introducing Walter

I normally wouldn't post twice in a day . . .but this really shouldn't wait.

Meet Walter. . .Cole's new sock monkey. Made by yours truly. . .and yes, I'm taking orders. But only if you'd like yours a little lopsided, mis-matched, stitched poorly, lumpy, bumpy and thin where it should be lumpy or bumpy. ;-)

Good thing Cole only wants to drag him by the tail and bite his legs. . .I'm not sure Walter would stand up to any serious cuddling.

tupperware helmets

I'm sure I'm biased. . .but is this the cutest kid, ever? Even with the smeared carrot on his face?

We decided to finally let Cole have the run of the house. Up until now, he's been confined to the living room and bedrooms to crawl, play and eat things off the carpet. Even though I scrubbed the kitchen floor, it still looks dirty and I thought maybe Cole's knees constantly shining the floor might do it some good. So we let him loose.

Funny how they go for the one cabinet you don't want them in. . . over and over. Or how the oven (only when it's on, of course) has so much appeal. I seem to remember some of you telling me to relish the time when Cole was a little blob that I could plop on the couch and walk away because he was too young to move. . .now I believe you. And he's not even walking. . .

Tupperware on our heads worked for a little while, but throwing the paper recycling all over the kitchen floor was much more fun. Here we are playing with Tupperware. . .

the inauguration of a new president, playdoh and homemade celtics pants

Busy week. We are still somewhat confined to the house due to the cold temperatures and continue to make our own fun.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and with my mom's help, I made Cole a pair of Celtics pants. Okay. . .the labor breakdown was about 96% my mom. . .4% me. But I did sew a few seams and did the pressing. Most of it. They came out wonderfully. . .and although I can't commit to deadlines, feel free to place orders for your very own Erika original Celtics pants anytime.

Cole and I also made homemade playdoh this week! Memere gave us a great book of recipes for playdoh, clay, paper mache, and other gooey concoctions. . .we tried out the salty playdoh. We won't discuss how much actually made it into Cole's mouth. . .

Overall. . .it was a good time.

And the other big deal of the day was watching the inauguration of our new President. Cole was pretty interested in the whole thing. Fitting, since he was trying to grab the pen I was using while I was voting for him. I figured maybe Cole would want to know what he was doing when the 44th President was inaugurated. . .and here's the proof. He was trying to eat carpet fuzz while watching intently.

His 1st birthday is right around the corner! We've gotten the Goguens a date for a party and now just need to finalize with the Paradis clan. First cake. . .it's a big deal. Some on one side of the aisle think that depriving the boy of his first chocolaty, fudgey, sticky, sugary decadently delicious birthday cake is abuse. . .others think allowing an infant to ingest the tiniest bit of refined sugar and starches is, too. Such a tough decision. ;-)

I'm in the middle. So. . .for the record. . .I'll be attempting to bake (and taste!) nutritious cakes made with fruit and sweetened with yummy things not found in packages at the store. Don't worry though. . .we'll still make sure there are plenty of store bought cake with make-your-teeth-hurt-sweet frosting for the rest of you. And what he doesn't know won't hurt him. There will be plenty of time to wind him up with birthday cake when I'm not able to regulate what he's eating. . .

ritz crackers. . .where?

I hate to put it in writing. . .but want to tell you so badly that I'll risk jinxing us. . .

Cole has slept through the night for about 5 days now!

I was really starting to worry that I'd have a one-year-old that was still getting up in the middle of the night (sometimes twice or more!) but if this new pattern holds. . .we may be in the clear.

He still wakes up to eat more about 1 - 2 hours after we put him down around 7:30 p.m., but then he won't stir until 8:30 a.m.! Can you believe it? I'm starting to get used to this getting the recommended amount of sleep thing. . . I think those people that suggest 8 hours are really onto something.

Besides that. . .it's been so cold here that we haven't travelled outside much. We've needed to use our creative juices to find fun and exciting things to do in the same 12x12 room for days in a row. We've built forts (you're never too young for forts), learned to roll a ball to each other, used soap crayons to draw on our faces, and tried to color. . .but found out crumpling up the paper is much more fun.

Here he is lounging in his PJs all day. . .and playing bongos to the radio. . .




Looks like he really has an ear for the music! ;-)


We've also started eating Ritz crackers. . .and it's amazing to me how many pieces a Ritz cracker can be broken in to. I've not vacuumed as much as I have in the last week. . .and I still find cracker crumbs in places I didn't realize Cole could reach!

Here's a video of Cole eating a cracker. . .and I realize that his mother is probably the only person that will sit happily through a two-minute video of him eating a cracker. . .so I won't hold it against you if you watch a little bit or skip the video all together. . .

. . .there won't be a quiz. . .

some teefs

Cole is feeling a bit better today. . .here he is playing in the drapes. . .

Check out the top teeth!

the "situation" of the new year. . .

Cole has croup.
And a stomach virus.
And his two top teeth coming in. . .all this week.
Super.

Let me tell you a little about this week has gone for us. . .

It started on New Year's Day with some "situations" as Bill and I like to call them, in Cole's diaper. I'll save you the specifics but let's just say we switched to a bland diet of banana slices and rice cereal. . .quickly. And we've been on that diet since. We are still having repeated "situations" about 5 - 7 times a day.

But he's been playing and cruising and generally pretty happy. We monitored his fluid intake to watch for dehydration (sounds so clinical) and he seemed to have no fever. . .so we just kept an eye on it.

Then, in the middle of the night. . .I hear this barking that sounds like I'm in the seal tank at Sea World! I realize it's Cole and the poor thing is standing in his crib literally barking at me through tears.

You might think I was unprepared. . .but. . .I remembered this scene from Terms of Endearment where the baby has this terrible cough so they sit in the steamy bathroom, and that's what I did. Cole went back to sleep. . . periodically. Bill was alarmed that I was applying parenting lessons from what he considers the worst movie ever made. . . even if it does star Jack Nicholson.

The next day the cough was pretty bad. . .teamed up with the "situations" that are still going strong so we had a visit with Dr. M. And our diagnosis. . . croup. Croup with a side of tummy virus. Beautiful.

You parents out there already know this. . .that's there really isn't anything you do for this croup. You can sit in a steamy bathroom (which is very pleasant and not disturbing at all at 3:00 a.m.) or you can bundle the little man up and take him outside to breathe some cold air. . . and if neither of those things work. . . you should go to the ER. Exactly what you should tell two new parents that are hypochondriacs anyway (okay, well one hypochondriac parent and one that settles the other down). . .and of course, it'll get worse before it gets better and the "situations" and that horrendous diaper rash will stick around for a bit longer, too.

Anyway, last night was alright - Cole was up a handful of times and is a sad camper today. He's been going from playing happily one minute and then coughing and crying the next. Not bad I suppose for going 11 months without a diaper rash (yep, honestly!) and without getting anything more than a runny nose. Suppose it was bound to end.

On a positive note. . .Cole clocked in yesterday at 29 inches and 20.5 pounds. And exactly one month to go until the little man is one! Can you believe it?



Here he is last week before the storm, riding his car he got for Christmas from Memere and Pepere. . .