Updates ...

For those of you that thought "that baby is way too young to roll over - that was a fluke". He's still doing it! Over and over and over! He just doesn't want to be on his tummy!

We also tried him in two more "big boy" toys this week. He LOVES them!

For those of you that have seen the disclaimer on the Bumbo box - NO, he was not left unattended on the table in the Bumbo. His Nana had her hand just inches from his foot - I just didn't get it in the picture!

And ... the timer. We've had GREAT success with the timer. I've had more nap days than non-nap days since we started using the timer. You may be asking - what on earth do I do with the LOUD timer (that even stated on the box - long ring, why didn't I see that?) when I see that he has fallen asleep before the time is up? Well, it's promptly relocated!!!

Our Granpa

It was a year ago today (exactly one month shy of his 61st birthday) that we lost our granpa (as he spelled it) to a quick battle with the ugly disease cancer.

It saddens us that Cohen will never get to hit him on the head with a pillow - even more fun when performed on the top bunk of a bunk bed!

And he won't get to kick Granpa in the booty while he's being pushed on the swing...

But we are SO thankful for the times we did have ... Such as ...

Walks in the garden ... talks about ants ... and hiding under trees ...

Playing with Mimi's doll house ...

Or playing any number of random games with our Granpa ...

One of the things I'll personally miss the most is the "cackle laugh". Austin and his dad had the same sense of humor. Something (most likely ridiculous) would make them both laugh...they had the same laugh and would start to "cackle". Then they would be laughing so hard at one another cackling and they'd both end up in tears. At the time, we'd all look at them like they were crazy and laugh at them. Now, it's one of the sounds I miss the most!

11 weeks old and another milestone!!

Daddy came home from work early yesterday - so we got to give Cohen a bath together while the older two took a nap (YES - Cameron napped yesterday!!!) It's always fun to spend some special time with the little man! When we were finished putting on his lotion, he was on his belly and he said "WAIT - I think I can do something new"

But it's tiring ... I better take a break...



I'm almost there!!!


I DID IT!!!


Man - I'm proud of myself! And so are mom and dad! They got it on video too...every time mom would put me on my tummy, I'd roll right over! And I even did it to the other side too!

Brotherly Love ...

So the weather is finally getting warmer - so I took the kids to the zoo. It was Cohen's first trip ... they sure look like they're having fun, don't they??

Cohen sure does admire his big brother ... let's hope he doesn't learn to be tricky at naptime like Cameron is!

Terrible Twos, Troublesome Threes ... So what are the Fives???

I know, I know ... I have been EXTREMELY fortunate that up until now my 5 and a half year old still naps. It has been my saving grace the past few months since Cohen arrived. That hour and a half is when I get EVERYTHING done - most importantly, re-gain my sanity (what's left of it!)

Of course, there have been days when he wouldn't sleep - and that's ok, he IS 5 and a half, so I'd let him skip it. Those nights were usually treacherous ... so we've instituted quiet time in his bedroom.

Recently, "quiet time" has turned into "yell-down-to-mommy-every-5-minutes" time. I'm usually trying to feed Cohen and then put him to sleep ... Kennedy is trying to fall asleep in the room next door and it's impossible to do these two things when screaming up a flight of stairs to a bedroom full of white noise that is supposed to be putting this child to sleep!

So, my mom had a great idea. I bought a timer (that clicks loudly, maybe THAT will put him to sleep) and put it in his bedroom on his dresser. "Now, Cameron - you see this timer? This is how long you have to stay quietly in your room ... until it dings, do not yell down at mommy". At first, he plays games in his room and I need to remind him that it's time to read books or lay down to rest, not play. I see him move the timer down to his bedside table, and that's fine, maybe he's watching the minutes go by. About 10 minutes later, DING A LING A LING A LING and a smiling Cameron appears. That STINKER - he turned the timer to the end and appeared like quiet time was over!!! So, mommy takes the timer, hides it and sends him on his way. 5 minutes later, he's asleep. For the first time in I don't know how long, he took a nap ... let's hope he rests quietly tomorrow.

If not, I may practice his spelling - although he seems to be doing okay at sounding out words himself. Sunday as we were getting ready for church, Cameron was upset with daddy for some reason. I hear him say that he was going to make a sign ... next thing you know, this appears on the shower door. Can you tell what it says?




GO AWAY MOM
GO AWAY DAD

I can't wait to see what year 6 brings :)

Happy Birthday Carter!!!

Our friend Carter had his 4th birthday party at the Buckeye baseball game today. We had a GREAT time - here are a few shots of our little Buckeye fans!

My little gymnast!

Kennedy LOVES her gymnastics class. She's been going once a week now for over a year. Wednesday was the last day of this session ... here are a few pics of her showing off.






She loves the rings!!! She has a very good straddle - I even think she's pointing her toes!


She's very good at the bars and she seems to like the beam too. Maybe she just likes it all! Her teacher "Miss Lori" seems to think she's a natural. I think Kennedy just won her over with her personality :) Here she is getting her certificate.

My baby is getting WAY too big, way too fast!

Today Cohen had his 2 month appointment - even though he'll actually be 10 weeks on Thursday.

The poor little man had 3 shots and something that they give orally for Rotavirus. If they can give him something to prevent Rotavirus, I'm all for it - that's MISERABLE!

He is such a big boy! He weighs 14lbs 4oz (90-91 percentile) and is 25 1/4 inches long (97th percentile!!). And 100% ADORABLE!

At this age, Cameron was 12lbs 6oz(75%) and 23 inches (55%).

And Kennedy was 13lbs 1oz (95%) and 22 3/4 inches (50-75%).

But remember, Cohen was born at 9 lbs 5 oz!!! That's a pound more than Kennedy and nearly 2 and a half more than Cameron! I wonder if he'll be the baby, yet the biggest??? Looks like he'll at least be the tallest!

Love ...

Cohen loves his Godmother - his beautiful Auntie Kristan. Isn't this a great shot?

God Bless You - Baby Cohen!

Today was a big day for Cohen ... he was baptised and even the deacon commented on just how many people were there to support him.

We are lucky to have such an awesome family and friends - so many people came from near and far for Cohen's special day. THANK YOU all for being there.

Here are some pictures of the little man in his "dress" as Cameron called it.

And after the festivities, Cameron and Kennedy started a game of "Duck Duck Goose"

Frenulectomy

Today - at 2 months and 1 day old - Cohen had his first surgery.

He's tongue-tied ... yep, someone in our family is tongue-tied. Never thought that could happen, did ya? Well, neither did we, so we had it fixed :)

The technical term is "tight frenulum" - what it means is the little piece of skin that connects his tongue to the bottom of his mouth is really short and it's connected at the very tip of his tongue (well, it was until about 9:30am today).

Sometimes this causes trouble with sucking/eating - but he's been doing ok. But, it could cause problems later in life - he couldn't stick out his tongue at his brother or sister, or lick an ice cream cone, or kiss a girl - oh yeah, and it can cause speech impediments.

So - we went to see a specialist today - who promptly performed the "frenulectomy" (he grabbed his tongue, numbed it with lidocaine and snipped it with scissors).

He's a happy boy - can you see the difference???

But here's the face we love to see!!!

I finally enter the world of blogging ...

So - today I sent my amazing photographer (who just got engaged last week - CONGRATS Natalie and Dave!) an email of about 3mb worth of pictures of my kids. She said to me "You need to start a blog" ... 3 hours later, here I am.

I can't guarantee that I'll keep this updated as often as I should. And I'm in NO WAY a good writer ... but I'll try to keep you updated with my ramblings and photos of our crazy kids!