Raising an Ad Man

It's official... marketing blood runs through Brady's veins. I'd like to think it's because he spent 9 months in utero roaming the halls of Leo Burnett, soaking up all the creative juices around him. But, chances are it's all the TV he's been watching lately, while we're dealing with his baby brother who doesn't like to nap...

It all started with his Christmas list-- Cuddleuppets. Stompeez. A pogo stick. All from commercials.

Then, a couple days ago, he asked Matt if he'd like some Chex Mix because "it's a bag of interesting".

Yesterday, we were singing Christmas songs and Brady belted out "Nationwide is on your side". Just to make sure he wasn't biased, I followed it up with "Like a good neighbor..." to which he replied, "State Farm is there". Yikes!

The clincher was this morning when he informed Matt and I that there was a man on TV that sounded like Tow Mater who has heartburn (Larry the Cable Guy is in a Prilosec commercial).

Something tells me we're going to be in big trouble when Brady starts telling people they should call their doctor if they've had an erection lasting more than 4 hours.

** Please note that all these commercials (minus Viagra) air during age appropriate TV shows. It's not like Brady's watching Dancing with the Stars or anything... ok, maybe he watches that. **

Baby's First Thanksgiving

Seeing that he was a few days shy of 4 months old, and his diet consists mainly of breast milk and formula, Cole's first Thanksgiving was pretty uneventful. In fact, he even napped through dinner (by Mom's design). Brady was almost one at his first Thanksgiving, so he was able to eat some of the delicious turkey and potatoes. Something tells me Cole will get (more than) his fair share next year!

On account of all the madness that's been going on in our household, we opted for a quiet Thanksgiving at home with just the 4 of us this year. It's always hard to be away from family on the holidays, but there's something to be said about not having to get ready, pack up 2 kids, and run from house to house.

Always the photographer and never the subject (which is good since I didn't even take a shower!), here are a few pictures of the 3 things I'm most thankful for this year.

Dad and his two boys!

Almost ready for nap

Such a proud big brother!

Next Thanksgiving I'll be walking!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We look forward to celebrating an early Christmas with the family back in Chicago in just a few days.

October Recap

There were so many fun events/milestones that happened in Oct., I'm so mad that I didn't get them up on the blog as they happened. Unfortunately, we've had our hands full with Cole the last few weeks--he has not been eating or sleeping well-- so when I got a "free moment" (laughs out loud), I really just tried to relax and get some rest. But I really want to get these photos up, so here is a recap of the month of October... you know, just before November ends. Ugh.

More Firsts for Cole

First Storytime with the big boys

First "Brother Bath"

First time on the Playmat (without tears)

Brady, The Soccer Stud

Brady has been going to soccer every Saturday morning and has been loving it! Even though the lessons are more about learning to listen and follow directions than actually playing soccer, he is picking up on the fundamentals and getting in a little game time. I'm sure every parent says this about their children... but he has some mad athletic skills!!

Cole and I finally made it out to a practice and captured a ton of photos. Here are a select few...

Pumpkin Patching

It's hard to believe we celebrated our 3rd Halloween in California. I love that we have a "tradition" of going to the same Pumpkin Farm every year. It's great to see Brady in the same environment year after year, to mentally picture how much he has grown. He loved taking Cole to Pasterino Farm and showing him how he can ride the train through the haunted house without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, when it came time to pick pumpkins and take pictures, Cole had had his fill... so we didn't get his photo with Brady, but we did manage to get a few good ones!

Halloween 2012

For Brady's first 3 Halloweens, I was pretty much responsible for choosing his costumes. This year, he knew well in advance that he wanted to be Batman for Halloween. Given that I didn't have a lot of time to go hunting and pecking for a "make your own costume" this year, I was happy to order him a Batman costume online. And when he requested that Cole be Robin, I ordered him one as well! Brady requested that Matt and I dress up as The Joker and Catwoman, but well, that didn't happen...

Brady at his Halloween Sing at school

Brady and his best gal Lyla 

Halloween parade-- lots of Super heros this year!

Decorating cookies at school

Baby's 1st Halloween! 

Spiderman Leo & Batman Brady

Baby Robin (not too thrilled!)

The Dynamic Duo!

Phew, that was a long one. Now that that's done, I better get started working on November's recap... Or take a nap :)

Cole is 3 Months!

Technically, today, Cole is 3 months and 1 week. But these photos were taken on the 24th, so this post is still totally legit. The reason for the delay in this post?! Cole. Poor little guy has his first cold and we believe he is cutting his first tooth as well (or he has a runny nose caused by teething). Who knows anymore?! Either way, Cole is not a happy camper lately. He is barely eating and barely sleeping. This is causing a lot of stress on his Mommy! He is currently taking one of his "famous" 25 minute naps right now, so I'm trying to type this as fast as I can!!

Because Cole doesn't have a doctor's appointment at 3 months (he goes back next month), I don't have formal stats to report this month. What I can give you is his height and weight, as measured by Mom & Dad. I also want to start sharing more specific details about his behavior each month, so we can use these posts as references for the future. You know, if we're ever CRAZY enough to bear more children :)

Weight- 15 lbs, 6 oz

Height- 25.5 inches (that's how big he was at 2 months, but by my measurement, he hasn't grown)

Clothing Size- We just packed up pretty much all his 0-3 month clothes, so he's officially in 3-6 months.

Teeth- None, but we think he is actively teething. He is constantly soaked in drool and everything goes into his mouth (hands, blankets, toys, etc.) We finally broke out the Sophie teether from Aunt Nina and he seems to really like it. He has a very small white speck on his bottom gum, so we keep watching to see if anything sprouts up! 

