Spring Break 2011

Our spring break started at the train station in Centrailia, on the Amtrak to Albany, a few nights with my Grandma Montgomery, then a few nights at my grandparents in McMinnville, then home for Colten's 8th birthday party. Good busy fun for all

Colten's 8th Birthday

Dear Colten,
How did it happen that I am a mother of an 8 year old boy?! It seems like just yesterday I was sending you off to preschool. You are no longer my little boy, but a big boy with definite boy interests.
You really like your Nintendo DS video games, riding your bike, and bugging your little brothers. You are so independent and do so many things on your own. Your favorite thing to do around the house is to go outside and play in the treehouse or the woods, looking at bugs and flowers. You've grown so big you no longer really fit on my lap to snuggle at all. It seems you are all arms and legs now. It also shows in your appetite too. I'm having to offer you seconds at dinner to make sure you get enough to eat. You'll eat just about anything too. Your attitude has also grown, but not in a good way. More and more often I am having to ask you to improve the attitude and be nicer to your brothers. It isn't easy to get you to do something you really don't want to do. You do chores, though you don't like them, but what you detest the most is the homework. I have the most difficult time getting you to complete homework.
This year for your birthday you wanted to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese's. We invited friends and family and had your party at the end of spring break. You'd been telling your grandma you wanted a monster truck birthday cake, so that's was she made for you. You had the time of your life at your party.

8 months old!

Dear Cooper,

You are 8 months old, that is 2/3 of a year old!

This last month has been a big one for you developmentally. You started crawling and while you were slow at first, you are fast now. You now have free reign of most of the upstairs rooms and love to follow your brothers around and get into what they are playing with. Colten has become your buddy and will move you gently to a new place or help you get distracted if you’re playing with things you aren’t supposed to. He is also great at working the baby gate at the stairs so you don’t fall down them. You are immediately drawn to all the dangerous things you aren’t supposed to play with. It’s not just your brothers’ small toys, but you love cords and plugs. Even worse is that you now pull yourself up on things and stand (you love doing this) and so you now pull all the things on the tables and couch down on you. There are few safe places to put things out of reach of you.

Cooper you are loving eating! You’re up to three meals a day of baby food and as much nursing as you can get. Almost everything I feed you, you scream for more. I think the only thing you didn’t care for was some carrots and potatoes from pot roast one day I ran through the food mill. Even then I think they were just too thick and you couldn’t swallow them easy. You’ve also started eating finger foods too. Some baby puffs and crackers have made it into your slobbery mouth. Your mouth has been especially drooly this last month because you cut your first tooth! I didn’t even realize you’d cut it until your daddy told me he thought he’d felt one in there. You didn’t even need pain meds to cut it! You sure do like to use that tooth too! You like to sink that little tooth into spoons, chewy toys, and of course me. You’ve never really bit down hard on me until today, but it was enough that it hurt!

Your personality continues to show more and more of your true self. You are not a patient person at all. If you want something you’ve started to scream in frustration because of the delay. Your temper tantrums are coming earlier than either of your brothers! You get mad if a toy (or dangerous thing) is taken away from you or you are moved from it. You get mad if I eat before you, if you want to be held and are set down, if I’m in the room and walk out, even just real quick, you scream.

One thing that you’ve shown you do enjoy this last month is bath time. You’ve always liked baths, but now that I sit you up and don’t lay you down on the sponge you enjoy them even more. You get the biggest entertainment out of splashing water all over yourself and mommy. If you sit up your hands are always splashing, if lying down, your feet are kicking like crazy. Water, water, everywhere!

You still enjoy nursing lots, but are becoming distracted by more things and more often. You are also able to tell me better when you want to nurse. You pull at my shirt and make it well known that I’m not moving fast enough for you. Your favorite thing to do when you nurse is touch and stroke your lovey dog with the satin fabric. You still fall asleep often when you’re nursing, but that’s fine with me.

So many changes and you’re growing still so fast. I miss my little baby sometimes, but am enjoying watching you discover the world around you.