I Love You!

This sweet little girl has entered a phase I could only hope lasts forever. At many random moments throughout the day we hear, I love you momma/mom/mommy, I love you daddy. It is as if she doesn't have anything else to say so she chooses this to say. I won't complain. Or there are the few moments when she can tell we are frustrated and she says it then too. I can't complain there either. Totally the best stress diffuser. I just wish kids would get stuck in a phase like this and never enter the "I hate you mom, you never let me do anything fun" or anything of that nature :)

***Case in point as I was typing this very post, Sevea gives me a hug from the back and says I love you mom! Awww!

It's Official

I think we can safely say it is official, we have another thumb sucker!

The whole thumb versus pacifier thing is tricky. The reasons I prefer a pacifier are the same reasons I prefer the thumb. I love that I can give or take away the pacifier when I want. Yet it is very convenient for Cohen to decide when he wants to suck his thumb versus me having to help him by giving him the pacifier. I can say that I love how he looks when he sucks his thumb. He reminds me a lot of Sevea yet not when she was a baby because she didn't start sucking her thumb until she was 1. But he reminds me of her now. Downside...breaking two kids of sucking their thumbs. You can't just take the thumb away! Oh well in due time.

The Best Medicine

Tis the season for getting sick! Our household was first hit with the stomach bug and now it is a nasty cough/cold going around. Sevea is handling the cough pretty well. She may get up once in the night I think more for comfort after coughing pretty hard. Another hug and kiss good night and she is back to sleep. Cohen had us worried with his sleep...he was sleeping around 19 hours of the day or more. Granted he would still wake up to eat (good sign) but this much sleep for 4  to 5 days seemed odd. Of course sleep helps fight illness but that much for that long? We took him to see the doctor and everything checked out fine. That day he started to seem better as well. I guess he just needed some medicine...the best kind...a big sister!

He wasn't happy on the floor until I asked Sevea to play with him

I didn't know she was actually going to get under the toy and play but it worked!

Big sister kiss could be the best medicine

Yep she is gone and I do not like it one bit

Soon enough though I calm myself down and fall asleep. This was something we rarely saw before but happened often during this cold, sure sign he needed the sleep!

Cohen Month 5 Update

This past month has really flown by. I'd like to think it was because of the wonderful personality/attitude changes in Cohen but I think in large it was because of the holidays. Cohen has truly been a different boy this past month. He has become much more content and has really learned to self soothe. He no longer screams to be held at inopportune times so much that I have to resort to this during daycare hours:

His personality is one I am truly enjoying. He loves to snuggle with his favorite resting spot being his head/cheek pressed up against your cheek. I could spend all day that way. He loves to pound his legs down. He will do this when he is tired or when he is excited or just to play. It is just fun to watch. He continues to be pretty easy to entertain. You smile or talk and most likely a smile will be shot your way. He entertains himself by playing with his tongue and making bubbles. He really loves his hands and has really found his thumb this month. He is much more aware of it and has even put himself to sleep on the floor sucking his thumb a couple times. Since he is rolling over he spend a lot more time on his belly these days. He tends to roll over and then not roll back.

I think a big part in his attitude change has been his sleep. He has always been a pretty good sleeper if we are talking the amount of sleep. He did really well at sleeping in his crib at night but took 100% of his naps in the swing. Once he turned 4 months we knew the swaddle and swing had to go so we transitioned him from using the swaddle and to taking all his naps in his crib, along with putting himself to sleep. The transition went well. His sleep is now predictable (most days) and he seems to thrive off of this new routine. He normally takes a 45-60 min nap after 2 hours of waking up. Then between 2 - 2.5 hours later he takes a 2 hour or so nap. Then again is up for 2 - 2.5 hours and takes a 45 min or so nap depending on what time it is. He then goes to bed at 7:00 and sleeps till 6:30 or 7:00 most days. We still have 1 or 2 wake ups during that time but he goes back to sleep with no problem. He'll occasionally wake up right around 6:00 but we have learned he isn't ready for the day. He will easily drift back to sleep in my arms and then sleep sometimes till 8 or later. He LOVES his sleep!!

Each month brings new changes and it is so fun to write them down and see how much he truly is changing. Cohen smiling or playing with a toy doesn't seem all that monumental but then when I remember what he was doing as a newborn, it makes me realize it is just as big as the crawling or walking milestones. And I am ever so grateful I get to witness it all. As always we love you Cohen!

This was Sevea's favorite toy, he thinks it is okay too :)

Enjoying a different view to play with toys

This is his preferred food vehicle, maybe this next month he will get the hang of solids

Jumperoo time, he doesn't jump much yet

But does enjoy his fingers and looking at everyone

I found my thumb and put myself to sleep while mom wasn't looking

This is probably his favorite toy, I don't know how we didn't have one before. Thanks Katie!

At his 4 month appointment the doctor heard some wheezing so this month has been filled with breathing treatments. He does extremely well with keeping this close to his face.

Time for solids

We have hit the age, 4 months, that our doctor said we could introduce solid foods to Cohen. We decided to wait a couple extra weeks because of the holidays and such. On Saturday we attempted rice cereal.

Hmmm, what is this?

I'll try some.

Some did go in my mouth

So the first attempt went okay. We think he hasn't yet lost the "extrusion reflex." To keep solid food in his mouth and then swallow it. He needs to stop using his tongue to push food out of his mouth. We tried it again a couple more times but the same kind of thing happened. He ends up pushing more of the food out than he actually swallows. So we'll wait a little while before trying it again.For now he'd rather just play with the spoon.

Changes every minute

I just posted about Cohen's rolling from his stomach to his back. He was getting really really close to rolling from his back to his stomach. What do you know, hit publish and he does it without us looking! Yup you read that right, he rolled over from his back to his stomach. The proof is in the picture although it is not really proof as I could have just put him on his tummy and snapped the picture :)

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

We have a roller at the Appeldorn household. Cohen amazed us with his rolling abilities early on but we knew it wasn't him more just his head size and lack of real control. He has continued to roll here or there over the past 4 months but this week he has been consistently rolling over. The one bummer about him doing it early on and sporadically afterwards is that the excitement just wasn't the same. But it is a milestone still the same. Up next from back to tummy....he is getting soooooo close. He just needs to pick his head up and would pretty much have it. All of this reminds me how much he has grown and how quickly he will be less and less of a baby :(

What's up Doc?

 

No need to adjust your screen. The color is supposed to be white. That is because this is not a carrot. What you are looking at is a parsnip. I decided we'd give them a try after seeing them on a food blog that I read. Parsnips are very similar to carrots in appearance and taste/texture. Sevea really likes raw carrots so I told her to try this white carrot. She happily took a bite and what do you know, LOVED it. I cut them up and decided to roast them just like I do with carrots. She wasn't a fan of this method just as she doesn't like cooked/roasted carrots. When you roast them they become a little more sweet which could possibly be a better thing when it comes to kids. Just not mine, well we will see if one of them will like it once we feed Cohen the baby food I made with it :) But some one else had no problem enjoying a stick.

Lock her up

I am sure every parent at one point or another would love to lock their kid up...for just a moment (or some maybe a couple hours!) Sevea decided to do it for us.

I'd like to lock her up and prevent her from growing anymore. My little baby is getting too old but we are loving all the fun she is getting into!!