Cole at the Park

When we were in Joshua Tree, Dad somehow managed to find the only place in 600 square miles (I may be exaggerating) that has grass so we could take some pictures.

I could take a million pictures of these adorable tiny baby feet:

BIG smiles for Daddy!

At twelve weeks old...

You LOVE books.  Whenever I read to you, your eyes are glued to the page and you smile and kick your feet from sheer joy.

You ALMOST sleep through the night (on good days!).  Sometimes we get up to 5 or 6 hour stretches!

You are sooo strong!  Everyone who meets you comments on your strength - you are already holding up your head, lifting it high, and your grip is so strong you make my finger fall asleep when you grasp it!

You sleep just like your daddy - on your side, with your head and neck angled so far back it looks almost like it's broken!

You adore music, even my frightful singing.  When you are fussy from being overtired, I only have to hold you close and sing to you for you to calm down.

You bring our family more joy than we ever thought possible!

Dogs need a vacation too!

This is what Chloe looked like for the majority of our vacation in Southern California:

Yeah.  She was pooped 90% of the time because the other 10% she was PLAYING hard with her new best friend Ginger:

The dogs loved hanging out with each other:

The Dot

Having a baby means seeing things in a whole new light sometimes.  Take this, for example:

Isn't that face precious?  The look of pure adoration?

And the object of said adoration:

Yeah.  The weird circle dot thingy on the ceiling of the car.

I know, right?  Go figure.

We strapped Cole into his carseat in my parent's van, and he would not take his eyes off this dot thingy on the ceiling.  He LOVED it.  He smiled at it.  He talked to it.  His eyes were GLUED to the dot, every single time we were in the car. Nothing made him happier than to stare at the dot.

Just goes to show ya, it's the little things in life that make us happy.  Like dots on a ceiling.

Dear Baby,

Dear Cole,

When you smile, I just want to drop everything and stare at you.  Your smiles make my world go 'round. 

Love, Mama

Big Bear

When we were visiting SoCal, we made a day trip to the resort town of Big Bear - it was perfect weather and I loved the tourist-y feel of it!  The drive up was crazy twisty-turny, but the view at the top was totally worth it:

And I like this view quite a bit as well:

We had a lovely lunch... Cole doesn't look so happy in this picture, but he really had a great time!

The weekend we were up there, Big Bear had a HUGE classic car show.  I so totally don't know anything about classic cars ("Hey honey... is that one a Ford?  Or maybe a Camaro?  Or...what was the one that was Bumblebee on Transformers?  Is is like that one?"  And Chris just rolls his eyes.).  But I love admiring the shiny paint jobs!

Mom was such a good sport and posed for me on these hysterical chairs!  I want a set for around my dining room table!  (I'm totally joking, don't get me these for Christmas)

Love my mama!

Palm Springs

We spent the last two weeks visiting my parents in Southern California.  A few days after we arrived, we went to Palm Springs... because 102 degrees was just feeling a little chilly, so we needed the 116 degree heat in the valley. 

Fortunately, we took advantage of lots of super air-conditioned places.  We had a FANTASTIC meal at California Pizza Kitchen...mmmmm yum!

We spent some time in the car so I could pump - I never get tired of taking pictures of my little man!

Then we went to the Palm Springs Art Museum - it was fantastic!  And air-conditioned!

Doesn't this one look like a bad hair day?

AWWWWWW... this one has Christmas Card photo written all over it!!

And my little man was an angel, as always!  He especially enjoyed the Picasso, although he thought the Renior was also pretty exciting!

my boys

Aren't my boys cute?

PS I realize that I have a lot of pics of Chris with his shirt off. I swear he does wear clothes sometime, just not when I break out the camera! It's ok if you drool... I know he's hot.

I don't know if I'm as cute, but I'm one happy mama!

Stuff

Traveling with baby requires lots of STUFF.

What STUFF, you may ask?

Just look at this picture.  That's just for a quick little 2 hour day trip.

Now, Mandy, you say.  You don't really need two changes of clothes for yourself and three for the baby, now do you?

Why yes, yes I do!  Because this little man has a very clever habit of pooping out his diaper in very inopportune times (including IHOP, where I was VERY glad I had the foresight to bring myself a change of clothes...and to wear white underwear that wouldn't show through the white shorts!)

