Pooh bear is MY baby

We had Siena wrapped up in some blankets the other night because it was a little bit colder in the house than it usually was.  So I'd say for a good 2 hours or so she looked exactly like she does above.  You can hardly see her, right?  Well Mike and I took turns carrying her around or sitting on the couch protecting her from Cole.  I guess Cole decided that if we weren't going to let him get ahold of her he would make Pooh Bear his baby.  We were cooking dinner and Cole came into the kitchen to show us his baby.  Notice how well he has Pooh swaddled up in that blanket.  You can't even see Pooh's feet.  I think Cole has been practicing during his nap times.  

Any ideas on how to not get Cole to smile like that?

It just figures

Last night I had a dream.  It involved that disgusting umbilical cord and me accidently pulling it off when taking off Siena's clothes.  This morning I told Mike about the dream and expressed how grossed out I was at the thought of that happening.  Then earlier tonight we went to Target and I debated on whether or not to buy I more small pack of Pampers Swaddlers or not.  I have a ton of other newborn brands left over from Cole's smaller days but none of them can be folded down to avoid the "snail shell" and actually stay stuck together.  So I bought a small pack thinking that it could not be on there for much longer, right?  I means she is 3 weeks and 3 days, how long do the stay on?

Well in Siena's case 3 weeks and 3 days.  We got home and I went to change here and that is what I found when I lifted up her onesie.  Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!  Figures I had to be the one doing the diaper change....  But now that it is off I can try the cloth diapers!  Should I return the Pampers???

What do you mean my face is dirty?

Cole discovered the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer.  What harm is a little bit of sugar going to do??? 

***Those are number 3 and 4.  Hey it was a long day for mom.  Anything to keep a toddler happy and quite...

****If you haven't noticed I am so liking the photo collages right now.  Less time uploading photos and more time taking them.

Just when I thought I'd finally got this 2 kids thing down...

Finally a sunny, warmish day!  I was so excited to get Cole outside and running around before lunch and nap time.  Cole was dressed and ready to go, I was dressed and ready to go and all I had to do was get Siena's diaper changed and then stuff her into the Bjorn.  And by stuff I mean swaddle up in a blanket to take up the extra space until she gains 2-3 pounds.

I walk out of the office / changing station room to find our front door wide open and Onyx standing in the kitchen.  I quickly look around for Cole and he is nowhere to be seen!  I run to the other room and check his hiding places and sure enough, no Cole.  Now I start to panic.  Oh shit, I've lost a kid!  I run out side and check on the deck, no Cole.  I go to the carport, no Cole.  I then decide I need more help so I run next door to grandma and grandpa's house and who do I see when I turn the corner....Cole hanging out with grandma and grandpa.  I was so relieved but so pissed at him at the same time.  

Turns out Hank and Onyx were coming over to beg for treats and Onyx barked at the door (when I think back I do remember hearing a bark while I was getting Siena ready) and of course Cole opened the door for her to let her in.  I guess he then decided I was taking to long so he'd go on out by himself.  I guess then grandpa whistled for the dogs to come back and Hank, being the good dog that he is, went right back next door and Cole followed behind.  They figured I had been outside and was on my way over so there was no need to run Cole back to our place.  

Time for a chain lock at the top of the door.  I am now envisioning our house to be like on of those apartments in the city where you hear someone opening 12 locks before the door finally opens up.....

I guess I should mention for those of you that don't know, we live on 2 acres, in the mountains, at the end of a court on a hill with no street, no traffic, no chance of the kid getting run over.  Bucked by a deer, maybe...

Play Group

We finally got the play group back together after months of not meeting up.  I think it was really good for the kids and REALLY good for the moms.  Cole seemed a little bit overwhelmed for a while.  He for sure did not like the attention a certain little some one was getting.....He ended up wanting to play by himself most of the time.  Cole really wasn't into sharing toys.  

