More Milestones Reached

It feels like Cole has just been running down the milestone list lately, checkin' off boxes...

     - Sit up on own. Check.

     - Sit in a highchair at a restaurant. Check.

     - Get first cold. Check.

     - Clap. Check.

     - "Crawl" backwards. Check.

     - Rock on hands and knees (in prep for crawling forward). Check.

     - Sleep on stomach for extended period of time. Check.

     - Cut teeth. Check. (The bottom two are visible but not really "up" just yet. Very soon!)

It's been a very exciting time, minus the cold part. So exciting, in fact, that's you'll notice how "sleeping through the night" is still not on this list... damn.

Just today, Cole learned to pick up a Cheerio and put it in his own mouth! It takes a little while to get there, but I have a feeling he'll have it down pat by Thursday. And ohmygoodness, don't you just want to eat those chubby hands?! He is so yummy.

February Check-In

Haven't posted in a little while, so I just thought I'd catch you up on what's goin' down...

First, Grandma Linda came to visit! It was just for the weekend, but we're always happy to see her. Cole was a little unsure of who she was when she first got here, but he quickly warmed up to her and he and Brady were sad to see her go on Sunday. We all went out to dinner and Cole sat in a highchair and ate spinach! It was very exciting. The highlight of the evening was when Brady asked us, "our waiter is very pleasant, isn't he?" I don't know where he gets this stuff.

Brady showing Grandma his shell collection

Grandma pushing Cole in the swing

Cole eating like a big boy!

Daddy & Cole horsing around

Right after Grandma left, the cold bug invaded the Eatherton household. Somehow, Matt got it first. Then Brady. Then Cole. Then Me. Then Matt, again. Nothing too serious, just low-grade fevers, sore throats, and lots and lots of boogies. I am not joking at all when I say we've gone through about 10 boxes of Kleenex in the last 2 weeks!

It's so funny to hear Brady talk about us being sick... he thinks there's an actual bug that is going person to person in this house. "First, the bug went into Daddy's mouth and got him sick in the throat. Then, the bug came into my throat and got me sick. Then, the bug flew into Cole's mouth..." Could you imagine if that were really what happened?! Yikes. I just hope the cold bug flies itself right out the front door because I am done wiping noses around here! If we're all due for a round two like Matt, I'm screwed.

Do you know what a cold does to a baby who is a poor sleeper?? It makes them an even worse sleeper, especially when you throw teething into the mix (there are tiny white spots on his bottom gums, so they are on their way!) Cole has been waking up multiple times a night for the last week and we've been very attentive to his needs since he hasn't been feeling well. Looks like we'll be starting back at square one with sleep training (again!) once he's well. Wish us luck!

Now don't go thinking that an illness and lack of sleep will keep this baby down. No way! This week, Cole decided to become a bonafide sitter (one that rarely tips over) and clapper! He doesn't do it on command just yet, but we catch him having a private clapping moment with himself every now and again. It is so cute! He is also starting to wave hi/bye/night-night and rock on his hand and knees. I imagine it won't be too long before he's crawling. Brady better hide his good toys now!

Big Sitter!

Speaking of Brady, he's been very busy at school lately. He's gotten very interested in "art" and started taking a hip-hop dance class after lunch. Don't ask him to show you his moves though, those are for school only. Also, I think he has a crush on his dance teacher! We've been busy making his valentines for school, which he'll pass out on Wednesday during his Valentine's Day party. We'll be signing him up for t-ball for the first time next week and he is really excited. I can't wait to see him in his first "game"!

The cutest laundry helper in the world!

In other news, our niece Reese turned one this past week and we were sad to miss her first birthday party. Sounds like she had a wonderful time and enjoyed her cake. We look forward to being at all the parties in just a few years! And my sister and Tim signed on a reception hall in Rosemont and finally picked a date-- June 28, 2014. We can't wait!!

Messy Cole

The other day, I decided it would be fun to give Cole a teething biscuit, to entertain him in his highchair while I made dinner. Turns out I was the one who was being entertained! It was hilarious to watch him gnaw this biscuit down to a nub... and MESSY!

