and quicker to fret than usual, but he's also nearly at Wonder Week 37 too, and my book assures me it's normal to be a little fussy before the leap. It's nice to be reassured. He is waking us up at (or - shudder - before) 5 am every day, so we're all pretty tired around here. But during the daytime, we have lots of fun horsing around. He's always got a smile for us - the ear-to-ear kind or the sly type - and I think he gets a real kick out of himself...

Oh, and on an unrelated note - check out the snow in our neck of the woods this morning:

Cole and I ventured out in the car, to get groceries and other exciting developments, while Jamie stayed home and did mysterious things involving wrapping my stocking gifts. I figured the main roads downtown would be easier to use than the stroller/bjorn/sled/skytrain or any combination of the above... All went well and we got reasonably priced groceries that are only accessible around down here by car, but then I got stuck in the drive thru at Wendy's... You'd think a business that largely depends on customers in cars would plough their parking lot? Later this afternoon I went out again solo to pick up some family gifts and had some random misadventures... Stepped off the curb on Granville into what I thought was solid snow and turned out to be a mid-calf deep puddle merely covered with icy snow. I love loudly letting out the f-word when nice old ladies are passing by, don't you? And I stopped to help a guy who was stuck on a back street on the west side. I offered to help push, but apparently he only needed someone to sit in the back to weigh the car down! Nice - thanks for the compliment? Thankfully for my ego it didn't work until another man-sized stranger joined me in the back and that did the trick... Glad we have front wheel drive, I guess? And, doing several three-point turns to get out of a parking lot, I backed the car into something that made that sickening crunching sound (not another car - something concrete). Said my prayers all the way home that I didn't do any damage - that would be three backing-up incidents for me in this car (yet the only three I've ever had)... Thankfully I must have just run over a parking hump or something... No visible damage! Hurrah for Christmas miracles. :-)

Adorable-ness

In the last few days Cole has really started babbling. He's saying one thing in particular that makes my heart melt - "mumum". Usually when he's very tired or hungry, over and over. Here he is last night after his bath, before getting his PJs on for milk and bedtime:



We're not really sure if he means me, milk or something else - or if he's just exercising his vocal cords with a new sound - but both me picking him up for a cuddle or nursing him seem to calm the "mumums" so I think he's asking for something... And when I pick him up and say "mumum is here" he smiles sometimes! I am chosing to think he means me, because it's just so adorable.

If you have older babies, when did they say their first word? Did you count stuff like mumum?

That didn't take long...

So, on Wednesday I said that Cole was about to move into a sitting position on his own, right? He was getting up on one cheek and leaning on his arm for support. Well, later that day he suddenly became able to do it all on his own! And for-real crawling? Yup - he's doing that more each day.

He can now move from lying on his tummy or crawling to sitting right on his bum. And back down again too! It's just one more amazing change that we've seen in him lately. He's making full use of his new skills too - hardly sitting still at all! He's crawling, moving, scratching and tasting everything. He's off in a flash and under the dining room table, in the bathroom or heading straight towards something that has caught his eye. Sometimes a toy, sometimes the remote or a magazine or a shoe... And while we're nursing in the side lying position, he'll turn himself over suddenly and try to crawl off the bed!

He also almost managed to pull himself up on the ottoman. He didn't stay up for long, but he keeps trying... He seemed as surprised as I did, that first time!

We've retired the activity mat that had been in the living room for the past several months. It served us very well, but he wasn't really playing on it anymore - it was more of a destination for me to put him for two seconds until he crawled off of it, so we've left him with all the toys, downloaded some Mozart from iTunes and installed a Skip*Hop Playspot in it's place.

The Playspot is cool - it's baby-safe interlocking foam tiling. It provides a soft surface for him to play on, although of course he does venture from it! And it doesn't hurt that it sort of matches our living room stuff - our space is small and crazy colours can easily overwhelm it (or me!)... I think I have to make some more bumpers or big pillows too, to protect Cole from the fireplace area. Thankfully it's a totally fake electric fireplace (what is the point of that? I'd rather be able to put our sofa against a wall!), but he does like to feel the chain mail curtains...

Mr. Curious is on the move

I've been so astounded lately in watching Cole's development. Right around the six month mark he made such a huge leap, both mentally and physically. He seems to be really getting it so much more, and his quirky little personality is showing through more each day.

