If you Give a Mama an Ice Cream Maker

If you give a Mama an ice cream maker, she'll want to eat ice cream.

She'll decide to do a "fun activity" with her 4 boys and make ice cream in the fancy ice cream maker that has pedals to stir the barrel of cream.

She'll let her oldest child measure the ingredients and pour everything into this .... contraption.

The mama cleans up the spilled sugar and cream off the counter.

Then she'll need to make "crushed ice" in the blender because, naturally, this ice cream machine is too small to hold actual ice cubes.

The noise of ice in the blender causes multiple children to scream and cover their ears.

Once the ice is sufficiently 'crushed', she'll scrape the ice into the barrel, making sure to spill half of it on the floor.

The mama will mop up the water on the floor.

Once the hand held machine is ready to go, she'll announce that it's ready to spin.

When all 4 children start fighting over whose turn it is to go first, she'll separate the children and tell them to take turns.

She'll remind them to take turns.
She'll set a timer to help with the turn taking.
She'll yell at them to stop yelling at each other about whose turn it is.
No on takes turns.

While the big boys are fighting over whose turn it is, the toddler runs away with the ice cream barrel.

When the Mama brings back the barrel, she'll realize that the cream is leaking.

She'll get paper towels and clean up the sticky mess on the floor.

She realizes that this ice cream surely must be close to being finished so she opens the barrel and stares down at a pool of not-even-close-to-being-frozen cream. The instructions were not accurate in saying it would be ready in 20 minutes.

The mama, realizing it's creeping ever closer to bedtime, abandons the fancy ice cream maker and pours the cream into a plastic bag and places it inside another plastic bag with the ice.

No one fights over having to shake the ice cold bag.

Still clinging to her attempt to be the "fun mom" and not wanting to back out on the promise of ice cream to her children, the Mama herself shakes the bag of ice until the cream seems to be in a more solid state.

She opens the bag of ice and pulls out the cream, only to realize that only part of the cream is frozen.

5 more minutes of shaking.  The ice cream is done.

It is 8pm.  Bedtime.

Realizing she was too far deep into this project and she couldn't back out now, she served the ice cream to her 4 boys.

The ice cream was surprisingly good.

After eating the ice cream, she promptly announces that it's bedtime. All 4 boys are running around the living room, tearing apart the couch cushions, rolling on the floor, purposely running into each other and laughing.

The mama is always surprised at how quickly the sugar hits their blood stream.

She pushes back bedtime by 20 minutes so they can run off their energy.

20 minutes is not ample time for boys to "run off" their energy.

After the living room has been sufficiently destroyed, so gathers her last remaining energy (why didn't she get that sugar rush??) to wrestle the boys into pj's and have them brush their teeth.

Two minutes after putting the little boys to bed, a blood curdling scream comes from their room.  Boy #3 comes hobbling out, sobbing. He is injured. He injured himself going to bed.

The mama asks how he could have possibly hurt his foot while laying in his bed and Boy #3 says that he was climbing in his window, slipped, and cut his foot on the heating vent.

The wound is really quite small, but the boy wails as if his toes are being cut off one by one.

The mama, cleans up the blood, attempts to calm him down and puts him back in his bed, this time with specific instructions to NOT climb in his window.

The mama calls the two big boys to bed. Boy #2 is giggling uncontrollably. He trips going up the stairs and starts crying. 1 minute later he is bouncing and giggling again.

She prays and tucks them in.

More wailing emerges from the little boys room. Boy #3 says his owie has traveled up his foot and into his leg.  His entire leg huuuuuuuuurrrrrrrts and he cannot sleep.

The mama, less patiently, tells him his owie is very small and it will feel better in the morning.

After kissing him and Boy #4 goodnight, again, she heads downstairs.

Boy #2 comes out saying he is still too wound up and cannot go to sleep. The mama makes him do 25 jumping jacks in the living room and sends him back to bed with a new book to read.

The mama is tired. The mama is exhausted. The mama needs ice cream.

But she has learned never to make it again in that #$^$@ ice cream maker.

Cole Oliver. 11 months.

This is it.  My baby's last month of being a baby.  Some days I'm sad about not having any more babies in the house.  And other days I'm excited about raising these 4 gentleman that God has trusted me with and seeing what the future holds.  All in all I'm so blessed to be their mama.

At 11 months, Cole ...

