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!!!  
 

Road Trip to Dallas

Cole and I made our first long car journey together this past week.  We drove from San Antonio to north Dallas...by ourselves...with Tom's truck! What a task! It took us about 7 hours after all the stops. Cole had a fever from his shots the previous day.  It was rainy and gross outside. We did it.  It was somewhat fun, but I really missed Tom and was super glad to arrive in Plano. 

First we stopped in south Austin between Cole's naps to play around at my Aunts' house. Cole loved the goldfish, but wasn't crazy about the hammock.  Maybe next time. 

     

Our next stop was in Temple for lunch.  I was planning to go through the drive thru but Cole was getting antsy and I wanted to wear him out a little more! He sat in the high chair for the first time! And loved the place mat.

 

I also got Starbucks in Hillsboro, and then we stopped south of Dallas to change a stinky diaper.  What a journey!!!!!!!! We made it eventually.

We went to Plano to introduce Cole to Tom's grandparents, Mammaw and Pappaw.  They had a great time! Cole gave them plenty of great smiles.  We also had lots of time to play with Cole's cousin Grant.  They are so precious to watch together.  Grant only got jealous for his mama a couple times :) 

Two little turtles

I went too.  G-Pegs isn't THAT awesome...

Grant plays on iPad and lets his mom feed Cole

 

Cole admires Ikea

Cole: 6 Months Old!

ahhhh... he is really half a year old? Already? Makes me so sad, but he is learning so much lately, which makes me proud and less sad.  :)

Our little Cole Henry is 16 lbs 9 oz (50th percentile) and 27.5 inches (85%).  He has been healthy and happy, and we are so thankful.

This month, Cole has made a few major changes. He stays awake for up to 3 hours without getting angry... but sometimes only 1.5 hours.  He is now down to 2-3 naps a day and sleeping for about 11 hours at night, eating once around 4 am and sometimes waking up for the pacifier before that.  I never know what to expect at night now, so I have just been praying that I would be filled with joy, gentleness, thankfulness and love in the midnight hours! And that I would fall right back asleep.  God has been so faithful in that prayer.  It is tough not to put hope in a good night of sleep, but I have learned to depend fully on the Lord on the days that follow.  You have to when you are that tired!

Cole has been eating like a little champion these days! He nurses every 3-4 hours and is having fruit for lunch and cereal + vegetable for dinner. He has had rice cereal, now oatmeal.  Loves both.  He enjoys carrots, sweet potatoes and squash.  Apples and pears are so-so, and avocado was hilariously horrible.  So entertaining.  He opens his mouth so wide and leans toward the spoon...can't get enough!

Cole's bag of tricks continues to grow. He is better at sitting up.  It's more of a balancing game right now, but he can sit for a while, if the toy in front of him is interesting enough! Cole can now roll from his tummy to his back...but not quite the other way around.  In time, my sweet boy! haha! He also survived his first (of many) youth group retreat at Alto Frio in Leakey... such a fun time.  The leaders and kids really love him, and he didn't seem to mind being passed around like a hot potato all weekend. 

No teeth yet!
 
It keeps getting easier to make him laugh.  Best sound ever. Cole loves peek a boo and any singing.  He loves toys that aren't toys (of course) tupperware and measuring cups are his favorites.

Love this boy! Enjoy some of my favorite pics from this month

These eyebrows! So much expression! 

Enjoying a nice book in our backyard

REALLY trying to roll over....!

 

First retreat!

Best Sound Ever

Cole started to laugh a little bit around Christmas.  We had to completely act a fool, for a long time, and we might get a few giggles.  Now we know what makes him laugh, and he doesn't make us work quite as hard.  It is THE best sound.  So so so sweet to my mommy ears.  Enjoy!

House Projects!

We have been in our house for one month! It has been so fun.  We love spending time working on it, especially outside.  We have a long list of things we want to update and work on, but here is what we've done so far and plan to do:

 We love the big lot our house is on! Can't wait to see Tom and Cole running around and playing soccer all over this yard. 

Planning to:
- Paint stair banister
- Plant floors in big pots by front door
- Plant something (??) along garage/walkway
- Trim Dr. Suess-ish oak trees

 Backyard! We love it! I have so much fun sitting and reading with Cole outside. So thankful for this fun space.

This weekend we removed the vegetable beds.  Figured we ought to learn how to take care of grass first... But the peach and plum trees are staying! They are already blooming, crazy Texas weather.

Tom wants to restain the deck and fence, and eventually add a bench around the right side.  We would also like some patio furniture.  In time.  :)

 Our bedroom! Love that its downstairs.  I thought it would be a pain with Cole upstairs, but if you are up at 3am anyway, a few stairs doesn't really make that any worse.  haha!!

Planning to:
-Hang some curtains and more pictures
-Paint...maybe a darker tan or grey
-Restain and update our furniture (eventually...)

 Living Room! We have already painted and decorated most of it.  And we replaced that terrible white fan this weekend.

But there are some major changes coming soon......

- Putting hardwoods in probably within the next couple weeks!
- Adding the matching loveseat
- Our $100 Ikea table has endured quite a bit.  I still love it, but we will eventually upgrade that too.

 Dining Room! We don't use this room too much, but we've painted and just need to hang a few things.  Hardwoods are also going to be installed there.

 Kitchen!

All done.  Tom put the knobs and handles in.  I am still working on cleaning the stove top and oven.  Yuck.  But we are pleased :)

 Playroom/Office: Our favorite room in the house! A big fat mess, but that is how it is supposed to be.  :) We still need to hang things, but no plans to make this any fancier.

Guest Bedroom! We will add curtains so our guests can sleep past 6 am.  The sun is quite intense with those windows! But you can see the sunrise too, so its pretty awesome, if you are awake :)

Cole's Room! Might paint, but it's finished!

To be continued...!