He's also become very mobile! After spending the last six weeks or so creeping, he's started getting up on his hands and knees and crawling. Just a little lurching bit at a time now, often for exploring things and he still creeps to get around quickly. He can sit up for ages on his own, twist himself up into a mostly-sitting position from his tummy and he's definitely interested in exploring everything. We had a good time in the kitchen yesterday banging measuring cups on the floor. Nice and noisy!

For some reason, the bathroom holds some weird allure for him - he crawls in there every chance he gets, even though I'd imagine that the cold tile floor can't be enjoyable on his tummy. He used to go straight for my feet while I'm getting ready for our morning walk - now he does that, gives my socks a little suck and then scoots past me in a beeline for the toilet... Is he telling me something? :-)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Cole loves to play in the hallway between our bedroom and the bathroom. There is a hall-length closet with mirrored doors that he has a blast with. He's often really intrigued by the baby in the mirror, reaching out to touch his reflection, studying it and laughing away.

Optical illusion - dancing twins!! Which one is the real Cole? Oh, that would be the one that can squeal with delight, using the most adorable high-pitched sound. He's just started making that sound this week, and it's so cute... Ear-splittingly cute! Like an eagle about to attack. :-)

The bumpers are working out great. Combined with a safety plug cover, I feel good about how baby-proof that hallway is. He hangs out there playing with toys or his reflection while I'm getting ready and we can chat and sing. His favourite new song is Old MacDonald, but we change it to his name. Lucky he has the "Mc"!

Yum yum yum!

Cole turned the big 5 on Saturday (5 months, that is). Last week we visited the Doctor for his regular well-baby check and he now weighs 16.5 lbs! Zowie! I thought it might be more, actually, since he seems to be heavier and longer every day. I can't remember his length - I think it's about 27 - 28"!

At our visit, the Doctor recommended that we start Coley on some simple solids, considering his size and activity levels... I was going to hold out until 6 months as a technicality, but everything is pointing to him being ready, so I'll take his cues on this one.

We let him play with his soft silicone spoon first, to get used to it. It seems like a fun toy in itself!

Cole enjoyed his first "solid" meal this evening - Organic brown rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk. Sounds tasty! :-) Cole loved it. He seemed to love having something new to eat, after so many weeks now of being interested in what we have been eating. He got lots all over his face (so cute!) and pants and hands - and some in his tummy too - and we both had lots of fun taking turns feeding him.

Enough videos already?

I don't suppose anyone wants to see some more adorable baby videos??? I can't help it - Cole is just so cute! You can take your pick today...

First up - Cole munching on his foot. He discovered his feet once a few weeks ago but didn't seem too impressed. He hadn't bothered with them again until this past week. Now foot-munching is pretty high up on his list of favourite things, along with milk and Daddy's fun games.



And here is one that makes me smile every time - Cole sleeping. He is taking an early morning nap in his Oeuf lounger. At first I'm sure you may think, "um - sleeping baby, big whoop!" (or something nicer, since you are all such nice people) but wait for it. In the second half he starts to smile in his sleep. Not just a little grimace, but a huge, wide grin. I wonder what he's dreaming about? Probably some combination of the above favourite activities - foot-munching, Daddy's games or milk... :-) Talk about sleeping like a baby.

Teething. Must be worse than the dentist!

Poor Coley seems to be teething. All the signs are there. He's been drooling for Canada for some time now, wetting through anything or anybody he can. He's stuffing everything in his mouth and chomping like there's no tomorrow. And just this week he seems to be ramping up - he's a bit crotchety at times and tugging at his ear too, which I wouldn't have connected except that I read online that it's a symptom. Yay, Internet! Poor little guy.

So, although I have no proof that this works yet, I present to others in this predicament - tah dah - Hylands teething gel and tablets! They are homeopathic are 100% natural. No dyes, no drugs, no numbing agents and no sugar.

We bought the tablets a while back on the recommendation of Gramma Bonnie & Auntie Patti, when he started drooling and chomping, but since he seemed otherwise unruffled I figured that we would save them for a rainy day. They are a bit of trouble to prepare - you are supposed to dissolve them in water and feed them to baby on a spoon. This went well for us the two times we tried it, although I can't vouch for how much of it got inside him.

