Wow, How Time Flies!

Yum,,,,
Look at those big blue eyes!
 Cole, all ready to go to the pool!!! (He slept the whole time we were there!)
Playing with his new toy, an activity gym, that James and Irena brought for him
 It appears that Cole is driving, but this is what a road trip with a 7 1/2 week old looks like! We were feeding him in the car!
Well, we have quite a bit to report. First of all, Cole will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, well on his way to 2 months old, and he is changing every day. He is the light of our lives, and we are loving every minute we spend with him. Also, he is sleeping through the night consistently now. Last night he slept from 10 PM - 7 AM, and that is pretty typical now. (Thank goodness, as Mom and Dad are returning to work this week!). He wakes up happy every morning, and greets us with a smile, which we love! Also, Cole has had a big 2 weeks. As you know, we went to Houston to see his grandparents there, and then we had the opportunity to travel to Orlando for a couple of days, and we also got to spend some time with our friends James and Irena as well. So Cole got his first airplane ride and road trip, all in one week. Of course, this meant he was very tired by the beginning of this week! In Orlando we spent the time relaxing by the pool (Cole didn't seem to mind a dip in the pool, but we didn't keep him in long at all!), and taking everything in. We didn't do any of the parks, as Cole is so young, but we are planning to go later this next summer when Cole is closer to a year old! Anyway, here is pictures from the trip. We were having such a good time, that frankly, we forgot to take pictures!

A monumental night!!!

Sitting in the highchair for the first time!
What a big smile!
Getting ready to go for a walk in the new jogger!


Well, it was for mom and dad!! Cole slept through the night. (9 PM - 5 AM). In our book and for most people, that is a ton of time, and we were so excited that he slept that long! We actually didn't get that great of a night sleep because we kept waking up expecting him to be awake. But, he fooled us. Hopefully this is something that will continue, it would really be great since we go back to work next week. We also tried out the new highchair that Cole got from one of his baby showers, as well as the jogging stroller that Poppy and Ya Ya bought him. He loved being outdoors in the stroller, and was great until we got back in the house, where he seemed to be upset that we stopped moving! The stroller has an I-pod hookup on it, and we played children's music for him, and he seemed to love it. He was mesmerized.

Home Again...

Getting ready to go home...
 A tired Cole... (and yes, Melissa did hold him on the plane, she just didn't take a picture of it!)
 A little worn out from his travels!
We are happy to report that Cole completed his first airplane trip today and that we all arrived back home safe and sound. We had a great time and loved seeing Poppy and Ya Ya, but are glad to be home. 

Houston

Well, we made it to TX. The hurricane really didn't do to much to the area where Melissa's dad and stepmom are, so things are for the most part back to normal. Cole took the plane ride REALLY well, not so much as a peep out of him, so we were happy about that. The pictures here are from the plane, as well as at the lake in Poppy and YaYa's neighborhood. 

5 hours!!!!!

Cole had a milestone night last night (well, maybe not milestone, but we sure were excited!). We put him down around 9:30 or so, thinking he would not sleep to long, especially since he hadn't eaten a ton before falling asleep. We went to bed, and low and behold, he didn't wake up until 2:30 AM!!!! 5 full hours! We didn't know what to do with that much sleep. Then, we put him down after eating again about 3 or so, and he slept till 7:30 AM. Even better! We hope this will continue, and it isn't just a fluke, but Cole seems to be well on his way to eventually sleeping through the night! Wish us luck! Also, we took some pictures this morning after we ALL had a good night sleep, and they are posted here. We also managed to get a picture of a smile this morning, there will be many more to come. (FYI, Cole's hair has become unmanageable, so it is what it is, even if he looks like a mad scientist!!) 

The Great Escape...

