7 Months of Cole Henry

Another successful month of keeping Cole alive! Cole met the coffee table a few times this month.  He survived but gave me several heart attacks.  The beginning of a new (and dangerous) era.

 

This month has been fun, as they all have been.  Cole is loving his toes, ba-ba-ba-ing constantly.  The little man finally rolled over... hullabaloo!!! Talk about a celebration when that happened.  I felt like he was accepted to Harvard with a full scholarship.

Cole has been scooting around on his tummy, mostly backwards.  He likes to play standing (in a lean-to form, against the ottoman or not-so-soft coffee table). Sitting is more independent, but I continue to sit with him, as he has yet to learn that gravity hurts. Peek-a-boo is hilarious to him every time.  And the weather has been awesome.  Cole L-O-V-E-S the outdoors, like all little boys should. Fussy Cole? Go outside.  Or to the bath tub. I am so excited about summer in the pool!

Lots of new changes in the sleeping arena. We put up the bumper in his crib.  He somehow scoots his head up to the top corner all the time...which would wake anyone up!! After the time change, Cole started taking just 2 naps a day.  Nice, long ones! It definitely affects our schedule and activities during the day.  He can't sleep just anywhere anymore, but it is super nice to (kind of) know what to expect each day.

Cole nurses every four hours during the day and usually once at night, and is eating three square meals a day.  He lovesssss his meal time.  Really loves to hold and suck on the spoon. Still hates avacado, but seems to enjoy everything else.  Even prunes.  yuck.

No teeth yet. I don't see any on the horizon.  Me and Tom both didn't have teeth until we were 12 months old.  Wouldn't that make me the luckiest nursing mom on the planet?? haha... time will tell.......

God continues to teach me about grace, patience, gentleness, and all things fruit-of-the-Spirit in being Cole's mom.  Praying throughout the day (AND night) is the only survival skill I have.  I saw A LOT of the midnight hours this month, and have been leaning on His new mercies every morning.  Contrary to my usual thinking, I can testify that 8 hours of continual sleep are not necessary to abundant life.  The days that I have no choice but to lean on the Lord for strength and joy are usually the best days.  He is good and continues to refine through parenting. 

 Cole loves his dad!!! Love these pictures.

My Bag of Tricks

This post is more for my reference than my 4 faithful followers.  With the billion resources, methods and tricks out there, I needed one place to find them and refer back to, especially for future babies.

Scripture:
I need to constantly remind myself that peace and wisdom ultimately come from the Lord alone...no Google search will provide that.  There is a lot of nonsense out there and a lot of pressure for your baby to fit a certain mold.  Yuck!! These verses always pull me back to the source of all wisdom and peace!

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.  Isaiah 26:3-4

Come back and quietly trust in me.  Then you will be strong and secure. Isaiah 30:15
 
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  James 1:5-6

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. James 3:17


Schedule:
My friend Jamie sent me this link when Cole was about 2 months old.  Super helpful in knowing how long Cole should/could be able to stay awake, when he could be hungry, etc.  The only pitfall about this was Cole was always a 45 minute napper, and it assumes 2 hours! ha! Must stay flexible and adjust as needed.  He is starting to nap longer, so we are closer to the schedule now. 

Schedule Cheat Sheet

Eating:
Oh man, I looked FOREVER to find some guide on starting solids for Cole.  Talk about overwhelming! Now that we are a few months in, it is not that big of a deal.  But I just found this gem this week!!! So pumped about it.  The second link has a great timeline of how to fit in 4-5 nursings + 3 meals.  

Feeding Baby 0-24 months 
Solids Timeline

I also read this several times during the early months of nursing...mostly for motivation (hah!) and to see if we were on track.  Things change so quickly in that area the first 2-3 months.  Very helpful!

Nursing Month by Month 


The Dreaded Sleep Training:
We are three days into sleep training my little sweet terrible sleeper. It's been great so far! But we have a long way to go.  I am doing the Baby Whisperer method... no crying, but potentially a lot of work and definitely a lot of patience.  Mostly its been great to be more consistent with how I am putting Cole to sleep...for naps, bedtime and middle of the night.  This is an interview with the author, and she goes into a lot of Q&A, specific scenarios, and shares a lot of her experiences.  This was way more detailed then any book and I felt prepared and ready to conquer the sleep monster!! The only problem I have is that I refuse to ALWAYS be home for naps and in by 7 pm for bedtime! Ugh! Hopefully Cole has a little flexibility in his system.  We will find out tonight...going to take the pack n play to our friends' house and hope for the best!

Sleep Please!!!