Cole Oliver. 9 months.

We're creeping closer and closer to that 1 year mark.  And as much as I'm sad to see my baby grow up, I'm loving Cole's personality coming out and seeing him explore everything around him.  He's learning so much and amazing me every day with what he can do.

At 9 months Cole ...

• is wearing size 3 diapers during the day (size 4 at night) and is wearing 9 month clothes.
• popped in two more teeth on the bottom and three on top! (total of 7 now)
• crawls everywhere.  Fast!  He's always on a mission to go somewhere and rarely sits still.
• pulls himself up to standing with ease and has learned how to get back down again without smacking his head on the ground.  A very handy skill indeed.
• is impossible to get dressed or change his diaper.  He's constantly rolling over and trying to crawl away.  It's like wrestling a monkey!!  
• Still puts everything in his mouth.  He has discovered the treasure trove of crumbs that are always on the floor under the kitchen table.
• Began the month not very interested in foods, but in the last week has dove in head first to eating solids.  He doesn't love to be spoon fed (although if I force it into his mouth he won't spit it out), but he very much enjoys feeding himself.  We were trying just to give him a few foods at a time to watch for allergies, but, well, he's the 4th child and pretty much just gets what's on our plates. (or what's on the floor) He loves eating cooked carrots, shredded chicken (meat is his favorite!), avocado, grapes, blueberries, puffed kamut, bananas, potatoes, eggs and quinoa.
• LOVES bath time, although he never sits still which makes this mama nervous.  He loves splashing and chewing on all the bath toys.
• naps great during the day,  but still sucks at night time sleeping.  We need to start working on that.  I've gone 4+ months without a single night of good sleep and I'm wearing thin.
• lays down to sleep all by himself.  We just give him his swaddle blanket, he shoves it into his mouth to suck on it and falls asleep on his own.  He refuses to be rocked or even held for longer than 10 seconds.
• discovered windows and the outside world.  He thinks it's pretty great.
• loves his Daddy.  Whenever he's home, Cole will chase him down and pull himself up on his legs to be held.
• has learned to sign "nurse" (which he uses frequently).  He's so smart.  I need to work on teaching him more sign language.
• enjoys pulling all the canned goods out of the pantry and pot lids out of the cupboard.  This kid never sits still.
• has mastered climbing stairs, but hasn't the faintest idea of how to go down them.  The baby gate is still up!
• laughs at silly noises, belly raspberries and his goofy brothers.  He loves being entertained.

Cole Oliver. 8 months.

It has a been a month of giant changes in our house!  Cole decided all at once he was ready to grow up.  I'm not so sure how I feel about that though.

At 8 months old, Cole ...

• weighs 17lb.  He has a good amount of chub on his little body, but is very strong & even a bit lean given how much he moves around.
• is wearing size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night (because Mama hates changing diapers during the night)
• wears size 9 month clothes.
• sits up independently.
• crawls on his hands and knees very well.  He can get anywhere he wants to go now.
• pulls himself up to his knees and up to standing.  He's good at getting up, but we've learned he's not so good at getting down.  I've soothed lots of cries dues to bumps and bruises and falling down this last month.
• has climbed up a few steps and has fallen down a half flight of steps. We now own a giant baby gate that covers both stair cases and stock in our chiropractic company.
• celebrated his first Christmas at our house.  Grandma Marty and Papa Dave came to visit.  He loved eating the wrapping more far more than playing with the presents inside.
• always found a way to get to the Christmas lights and put them in his mouth!
• has tried a few more foods - carrots, squash, green beans & applesauce.  He doesn't love any of them.  He doesn't enjoy eating foods.
• still takes good naps during the day.  He's super flexible with our schedule, sometimes going all morning without a nap.  He'll just make up for it with an extra long nap in the afternoon.
• is the worst.sleeper.ever. at night time.  He STILL wakes every 1-2 hours at night to nurse.  I long for even 3 hours of consecutive sleep at night.  I don't even remember what that's like :/
• is developing a stronger tummy so I'm now able to add beans, broccoli, cauliflower and some peanut butter back into my diet.  He still cannot tolerate me eating dairy yet.  We learned that the hard way after I was accidentally "cheesed" at a restaurant and Cole was up every half hour that night crying in pain.  I've haven't seen him that sad in a very very long time.
• loves bath time.  And since he can sit up well now, I'm not as paranoid about him tipping over & drowning.
• can tell Mom and Dad's feet apart and will fervently crawl towards Dad when he is home.
• is starting to explore the kitchen cupboards
• puts everything in his mouth.  Well, except food of course.
• is drooling less and less these days.  He still only has the two teeth.
• is interacting more with his brothers.  It's fun to see his personality start to develop.
• smiles often.  He's a really happy baby :)

Cole Oliver. 7 months.

