Labor Day at the farm

We went to Dominic's folks over Labor Day for Joe's surprise 80th birthday party. Surprise, it was! Sort of. The first clue was when everyone in the family started showing up unannounced. Then, how do you explain tables and chairs for 150+ people set up on the lawn? And why has Celestine been cleaning so thoroughly for the past few weeks? Regardless of the level of surprise, Joe was tickled and couldn't stop talking about the party. A good time was had by all. Here are a few pictures.

The birthday boy

The hayride

Grandpa feeding Daisy, the orphan calf.

Tonni and her birthday dolly from Wendy. Hmm... separated at birth?

First time on a trike.

Happy birthday little man!

yay for us, we made it through the first year. i must say, it's been one of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life. everyone says that, but now i understand what they mean. the big day probably won't go down in the books as one of cohen's better days. he was battling an ear infection and just wasn't in the mood for celebration. We had Pevestorfs and Giffords (the neighbors) over for a casual meal and cupcakes. It was a nice gathering, despite the guest of honor being a little cranky.

cohen is so fun at this age! here are a few things i never want to forget....

how much he loves dogs, and his expressionless imitation of a dog's bark (uh uh uh).
how he puts his soft little hands on my knees when he wants to be picked up.
how the 15 minutes after a bath are his favorite part of the day, how he races around naked and squealing.
how he rotates the yogurt container looking for the picture of the baby.
how he plays independently and happily, occasionally checking to make sure i'm still around, and when he sees me he comes over and gives me a hug and kiss without being prompted.
how happy he is to see me when i pick him up from daycare
his giggles when dominic plays with him.
The notorious pouty lower lip.
that he could listen to me read the book gossie 20 times in a row and never get tired of it.
how he kisses his favorite pages in books (i.e. gossie walking in the snow)
his love of bananas, cheese, yogurt and cantelope.
shaking his head no, even when it's directed toward himself (rolling around on the changing table).
how cuddly he is when he first wakes up.

The list could go on. i've been so bad about documenting those endearing little behaviors. They've been occuring dozens of times a day lately, and i just don't want to forget a single one of them.

he's walking really well lately. just in the past couple days, he seems to have figured it out. dominic and i make such a big deal out of it, and he just looks at us like we're mental.

he is also happier than he's ever been. the smile is practically nonstop and the giggles come so easily. it's infectious!

Anyway, sorry to be bragging so much. i'll post pictures soon of the trip to Dominic's folks and our newly painted house.

and i apologize for the poor use of the shift key, which is busted at the moment. i blame rudy.

smiles, giggles and snips

The cheesiest of grins, complete with two stubbies on top.

The product of Cohen's first haircut...

And the view from behind.

Giggles at lunch time (excuse Mommy's creepy breathing in the background).

Odds and ends

Cohen's vocabulary:

Hot (hot)
nana (banana)
dadda (Daddy)
mom (yummy)... yes, this hurts!
atta (almost everything in Cohen's world... water, bottle, Kraeton, kitty, Rudy, outside, all done, and oh-oh)
Duh (dog or duck)
Buh (bath, Buzz, bye bye)

Cohen's devious bath tub trick:

Cohen: (stands up)
Mom: sternly while shaking head, "NO Cohen. You have to SIT!"
Cohen: gets a smirk on his face and sits.
Cohen: a second later, he pops back up.
(Repeat about 5 times)
Mom: "Okay, you know the rule, if you keep standing in the tub it's time to get out." Grabs the towel and reaches for him.
Cohen: immediately sits down and shakes his head no.
Stinker!!

Other noteworthy itemsL
His top two teeth have arrived.
He knows "more" and "please" in sign language. Thanks to Julie at daycare.

Pictures and (lots of) words for June and July

Happy Independence Day! Things are going great at the Moll house. Cohen has reached several milestones lately. The one I'm most excited about is eating. For four months we've been coaching (sometimes force-feeding) him to eat table food. He always gagged on all the typical "beginner" food like Cheerios and Puffs. Even things like mashed bananas were hit or miss. Yesterday I caught him in a good, patient mood at dinner time, and lo and behold, after about 45 minutes of working with him, he began feeding himself small pieces of fruit! Today we gave him a saltine cracker just for kicks and giggles, and he started eating it like he'd been doing it his whole life. Now that he's such a big shot with eating, we'll introduce other types of food (pasta, meat, etc.). I was never worried about his immature eating habits because his pediatrician said not to be, just curious. Like some other milestones (i.e. not sleeping through the night until 7 months), we just had to be patient until he was developmentally ready.

He's also saying words. Dada is very consistent, as is "dah" (dog) and "duh" (duck). We see lots of ducks and dogs when we walk around the lake in the evenings. "Buh" (Buzz, the cat) is becoming more common too. I tell ya, the kid has a lot he wants to get off his chest, babble wise. When he's truly talking, I'm not sure if anyone else will be able to get a word in.