So when it comes to packing for a two-week vacation or even a 10 foot walk to the mailbox, the motto with babies is Be Prepared - you never know when you'll need that extra outfit change (and be sure your underwear matches!).

Bittersweet...yet oh so sweet

The best and worst part of parenting is the same: the baby grows up.


This, of course, is my goal as a parent.  To raise a child to adulthood that is happy and healthy.  Obviously, it would break my heart in a million different ways if Cole stayed a baby forever.


But, just a teeny tiny part of me longs for this.  To keep him my sweet little angel baby forever.  To snuggle in his sweet-smelling hair as his head bobs uncontrollably.  To savor his gummy little smiles.  To listen to his coos.  To protect him from every one of life's ailments that will plague him as he grows older.


Right now, I can keep him safe and happy.  Right now, he depends on me solely for his life and welfare.  Right now, I couldn't love him any more than I do.

I am so full of joy every day that I see him growing and learning, with each new milestone...but it breaks my heart, just a teeny bit, that I'm losing my baby boy.

whoops!

So last night we went to Olive Garden because A) it was too hot to cook and B) I was too lazy to cook and C) because hello, who can say no to Olive Garden?

Cole was a wee bit fussy, so I had picked him up to cuddle until my food came.  When my meal arrived, I tried to put him down into his seat...but Cole's newest trick is to hang on for dear life to my shirt. 

My collar of my shirt.

WHILE I'm putting him down.

Take a wild guess what happened next.

Yup, I end up flashing half of my fellow Olive Garden diners.

Oh well.  What can you do?

Are you ready for some football??!!!

Cole's ready. 

Cutest little football fan EVER.

My Nemisis

I feel pretty confident by now with most things parenting-related.  Diaper changes? No problem - can practically do them in my sleep (and I often do!).  Baths? Totally a non-issue.  Buckling a squirmy infant into his carseat? No prob, Bob. 

But I have a parenting nemisis: fingernails.

Those teeny-tiny ridiculously sharp super fast growing fingernails.

I am at a loss as to how to keep said fingernails short without harming the teeny-tiny fingers they grow on.  Our pediatrician recommended tearing the nails - HA! Easier said than done.  They are so thin they end up bending.  Then she said to bite them.  HA! Also not so easy - remember the squirmy infant thing?  Then, she said to use nail scissors.

We tried this last night, which consisted of me holding the sleeping babe while Chris cut his nails and me gasping loudly in a panic every time the scissors were remotely close to Cole's finger, so the nails were not trimmed very closely.

My poor baby is probably going to be mistaken for a little girl soon because of his girlishly long nails.  So any mamas out there have any tips? I am desperate!

Pennsylvania Post Part 5...Last one, I promise

Our last day in Philly we decided to hit a museum since the heat was out of control - the plan was that a museum would be air-conditioned. Wouldn't you know it, the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology was mostly not air-conditioned.  We still had an awesome time and Cole especially enjoyed the exhibits:

Here was the speed limit sign inside the parking garage:

Not 8 MPH, not 7 MPH... SEVEN AND A HALF! Because that half a mile per hour really makes a difference.

Then we headed to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch - the best place in Philly to get an authentic Philly Cheesesteak sandwich!

I loved all the fresh and local food there! Cole did too:

Philadelphia was an awesome vacation and we are so grateful to my parents for helping us have such a magnificent time!

Pennsylvania Post Part 4

Our next day in PA was spent having some extra time with Aunt Terrie, Uncle Jeff, Abby, Alex, and Grammy and Pap.  We met at the Cheesecake Factory (wait a second while I wipe up my drool...yum!) for lunch at the most fantastic mall on the East Coast - the King of Prussia Mall.  I'm not joking, this mall was HEAVEN!  Remember when I said how much I adore designer clothing?  Yeah, this mall had it all - H&M, j.crew, Restoration Hardware, 7 for all mankind, ann taylor... WOW!

But, to be honest, the best part was hanging out with our family.  As much as I love shopping, I love spending time with them way way more!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pictures of Cole with his Great-Grammy and Great-Grandpap.  I am so grateful that we were able to make it back there to spend time with them - we never see them often enough!

Swimming

Cole went swimming for the first time while we were down in Southern California visiting my parents. 

When I say "swimming", I actually mean getting him all dressed and then dipping his feet in the water only to discover that it was too cold and made him cry.

So then Mom and Chris just held him while he slept.

But didn't he look so cute?