10 Months and 3 years old

10 Months




I can't believe that both of my boys are getting so old!!!!! Cort just turned 3 and Cohen turned 10 months old - just 2 months shy of a whole year!!!!!! I'm finally getting around to their posts - scroll on through and enjoy the pics(mainly of Cohen as Cort is never still enough for pictures these days!!!) or join me as I document things I want to remember.....

Cohen's had a good month. We have seen a lot of physical improvements this month. He began to push up on his hands instead of just his elbows at the beginning of this month and as the month progressed he has even become brave enough to try to grab at and play with toys while propped on one hand. While being active on his tummy he still labors a little harder to breath, he has found that he is quite comfortable on the tummy to sleep. This has def. become his preferred sleeping position. We have also finally stopped swaddling him at night and rotate between not using anything and sometime using a wearable blanket depending on how warm his jammies are.
Although he still isn't sitting, he continues to get stronger and stronger through his trunk and really enjoys playing while sitting supported. And while he still requires support to sit, the amount of support required has decreased by a good bit. I can hold him just at the hips a little and he does well. He has even bent down to pick up a toy and come back to sitting position. He also sits up pretty well in my lap sometimes without any direct support.

This was Cohen's first full month off oxygen and he has done great. At the end of this month, they picked up his oxygen supplies( on his 10 month birthday !) Yea - no more tape, loud machines, night time fights to put it on, having to keep the door open because of how much heat the machine puts out, and hopefully we'll see a drop in the electric bill! We still continue to check his oxygen with a monitor.

He has continued to have a pretty increased interest in toys and in fact has become quite the little protester if he drops a toy or if he take it from him! I think this month has been the first time we have started to see him a bit frustrated by his limitations. He still loves a lot of the same things - books, stuffed animals, piano, keys, animal/alphabet spinning ball, kick toy, and play gym. Some new favorites thanks to Christmas are the fisher price rockstar, this adorable little peacock, activity cube, and this little loopy clutch toy( I have no idea what to call it), and his swing( thought it's been a bit too cold to use it too much). He is getting better and better about manipulating his toys.



He started turning pages in books and it's so cute. He has to transfer the page from one hand to the other to reach and I love that he's figured out how to do that!
He loves finger play games and songs like itsy bitsy spider and such. He can't do the movement but things it's funny when I do his hands for him.

Eating has gone pretty well this month. He is getting about 4 bottles a day and one at night. We don't give him the dream feed anymore and that has gone pretty well. We've still had a few stints of him waking up twice at night but for the most part it's just once. The night he turned 10 months old he slept from 7:30 to 7:30 but only that one time and I guess that counts more in the 11th month.
The 2 biggest changes this month with eating is that we've had to start supplementing with formula and eating more solid foods. He gets about half and half now of formula and bmilk- my body just wasn't keeping up anymore. It took a little while to get him used to the formula but he's doing well with it now.
He is still mainly eating purees for substance but I've been able to make them even thicker and chunkier and he has started eating some other things hear and there - not a lot of quantity but at least a taste or a few bites. He doesn't finger feed at all so it's just stuff I give him off the spoon or put in his mouth. He'll actually yell for it sometimes - like the night I was picking a rotisserie chicken to make some chicken salad or the day we were all eating chicken salad over Christmas - apparently he's a poultry fan - he really liked both of them. He also likes and has had(not pureed).. apples, green bean, peas, peaches, cheese, banana, teething biscuits, wagon wheels( though he's not a big fan), and bread. He only takes a few bites of these things but it's a start.

Silly Cohen


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


3 years old

I really can't believe that I 'm doing Cort's 3 year post. It seems like just yesterday that I was still documenting with little monthly updates!!
There is absolutely no baby left in this boy. He has fully embraced boyhood and it's pretty stinkin' cute!!

I really don't know where to start in trying to sum up Cort at 3. He is wild and silly, sweet and thoughtful, inquisitive and curious, creative and imaginative, and sometimes a little sneaky and manipulative ;)!!