• is still wearing 9 months clothes (although his pants are getting a little short) and size 3 diapers.  He just moves too much to get chubby.
• is a very intense child.  There is nothing calm or passive about his personality at all.  When he laughs, it's straight from his toes and when he cries, I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood can hear him.  It's even crazy to see him clench his fists and shake his arms with excitement when Chris comes home.  Or when it's lunch time.  There's just so much feeling bottled up in one tiny little body.
• has really perfected his pincer grab.  He's quite good at picking up small pieces of food from his tray and getting it straight to his mouth.
• knows how to open every cupboard door, pull out all of the boys' school books and even unlatch the baby gate if it's not locked.  It only takes him figuring it out one time and he's got it mastered.  This smarty pants isn't slowing down!
• crawls up the stairs with ease (when given the opportunity) but, despite our efforts to teach him, cannot go DOWN the stairs.
• Knows how to sign more, all done, eat, and nurse. He seems to be picking up on language really well. 
• is starting to learn "nice touches".  This was prompted by him scratching my face (and drawing blood) and pulling his brothers hair.  I don't think he means to hurt people, he just doesn't know any better.
• gets upset when he's locked out of something (cupboards, the stairs, etc).  He wants to tear apart everything he can get his hands on.
• gets upset when he's left out of the activity in the house.  He hates being left upstairs while Brooks and Dad play basketball in the mudroom. I'm finding that Cole is very social and loves to be where all the action is happening.
• loves his Mama, but has really taken a liking to his Daddy.  When Chris comes home from work, Cole will stand at the top of the stairs (trapped by that darn baby gate), and bounce and squeal until Daddy picks him up.
• is very calm around new people.  He's always been this way, but it makes it easier to leave him in the church nursery or with a babysitter when I know he won't be crying the whole time.  He loves having new places (and people) to explore!
• is becoming more comfortable walking along furniture.  We even pulled out his walker toy and he zips right across the living room with it.  Soon he'll be running.  Oy!
• still puts everything in his mouth.  The drooling has slowed some.  He still has 8 teeth.
• is terribly difficult to get dressed.  Or change his diaper.  He's constantly rolling over, kicking his legs, and trying to get away.  It's seriously like wrestling a wild animal trying to put clothes on him.
• sucks at sleeping.  Remember how I said last month that he was finally sleeping longer stretches at night?  Yeah, well, scratch that.  We're back to waking every 1-2 hours every night.  It's worse than having a newborn.  I feel like night weaning may be in our future, just so I can get some sleep!!

Cole Oliver. 10 months.

Cole has acquired a new nickname.  Action Beaver.  He's SO busy (like a beaver) and always seeks a thrill (action).  He loves to be thrown in the air, spun around and wrestled.  He's only 10 months old, but is already holding his own tumbling around with his big brothers. This kid keeps me on my toes!!

At 10 months old, Cole ...

• is still wearing size 9 month clothes.  Which is weird, because at this age Benny was in 18 month clothes!!  With how active he is, Cole doesn't have a chance to be a chubby baby.  He's quite muscular for a little dude.
• is a kid on the move.  If he's awake, he literally never sits still.  Even if you're holding him, he's trying to climb your shoulders and bounces all over.
• has been pulling himself up to standing for a few months, but has just started taking steps along furniture.  Walking is not too far off.
• is *finally* starting to sleep longer stretches at night (knock on wood).  We bought a sheep skin rug which is supposed to help with sleep, and over the course of a few weeks he's gone from waking every 1-2 hours at night to consistently sleeping 3-5 hours at a time.  Hallelujah!  We've also starting using magnesium lotion on his feet before bed and I think that's helped too.
• takes two good naps during the day - one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon.  I definitely enjoy the break.  I love that kid, but he destroys everything when he's awake.
• learned to sign "more" when eating.  He folds his hands together and lifts them into the air.  It took me a while to figure out that's what he was saying, but he seemed pleased as punch when he signed it and I offered more food.
• eats everything.  Fruits, veggies, meats, oatmeal.  Bath time has become a regular occurrence because he also wears most of the food I feed him too. Ha!
• has become less interested in nursing.  Perhaps it's because he's eating more foods or that he's just too busy to stop and nurse, but I usually have to force him to sit down and nurse (in a quiet room without distractions). But even when he's on my lap, he's grabbing at my nose, pulling on my lips or scratching my chest! Ugh!
• loves being outside!  Now that's it's getting a little warmer out, Cole's enjoying stroller rides around the block.  He's going to have a lot of fun this summer!
• still puts everything in his mouth.  Every.thing.  I really should brush up on my CPR & Heimlich skills. 
• still loves bath time.  And he's figured out that splashing is super fun!
• has starting drooling a lot again, but no new teeth have popped in.
• loves to laugh.  His belly is very ticklish and always giggles when we blow raspberries.  His brother's silly noises and antics usually are good for a laugh too.  He'll even laugh if you just look at him and laugh.  He's such a happy baby!

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.