Halfway to One! Cole is 6 Months old.

Why is it that I only seem to post when one of my kids is celebrating a "birthday"?! Must correct that. But, at least I'm chronicling the important stuff, so yay Mom!

Yesterday, our little Cole Bear turned 6 months old. I cannot believe he is halfway to one! He has grown and developed so much in the last 4 weeks, it's almost like he's a completely different kid. I can only imagine all the new things he'll be doing in the next 4. I am saddened and excited for this, all at the same time. I find myself missing a snuggly little newborn some days, but let's be real, this kid has never really been "little". It's almost if he came out of the womb looking for a turkey drumstick...

Speaking of turkey drumstick, our big boy has been going to town on solid foods and has the stats to prove it. Let's get into the details, shall we?

Cole's 6 Month Stats

Weight- 19 lbs, 10 oz (whoa, baby!)

Height- A long (but not necessarily lean) 28 inches. This puts him in the 94th percentile!

Clothing Size- We are up to a new clothing size, again. Cole is comfortably fitting into all of his big brother's 9 month clothes, and could probably get into a few 12 month items as well. Again, this makes me sad because there were so many adorable 6 month outfits that he never even got a chance to wear. I have a feeling this will be the same for the 9 month lot, unless his growth slows a bit.

We may be in trouble when it comes to hand-me-downs as Brady's 12 month clothes are mostly pants and sweaters (think December in Chicago) and Cole will be looking to show off his milky white thighs in some shorts here very soon!

Teeth- Still nothing popping through, but his bottom gums look a little swollen to me. Brady got his first tooth at 7 months, so we shall see!

Sleeping Habits- Ugh. Sleep.

Still having trouble in this department, but we are diligently trying to get him to be a better sleeper. We are following the "2 hour window of wakefulness"for naptimes to a T and this seems to be helping a bit. We do a solid 20-30 bedtime routine each night which helps him go down easily on his own... most nights. The one thing we haven't been able to tackle is the night wakings. He's still up 2x a night looking for food (around 12-1am and again around 4-5am). At his doctor's appointment yesterday, I got reassurance that he does not need to eat this much overnight and that this is likely a behavioral issue. We are going to start "night weaning", but reducing the number of ounces in one of his bottles a little bit each night. Over a week to two weeks, Cole should hopefully drop one of the wakings on his own because he'll only be getting a very little amount of formula at that time.

Wish us luck!!!

Feeding- Cole gets about 36 oz. of formula each day (6oz/6x/day). The doc says once we wean him off one or both of the night feedings, his daytime bottles will likely increase so he continues to get the same amount.

He is still loving (most) solid foods! Rice cereal is still a staple morning and night, but I'm hoping to get him off that now that he can eat more iron-rich foods. Favorites of Cole's include bananas and peas (not together :)). I recently purchased the Baby Bullet and am excited to start making all of Cole's baby food from here on out, now that he's 6 months old and can start trying a bunch of new things.

Daily Activities- Daily activities are still pretty much the same-- hanging in the exersaucer, playing on the floor on his belly, and watching his brother and Tinley. He loves stacking rings, chewing on Sophie, and playing with tags. I cannot wait for our new highchair to arrive so he can sit in it and play while I'm cooking!

When we take walks while Brady is at school, Cole has started sitting in the stroller seat (vs. his car seat). He loves being able to look around more and seeing all the people, cars, trees, etc. We're going to need to buy another seat soon or kick big brother out of the stroller for good!

Speaking of car seat... now that Cole is pushing 20 lbs, it is getting harder to carry him in the bucket car seat. We transferred Brady to the convertible car seat at 10 months, but I have a feeling Cole won't make it that long. That is crazy!!

Mobility- Cole is a rolling fool. Front to back, back to front. We lowered his crib mattress two weeks ago (it had been on an incline for his acid reflux), which allowed him the opportunity to roll around in bed. And roll around he did! At first we thought maybe he'll discover that he loves sleeping on his belly and we'll finally get a full night's sleep... but that was not the case. Turns out he isn't happy about being on his belly in his bed at all. Every time he'd roll over he'd scream bloody murder until we rolled him back on his back. Thankfully, now he'll roll himself back over if he finds himself on his belly, but he has been known to sleep on his side from time to time.