One thing that was absolutely hilarious was the way 2 year old boys and 2 year old girls communicate.  The 2 adorable girls that were there were talking up a storm.  They can pretty much say anything you ask them to.  They know the boys names.  It was pretty impressive.  While the girls were there the boys were actually pretty quite except for your basic 2 year old blabber.  But when the girls left the first thing I hear is Dylan yelling out to Cole and Mac in caveman kind of way.  Cole responds back with another caveman like sentence.  This went on for about a minute or so.  We were dying of laughter!  Girls talk up a storm and all boys need to do is grunt a couple of time and everything is taken care of!

Happy 2nd Birthday Cole!

Our little guy is two!  Wow, I can't believe it is here already.  I look at Siena and try to think back to when Cole was this small and it seems like forever ago.  But then again I remember thinking 2 years is so far away from now and now it's here!

Lately Cole has been using his fists to do everything.  Whether it is picking up toys, reading a book, or opening a cabinet, he will first attempt to do it with fists then his last resort is to open his hands up and use his fingers.  He is so observant that you have to be careful about what you let him see you doing.  He knows how you turn on the tractor, wood splitter, how to set off the alarm on your car, how to open the garage door, unlock the front door (not happy about this one), lock the freezer, load the dryer with wet clothes (you have to make sure nothing else gets dropped in there too!), use a table saw, and pretty much anything else you don't want a 2 year old knowing how to do.  It is scary how smart they really are.  Yesterday I was watching Cole play with his Thomas the Train tracks and he knew how to piece them together using the new and old pieces.  That requires a special connector piece and he knew just how to do it!

Cole loves reading books.  He knows all of his favorite parts and when they are coming up.  There are certain parts (Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush) that cause him to belly laugh.  He could read for hours!

To get some of his energy out Cole runs laps around the house for at least an hour each day.  He doesn't slow down.  I could not run that long if my life depended on it.  Sometimes the running comes to a quick halt so he can throw things around also.  He is really into throwing everything from his music table to small little people (toys).  You really have to watch your surroundings when you are in a room with him.  Anything in his mind is up for grabs.  We have had to reinstate time outs recently because the throwing is getting out of hand.

Because Cole has not started speaking clearly it is some times hard to understand what he is saying or what he wants. So Cole has gone to his own form of sign language if we don't respond right away.  If he wants to hold Siena he taps his lap.  If you are holding Siena and he requires your attention he will tap you and then usually run to me and tap me. This means give that baby to mom and come here.  If he wants Mike to get in the bath tub with him, he splashes the water and then points at Mikes and then back at the tub.  He understands EVERYTHING we ask him or tell him to do.  If you want him to get dressed give him the clothes and he will put them on.  He knows what he has to wear to go outside when it is cold.  

Some new words Cole has added to his ever growing vocabulary include:  Please do (thank you), No monish (no Onyx), and cien (Siena).  I have been working on his colors and numbers with him and he can say two (for his age) but that is as far as it goes.  We practice colors with jelly belly's.  I say "Cole, can you bring mommy a green jelly bean" and he sorts through and finds what he thinks is green and brings it to me.  Ok, so that's because I am lazy but he is still learning his colors, right?

When Cole hears Onyx barking at the door or the cat meowing he runs to the door and opens it and lets them in the house.  He will put his milk away when he is finished drinking it and he even closes the fridge door!  He puts all of his trash in the kitchen sink which is better for us because we can see what he is throwing away where as if he had access to the trash can we would be missing a lot of stuff.

Keeping true to his nature, Cole has learned to intentionally burp by swallowing air and he loves farting.  He thinks farts are the funniest thing around.  Since he can't fart on command, he has settled for burping.

He weighs around 27 pounds or so (he feels like more, but I wont have an accurate doctors weight until next month).  He is 36+ inches tall according to my measurements (the yard stick).

Cole still eats humus like it is going out of style.  He has recently taken a liking to gorgonzola gnocchi.  He still loves pesto with whole wheat spiral pasta, bagels with cream cheese, any type of orange, grapes, strawberries, and of course ice cream and popcorn.

