Tuesday, March 27, 2012

So its official. She's a big sister now. And she loves it. Abbi thus far has been a fabulous big sister to Cole. I think she is/was just as excited about becoming a big sister as we were to have Cole. She does things for him, she'll cover him up, hold him (but never very long), get things for Jenn, and in general love on him.

To talk to the point of holding him, but not very long. Its really funny to me actually. She's always interested in holding him, she's learned very well how she needs to support his head, but she really only wants to hold him for maybe 5-10 seconds, and then she's done, and insists, deeply, that you take him back.

I mentioned last month she got over the hump of "8", well now we have a new bump in the road - Blue. She doesn't consistently recognize it, even though she can the majority of the other colors. What odd about it to me is that she used to be able to, at least I think so. But now, its like the color doesn't really even exist anymore.

Another situation that arose in the month with Abbi was her development of "NO DADDY" for about 2 weeks. She would ask Jenn for something, and I would offer to help her. That wasn't good enough, in any way. She would get super pissed and yell at me. Thankfully that didn't last all that long, and overtime she got over it. But there are still times when I can see that she really wants Jenn and her attention and Jenn just can't give it to her then. But she is adjusting and learning to share her mommy time with Cole.

She's still into all the things as before, only more fervently. She does dress ups almost every day. She's been really into her play food, setting up picnics for Jenn and I. Plus with the weather getting warmer, its been much easier to get her outside to use up some of that mass of energy. Just like always, I love my little girl and can't wait to see what she'll do next.

Cole is slowing learning to smile. Sometimes they come out and other times he's got this mass of confusion look his face. He's been going through a "process" the last week or so where a lot of his head skin is cracking and peeling away, shedding that newborn skin I suppose. I don't think he cares at all, but to me, its a little weird. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. Its just ridiculous.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Sunday we had friends of ours over who have a daughter just a few months younger than Abbi. I had told her mom to bring any dress up clothes that she might have because I knew that inevitably Abbi would want to play dress ups. As you can see here, Belle and Tinkerbell were present during play time.

I took a picture very similar to this with Jenn and Abbi so I intentionally asked Jenn to recreate this moment with Cole so I could capture it again. I love his face in this shot. Jenn had just finished giving him a kiss and he was clearly engaged with her.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I posted a pic of Cole in his St. Patricks day outfit the other day, but it wasn't until yesterday evening I had the opportunity to go through the pictures of Abbi dressed in her green. I got her this shirt from Old Navy and thought it was really cute for her. Up at the park Saturday she stook on the tree stump and posed for me. Obviously in an incredibly cute way.

Monday, March 19, 2012

On Saturday Cole had a slew of options for clothes in which to celebrate his first St. Patricks day. I picked this one out for him a month or so ago, so it was the first one Jenn put on him. I caught a few pictures of him looking out the window, sometimes at me, but never with any real intent. He's still working out how exactly to use his eyes, sometimes they're crossed sometimes not. They are however, always that bright deep blue.

Last Thursday we had a picnic dinner and then park time at Kinder Farm park. Abbi loves this place. I mean LOVES it. She really does seem to enjoy being outside, and I personally love it. She decided to experiment a bit with going down the double slide that day, and so she was going down the middle of the slide, kinda doing the splits on it. She liked it, even though I'm sure it had to have given her a crucial wedgie.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Last night Cole gave me his first glimpse of a smile and it was pretty cool. We didn't happen to catch it on camera, but I'm sure it will happen again. Its crazy to watch him grow up, and somehow it seems even faster this time than it did with Abbi. For now, we're just trying to enjoy all the little things he's learning to do. He's been working really hard on neck control and getting a good handle on it by the way.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Cole is now 1 Month old. I can't beleive he's already a month old. I really do feel like it was just yesterday that he was born. Its so different the second time around from when Abbi was born.

Cole has progressed pretty well this last month, even though he's had some hicups. We were able to come home from the hospital the day after he was born, which was awesome, because who wants to stay there! But they didn't give us his discharge weight, so when we had him weighed at 3 days old, there was nothing to compare it to. He seemed to be gaining weight well the first week, but then during his second week of life he lost almost half a pound which concerned the pediatrician.

So then he visited the doctor 4 times in 8 days to keep tabs on his weight. By the end of those 8 days he had gained about half a pound and then when he went for his one month checkup he had gained another half pound getting him almost back to his brith weight.

I remember the first week he was alive, about 5 days old he slept for almost 8 straight hours. Jenn was in desperate need of sleep and so it was a blessing for her. For me, I was terrified all night long, thinking that something was wrong with him. I've never heard of a newborn sleeping that long. But he did, and he was fine. Currently he usually wakes up twice a night, although he's starting to show signs of sleeping about 6-7 hours initially, which has been great for Jenn.

I commented with Abbi's brith that I felt older. Combo that with being 30 and having another kid, and now i feel old. But thats how it goes I suppose. Jenn and I both are so excited to have our "complete" family. I think even when Abbi was born it was in the back of our heads that we would want another child eventually, and now we thankfully have Cole.

Its awesome to have a son, althought honestly at the moment its not that different from having a little girl. He's just a baby that requires our love and attention, but I can't wait for the days to do awesome stuff with my son!

Monday, March 12, 2012

As I mentioned on my other blog, Abbi was with me over the weekend when I took the opportunity to photograph some local flowers. Prior to and directly after this picture Abbi was running around like crazy enjoying herself. She sat down next to me for a moment while I was down on the ground taking pictures, and I snapped up this show. I love her smile here.

Friday, March 9, 2012

I love with the warmer weather Abbi will get to spend more time outside. She loves to run around so much, and is so active all the time, its really hard for Jenn and I to find ways to keep her active and engaged inside the house. She does really well sitting and doing things sometimes (like painting or watching a movie on the iPad), but she's at her peak when she's running around like a mad woman outside.

Not a whole lot to say here, its Cole being Cole. What I find interesting about this picture is that I have pictures just like this of Abbi in the same bouncer.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Abbi's Nana got her this little outfit and this morning it was the first thing on Abbi's mind to put on and wear. Jenn took this picture and sent it to me today and thought it was to cute not to share and give a small backstory with.

Monday, March 5, 2012

My parents brought Abbi up a paint book, watercolor painting a few weeks ago and she has loved using it since. The day she got it I think she sat and painted like 6-8 different pictures. She slathers the paint tray with water and slowly paints her pictures. Its very quite to watch, and she seems to thoroughly enjoy herself. And she stays inside some of the lines!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Five years ago I never thought I'd make a statement like "me and the kids", but here it is. Me and my kids. I can't believe we have two. Sometimes I can't believe that we have one even. I love Abbi's crazy eyes coupled with Cole face. Great family shot.