He is so silly these days. He'll do anything to get a laugh and absolutely loves laughing - I mean the fall on the floor, hysterical type. It's so cute and I just love it. He's become so imaginative - telling stories, searching for the dinosaur that's on the loose in our house, or going to the "zoo" in our backyard. Every night we have to tell purple tiger stories - i don't really even know how they got started but there is a purple tiger that lives in our backyard and he and Cort go on daily adventures. I love this creative type playing and he does too. It'll keep him occupied far longer then most store bought toys. He still loves cars and has had an increasing fascination with dinosaurs( the theme of this year's party). He also loves doing crafts, reading books and puzzles. He has recently really gotten into playing games as well. I love this new stage of playing - where there are things that we can really do together but he's independent enough that I don't do it all for him. He still loves music and loves to sing.



It's crazy to me how in one year's time we can mover from 3 and 4 words sentences to full out conversations and the newly arrived question phase. I mean we are in the "why?" stage full swing!!! ... Why? Because he asks a lot questions. Why? Because he's curious. Why?Because he's learning new things. Why? You get the point. :)
I love how he picks up on adult words and uses them correctly (and incorrectly sometimes). His current one is "actually" like in this little monologue Cort gave us while making Jesus' birthday cake on Christmas Eve - actually with the correct usage:

" we're going to make this cake, and sing happy birthday, and eat it and get a messy face. But Jesus won't get a messy a face cause actually Jesus won't be there and we'll eat his cake for him. Mary and Joseph too."

I love how even with such a silly side that he can be so serious as he concentrates to try tries to learn and figure out new things.I love seeing how his little mind works and the new connections he makes daily - and I swear you can sometimes visually see his little mind trying to make new connections.

A few weeks ago, while Chris was putting Cort to bed, Cort asked him," who's that walking?" We have hardwoods in our hallway and he can usually hear one of us walking down the hall but I wasn't home that evening so Chris told him no one was walking and Cort lay back down. He immediately sat up again and said "there it is again, who's that walking?" Chris doesn't know what he's hearing but then asks him if he only hears it when he lays back down( on Chris' chest...) Cort said yes. He was hearing Chris' heartbeat and thought it was someone walking down the hallway. He was quite intrigued by this and the next morning had to hear everyone's heartbeat including Cohen's.

As far as a few new skills... he's getting better with letter recognition though he does better choosing the letter than naming it. He can count objects up to 13 without any problem and up to 20 from time to time or with a little help. He can recognize his and Cohen's name. He is quite impressed with the fact that they both have an "C' and a "O." He can draw a little bit - like stick figures or simple shapes. He "draws" lots of other things and then tells me what it is. ( glad he shares and I'm not left guessing ;)) He's starting to pick up on rhyming a little bit and he gets a good many opposites. He's got a good many books memorized and will "read" them to us. He definitely gets that letters makes words and that the print in books say something.
He's recently really in to concepts like yesterday, tomorrow, next week, etc. He uses some of it correctly but it's really cute when he mixes it up. He also does this with older and younger. For instance, he'll say Daddy, when you get younger like me.... too cute.

He absolutely adores his Daddy and wants to do all things like him. I just love watching them play and spend time together.




Overall, he's a pretty obedient kid though I can see that 3 might be a little tougher on us then 2. I mentioned before that he's really silly and he knows how to try to use this to get out of doing something we ask or to avoid discipline. He has perfected stalling and has even started lying a little bit ( ie. Mommy said I could,etc.) It is crazy to me how this sin nature really is just present in their little hearts. Our prayer is that we are able to teach him God's love and truths and actually reach his little heart instead of just trying to make him behave.

He still takes an afternoon nap and sleeps about 10-11 hours at night. Still an early riser - between 6:30 and 7 most mornings. He's totally potty trained but not night timed trained.

His 3 year old stats are 25lbs 1oz and 36 inches tall. We're still working with the doctors about some of his growth stuff.

I have loved being Cort's mommy for the past three years and I can't believe how possible it is to love him more and more everyday!!




_________________________________________________________

And here's some Cohen's 9 months pictures that we took ourselves and I promised to post .... I didn't have time to get them up before Christmas. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out...