Cole does not like having dirty hands.  He gets very concerned when they are too dirty and wont finish eating until his hands are wiped off.  He also hates wearing socks and will only do so if it means he can go out side.  Other than that, the socks come off right away.

When I am at the computer

This is what is in my lap. I think the boppy is one of the best inventions ever!

Tiny toes

This was the best attempt at capturing their little and not so little feet together.  Cole was super excited that Siena was on him that he would not stop trying to grab at her and Siena would not keep her feet from wiggling.

When it's raining outside

It's ok to play baseball inside.

Vomit, goals & a weird toddler

Last night I spent 4 hours awake with Siena.  I went to bed at 7:15 last night hoping to get in a few hours of sleep before she woke up hungry.  In between the phone ringing and Cole sneaking in to our room I managed to get some sleep...until Siena woke up at 9:30.  She wanted to nurse, and nurse, and nurse.  This kid goes on nursing kicks each day at different times so trying to schedule around it is virtually impossible.  So she nursed until 10:30 when she then decided to vomit it all up.  And by vomit I mean projectile spraying of vomit on to me and the back of the couch, saving a little bit to spray out her nose.  After I freaked out for a minute,(this was my real first experience with a vomiting kid.  Cole has vomited once in his entire life and it was over a year and a half ago) Mike helped me clean it up.  Then the little princess was ready to eat again!  So I let her nurse thinking I would give her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she just spit up (umm ya nice denial there). So she nursed for another 45 minutes.  I am surprised there was any milk left at this point but there was because when I took her back to our bedroom to sleep she proceeded to spray vomit once again while laying down and it was directed at my face.  After cleaning that up I sat with her in bed hoping she would fall asleep, but no she wanted to nurse again.  I waited about 15 minutes still hoping she would give up and fall asleep but no such luck.  I let her nurse again and at 12:30 am she was finally asleep and so was I.  But 1:15 rolls around and guess who wants to eat again!  Seriously she is a maniac!  Luckily no more vomiting occurred however she did spike a small fever through out the night.

This morning I called the Dr's and they wanted me to bring her in since they don't like seeing any fevers in babies under 2 months of age.  She got a clean bill of health, looks like it was just a small flu virus running it's course.  She is also gaining weight well, another half pound, she weighs out at 6 pounds even.  The doctor also wants me to put alcohol on Siena's umbilical cord to dry it out and that makes me want to vomit.  I can't handle that at all!

I had my 2 week check up this morning.  I am allowed to drive again!  Yay for me!  Even though I have no plans of going anywhere it is still nice to have the option to leave if I wanted to.  I have lost 12 of the 32 pounds, so I have 20 more to go to meet my goal of losing 30 pounds by May.  We will see how it goes.  Losing the weight is hard for me because I am so used to eating what ever I want with no worry and that is not the case when you want to lose weight.  As soon as I can exercise again I plan on getting back to curves and maybe doing some at home videos also.

I am exhausted, not from the all nighter, but from Cole and his newest behavior.  He is throwing everything in sight.  It doesn't matter what it is, his food, his toys, his music table, the phone, the remote, our shoes, etc... it all gets tossed in any direction at any time.  I also spend all day keeping him from hurting Siena.  Sure he has his sweet moments of wanting to give her kisses and hugs, but the rest of the time I am shielding her head from him.  The only way to have her safe in the house is in the crib in our room, with the baby gate up so Cole can't get in the room.  If he does, he is throwing things in the crib.  I don't want to leaver her locked up all day in the crib, but at the same time it is hard to manage Cole and her together.

Cole is resisting time outs also.  It took us 15 minutes tonight to get Cole to stay in his time out for 1 minute.  It is seriously exhausting.  He thinks time outs are funny....  I can only guess that the little guy is frustrated with losing some of the attention and he does not know how to deal with it or explain it to us.

On the bright side, Cole woke up from his nap this afternoon asking for me to make him a salad.  He can be such a weirdo.