Body-Builder Baby

No crawling yet. Not even an army crawl. He just sits around playing with whatever toy is near-by and gives a little fuss when he wants his brother to bring him something new. I was starting to think that Cole was going to be my lazy boy. Then he started this...
The first time I saw him do it I thought "he is about to get on his hands and knees", but then he never bent his knees. He just held this push-up position for about 10 seconds, laid back down on the floor and then immediately did a second push-up. Now, when he is on his tummy he will pretty much always do one or two of these. I guess he decided it was time to do something about that extra chin and oversized cheeks! Granted, they are the girl-style push-ups. Give him time, he is only 8 months!

Here is a good close-up of a before picture of the cheeks and chin. I'll post an after picture once he has a more regimented workout plan going: )

Notice the drool on the shirt. It is a constant thing these days since we are now working on tooth #3. He already has the two bottom ones and the first top one just broke through this week. This one must be a tough one because he has been extra fussy.

Kicking back for an afternoon movie. These boys really love each other! It brings joy to my heart: )

Tripod

Today was the first day that Cole really spent a lot of time sitting up by himself. He would sit straight up for a while and then eventually slump over and use his hands to hold himself up the rest of the time. He just sat there like that for a long time watching me clean. After a while he decided he wanted his pacifier so he just leaned his head all the way down to the floor with his mouth wide open trying to get it with his mouth! At least he's resourceful!

Whew...What A Month!

We started the month off with a Bang! On the 6th Luke turned 3 years old! His NaNa and Aunt KK and Mike came to visit and we had a fun Birthday party here at the house. This was the first time that he really understood what a birthday is and I think he really enjoyed feeling so special for the day.

Here is my sweet baby at his 1st birthday party. He really wasn't very crazy about all the attention...

And here is the 3 year old wearing the Super Man pj's he got for his birthday. He found those little office clips and started fastening them to his shirt and refused to take them off for the picture!

Will did a little traveling the next week and then the week after that we all went to Dallas for a training class that Will had to go to. That was quite an adventure. Luke went to stay with his Mimi and Pa (Will's grandparents) and had a great time. Meanwhile, Cole and I got stuck at the hotel because the oil light came on in my car. Not knowing what was wrong and not being in a place where he could check it out, Will said it was best not to drive it. The first day we rented a car and went to visit Mama Lou (my grandma). The second day, the boys and I had to return the car and check out of the hotel and wait for Stephan (Will's brother) to come get us with our truck and trailor so we could haul our car back home. So we walked around the hotel lobby for about an hour in the middle of some kind of furry people convention. Grown-ups dressed in furry animal costumes getting out of their cars and checking into the hotel- but that's a whole different blog there.

Here is one of the boys I took one morning while they were being espcially cute!

I still cant get Cole to smile for pictures very often.

This last week, Will's mom came for a visit. It was so nice for me having someone here to visit with and help out with the boys. We really had a lot of fun. Then I had my 28th birthday on the 26th. Since Marnie was here I was able to out to lunch with some friends all by myself! That was a real treat.

And just for kicks, (I'm sure no one cares but me) here are more comparison pictues of Luke and Cole...

Luke at 5 months...(and Winchester at 7 weeks)

And, my big boy at 5 months...

Cole had is well check- up on Friday. He weighs 18 lbs 8 oz and is 27.5 inches long. He is in the 87th percentile for weight and 95th for length! The doctor said he looks good and healthy. He is rolling over both ways and really cooing and smiling and laughing a lot. He is on the verge of sitting on his own. He sort of leans forward and uses his arms to hold himself up and will keep that up for a minute before slowly leaning to the side and falling over!

Christmas

We went out to West Texas the after Christmas to visit Will's family. We spent nearly a week and had a great time.

My parents came for a short visit while we were there...

Here is one of me with my mom and sister

My dad, Luke and Will

Will's sister and brother-in-law have 2 boys as well. Layne is 3 mos younger than Luke and Riley is 6 weeks older than Cole. It was a lot of fun and very noisy with all the boys there! The big boys are non-stop running and laughing and screaming from the time they get up to the time they go to bed.

I just had to post this one of me and my baby to show just how warm it was. It got close to 80 degrees while we were there! I know everyone here can identify with that though!

Guess Who

Here are pictures of the boys at 1 day old. Can you guess which is which? It may be obvious to you guys but I think they looked so much alike at this age!

Compare and Contrast

I have just been looking back and forth at Luke's baby pictures and pictures of Cole. I thought I would post some and see what you guys think...

Here is Luke at 3 months...

And Cole at 3 months...

The likeness is there but Cole is definitely developing his own unique characteristics. Of course the XXL cheeks help in that department!

He is now 3 1/2 months old and doing all of the fun things that a baby his age should be doing. I remember things getting really fun at this stage with Luke and it seems to be the same way with Cole. He laughs and smiles at every face that comes into his view. He will spend and hour on the floor talking to the ceiling fan! We started some cereal this week and Im hoping that helps tide him over for the night time because this baby likes to eat AT LEAST every 3 hours (see the chubby cheeks in above picture!) We have gotten down to only 2 feedings at night but Im pushing for only one, in the early morning hours preferably. He is pushing 17 lbs now, which means he has doubled his birth weight and he just rolled over yesterday from his tummy to his back for the first time.

Luke is the sweetest big brother and is really getting to be a help to me. The other day I was doing dishes while Cole was in his swing and started getting fussy. Luke was playing in the other room and I started to call him and ask him to give Cole his "plug". Before I could finish my sentence, Luke came running through the kitchen yelling "I got his plug!" and went to give it to him. When Cole is on the floor, Luke lays there with him talking to him and hugging on him. Im really enjoying this time with them together. I know it will be over all to quickly and they will be fighting all the time!

I Love These Boys!

Luke spent most of the day outside with his Daddy yesterday. It was so very cold so I got him all bundled up with a hat and mittens and then had to take his picture. Now he just needs a Red Rider BeeBee gun!

Cole has really been smiling and talking a lot lately. I can almost always get him to smile for me. But his favorite people to talk to are the bears that hang from the top of his swing. He will swing for 30 minutes looking up at the bears, smiling, laughing and talking the whole time. He just thinks they are so funny! Here he is in the middle of (an apparently) hilarious conversation...