post by Cole

We went to IHOP tonight, and we had a blast. I had chocolate chip pancakes, and I don't know what Mommy ate but it wasn't pancakes.

don't forget

Tonight Cole said to me, "You know mommy, even when you make me mad by saying I have to eat ham and cheese for lunch, I still love you."

brains!

We went to the farm tours this weekend, and this is one of Cole's phots from Wollam Gardens. It's a shot of cockscomb (the little brain variety) and Joy's giant hand reaching in to touch it.
Cole uses my old digital camera and it's fun to see things from his point of view. Sure there are lots of shots of his toys and his feet and the carpet, but that doesn't make them any less meaningful to him. I'd be broke if he were shooting with film!

good apples

Joy turned 2 this week, and Cole will soon be 5. If I could've picked them off a tree, I don't think I could've chosen better kids.

Joy adores her big brother and parrots everything he says, but 3 octaves higher and 100 decibels louder. She has a big laugh and a smile that transforms her whole face. She will not give you a hug or a kiss if you ask for one, but when she does grace you with that kind of affection, it melts your heart. Joy loves Kittenhead, my hair, Elmo & Zoe, Ni Hao Kailan, babydolls, dollhouses, trains, soccer, SpongeBob, Wii, breakfast sausage, noodles, "Donalds" nuggets, fries, and apple dippers.

Cole is just as in love with his little sister. He's confident at school and I wish I could fit playdates into our bizzare schedule so he could have more time with friends. He started playing soccer, and he's having a great time. Soccer's turned out to be a great way for Cole and Tony to bond more as they practice together and it gives Cole more time with kids which makes me feel a little better too. He's a generous, kind-hearted, and intelligent kid. Cole loves trains, soccer, art night, cooking with me, SpongeBob, Wii bowling, Legos, pancakes, grapefruit, and chocolate.

growing

Cole is now 4 1/2 and Joy is 1 1/2 years old. How did that happen? Despite my best attempts to savor every moment while meeting every deadline, time marches on and they just keep growing. Without them, I doubt I'd notice how much time was passing by.

Joy remains petite, but with a much larger presence. She is bold, confident and funny. With an empty bowl or a piece of paper, she's the world's youngest prop comic. She tells knock-knock jokes without punch lines and bursts into big belly laughs for her big brother. Joy sings to herself sometimes and her vocabulary expands daily. Today's word was "look" which puts her at about 4 dozen words. She loves all kinds of food and today she consumed 4 bowls of noodles (nu-nus). Joy's definitely a carnivore while Cole doesn't really like meat at all. Between the 2 of them they can finish 1 full meal.

Cole's doing well at school and still loves to draw and paint and make stuff. He drew business cards for himself the other day so I scanned them, added the phone number and printed them for him. I thought it might help him learn his phone number, but he's more interested in the design right now. He's becoming sneaky which is a difficult issue to manage. I found part of a sandwich under the toy box the other day, and after many meal time battles, I'm changing the approach again. We choose 2 meals a day , and he picks 1. The strategy has helped Cole to try a few new things, and last night he ate noodles willingly for the first time. He also likes my homemade macaroni and cheese, but he won't touch the stuff in the blue box...which would be a lot easier!

pure joy...and cole too

Joy is 10 months old, and she has changed dramatically in the last two weeks. She is becoming a toddler, and I'm proud and sad at the same time. Tomorrow is Joy's 9-month check-up. We were in Wisconsin for her 9 month birthday and her and I have been sick twice since we got back, so this is our first opportunity to go for a well-baby visit. I'm looking forward to her new measurements.

Her balance is quickly improving and she can stand without holding on to anything for short spells. Joy is confident and careful, and she transitions smoothly from sitting to standing and back. She is so confident that she's very nonchalant about the whole thing. There's no "look ma, no hands" moments, her expression says "of course I can stand and just wait until you see me walk."

Her babble has changed too. Instead of repeating 1 sound over and over, she makes word-like sounds in her own little language, complete with hand gestures. Ya know, to really drive the point home. We've had some great conversations together.

I've been trying to teach her to use a sippy cup, and just in the last week she's taken interest. Today she was sipping away, while standing of course, but after closer inspection, she was gnawing on the spout and not really drinking much at all. It took 5 hours to drink a couple ounces, but that's still progress. I think she's beginning to wean, and I'm relieved that I'll be able to get fluids in her in another way. I have mixed feelings about that too, but that's okay.

Joy is fearless at meal times and has liked just about everything we've thrown her way. She's eating chunky stuff like a champ, and her favorites lately are string cheese, chicken nuggets, and whatever is on my plate. She refuses to be left out!

Cole is doing very well with the potty now, and he has worn big boy underpants a couple days this week. We made a trip to Target last night to pick out some more. I'm hoping I won't be buying any more pull-ups, with the exception of some for nighttime. He's really proud of himself, and he likes to show off with his "magic trick." He closes the lid on the potty before he flushes, then he waves his hands over the potty, and ta-dah, clean water! Tony and Cole had an argument the other night because Cole wanted to do his magic trick and Tony had no idea what he was talking about. They are too alike in that they are horrible listeners for each other.

Cole is on the waiting list for pre-school, but that is looking pretty unlikely. I bought some pre-school prep and summer bridge books, and we started our own "school" yesterday. I bought him some special pens just for schoolwork and we worked on a couple pages together. He really enjoyed the attention and I liked the quiet time too.