He is doing a much better job sitting up on his own for longer periods of time. In the next week or two, I'm sure he'll be a "sitter" for real. So exciting!!

He is also gearing up for crawling already. For real. He can move around in a circle pretty quickly, and combines this skill with rolling to get him all around the floor. But in the last day or two, he has been kicking his legs, pushing up onto his knees, and trying to launch himself (almost like a frog) to move forward. It is hilarious and scary, all at the same time! Brady started crawling at 7 months, so I'm sure Cole isn't too far off. Yikes!

Vocal Skills- Cole has definitely found his voice this month! He is babbling a ton, blowing bubbles and doing raspberries, and squealing. He is starting to repeat various sounds, like "hi" and "gah". We are working on Ma Ma (of course) and Da Da, but that might take a little while. That's okay, his big brother does enough talking for the entire family!

Taking his monthly photos have become a bit of a challenge now. When I put him on the rocking chair he wants to launch himself off, which gives me a heart attack. And the stickers?! Forget about it. He knows what they are and all he wants to do is eat them...

But I was able to get a few good shots yesterday, so here you go!

Brady Turns 4!

The holiday season is a busy time for everyone, but at the Eatherton household, we get to "relax" the day after Christmas with a birthday celebration every year! Things have been a little bit easier now that we're having Brady's kid birthday party in the summer (on his half-birthday), but we still want to celebrate the birth of our first born son the good old fashioned way... with pizza and cake (and, of course, singing)!

This was the first year we were not in Chicago for Brady's birthday, and Matt even had to go to work :( But we decorated the house and made him a special birthday breakfast (pancakes ala Daddy). Matt came home early and Brady opened gifts and cards from his family. Then we met up his best buddies Lyla and Leo for dinner.

Even though Brady was a little unsure if he wanted to wait until June to have his birthday party, I still think it's a good idea to space it out from Christmas (not to mention most of his friends have birthdays in Dec & Jan as well). I have a feeling he'll be happy as a clam in a few months when we get to celebrate his special day all over again!

It seems a little cliche to say "Oh, I can't believe my baby is 4!", but people say that kind of stuff for a reason. Time really flies when you become a parent. I simply cannot believe that it's been 4 years since the first time we held him in our arms (though most days you'd think you were talking to a 13 year old, I swear!) Not only is Brady incredibly smart and talented, but he is outgoing, warm, caring and so, so, so much fun to be around. He loves to dote on his baby brother and I've been told by many different people that there's just something really special about our little boy.

His Mom, Dad and Cole love him to the moon and back. He really is something.

Brady's 4 year check up is next week, so I'll update the blog with all his official stats at that time, but here are a couple fun facts about our now FOUR year old...

- Brady attends school 3 days a week and stays after for Lunch Bunch and Afternoon Enrichment. He loves going to school and I've never heard him say once that he didn't want to go.

- His favorite breakfast food is Oh's cereal. Lunch is PB&J. Dinner is a touchy subject... but I'm guessing he'd prefer to have pepperoni pizza every night if he could (or chicken fingers, just like his mama!)

- Brady can write his name, along with Cole's and the names of his friends Leo, Lyla, Halle and Bella.

- Brady's favorite sports to play are soccer and baseball. And man, can that kid swing a bat!

- Brady's other current interests include: collecting "treasures" (rocks, leaves, and other misc. items he finds in the sand at school), coloring or "doing projects", playing Angry Birds on the iPad, playing "educational games" on the iPad, dancing to Gangnam Style, making his baby brother laugh, riding his balance bike, going to Starbucks with Daddy, talking in gibberish, and playing roll call with the 40 stuffed animals that sleep with him in his bed.

Who's 4? This guy right here!

LOVING his "Box of Rocks" from Aunt Lindsay & Uncle Jason

Batman is always a winner Aunt Megan & Uncle Justin

Brady loved his iTikes Piano from Grandma Linda & Grandpa Steve

Getting his groove on with his new guitar from Mom & Dad

Thanks for the cash Aunt Sue & Uncle Brad! 