Sleeping Habits- No real pattern/schedule yet. He was a great sleeper around 6-9 weeks, then at 10 weeks, everything went haywire. Now he's up at least once a night (sometimes 2 or 3 times). He goes down for "bed" around 8-9pm and generally wakes up around midnight and/or 2am, but can be soothed back to sleep with a pacifier. He'll wake again sometime between 3-5am and needs to be fed. He wakes for the day anywhere between 6:30-8am. For the last 4 weeks, he's been taking terrible naps (approx. five 25-40 minute naps a day). We were trying to "sleep train", but then he got sick/started teething. I hope to get into some sort of a schedule soon!   

Cole started sleeping in his crib overnight on Oct. 13 (at almost 12 weeks). He had been taking some naps in his crib at this point, but we made the full switch over and I'm happy to report that the Pack 'n Play is packed up and put away. We now have 6 more cubic feet in our room (which surprisingly makes a HUGE difference!)

We went back and forth about whether or not Cole still needed to be swaddled to sleep and decided to stop at 13 weeks. He was fighting us every time we wrapped him, though he seemed to sleep better with it. We made a "soft transition" by swaddling him for a few days with his arms out. Then, we stopped altogether. It took a couple days, but we think that he's settled into his swaddle-free way of sleeping just fine. We do use a sleep sack though, so he can stay warm.

Cole doesn't care much for his pacifier, unless it's time for bed. He seems to soothe himself better when he has his paci in his mouth and his Little Giraffe lovie in his hand. We see him forming the same bond with his blankie as his big brother.

Daily Activities- Cole HATES tummy time. He actually screams at the ground during it! Not in an uncomfortable crying sort of way, but in a "damn you tummy time, arrrrggghhhh!" kind of way. He gives us all a really good laugh when he does it. He'll generally roll himself over about 10 seconds after being on his belly. I have no idea how we'll get him to build up his arm strength!

He is not short on neck strength though, that's for sure. He has full support of his head and can sit supported in his Bumbo. He pretty much refuses to sit in a semi-reclined position and always strains his neck to sit up. He is in such a hurry to grow up!!

Mobility- He can roll over from his tummy to his back. This started about 3 weeks ago!

Vocal Skills- Lots of "oooh", "gaaah", and squeals. He likes to have little chit-chats with Matt and I when he's on his changing table. And giggle!! Cole is great at giggling. No full blown laughing spells yet, but he gives out little giggles every time he is tickled (under his arms and on his belly) and Brady can usually always get him to chuckle with his crazy antics.

So that's what's going on with Cole Bear at 3 months. Stay tuned for his formal stats at 4 months... his next doctor's appointment is on my birthday!

Brady Said What?!

So often Brady says or does things that I say I'm going to write down so we never forget it... but then I don't. And we forget. Before we know it we're going to have two little jabbermouths to keep track of, so I've decided that the blog would be a perfect place to catalogue all these little tidbits, considering this is their virtual baby book. Here are a couple of good ones of late--

A few weeks ago, I told Brady to be careful around Cole. Brady said...

"Yeah, cuz he's made out of glass. And skin."

This morning, Matt asked Brady what he wanted to be when he grew up. Brady said...

"I want to be the government. And a Manager, like Daddy."

Not work FOR the government. He wants to BE the government. And a Manager.

One thing is for sure, Brady is not interested in working for The Man. He's going to be The Man, one way or another.

Then & Now: One Month

Oops! I just realized this post was still in "draft" and that I never published it. I could just delete it, but it's too good not to share...

Sometimes I still can't believe I have 2 kids. It feels like I'm speaking a foreign language when I am talking about Brady and Cole and refer to them as "my children". No longer just "my son Brady"... I have children. Yikes!

I'm sure the first rule of having more than one child is to never ever compare your kids. Ever. I'll try to keep that in mind as they continue to grow, but for now, I just can't help myself. Seeing Cole in Brady's old clothes and in his chairs and swing, I can't help but recall the moments Brady was in the exact same place, at the exact same age. Luckily, I take about a zillion photos of my kids, so I'm able to literally place these moments side-by-side for comparison.

Like this one... of Brady and Cole in the same newborn size sleeper from Carter's, in the blue Boppy chair, at exactly one month.

Cole was only 1 lb 5 oz larger than Brady at birth, and we are amazed at how much of a difference that has made. We had a big box of newborn diapers that we desperately tried to use up, but after the first week, we reluctantly went up to size 1. And while I can still get him in a few of the newborn sleepers, Cole has primarily been wearing 3 month clothes already (something Brady didn't do until, well, 3 months).

If he continues to grow at this rate, he'll be bigger than his big brother in no time. Poor Brady!

Cole's Two Month Stats

Cole had his 2 month appointment on Wed., and because I'm terrible at making appointments, he was actually 2 months and 8 days. Oops. Guess that explains why he tipped the scales... again.

Because I totally underestimated his size at his first month check-up, I was a little more generous with my 2 month prediction, and I was almost spot on. My guess was 14.5 lbs and Cole weighed in at 14 lbs 2.5 oz. This puts him in the 86th percentile for weight, which is something his big brother has never made it to! He also measured at 25.5 in in length (90%) and his head was (surprise, surprise) in the 99%! Hey, at least his big noggin is actually in proportion to the rest of his body!

{We learned just after his appointment that he weighs only 8.5 oz less than his cousin Reese... who is 5 and a half months older than he is. The boy is a moose!}

Cole received 2 shots (4 vaccinations) and the oral Rotovirus. He was NOT a happy camper-- thank goodness Matt was there to help him (and Mom) get through it all. I am such a baby when it comes to shots. But he did fine the rest of the day and even took a 3.5 hr nap.

Our next visit to the doctor isn't until 4 months, but we'll do our own at-home assessment and let you know how he's coming along. My guess is that he's on the fast track to double his birth weight way before 6 months. Size 3 diapers are just around the corner!