Cole still loves to help and I try to involve him in projects whenever I can. Last week we built a little patio (4 ft x 5 ft) to make a floor for his play log cabin in the backyard. We were out there for hours digging and leveling, and we both got some good exercise. Joy and Tony watched from the sliding doors, safe in the A/C. I took him to see Ratatouille that night to reward both of us for all the hardwork.

Cole has seen 3 movies this summer. His first movie ever was Shrek the Third. I took him after he kept his pull-up clean for a full day. Then Tony took him to see Surf's Up while we were in Wisconsin. He fell asleep at the end of that one, but Tony and his dad couldn't stop talking about it when they got back.

The summer is going by quickly and Joy's first birthday will be here too soon. I wish I had more quiet, special time with her and with Cole too, but I'm trying really hard to make the most of the moments we do have together. They are amazing little people.

time flies

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It's worth noting, I wrote this a month before I had a chance to post this. Is there any hope for me to blog on a regular basis again? Well, I'm still trying!
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Joy is now 6 months old and Cole is 3 1/2 years old. How did that happen? There are times when I look down at her smiling face, and I think I have Cole in my arms again. Joy, like her brother, is a happy, bubbly baby with an irresistible smile and a giggle so cute it’s infectious. She loves to pull my hair, to nap on Daddy, and to watch her brother. Joy’s starting to sit up on her own and desperately wants to crawl so before long she’ll be trying to keep up with Cole too.

At 5 months, Joy tried rice cereal, and now she’s eating 2 meals a day. In the beginning, she would “talk” her food off the spoon, making noises as she gobbled it up. Now that she’s gotten more coordinated, she waits until after each bite to make her happy sounds for her favorite foods. So far she’s had rice cereal, baby oatmeal, applesauce, bananas, and sweet potatoes. She prefers her applesauce mixed with her oatmeal, but beyond that she’s not too particular. Tomorrow, we’ll try something green for the first time—peas.

Despite starting solids, Joy still nurses about every 2 1/2 hours during the day. It can be exhausting, but it’s also a welcome break from my work which is far more tiring these days. She wakes once or twice at night for a diaper change and to nurse, but other than that she’s sleeping very well. During the day Joy only naps for a long stretch if she is being held which hasn’t been a problem because we’ve been able to coordinate a long nap for Joy with a nap for Cole…and sometimes a nap for either Tony or me too.

She is rolling around very well and is far more graceful than her brother was at this stage. Cole used to roll over with a thud even on our old living room floor which was carpeted with a plush area rug on top. Then again, Cole had a much larger noggin which made him top-heavy.

At her 6 month check-up, Joy was 13 lbs. 13 1/2 oz. (X%) and 25 inches long (X%). Cole was 14 lbs at 2 months old, so she is still a tiny thing to me. When we are out people regularly comment on how small she is, but the funny thing is that she fits perfectly in 6-9 month clothing.

Joy’s eyes are still blue, although a bit darker than they used to be. I never thought for a moment that I would have a blue-eyed child because Tony and I both have dark brown eyes. Cole had surprised us too with his light/medium brown hair, but it is getting a bit darker as he gets older.

Joy’s hair is getting thicker, but it is too thin to really get a sense of the color. I have a small hair clip I bought months ago, and for fun I put it on her hair sometimes while I’m changing her diaper. In the beginning, her hair barely made it through the clip. Her hair is considerably longer now, but not quite ready for a clip. I’m not a fan of the baby girl headbands because I think they look goofy and uncomfortable, but that could be a whole blog entry on its own.

Cole’s imagination and energy have exploded recently which is both comical and frustrating. When he watches too much TV, his excess energy gets him into trouble and his attention span is reduced to mere minutes. But with the TV off, we can play games, draw pictures on a big pad on the floor, make up songs for Joy and tell stories for hours. Cole loves to play outside and we’re both anxiously awaiting the real arrival of spring and warmer weather so we can do some projects outside (we had snow on Saturday!). The trouble has been when I’m working a lot there’s not much time to do fun things together and then he watches more TV than he should. I’m trying to come up with a better working schedule because it’s important for the well-being of our whole household.

Cole finally embraced potty training about a month ago which was when he decided that he was ready. We had first introduced the potty over a year ago, and while he was excited at first, his interest quickly faded. My mom had made him a little container of “potty pops” which was a jar of Dum-Dums that he could have as a reward each time he used the potty. About 3 months ago, he started going poop on the potty some of the time, but he always had started to go in his diaper first. He’s a smart kid and his interest in the potty was mostly a con to get a lollipop. I told him if we could “get all the poop in the potty” we would go out for a fun dinner and ice cream. “Get all the poop in the potty” quickly became a little song/chant around the house. Now if I can just come up with a song about peeing in the potty maybe we can graduate to the big boy underpants that are washed and ready in his dresser drawer.

I’ve heard it said that your children are the most fascinating people you will ever know, and I couldn’t agree more strongly with that statement. Cole and Joy surprise me every day, and I wish I could spend more of my time just playing with them. Honestly, if it means less sleep for me in order to have my days with the kids, it’s worth it. I love to see what interests them and the ways in which they are similar and different too. Their similarities allow me to remember Cole as a baby and their differences remind me that Joy has a lot to teach me too.

Cole has started picking up a lot of slang lately, and he uses most of it correctly. While I was helping him with the potty the other day he said, “You’re fired!”, and I said, “Oh no, are you going to get a new mommy?”. Cole replied, “No, you’re fired, so now you don’t have to work and you can be with me all the time.” I hugged him and thanked him for saying one of the nicest things I’ve ever heard at a time when I really needed to hear it.