This has been a big month for Mr. Cole.  Lots of milestones,  Lots of changes.  My baby is growing up so fast!

At 7 months old, Cole ....

• is on the move.  Forward!  He's figured out army crawling and is slowly working on hands and knees crawling.  Nothing is safe on the floor anymore.
• took his first tumble off the bed.  (see above)
• loves to eat paper!  Sorry Siouxland Library :(
• cut his first two teeth in.
• still chews on everything.
• is babbling and cooing all the time.  We call him our little sheep "ba ba ba ba ba"
• loves looking at himself in the mirror.
• is a grabber!  Hair, clothing, your face!  He pinches (hard!) and tries to put it all in his mouth.
• takes great naps during the day.  He usually sleeps for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon.
• sleeps terribly at night!  He's my worst night sleeper by far.  I'm lucky if he'll sleep 3 hours at a time before waking to eat.  Usually he's up every 1.5-2 hours :(  It's like having a newborn all over again.
• tried his first foods at the end of November.  Avocados.  He wasn't a big fan.  I was hoping eating solid foods would help him sleep longer at night.  So far, no luck.

Cole Oliver. 6 month.

And just like that, our little Scooter is 6 months old.  He's growing and changing so much and I'm just soaking up all his baby goodness before I blink and it's gone.

At 6 months old, Cole ...

• is still wearing size 3 diapers and 6 month clothes, although they're both fitting more snugly than last month.
• is very efficient at getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth, but still isn't crawling yet.
• still chews on everything. Paper is his favorite. Nothing is safe on the floor.
• drools constantly.  Still no teeth.
• has become a hair puller.  And a cheek pincer.  (isn't that supposed to work the other way around??)  He has a very strong grip and whatever he grabs on to, he will NOT let go of.
• nurses every 3-4 hours during the day.  Sometimes life gets so busy that I just forget to feed him.  Even when he starts squawking and crying I think "Good grief, why are you so fussy??"  Oh. right.  You're hungry.  Poor 4th kid.
• has been sleeping a little longer at night.  Lately he's been going to sleep between 8-9pm.  He'll wake to eat around midnight, again around 4ish, and then up at 7am.  Sometimes he'll go back to sleep after I nurse him, but usually our day starts around 7am.
• usually takes a short nap in the morning (30-45 minutes) and then a longer nap in the afternoon (2-3 hours).  Sometimes he's squeak in a short early evening nap, but not very often.
• threw a few 4am parties this last month.  I knew I shouldn't have said anything :(
• has the best smile and giggle.
• received his 2nd hair cut at the beginning of October.  The crazy newborn hair got chopped :(  Part of me wanted to leave it since it was the hair he was born with, but we ultimately decided to cut it since we had family pictures coming up.
• talks and coos all the time.  He focuses so hard on making "words" come out.  My favorite sound so far is "mumumumumum"!  We'll just go ahead and say that's his first word ;)
• takes a bottle really well.  That makes it easier for this mama to be away from him.
• prefers to be bounced to sleep.  Or sometimes nursed to sleep on the bed.  He does NOT like to be rocked when he's tired.
• holds on to his blankie and sucks on it while we're bouncing him to sleep.
• is tolerating being worn in my carrier, but only if I'm constantly moving.  That's made running errands and trips to the park so much easier.

Cole Oliver. 5 months.

These months seems to be going by faster and faster.  Cole is definitely on the move.  He's very proficient at rolling over both ways, pulling himself side to side to reach toys. pushing himself up on his arms (and thereby pushing himself backwards) and even getting his butt in the air to all fours!!  Full on crawling is not too far off  And part of me wants to cheer him on because I know he's so much happier when he can get to the things he wants to.  It's fun to watch him explore new things.  But part of me wants to yell "SLOW DOWN!".  Being my last baby, it's bittersweet to watch him fly through these milestones knowing it'll be the last time.  Plus, I hate baby proofing!