He has also walked a couple times. Usually when Dominic or I place him in front of us and encourage him to walk toward us, he just keeps his feet planted and falls forward with his upper body. But recently he's actually taking a few steps. He has no problem standing without touching anything for 10 seconds or more. People tell us it won't be long till full mobility. Time to dig out the leash!

Cohen's also giving kisses. He sometimes gets confused about commands like "can you touch the bunny in the book?" and kisses it instead. He kisses his monkey Bobby. A lot. One time I caught them making out. Waving bye-bye is also a new skill.

In a few weeks he'll move to the next room at day care. I'm excited because he'll be with kids a little older than him who will keep him stimulated. He doesn't do great adjusting to new routines and new caregivers, so I'm prepared for the first week to be a little rough.

We're having a good summer. The house painting is progressing (we're over 1/2 done) and we're very happy with the color we chose. We try to dedicate as much time to painting on the weekends as we can, but it's tough with other summer activities going on. I should clarify that Dominic has done 95% of the work so far. With Cohen, it's impossible for both of us to work on it at the same time.

We're going to South Bend, Indiana over the 4th for a baseball tourney that Kraeton's team is playing in. He'll come home with us and stay for about two weeks. Then it's back to Chicago to finish his baseball season and start football. Unbelievable.

I'm starting some new duties at work and it's keeping me very, very busy. I'm transitioning from eBusiness to Marketing and will be doing print design rather than web design. Print design was my first passion (my "calling," as I like to say) and it feels great to be back.

I'm sure I've bored you by now. I've decided to use this blog for more documention of Cohen's growth. As I read my old posts, I realize there's so much I've forgotten about the early months. In time, I'm sure I'll appreciate reading these details and think "so that's what he was like at 10 months old..." So, I'm sorry to say all this rambling is for me instead of you!

Anyway, enjoy the photos and have a great summer!



Cohen and his beloved monkey Bobby. His cousin Will gave it to him.

This is Cohen's innovative method of crawling: The Glide. He finds something slick to make contact with the floor so he doesn't have to pick up his hand(s).

Enjoying summer

June is finally here and we've enjoyed a few warm days between the rainy ones. We're going to be painting our house this summer, and we've just started the priming, caulking, etc. Unfortunately we've discovered that the siding on the east side of our house needs to be replaced. I'm sure the project will be a lot of work, but we're so looking forward to getting rid of the pink-tan. The new color is brownish gray.

Dominic visited Kraeton over Memorial Day, when he played in a tourney near Schaumburg. Cohen and I stayed behind and went to Abby's graduation party. I also got a sitter and went to the Kool and the Gang concert at Valley Junction with Jack and Theresa. June looks pretty quiet for us, which is a welcome change from most summers.

Dominic's garden is coming up nicely. We've been eating freshly picked lettuce, and the radishes and onions are not far behind. Later this summer we'll have beens, peas, peppers and tomatoes (I'm sure I'm missing something). He could play in the dirt all evening long!

Cohen is doing well. He's crawling and babbling like a normal 9-month old. He can stand without holding onto anything for as long as 10 seconds (and has the proudest look on his face!). He seems so steady and confident, which makes us think he'll be an early walker like so many people have predicted. Just when we finished baby proofing for crawling... He's also getting sharper at identifying things. "Where's the kitty?" (or book, ball, etc.) is usually followed by him stopping what he's doing and crawling over to the item. This age is so fun and rewarding. He's literally changing before our eyes.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks. I'll check back in soon. Hope everyone is having a great spring/summer!

Pictures

Cohen is 8.5 months old and I'm behind in blog updates. He's doing great and is more fun every day. We went to Chicago to see Kraeton a few weeks ago and celebrated his belated 10th birthday. Cohen thinks Kraeton is the coolest person ever! Luke made his First Holy Communion last Sunday. Isn't he handsome? Cohen had his first ear infection and we mistook it as teething. Thankfully he made a huge improvement during his first day of antibiotics. I'm sure there's more to report. I'll try to be better at keeping things current.

Enjoy the pictures and video!

Crazy Hair Day at daycare

When Cohen is playing in this room, we say "Where's Kraeton?" and he scoots over to the end table and pulls himself up to look at this picture. We're pretty sure his "Ay-tah" is an attempt at saying Kraeton's name.

He would stand upright during every waking moment if he could!

One last thing. Here's a closeup of Cohen's mouth (sorry if this is gross). He periodically gets white ridges on his tongue as shown here (the ring-like shape on the right). His pediatrician says it's Geographic Tongue. We'd never heard of it, but it's nothing serious. You can learn more here.