chores of a 7-month-old

(*before someone freaks, that's just the title. i don't really force my infant to do housework.*)

"so mom, is there anything i can help you with while i'm just hanging out, waiting for breakfast?

how about folding socks? i love socks.

i mean, they're da bomb. socks rock. or rock my socks... either way, socks are cool. even cole says so.

ew. maybe they're not the greatest after all. sort of dry and tasteless.

yuck... i think i have a lint-ball.

hey, mom- would it be ok if i just kept the beach ball under control?

alright... later mom!"

catch-up. again. because i slack.

see? my daughter slacks too. she gets it from me.

still slackin'.

cole and his ravioli.
it's more of a plaything for him, really.
he USED to like it.
now he doesn't like anything.
they tell me it's a phase...
... which he'll eventually outgrow.
or course, i'm already aware of that, so while we wait for this particular phase to pass, we take it as a photo opportunity. i mean, pasta right between the eyes?
classic!

this past weekend we spent a little time at my mom and dad's... madison got to try out the push-n-ride toy. she did stand up and hang on for a little bit but was way more interested in chewing on it.

cole was in his glory, being able to run outside and "help" grandpa in the snap-on truck!

he tried out the snap-on mini chopper (it's for a raffle-drawing for dad's customers)...

... and then "helped" papa take a nap! he was laying on my dad, but by the time my mom and i were done "awwww!"-ing and got the cameras, the moment was gone.

saturday afternoone and evening we were at chris and al's for shawn's birthday party... and then on sunday we went to spend the afternoon with duey and kelvin's dad. i forgot to take the camera out while we were there, but cole was too busy running ("WUNNNNN!", as he says), so photos would have shown a little blue-jeaned streak. it was nice to just hang out for the afternoon- thanks again for the burgers, duey! :)

now today, it's off to appleton for bio-life and then to hobby lobby to get some crochet supplies. i won a project bid on etsy, so i'm going to be madly stitching away for the next 10 days. i'm to make a variety of flowers for a dress designer in canada... her designs are amazing and i have to say, i'm honored to have a part in her work!

(see her at www.sodaliscious.com)

that's the splits...

... as in, split chin. pits, splits, whatever. either way, it hurts. poor cole- i guess that being a boy, he's destined to at least one split. fortunately, this time it didn't requite stitches. the upside to having no carpeting is that it's more sanitary... the downside is all the owies that may or may not occur when hardwood flooring is combined with small bundles of energy.daddy held him immediately after the fact...

...and then mommy saw blood so it was time to investigate a little further...

... which made mommy run to get a band-aid, which was when we discovered that he HATES band-aids for whatever reason; headlock and major struggle ensued but the spongebob band-aid was eventually stuck in place...

... cole reciprocated...

... realized that neither the owie nor the band-aid were life-threatening...

...got a good night's sleep...

... and this is how the owie looks this morning. sorry it's a little blurry; it's a major task to get a toddler to sit still long enough to get a good close-up. i failed. anyway, cole's little chin is bruised and scabbed over and a little swollen, but other than that, he's a-ok. i should probably mention that about 2 hours after he fell, he took a digger again, landing right on the same spot. ouch. there were a few tears, yes, but once again, he was up and tearing around in no time. lesson not learned, i guess.

just a cute little tidbit from yesterday morning: cole spent a little time "helping" grandpa k in his snap-on truck this weekend. yesterday morning, cole saw one of those white fedex van/trucks go past our window and started hollering "papa! papa! papa!". oh, the things that make your heart just melt...

putting it all in perspective

after a long, pretty much sleepless night with both kids (one more so than the other), my first inclination is to feel like it's not fair that i've had three nights with no sleep in the last 10 days. then i remember that it could be worse. the fact that madison was stuffy and boogery and refused to sleep until about 3.30 this morning and that cole was awake between 3 and 4 and i got about 2 hours of sleep before they were back up and ready for the day is small beans compared to what others are facing. yes, i'm thinking of someone in particular... a precious little boy named stellan and his mommy, daddy, big brothers and big sister. i'm sure a few of you who read this blog are also readers of mckmama's blog and are familiar with what's going on with this family. if not, i urge you to check it out- we have two links to them, one being the button that says "praying for stellan" on it. normally, i don't really get too involved in things like this, when i don't personally know the family, but this time, the mommy in me says that this family needs all the thoughts and prayers they can get. seeing them experience something so difficult makes my "difficulties" seem rather petty. i'm so lucky to have happy, healthy kids...

sometimes i'm really ashamed of myself.

what a week.

the majority of my week, as usual, has involved the two munchkins... the loves of our lives! which brings me to a random but valid tidbit: i have over 600 photos from this month alone, and the month isn't over yet. i start a new folder for each month and (try to) burn them onto cd's when the month is done. it occurred to me, as i stared at the magnificent photo count, that i am an out-of-control shutterbug. BUT in my defense, i have preserved countless moments. we will never again experience those same moments, so maybe it's not so bad after all. or maybe i'm trying to make an excuse for myself. whatever... on to the rest of the week!we had some sibling love... notice the bus in cole's hand? he was such a good boy during our run to fleet farm at the beginning of the week that he got a bus for his very own. we plan on getting him a fisher-price little people bus for his birthday, but he doesn't know that, and this will hold him over till then.