But, today we were at Whole Foods and I spotted the gel. Well, I actually high-tailed it to the baby products lane while Cole was arching his back in the carriage and tugging his ear while crying while I was trying to remain somewhat sane and buy groceries (after a morning of also trying to remain sane and do various things together). I was looking for an immediate placebo that would at least make me feel like I was being proactive about the situation... I think since Cole doesn't cry much it really freaks me out when he has an extended spell. Anyway, after trying everything else in my bag of tricks to calm him down, I thought this might work.

Note to Hylands packaging folks. MAKE THE PRODUCT EASIER TO OPEN! I ripped into the box in the check-out line only to discover that you need scissors to open the end of the tube. Trust - using my own teeth did not work. Once at home, we opened the package, rubbed some gel on and set about for our regular afternoon nap, which was fine - but it usually is. I have yet to see if this is some kind of miracle gel (in which case they could get away with selling it for more than the reasonable $10 it cost), but I like feeling like I have a potential solution.

Cole can roll!

It's been nearly two weeks since Cole has been able to roll right over! Both ways!! He started off rolling from his back right over onto his tummy, which I think surprised him at first. A day or two later he was able to get back onto his back. Wow!



He's totally unstoppable now. Whenever he's laid down in his activity mat, on the bed or in his crib, he rolls right over onto his tummy and back again. He can prop himself up really well on his arms and elbows, and occasionally on his hands, but only a little so far. He seems to really enjoy being on his tummy now. Hurrah!

And how better to celebrate this milestone than by taking a nudie photo?

I thought it would be fun, and possibly we could use them on the announcements (although I changed my mind on that). It was fun alright... I didn't get many photos since the light was low inside, but Cole got a good giggle from peeing on me and pooping on the white blanket... It was pretty hilarious actually, and totally what one should expect from a naked baby. I thought I was so smart, waiting until after he'd filled his diapers, but alas he surprised us both with some extra poop just for good measure. Coley, you are a riot!

Wonder-filled, indeed!

Recently I was doing a little research online about the 4-month sleep regression that's so common for babies. Cole had been sleeping extremely well since about 2 months - we'd settled into a pattern where he went to bed around 7:30 and we woke him around 12 midnight to eat. And then he'd sleep again until about 6 am. It was awesome!

And then around 3 1/2 months, something seemed to change. I blamed myself at first (of course - Mom habit, eh?) because I'd gone to the Okanagan and mucked with that formula a little. He started waking up ALL NIGHT long. He wasn't fussy per se - Cole is an amazingly calm baby - but the pattern was different. He still went to bed easily at 7:30 but he would wake with little grunting noises and keep at it until we checked on him. I thought he must be hungry since he wasn't eating as well during the day (and LaLeche League's answer to everything is more boob) so I kept feeding him when he woke. Then we read that would create a bad habit, so we started just replacing his pacifier, and that put him right back to sleep in a second (I'm trying not to worry about that habit just yet!)...

When spending hours at night online trying to figure out a magical sleep solution (didn't find one), I stumbled across a reference to a book - The Wonder Weeks - that seemed to be describing what we were experiencing. The cover claims to tell you "how to turn your baby's 8 great fussy phases into magical leaps forward". Normally, I'm a little doubtful about claims like this. But honestly, this book is amazing! I think that might be the first time I've bolded text on this blog. It's that good!

It charts out the major milestones of baby's mental development over the first 14 months. Most books talk a lot about the physical milestones alone, but this shows how, behind the scenes, there is so much going on at a mental level before it shows up in things that you can see. Before a baby is able to do something physically, he has to understand large concepts that completely revolutionize how he sees his world.

For example, Cole is just 19 weeks now. He seems to suddenly be interested in and physically able to do many new things. He rolls over both ways, lifts up on his arms, tries to move, is interested in music and musical scales, watches us eat, loves tickling and anticipating the tickling, seems to understand certain phrases and songs, grabs at everything, sits up against us and so much more. This is actually Wonder Week 19 - when he has come to understand the world of events - "a short, familiar sequence of smooth transitions from one pattern to the next".