Brady, Leo & Lyla 

Happy Birthday Buddy!

May all your dreams come true.

xoxo

Merry Christmas Eve & Happy 5 Months to Cole!

On Christmas Eve, Cole Joseph turned 5 months old. It was a very busy day at the Eatherton's, as we were preparing to have our California family (the Kirkpatricks and the Kalvarias) over for a non holiday-specific and not at all religious Dec. 24th party. To add to what was already an exciting day, Cole decided to roll over for the very first time all by himself! If you haven't already seen it, you can watch the video here. Even though the guests all departed by 8pm, a good time was had by all.

Spreading "Reindeer Food" in the front yard

Baby's First Christmas (Eve)

This Christmas baby is ready for bed!

(Thanks to the Schrimpl family for the PJs)

So much brotherly love

Cole's 5 Month Stats

Weight- 18 lbs of pure yummy chunky baby (by Mom & Dad's scale)

Height- Will have to wait for Cole's 6 month appointment for that stat

Clothing Size- This boy is flying though his clothes at warp speed! He is officially too big for his 3-6 month clothes. He can fit into some 6 month onesies, but not pjs (poor baby has a little blister on his pinky toe because the footies on his 6 month jammies are too small!) He has just started wearing 9 month clothes from Carter's. I cannot wrap my head around this! Brady was in 0-3 month clothes until he was 5 months.

We have sadly moved from size 2 Swaddlers to size 3 Pampers Cruisers. He isn't cruising anywhere yet, but if he decides to up and crawl, well, I guess his diaper will be ready!

Teeth- Not a one, but the drool is out of control. I swear we go through 5 bibs a day. Cole will chew on pretty much anything he can get his chubby little hands on, but his two favorite chew toys are his squeaky Sofie and Mom's finger (go figure). I'm thinking about getting some of those Chewbeads necklaces... anyone ever tried one of those? Thoughts??

Sleeping Habits- Sleep is still a delicate subject in the Eatherton household. We had started getting into a better rhythm with Cole just before our trip to Chicago, but when we returned the bottom fell out. He started waking again multiple times throughout the night and his naps went back to 30 minutes. We were all miserable... again. So we decided to spend the 4 day weekend sleep training again, which unfortunately, produced a bit of crying (Cole & Mom). But he's slowly adjusting back to his "routine" and we hope to be down to one night feeding only very soon! Fingers crossed.

Feeding- Sadly, we stopped breastfeeding Thanksgiving weekend, so Cole is 100% formula fed now (Similac Sensitive). It was just not working for either of us. Since we made the switch to formula, Cole and I are both much happier, so I think that it was the right decision. Four months is a good amount of time and I'm glad we were able to make it that long.

Cole also started eating rice cereal and oatmeal shortly after he turned 4 months. He had been watching us eat food like a hawk for weeks, so as soon as we got the a-okay from his pediatrician, we started. He immediately knew what to do! I think he'd probably eat anything we gave him, but he definitely prefers the rice cereal over oatmeal, and his favorite purees are bananas, sweet potatoes and peas. I hope, hope, hope he is going to be a good eater! If not, I think we'll send him over to Miss Jolie's house for a little Food 101...

Daily Activities- Cole is taking 3 naps a day, which doesn't leave much time for activities during the day. If he's not eating, sleeping, or pooping, he enjoys gnawing on toys in his exersaucer, watching his big brother and Tinley play, and pinching the tags on all of his stuffed animals. He also gets a kick out of pulling Mom's hair!

Mobility- He started rolling over from his back to his belly on Christmas Eve and hasn't stopped since (though he's only rolling over one way). We wonder how long it will take before this creates a NEW sleep problem.

Vocal Skills- Cole makes a lot of gurgling sounds (goos/gaas) but he's proving to be the strong but silent type. If you catch him at the right time, he will babble a bit for you, but he's mostly pretty quiet. He is also very stingy with the laughs! He'll smile and give you a few giggles, but he has still not done a full out belly laugh. I am anxiously awaiting that day!

Cole Rolls Over For The First Time!