At 5 months, Cole ....

• is wearing 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• loves playing with toys, especially ones that make noise.
• is very good at getting toys, blankets, paper, and his fingers into his mouth.  Everything goes in his mouth!
• loves sucking/chewing on blankets.  It's like his pacifier.
• gets bored easily.  With 3 big brothers around, he's used to constant entertainment.
• likes playing in his excersaucer.
• nurses every 2-4 hours during the day.
• spits up a lot more than he used to.  That plus the drooling make bibs a requirement every day.
• smiles and laughs often. He's having so much more happy awake time during the day.
• loves to look at and play with the shower curtain.
• will either nurse to sleep or likes to be bounced on the big ball until he falls asleep.
• sleeps great in his own bed, but doesn't sleep well on mama anymore.  Usually there's too much going on for him to sleep on my chest during the day.
• naps inconsistently.  Some days he'll only take 45 minutes naps.  The next day he'll sleep for 3 hours in the afternoon.  It makes planning the day difficult, but at least he sleeps.
• wakes up every 2-4 hours at night to eat.  I really miss those 6-8 hour stretches of sleep :(
• will wake to nurse and then go right back to sleep.  I think it's been several weeks since he's thrown a "let's be awake for an hour at 4am" party.
• still loves being naked and bath time.  It's the easiest way to calm him down.

Cole Oliver. 4 months.

As much as I love my newborn babies, I just love when they get a bit older and their personality starts to show.  They become more interactive, smile more and you can actually put them down for longer than 30 seconds without them screaming their ever lovin' head off. haha!  We're loving our Cole baby.

At 4 months old, Cole ....

• is still wearing 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• drools constantly and chews on his fist like it's his job.  Still no teeth.
• has started showing interest in toys. His squeaky moose is his favorite.
• found his feet :)
• has a fantastic smile.
• laughs! But what makes him laugh changes from day to day.

I spy dimples!

• gets the hiccups every time he laughs.
• got his first hair cut. The mullet had to go!

before

after

• has started going to the church nursery on Sundays.  He'll join us for worship, but then he gets too bored and noisy to sit through the quiet part.
• rolls over to his tummy very easily.  Then rolls to his back.  Then to his tummy.  He's always moving.
• can pull himself in a circle when on his tummy to reach a toy.  Seriously, this kid needs to slow down!
• will take an hour-ish long morning nap and (on a good day) will take a 2-3 hour afternoon nap.  Then he'll usually sneak in a short nap in the evening.
• falls asleep for the night around 9pm.
• will usually sleep 6-8 hours at night, but hit a growth spurt this month which included more night time feedings.
• sleeps in his own bed well, but still enjoys snuggling with Mama too.
• has started tolerating being worn in my Boba carrier.  But only if I'm moving.  Constantly.

Cole Oliver. 3 months

Well, somehow, against my will, this dude is getting older.  And bigger.  He's 3 months old already and growing like a weed.  But there are three big brothers to keep up with, so I guess I understand his hurry.

 At 3 months old Cole ...

• wears size 3 diapers.
• has outgrown all his 3 month clothes,
• is still the hottest/sweatiest baby ever.
• is taking great naps during the day.
• sleeps well in his car seat 
• consistently sleeps 6-8 hours at a time at night.  Hallelujah!
• can get his hands to his mouth.
• chews on his fist constantly.

• drools a lot (I fear teeth are coming soon)
• is a very happy baby now that I've eliminated all the gassy foods out of my diet.
• has wonderful, big, open mouthed smiles :) Although he's camera shy whenever I try to capture it.
• coos and talks to us all the time.  He's even started dinosaur growling.
• is totally entertained by his goofy big brothers.
• has learned to rock himself in his little rocking chair.
• can roll from his back onto his side easily.  Can't quite get to his tummy yet.
• just rolled from his back to his tummy as I was typing this. Haha!
• still loves to be swaddled and bounced or rocked to sleep.
• will sometimes nurse to sleep on the bed.
• likes to be held facing out.  There's a big world that he needs to see!