The book says that after the fussy period (usually a few weeks leading up to the acquisition of the new understanding) there will be an easy period when the baby enjoys experimenting with this new skill.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's written in a very positive, upbeat and fluent style and lends itself well to snippet-reading. That's great for me right now because I don't have time for hours of undisrupted tome-reading! I wasn't able to find it at Chapters online, but I did manage to snag a copy at the Vancouver Public Library. It's so good that I'm actually going to order one from Amazon.

The old Bugaboo switcheroo...

The whole reason I liked the Bugaboo carriage in the first place (before I liked it for all the other reasons that compelled us to spend too much money on it!) was the awesome bassinet. I loved the idea of Cole being able to lie down in his comfy baby bed on wheels. It has proven to be a great place for him and definitely helped me to feel that he's been safe and cozy, and that's enabled us to get out and walk since week 1. And it has been totally worth the price, by the way - I love this carriage and use it every single day.

But, he's getting bigger and he's also been doing his stomach crunches for a while now while lying in the bassinet. It seems that he's trying to get a better view of his world! Also, he's often awake for portions of the stroller walks with nothing much to look at in there...

So, Jamie was able to convince me that it was time to try swapping out the bassinet for the seat. I was a little hesitant at first... I was a little wistful about him moving on from the baby bed, and of course I worried that he wouldn't be able to nap as well, or that it wouldn't be as safe. But, it's turned out great - Cole really likes sitting up a little more and getting a good view of things. In the fully reclined position, the seat is like a little hammock. Cole is able to nap in it just fine. It has a harness and we also put the handle back on the seat, so it seems plenty safe.

We took it for a test stroll to the bookstore on Saturday to make sure it was OK for Cole. Then we had an epic walkabout from our place to Granville Island, across the ferry, around English Bay, skirting Stanley Park and then all along the seawall in Coal Harbour on Sunday. It works great!

Jumperoo - is that even a word?

Jamie and I try to hold out against the kind of plastic, multi-coloured craziness that they sell at Babies r Us. We like cloth and wood and European toys, as well as a more minimalist style - we have a small space and it can really quickly look very cluttered. Plus, we just aren't big fans of the in-your-face distractions that are part of most mainstream baby toys.

However... We did just go out and buy Cole his very own Rainforest Jumperoo. You can kind of tell from the name that it's going to be pretty wacky, but this thing actually has about 12 kinds of brightly coloured craziness! And music! And lights! Oh dear... :-)

It's really just a take on the classic Jolly Jumper - basically a seat on springs. I decided against the Jolly Jumper because the original version is hung from a door frame, and to me anyway, that didn't seem very safe. We have very narrow molding around our door frames, and really none that we don't need to walk through many times each day! And the modified version of the Jolly Jumper that comes on a swingset-style a-frame would take up too much space in our living room...

The Jumperoo, on a circular base, uses a 1x1 metre area in the living room (we relegated a chair to the bedroom to fit it!). Around the seat are several activity centres with toys that make little noises, rotate and spin. The seat itself can be rotated 360 degrees to give baby a new view. It also takes batteries - movement activates lights & rainforest noises, which are not actually as annoying as that sounds, although we've often left this turned off just so Cole can hear real music playing in the background.

Despite the craziness and name - the Jumperoo is great! Cole really loves it. We've been putting him in it once or twice a day, for about 5 - 10 minutes each time. Sometimes he goes wild for bouncing in it, and other times he's more intent on exploring the brightly-coloured toys surrounding him. He's starting to use his hands more purposefully and also to really focus on objects he's interested in; it's so exciting to see him learning.

I'll soothe my feelings of plastic-related guilt with the thought that I can pass it along or sell it when Cole is finished enjoying all of the crazy.

Tummy time

Cole isn't a huge fan of "tummy time". I'm not either... He's really cute when wriggling around, but it's really hard to watch him grunting and struggling! I'm also not a huge fan of the concept of formally naming a time for lying on one's stomach in order to obtain the skills that you would be developing if you were allowed to lie on your stomach at other times!

Cole has excellent head and neck control for his age though, we've been told... He's always been very upright and he loves sitting up and looking around. We have switched him to forward-facing in the Baby Bjorn just this week for short, steady walks around the seawall, although I still put him facing inwards if he's sleepy or we're planning a more vigorous jaunt! We've also gotten him a super-crazy jumper - more on that soon...