mischief or annoyance? you decide...

madison LOVES squash and sweet potatoes! seriously, she can't get enough! beans and bananas are still a no-go, but she likes a little unsweetened applesauce now and then.

this was her bath tonight- first time in the big tub! she has been able to stand while holding onto things for short amounts of time (like, less than a minute, usually), and it just looks so funny when she does it! it's strange to see such a petite little person standing...

she claimed one of cole's old spoons and refused to let go for her bath. fine with me... she's been chewing on things a LOT, so i'm guessing she's teething. or at the very least, starting to.

cole helped madi with her bath... he ate his snack. don't ask me how that helped, but he thought he was big stuff, eating his cracker next to the tub.

FINALLY, some smiles! all clean, with mommy and daddy all to herself.

teething tablet, anyone?!

yes, our week has been interesting. cole learned some new words: hemi, truck (he just says "ck", but we get the picture) and i forgot to mention before that he also says hat. it sounds a lot like "hot". he's also very detail-oriented: when we read "goodnight moon" before bed, he picks out things, like the kitties, the ball of yarn, things like that- he names them. he also points to the step on the pages with the toy house and says "updown, updown, updown", his term for stairs. and, for anyone that is familiar with the book, there's a bookcase on some of the pages. it has stuffed animals on them, the drawings are pretty tiny... but he points to the one on the top shelf that looks like a sock monkey and says "george" (like curious george). smarty.

so obviously, we've had another joyous (and sometimes frustrating) week with the wee ones that run our house, but we've also experienced a great loss. most of you who know us and know the people in the area also know that a few days ago, a wonderful man was taken in a car accident. he was in our sunday meeting for the past 3 years or so... a big-hearted man who we will all miss terribly. i have to say, i'm a little hesitant to go to meeting tomorrow because i don't personally feel ready to not see him there. i didn't know him as well as others but he still meant a lot to us. his funeral was today and kelvin was a pallbearer. at the burial, all the women from our meeting we given a single red rose... i think that's touched me more deeply than anything else in this whole experience. our thoughts are with his family for the days that lie ahead; it's a comfort to know that we can find peace and joy even in such sorrow. and on a personal note, i think that kelvin and i will always hold dear the last memory we have of him: we sat next to steve last sunday at gospel meeting and he spent a good part of that time playing with madison, who was smiling and "talking" to him. it melts my heart to think of it...

snzxxxx.

that would be the sound of me, snoring. while awake and partially functioning, of course.

see photo below for the cause of this...

thaaaaat's right.

another sleepless night.

it started off great

then it went sour.

yeah.

think: to bed (meaning finally asleep) around 9'ish (bedtime routine is usually in full-swing around 8), then awake and talking to himself at about 2 am. i'm sure he was awake long before that... my guess is that he dozed for an hour or so after he drifted off. the whole ordeal ended around 5 am, after a few hours of me on the floor by his bed. i got to thinking, trying to muddle through the unorganized mess of thoughts in my head (made even more unintelligible from lack of sleep), that maybe he's become sensitive to dairy. last week friday, when he never even went to sleep until about 3.30 am the next morning, he'd had a lot of milk and some yogurt. on saturday he had mostly watered-down juice because we were out and about. he had a few bites of a cheese sandwich for lunch, some homemade cheese pizza for supper and a few bites of ice-cream, but it didn't affect him that night. he had some grilled cheese sandwiches over the past few days and annie's natural shells and white cheddar, but the only thing i can think of is that if he takes in too much dairy, it causes insomnia. i found a little something on a mommy forum about dairy sensitivities causing poor sleep patterns in kids (toddlers too), and some of the cases sounded EXACTLY like cole's. other than that, all i found was add or adhd as a cause of toddler insomnia, and i really doubt that's the case, since he's pretty normal in every other aspect. i don't know- does anyone have any thoughts on this? if anyone has any input, ideas, experiences, what have you (anything!!!), please let me know!

*thanks in advance!*

6 months!!

madison had her 6-month well-baby visit today...here are her stats:

13 pounds, 7 ounces (8th percentile)

26 1/4 inches (79th percentile)

17 in. head circumference (35th percentile)

weight-for-length: about the 1st percentile

dr h made the nurse weigh her a second time, because he didn't think her first weighing had been recorded right. it was... she actually lost 6 ounces since her 4-month visit. because she's on-track with her other development (motor skills, etc), i'm guessing her weight loss is due to her increased activity. i was instructed to really push the solids and supplement with formula if we have to, to encourage madison to gain weight. she tried bananas yesterday and HATED them! i'm thinking squash or beans, then trying a little fruit again.

but... as long as madi's happy, healthy and developing like she should be, i'm not going to get too worried over it. sure, there's a bit of panic lurking in the back of my mind (ok, the front of my mind), but if dr h isn't overly concerned, i guess i shouldn't stress myself to pieces over it. right?