Still Smiling

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Mesmerized

Haydon was mesmerized watching tv a couple of days ago….


More Cookies!!!

Our little chefs…

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Nightmare

A few nights ago Cooper woke up crying. I (Chris) went to check on him and asked him what was wrong. In between his mumbling and confusion from being half asleep, Cooper told me that he had a bad dream. Here’s the rest of our dialog:

Chris: You’re ok buddy. Daddy’s here. What happened in your dream?
Cooper: The dinosaurs were chasing me and they were going to eat me!
Chris: It’s okay. There not going to eat you and dreams aren’t real. What kind of dinosaurs were they?
Cooper: It was a stegosaurus and a triceratops
Chris: Oh. Well Cooper, they’re not going to eat you because they are herbivores. They don’t eat meat or people, they eat leaves and plants…

Then, without skipping a beat, Cooper responded: But I was wearing a leaf costume! They thought I was leaves and they were going to eat me!


Don’t Mess with My House

A quick disclaimer: this is Chris writing this post.

Working from home has its pros and cons.  Not being with your co-workers – and having minimal interaction with others – can get kind of boring after awhile.  Today was different however.  Today working from home did have interaction – and a slightly adventurous twist.

I’m sitting in the office working away on the computer when I hear a “bam” somewhere in the house.  A second later, another “bam”.  I look out the window to see three middle school kids throwing things at my house!  What the heck!  I ran to the door and half slipped my flip-flops on as they started running off.  I tore off after them.

Now a couple of things are going through my head.  Why in the world did these little punks choose my house to throw things at?  Did it cause any damage?  How fast can they run?  I should be faster, right?  But I’m wearing flip-flops.  Can I run fast enough in flip-flops?  What am I going to do if I catch them?  Should I tackle one of them if I have to?

But then I had a would be embarrassing moment had anyone else been watching.  As I ran up to the sidewalk I tripped on my flip-flops and my body started getting in front of my feet.  I tried to pull out of it but failed.  Scraaaape.  I put my hands out to break my fall and realized later that I scraped a good piece of flesh off the palm of my hand.  I also scraped my hip, knee, and foot but not so bad.  But I didn’t have time to focus on that.  I had 3 misfits to run down.  And now that I had the internal pride-squelcher of tripping on the sidewalk I had to get them.  So I pop up and keep running.

I chased them down the sidewalk and around some trees.  They’re about 50 ft in front of me but I’m closing in.  I’m kind of surprised that I’m catching them, but then, how fast should middle school kids be?  But at the same time, I’m starting to feel a little winded.  I’m not exactly the workout king or anything so a full-out sprint for any prolonged duration wasn’t going to be easy.  But I got a break.

One of the three kids tripped on some roots and uneven ground and fell down.  I caught up to him and grabbed his arm.  His two friends were a few steps ahead but decided to come back and not abandon him – a noble move.

From that point on they were some of the most respectful kids I have ever met.  I briefly scolded them for throwing things at my house and then asked them questions like their names, why they were throwing things, etc.  It turns out that they were just throwing water balloons (not as bad).  Why?  Because they were bored.  They thought the girl that used to live here still lived here, and they were getting her back for toilet papering one of their houses.  I made them give me their names and phone numbers.  I called each of their parents but only got ahold of one (I left messages with the others).  I explained what happened to the one kid’s dad and asked him if he wanted to come pick them up.  The kids were explaining to me that they didn’t intend to cause any damage and that one of them didn’t even throw any balloons at my house.  That didn’t matter to me.  Their dad came to get them, apologized, and just had that I’m-not-a-happy-dad attitude.

So I won!  Don’t think you can throw things at my house and get away with it.  I’ll hunt you down.  And then I’ll think I’m really cool because I got some middle school kids in trouble.


Two Tooth Wonder

Here is our two tooth wonder! He broke his first two teeth when he turned six months old. You can see his teeth finally so we thought would show off his new pearly whites!


Sunday Morning Cartoons

Sunday Morning Cooper woke up early. Both Chris and I were pretty tired. I jumped in the shower to try and wake up and Chris took Cooper. When I got out of the shower, Cooper and Chris was snuggling up together and watching his favorite DVD, Baby Einstein. They laid there for quite a while together. Too Cute! I can just imagine when Cooper is older and he wakes up, jumps into bed with us, and we turn on the TV to watch Cartoons together. I had fond memories of doing this with my father when I was a kid. Watching Chris and Cooper together reminded me of my childhood. Makes you apperciate those memories so much more!


Growth spurt, wonder week, or disruptions?

Visit my baby blog for more information on The Wonder Weeks.

Cooper is 24 weeks old and just 2 weeks shy of 6 months old. Where has the time gone? I know that sounds so cliche, but really how did we get to this point already? Along the way we have had growth spurts, developmental leaps (wonder weeks), and disruptions due to travel and every day life. Just when you think all is calm in the Foley family one these lovely things occurs and sends Cooper off schedule and fussy.