Anywhoo - does anyone have any secrets or tricks for tummy time? I think his little arms are what really need some practice lifting up... I've heard that rolling up a little towel and placing it beneath the chest helps - that does help a little bit. We've also tried with him lying on my chest (good - but lots of potential for head clonking!) and also with him lying across my knees (also good for the neck, but not much for arm strength, I think).

Cole's little man shirt

Cole went for his six-weeks appointment on Monday at the Doctor's office, and I'm happy to report that he's growing really well! He now tips the scales at 5.2 kilos / 11.4 pounds, and has grown to 58.5 cm / just over 23 inches.

Dressing Cole is just so much fun. We bought a lot of little clothes when we went shopping around 6 months pregnant, and we didn't have any clue what to buy I realize! We bought him this cute little collared polo onesie from the Baby Gap and I was wondering how practical it would be, but it actually turned out to be surprisingly easy to get on him and monstrously cute to boot!

Cole is now able to clutch onto some of the little toys from his play gym if we place the object in his open palm. He eventually lets go and I'm not sure if he knows that he's holding things, but he does seem to enjoy all the interactive play!

Cole continues to love his play gym - more each day, I think! I usually place it on the bed or on the couch so that it's not such a back-breaker for me to play with him on it. It's an awesome toy that helps me, because he likes to lie on it while I take a few minutes to get dressed to go out for our walks or make lunch (actually had one today - I usually eat crackers!).

Mainly though, he really enjoys being played with while on it. He seems interested enough on his own and he stares at and studies the toys and colours and shapes, but when we play with him on it he just lights up and has a ball. One of the good things about this activity gym (and maybe all of them - I don't know!) is that the toys are all detachable and you could add your own toys if you wanted to.

Mr. Smiley!

Over the past week or so, Cole has started really smiling and laughing when we are playing with him. Catching a smile on film had been proving elusive, but luckily today I did it! Isn't he a doll?

His smiles are so powerful - he really opens his mouth, his eyes smile, and his whole face just lights up. It's wonderful to know that he feels so happy and it's great fun to play along with him and coax more smiles. He is starting also to make some little happy sounds from time to time. It's just amazing watching him change each day.

One of the things that seemed to make him smile this morning is his new Total Playground activity pad.

I got it yesterday, and it was pretty hard to decide which one was "right". There are like five types, all from the same company, all with the same basic idea. Some have lights, some have different animal themes, some make different tunes... I chose the one that has a kick & touch pad so Cole's has something fun to direct his little kicks at! I think he likes it! Check out the view he's getting while on his back!

One thing that makes me smile, aside from Cole's adorable smiles, is the super-cute bulldog Appaman onesie that he's wearing. Thank you to Leah - he looks great in it!

Baby days

Jamie has just gone back to work after his month off, and Cole and I are doing pretty well so far! (Although it has only been a day and a half!). I know I definitely miss Jamie's company and all his help throughout the day, and Cole does too - he's not too sure why Mama is changing his diapers all the time! ;-) We're sticking with our well-honed routine pretty much - Cole and I went for a great walk yesterday and he was a very good baby for me.

Right now I'm sitting here with a mountainous pile of clean (yet unfolded) laundry on the dining room table and I have just noticed a dab of what I hope is chocolate sauce from cocoa on my laptop. I think I might also smell like milk... Nice! I have at least showered though, and brushed my teeth and hair, and am ready to take us for a walk after Cole's next feeding...

I have been doing more important things than laundry during Cole's short morning nap... Some research online to see what activities are appropriate for a one-month old baby - Cole hit that mark officially yesterday. We have plenty of fun gadgets for him to enjoy and some awesome toys and books from our shower too, but he seems to have the most fun so far just listening to and looking at us, squirming and testing his vocal chords and movements. He's getting really good at raising his head when on his tummy, he is following us with his eyes and he's starting to notice the mobile more too. He also really seems to become absorbed staring at light/shadows. I was wondering if we are on the right track in terms of playtime (of course worried that I'm boring him or encouraging him to sleep too much!). So far, so good, it would seem, from this website on baby development. Very simplified tips, but good for the sleep-deprived!