Literally and figuratively! There is a little news around here to report. Friday morning, Jason, Melissa and Cole leave to go to Houston, TX. (Yes, we are well aware that there was just a hurricane there!) We are going to visit Poppy and Ya Ya (my stepmom's choice of a "grandma name", just to clarify!). They were suppose to be here in Atlanta this past week, but Hurricane Ike prevented that, so we are going out there instead. So, Cole will be taking his first airplane ride just a little earlier than expected! We will be posting pictures of that later, for sure. As for the other "great escape" I referenced, see the first picture! We recently found that Cole loves being swaddled, like he was in the hospital when he was born. He seemed to hate it when he was really young, but since figuring this out he is sleeping longer, up to 4 hours at a time, which is great when it comes to Mommy and Daddy getting some sleep as well! This swaddle blanket that we got as a gift is quite restrictive, and I am sure it looks like something even Houdini couldn't escape from!! Also, there are some really cute pictures of Cole in his carseat yesterday. He had just eaten and was very awake and alert, and was posing for the camera again! Enjoy!

Baby Pictures

 Cole, appearing to watch TV.... 
Thinking, very, very hard....
 Jason, circa 1975 (look at the resemblance)
 More baby pics of Jason....
 And yet another....

Since Cole has come into our lives, we have been looking back at our own baby photos, and we have started to see the resemblance of our photos to Cole and what he looks like now... The similarities are so close, it is scary!! Jason's baby pictures look identical to Cole, but they of course are 33 years old, and not quite as good of pictures as nowadays. Enjoy! Also - we had Cole on his Tummy Time mat, but sitting up, since it can be used that way as well, and he looked like he was watching the TV that was right in front of the mat. We are well aware he can't focus yet, but he seemed to love hearing the sound and seeing whatever it was that he could see!!!

Learning more every day...

 A little preppy...
 We pull out a camera, and he poses...
 Thinking hard...
Silly Monkey!
 Toooooo cute!

Not much to report... just more pictures of Cole. We stayed around the house yesterday, getting ready for Melissa's dad and stepmom to come in (Poppy and Ya Ya), that is if Hurricane Ike allows them to come in at all! Cole is getting to the point where he is awake more than asleep, and is growing by leaps and bounds. We can see the changes day by day. He is also starting to smile more and more, and figured out what toys were yesterday when we began playing with an educational toy we had. We are loving every day we get to spend with him while we are both home!!!

Bumbo Chair...

 I do not even know how this happened, I just know Cole was smiling!
Cole in his Bumbo, not bad for a 1 month old
 Is he throwing up some kind of sign here, trying to tell us something? 
We were doing so well, then we started to fall...
 And then, we gave up, and we look like we are trying to talk on the phone!

Well tonight, before going to bed, after a long day of exploring his new world, Cole tried out his Bumbo Chair. Mom and Dad didn't expect he would even be able to sit in it, or have the head control to use it, but as usual, Cole surprised both of us. We put him in it expecting to have to hold him up, and he was able to not only hold his head up for quite a few minutes, but also seemed to enjoy it. Here are some pictures. As you can see, there was a progression, we were good, had our head up, etc. then picture #2, we started to falter, then we gave up with picture #3! Also, Mom came down the stairs today to find Cole laying on Daddy, seeming to have the best time. He was smiling (for real this time!) when Mom got the camera out, but by the time the picture was snapped he had stopped. 

So photogenic!

 Cole at one month old
Mommy's Hunky Monkey!
 Tummy Time...still trying to figure this out!
 Getting a little better, maybe!
As promised... Cole's one month old picture. He was so good when we took them, and hammed it up the entire time, and he didn't cry to much, pretty good for a one month old baby! On Monday we purchased a Boppy Tummy Time activity gym for Cole, and we tried it out. He didn't quite know what to do with it, but eventually got the hang of it. Enjoy!

1 Month Old Already!

 Sweet kisses for Cole!
 Cole, sitting in his bouncer, with his sunglasses on!
Cole, being cute!
 We tried the "johnny jump up" with some help, he liked the bouncy feeling we think!
Cole had a full weekend... we spent Saturday down near Grandma DeDe's house getting our 1 month old picture taken... it was sooooo... cute, and we will post it when we get a chance. We also celebrated Ami Jen's 26th Birthday this weekend, with dinner at DeDe's house and presents and Cake (though Cole slept through most of it!). We all enjoyed the rest of the weekend together, and bonded as a family! Here are some of the pictures from this weekend. (And, the pictures in the jumper/bouncer... he had some help in there, he isn't old enough to be bouncing up and down on his own, but he loved the bouncing action, and only got upset when we took him out!)