February update

In just a couple weeks, Cohen will be 6 months old. Unbelievable! He's eating solid food, but still loves his bottle best . No crawling yet, but he gets an A for effort. The kid is determined! No teeth either.

Kraeton was here the last weekend in January when he had a 4-day weekend from school. Of course, it snowed (as it does practically every day), but he and Dominic still found fun things to do outside.

That's about it for excitement at our house. We're so anxious for spring and finally being able to get outside!

Enjoy the pictures.



I think Cohen looks like uncle Gary on this picture.




Is anything more precious than a baby holding his own bottle?
Dominic and Kraeton playing snowy football.



Buzz looking as handsome as ever.
Cohen's hugs involve nearly strangling your neck, sometimes using your ears as handles, and trying to insert your nose into his mouth. And if you happen to be wearing jewelry, forget it. Still, they're the best hugs ever!

New wall decor in our entry hall.

Funny face

January update

It's been awhile since I posted so let's see if I can recap what's new around here....

Cohen's blocked tear duct is better. It's been plugged since he was born so we were constantly having to wipe the "crusties" off his eye. One day it was magically better!

We may have a lefty in the family - Cohen seems to be more agile with his left hand than his right.

He had his 4-month check-up last week. He's 14 lbs 5 oz (50th percentile). Can't remember his height, but he's still in the 90th percentile for that.

He picked up his first daycare bug a few weeks ago and battled diarrhea and vomiting for a few days. Which sucked because it caused us to miss Christmas at the Langels. Sounds like we missed a fun one!

We did however make it to Christmas at the Molls. It was definitely a full house - besides us, Yvonne, Wendy, Lisa, Joey, and Alexia all made it home with their families or significant other. It was awesome seeing everyone and having a few relaxing days at the farm.

Kraeton is here during his Christmas break. He had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's driving the 3-wheeler by himself, fetching eggs, and running around with his cousins. Back here in Ankeny, he's almost inseparable from our neighbor, Mitch.

Here are a few recent pics of Cohen. I'll post more of the rest of the family soon. Happy New Year!

More pics

Normally I don't take pictures of the backs of people's heads, but admit it - this is pretty funny!

This is what I call the "Dominic campaigning for husband of the year" shot. Vacuuming and caring for Cohen at the same time! Move over June Cleaver...

Pictures!

Here are pictures from the past few weeks.

Silly smile

Big bro and little bro

Not a newborn anymore!

Playing Superman with Mommy

Posing with his bear from Grandma Moll

Bathtime is serious business

Back to work

Last Thursday we took Cohen to his daycare, Little Endeavors, for about 4 hours for a trial run. Being the anal person I am (control freak as Dominic would say), I left a two-page document with his caregivers on how to take care of him. He's sometimes tough to get down for a nap, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to provide documentation of how we do it with as little fussing as possible. To my surprise, they were able to put him in the crib and get him to sleep with no fussing within 10 minutes after his arrival! It left me feeling very positive and worry free.

Monday was his first full day at daycare, and my first day back at work. I thought I could hold myself together based on Thursday's success, but I was a blubbering mess. It hit me that this is our new life, and that Cohen will be spending more waking hours with his caregivers at daycare than he will with us. I miss him so much when I'm at work! I avoided everyone at work because I knew if someone asked me about him, I would start crying again. He seems to be doing fine at daycare (except for a few bugs we need to work out with the gals who care for him in the late afternoon). He's happy and seems to be getting plenty of stimulation.

Dominic and I have talked a great deal about ways to reduce his time at daycare... one of us going part time, one of us quitting altogether, stuff like that. For now, we're going to keep it as it is. I changed my schedule so I'm off work at 3:30 so Cohen and I have more quality time together. Plus, my boss said I can work at home from time to time. We'll see how this goes for a few months... how Cohen is doing in this environment, how our budget is looking, etc.

Baptism

Cohen was baptized on Sunday, November 18. Grandma Alice made him an adorable satin outfit to wear. He only wore it for a couple hours, but we'll definitely hang onto it as a keepsake. Grandma and Grandpa Moll made the trip from Missouri (the second 8-hour trip on a month!) and aunt Alexia came too. Celestine is such a huge help around the house. Whenever I need to take care of Cohen, she jumps in to finish whatever I was doing - cooking, cleaning, dishes, you name it. She even did some yard work for us. Anyway, aunt Gail and uncle Doug are Cohen's godparents. Seeing how great their boys are turning out, we know we made a good choice. Aunt Elaine, Sarah, Chris, Lauren and Troy were also here. We're grateful to everyone for coming and for being so nice to Cohen!