Swimming Lessons

Cole and I went to our first Mommy & Me swimming lesson this morning. I thought he would absolutely love it since he has such a great time in the bath. The pool was indoor and heated and there were about 8 other moms and babies there, ranging from 5 months to 4 years.Getting ready for swimming lesson!

"I am SO cool!"

I really enjoyed the class. We sang songs, learned to put the babies under water, practiced kicking, floating, and blowing bubbles. Cole did not have such a great time. He cried the entire time and clung onto me, so I couldn't put him on his back or help him kick. Hopefully he was just tired (it was naptime) and next week will be better!"Don't make me go to swimming lessons!"

Happy Easter!

Cole has a great first Easter. On Saturday, he helped me dye Easter eggs/ I dyed them while he was napping and then took these pictures.

He woke up nice and early on Easter morning to get his basket. The Easter bunny spoiled him big time, of course!
He had a long day of visiting family, but was so well behaved (even though he didn't get a 2nd nap).

Product Rave!

Feeding Cole has become quite frustrating lately. He insists on ripping off his bib while he's eating which either results in food all over his shirt or food all over the kitchen floor. He then shoves the end of the bib into his mouth and chews it. I searched long and hard to find the plastic bibs we have. They fasten with velcro, which weakened with each washing. The only solution I could think of, was to buy snaps at the craft store and sew them. But, I never actually got around to doing it.

Yesterday I perusing the bib aisle looking for plastic bib with snaps, when I came across the Bumpkins Waterproof Junior Bib.Although this bib also fastens with velcro, it has sleeves. So even if Cole manages to undo the velcro, the sleeves prevent him from tearing the bib completely off. The Bumpkin is also made of a nylon type material that dries really quickly. Unlike the plastic bibs it is dry and ready to go for the next feeding, so I didn't have to buy a zillion. The sleeves and the long length of the bib cover almost all of Cole's clothing protecting him from spills.

Cole enjoying his scrambled egg yolk in his new Bumpkin!

The Bumpkin was a bit pricey at $9 a piece, but was well worth it!

Green Pancakes!

While the traditional Irish St. Patrick's Day dinner is corned beef and cabbage, in my house it's green pancakes. Brien was reminiscing last night about eating green pancakes on St. Patty's Day as a child.

Of course Cole participated in the family tradition and of course he loved pancakes! He ate an entire one all by himself. Since I'm a mean mom, he also had to eat some broccoli and cauliflower (goes great with pancakes) and some bananas too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Trip to the Shore

Who says that once you have a kid you can't just pick up and go whenever you want?

Wednesday night my friend Dawn sent me a picture of a gorgeous engagement ring. Since I'm so slick, I knew that meant that her long-term boyfriend, Doug, must have proposed. I called as soon as I got it to congratulate them. I learned that they were spending the remainder of the week in Ocean Pines (came all the way down from Connecticut). They invited me to come by and celebrate. This was around 9pm Wednesday night, by 9 am Thursday morning Cole and I were headed east!

The weather was awesome and so was the "shore house". Here are a few pics from the back deck.

Mini Photo Shoot!

As promised, in my "Cole is 9 months" post, I did a mini photo shoot today. Here are some of my favorites.

"What's over there?" (Check out my drool)

Pulling up on the jumperoo!

My favorite! Check out those baby blues!

Cole declares the photo shoot over.

I've been throwing around the idea of taking some photography classes, since my pictures are always awful!

Pizza, Pizza

Cole had his first full meal of table food. Brien insisted that it be pizza. I cut it up into the tiniest pieces imaginable and served it with mixed veggies (carrots, peas, and corn). He absolutely loved it! However, I think we created a monster. He's been spitting out his baby food ever since.

Pizza Pictures!

Cole is 9 months!

He didn't technically turn 9 months today, but we did have his 9 month appointment this morning. Cole weighed in a whopping 22lb 8 oz (75%), is 28.5 inches long (50%), and has a 46.5 cm head circumference (75%). Amazing considering his weight was below the chart at 3 months (11lbs).

The dr. gave us to go ahead to feed him whatever we are eating (minus a few specific foods).

His eczema is really flaring up, so we got a prescription to help clear it up. Other than that everything is good!

"Give me that camera Mom!"

Looks like I need to do a photo shoot today, since this is the best picture I've taken in the past 2 weeks.

Feeding Solids

Feeding solid food can be confusing. There is so much information available on breastfeeding on the internet, but there is essentially nothing on feeding solid foods. You are pretty much on your own.

There is tons of conflicting information out there. One article will say, no dairy until the child is one and another will say start yogurt at 6 months. Your dr. will mostly tell you no egg white or berries, but some baby foods have these ingredients. It is my understanding that if it's in a baby food the ingredient has been processed in a way that reduces the allergens. This is another one of those case, where as parents we are left to our best judgment.

Cole's pediatrician gave us the go ahead to start solid food at 6 months. We started out with a veggie for dinner. We introduced one veggie at a time for 4 days just to make sure he didn't have any reactions. He absolutely LOVED all his veggies (except for peas, which he acquired a taste for later).

Cole tries green beans for the 1st time!

After that we tried oatmeal and rice cereal and then fruit. He wasn't crazy about cereals at first, but would eat them just the same. About a month ago, we decided it was time introduce meat. Cole wasn't a huge fan of plain meat and would sometimes cry or spit it out. I really can't blame him. I wouldn't want to eat pureed turkey in a jar with a spoon either. He does tolerate the meat mixtures a little better (apple chicken, macaroni beef, or turkey and rice).

Now that he is 9 months old, we are starting more and more table food. He does really well picking up finger foods.

Is there something on my face?

Every time I eat something Cole is begging for a taste. He was done very well with cooked carrots, peas, mushy broccoli, pasta noodles, and shredded cheese.

Yum - broccoli

My mom is dying to give Cole some candy or chocolate cake, but she is just going to have to wait a bit longer!

Graco Update

For those of you planning to boycott Graco because you were so appalled by my "Boo Graco" post, here is an update. A nice representative named Lois is going to find me the correct pattern and send it to me. She said it would take a few weeks, but she will update me by email periodically.

*Moral of the story: Complain and you will get what you want!