To the top--again and again and again...

Cole loves climbing the stairs. When the gate is down, he can't get there fast enough to start his climbing. He could go all day; it is unquestionably his favorite thing to do. Although he does need to figure out that he can't descend the stairs head first...

And when Franny joins him, it's even more fun

But he really doesn't like being denied access...

Peek-a-boo

Cole has always loved us playing peek-a-boo with him, but now he has started playing peek-a-boo with us. And, does he ever think he is funny! But in actuality, so do we!

No reason...

..other than I love him.

Let the sunshine in

The weather almost reached 70 degrees today, with a forecast of at least more of the same for the weekend. So, as Portlanders do when such beautiful weather emerges, we headed outside for a neighborhood trail walk. Although we did introduce Cole to the backpack a couple of months ago, he really wasn't ready, and he bounced around until we finally just pulled him out and carried him. But today, his much improved strength was very apparent--he rode with ease, chattered at everything around him, and continually patted my shoulder, as if to say faster, mama, faster!!! It is wonderful to now have the backpack available, as it opens up a number of additional options for future adventures that we can all enjoy together. It's going to be a great summer! (And spring too!)

Swimming with Cole

We began swim lessons with Cole last week. Although initially apprehensive, he soon realized that the pool was no more than one big bathtub with toys, splashed around and amused everyone with his happy dance. This week, they went underwater, and while he wasn't doing his happy dance afterwards, it was not as upsetting for him as I had thought it would be. He seems very at ease in the water, and even didn't mind floating on his back (Franny battled this for nearly a year and a half!). It was fun being in the water again; I haven't been in with Franny since the beginning of last summer. I had forgotten the calming effect water has on the body. Even just the half hour we have leaves me feeling relaxed. And, it's just a lot of fun!

Monsieur Cole

Today, Cole ate dramatically more than he has since he started eating solid foods. It is counterintuitive for me to feed him the way he needs to be fed, and it has taken some time to adjust to not only feeding him fattening foods, but also feeding him until he emphatically refuses any more. When he gets older, I think I may need to learn how to prepare French entrees, as his palette will be so accustomed to such rich and fatty foods that he won't be able to choke down how the rest of us eat. But until then, I continue to brainstorm new ways to get more fat into his diet. In a few months, I will probably look back at this list and think Was that the best I could do? But, for now, I'm pretty impressed with his current intake.

Today's menu:

Snack

Whole grain goldfish crackers with almond butter

Oatmeal with heavy whipping cream

Lunch

Cheese and crackers

Oatmeal with heavy whipping cream

Snack

Whole milk yogurt with cereal

Whole grain graham crackers with strawberry cream cheese

Dinner

Macaroni and cheese

Broccoli with cheese sauce

Whole milk yogurt

All too familiar...

Cole has become quite active over the last few weeks; he insists on crawling, standing, or cruising during nearly every waking hour. His interest in play has overtaken his consciousness to the point where he has started to fight his naps. Yesterday, he complained, chattered, crawled around his crib, and finally fell asleep while sitting up. When I saw him collapsed over his little legs, I couldn't help but release a heavy sigh as I remembered how stubborn his sister was in her sleep habits--I blogged on Franny doing this same thing when she was just over a year old. Hopefully, this will remain an isolated incident, and he will return to his regular, minimal protest sleep habits. Hopefully...

Cole/10 months

Franny/14 months

http://frannyrae.blogspot.com/2006/06/sitting-bull-headed.html

Disgruntled blogger

For the past month or so, I have received spam comments in my blog. These have been unappreciated and reported to Blogger. New ones, however, continue to find my blog and I have finally made the decision to enable comment moderation. But I wanted to make it clear that I don't want to discourage appropriate comments, as I really do enjoy them!

Parachute fun

We pulled out Franny's parachute to get ready for one of the games we played on her birthday. When I went down to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, I began to hear lots of giggling going on. Franny had pulled it out the bag and the two of them were having great fun. Silly kids!