Sneaky mom

After two weeks of continuous rolling around and trying to crawl, Cole seems to be taking a break from the active life. Now, he is very resistant to being on him tummy at all, and either strongly asserts his desire to be upright and sitting or just rolls over. Even his favorite toys aren't motivation for him, anymore. He will stretch and scoot around on his side in almost a full circle rather than conceding to just a simple roll-over. Most definitely, he is a challenge for my adaptive and problem solving skills. My latest strategy is to place him on the couch and read him books. Although he isn't able to practice rolling and crawling, it does keep him on his tummy longer than anything else, which at least keeps those neck muscles working. Maybe the floor is too hard for that slender frame or maybe he is just focusing on other skills. Regardless, only the little guy knows, and right now, he's just keeping us guessing!

Independent or little clam?

Cole seems to have a great interest in food--all food that is, except his own. The only times he has eaten off a spoon is when I hand the spoon to him and he shoves it in his mouth. And that is absolutely fine, but his willingness to even do that is limited. The most typical responses to the spoon is pursed lips or taking the spoon and shaking it. Today, after an unsuccessful attempt at pureed avocado, I took him out of his high chair to hold him in my lap while Franny finished her dinner. At this point, he stuck his hand right into the previously snubbed avocado and proceeded to shove it into his mouth. By the time he was through (minus the obvious enormous amount that didn't make it into his mouth) he probably ate over half an avocado. I've read about babies who will only eat if they can feed themselves, but I never thought Cole had that personality. And maybe he doesn't--right now, this is a one-time occurrence--time will tell. But if he does insist on feeding himself, I hope he will learn quickly not to be so messy!

Books, books, books

Recently, Cole has become very interested in books. I especially love having Franny and Cole read together, although it can quickly get out of hand and become more about giggling and goofing around than reading. When it's just the two of us, they have become my favorite trick to keep him on his tummy; from what I can tell, his favorite seems to be Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Or, maybe that's just the one that tastes the best...

The world unfolding

Cole's level of awareness is expanding by the day. Practically everything around him needs to be grabbed or touched, while things out of reach are either chattered at or intensely examined. At lunchtime, I now need to sit Franny just slightly farther away than before, as a piece of waffle with cream cheese was recently quickly snatched. While the bite hit the floor almost as quickly as it was stolen, the tell-tale cream cheese was all over his face. I know too well, this is only the beginning...

Oooooh!

Over the last few weeks, Cole's expressions and verbal inflections have greatly expanded. My new favorite: when he sees something that he finds really interesting, his eyes get big and he says oooooh! It's just too cute!

Tough guy

This morning, Cole received the second half of his flu vaccine, and he didn't cry or even wince! Expecting a louder and more vocal response, it definitely made my morning.

A smile of relief

After two weeks of bitter suffering and near sleepless nights, Cole's first tooth finally broke through sometime during the wee hours of the night. Although I absolutely love the big, gummy smile of the little guy, I know we all need a little more sleep than we've been getting as of late. He has one more tooth on the verge of coming through, so I'm not expecting any big changes in the near future, but hopefully soon. Very soon.