Well this week was one of those weeks. Is it a growth spurt, a developmental leap (wonder week), or due to the disruption of traveling to Florida and back? WHO KNOWS!!! Really? I haven’t a clue! I would have to guess that it is all three this time. Here is why I think this.

First, Cooper has been DOWNING the milk and food. Yesterday he ate over 6 oz of food in the morning. Which is equivalent to 1.5 jars of stage 2 babyfood. I make all my own babyfood, but I know that each jar of stage 2 food contains 4oz. Stage 2 babyfood is intended for babies who are a little older than Coop. Then at dinner he downed at least 8oz, but I lost track when I had to keep going to the freezer to pull out more frozen babyfood cubes to heat up for him. The child was like the bottomless pit. If I did not feed it fast enough to him, he would scream and then scream louder. Wish I had a good pair of ear plugs! He was also waking early from his naps and would chug the milk and then devour his pureed food. Might I also add that two nights ago he woke up from 2am-7am looking for food. Can you say growth spurt!

Then while we were in Florida and traveling he experienced some disruptions to his schedule. He did not sleep his best. It was not terrible, but not his best. Cooper is sleeping 10-11 hours most nights now without waking for feedings! YIPPY!! But while in Florida, he would wake at least once a night. I know he was not hungry, but he was waking because he was in a strange place. He does not sleep his best unless he is in his room snug in his crib. But instead of letting him cry himself back to sleep, I would feed him and then put him back to bed (so he did not wake the whole house). He also only got one true nap a day- poor guy! We made sure he got his morning nap, but then we were out an about and he would miss his second nap of the day. Cooper is down to only having 2 two-hours naps plus a catnap (30-45min) a day. Needless to say, when we got back to Maryland it took him a few days to get back on schedule. The nighttime was the worst because he expected me to come in a feed him like I had done on vacation- thankfuly I think that we are safely back on schedule. He slept through the night last night- yea!

Finally, I think Cooper is in the middle of a developmental leap. According the the book The Wonder Weeks, Cooper is in the middle of wonder week 26. This developmental leap can last from week 23-26. Oh Joy! (do you sense my sarcasm?) During this time a child is more fussy, clingy, and cranky. This is true of Cooper. He has just been screaming is little head off. He does not like to lay on his back. He wants to sit up, but he cannot do it without support. So the entire time he is laying on his back, he is screaming. He is also screaming because I left the room or he’s screaming because he is hungry or wants more food…oh and he could just be plain screaming! AHHHHHH!!!! Makes me want to scream. This happened during the last developmenal leap that Cooper went through during wonder week 19. At least I know this is just a phase and he will grow out of it. If I hold Coop it seems to settle him for a short while, but I cannot hold him all day!

Which leads me to the conclusion that its all three: growth spurt, developmental leap (wonder week), and disruptions due to travel. Why do things always happen in threes?


Warm Weather

Yesterday, Cooper and I went on two stroller walks. The weather was in the mid 60s and was ideal for a stroller walk. As I was walking down the sidewalk path in my short sleeve top, it dawned on me that I love to be outside. The sun was hitting my back. I could hear a dog barking and a bird chirping. Cooper was content in his stroller looking at the world around him, while of course sucking on his two fingers. The fresh air can be so freeing sometimes. Winter in Maryland is depressing if you ask me. It is too cold to do too many activities outside. And if you are outside, you have so many layers on you can hardly move. We don’t get a ton of snow here, so I feel like all the cold temperatures are a waste. I much prefer my sunny warm days! There is something freeing when you don’t have to have a ton of layers on and to walk to your car without freezing your butt off. Now that I have Cooper, it is also nice to get outside and just take a break from being house bound all day long. Helps brake up the monotony. Plus, Cooper loves the outdoors, give him something to look at and ponder I suppose. I am sure the sights and sounds of our tiny condo can get boring for poor little Cooper too!


Make your own babyfood

When Cooper was 4 1/2 months old we started to introduce solids. We gave him rice cereal to start. He did not eat much of it at first, maybe only a teaspoon per feeding. Then around 5 months old I started to give him fruits and veggies, which he must have liked because he started to consume a lot more solids (sometimes 4 tablespoons).

Here is a list of all the foods Cooper has tires so far. I have rated each food with stars (3 stars being the most desired by Cooper):

babyfood that I made

Carrots **

Sweet Potatoes ***

Butternut Squash**

Pears **

Bananas ***

Apples**

Avocado *

Peas *

Rice Cereal*

He seems to not really like cereal, peas, or avocado by themselves so I have to “hide” them by mixing them with other foods, which usually ends up being sweet potato or a fruit.

I also make all my own babyfood. I buy organic and then puree it up. Then freeze the batch in ice cube trays. Each ice cube is equal to 1- tablespoon. Then before each feeding you just take out the desired amount of food and warm it up. Simple! It saves money and it is super easy to do. There are two resources that I highly recommend if you are thinking about making your own babyfood: “Top 100 Baby Purees” by Annabel Karmel and the website Wholesome Baby Food. Each gives guidelines for which foods to introduce first and how to prepare the baby puree.