free time = craft project :)

Two fridays ago I had to go into work (not a furlough Friday) and Nick decided to stay with Colson the whole day (!) He did great :) and even had fun! He planned a playdate with Matt & Ryan in the afternoon, so when I got home, they weren't back yet.

I remember thinking "hmmm ... it's so quiet," and realized that since Colson was born, that was the first time I was home - alone. No husband, no baby ... it was wierd. Ok, for like a second ... then I started a craft project - HAHAH. For those who know me I love crafting. With Colson, there's hardly any down time for crafting, so I decided to take advantage of the time. We had a couple of old mismatched chairs in our spare garage that I thought I would spiffy up and bring to use in my office. I re-painted them to match and then sewed a cushion cover and pillows. I worked on them for a bit Friday and for a few hours Saturday while Colson was with his Bebe (Nick's mom) and Nick was out paintballing. Actually, that Saturday was the first time that I was home alone since Colson's birth. Here's the finished project:

auntie connie

A few weeks back, my sister came out for a couple of days to hang out ...

waking up at night again

Ever since he was a newborn, Colson had his own ideas about sleeping ... when people started asking me around 8 weeks whether or not he was sleeping through the night, I sadly nodded "no." And when people asked if he was sleeping through the night at three months, the answer was still "no." We had a bit of a breakthrough towards 3 1/2 months where he was sleeping 10 hours straight, but that only lasted a couple weeks. Then again at 5 and 6 months he began sleeping an 8-hour stretch before waking to nurse, then would sleep another 2-3 hours ... well the past month he's been waking up again ... and not just once a night, but twice, sometimes 3 times a night. It's especially rough if it's the night before I have to go in for work. Oh well, one day it will be SO lovely when he stops waking up at night to eat ... for now I guess the snack bar is still open.

Speaking of eating, his growing seemed to taper off a little. He reached the 20 pound mark at around 6 months and didn't make it to 21 pounds until 7 months. He's almost 8 months old now and just about 22 pounds. Not sure what his other stats are. His last appt was for a 6 month visit and he doesnt go again until 9 months (December), so we'll see!

The whole family also got our seasonal flu shots -- Nick had Colson in his lap and he didn't even cry! I was astonished, thinking wait maybe she didn't put the needle in yet. But there she was putting the little bandaid on his thigh already :) Every time I've taken him in for vaccinations, he screams! Colson also got the H1N1 vaccine and he didn't cry then either :) Awww, what a big boy :)

splish splash!

Now that Colson can sit up, I'm giving him baths in our laundry room sink -- hahahah. But it works perfectly :) He loves it ... when the water fills up to his elbows he always starts splashing -- then is confused because he can't quite figure out that his splashing is what's causing the water to get in his eyes ...

these didn't make the cut for the halloween card:

Amazing how many pictures you need to take to get three good ones ...

seven months and sitting

Colson can finally sit upright on his own :) He's was really wobbly his whole sixth month, but now he's a pro. Well he can sit there if you put him down sitting, but not yet pushing up to sitting on his own. He getting more and more mobile each day ... still doing the army crawl scooting on the ground and barrel rolling to get to things, but just recently he started pushing up on all fours and does kind of a rocking motion ... I'd better get on baby-proofing the house!

He's also just babbling all the time now -- still likes to say da-da-da-da-da and sometimes na-na-na-na-na, and just general screaming and squealing. He's developing his own little personality and discovering his voice. We get-together with a mommy group with babies around Colson's age and he is so fascinated and delighted with other little people :) We've been trying to hang out with Monroe (Kuney), Ryan (Gouge), and Taylor (Pinckney) more lately too ...

hmmm .. what else? Oh yeah, the other reason, I haven't blogged much lately is because I started back at work mid-September. It has been a bit of an adjustment trying to juggle everything, work, baby, house, cooking, groceries, cleaning ... you get the idea! But I think I've finally found my rythmn and everything is working out great! I work in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays and from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am still furloughed the first three Fridays of every month. So, Nick's cousin, Stephanie, watches Colson on Mondays/Wednesdays, and we kind of play the random Fridays by ear.

Actually -- Nick was on daddy-day-care duty all day today! I was nervous for them both, but Nick did great and even liked it! Hmm, mom might be taking advantage of this more :)

catching up ...

It's been more than a month since our last post, so ... here's trying to sum up all that's been going on.

On October 1, Nick's dad, Bob, passed away. Bob had a successful heart transplant in 2003 and earlier this year his heart began to fail ... a memorial service and celebration of life was held in his honor on October 9. Thank you to everyone for your support, kind words, thoughts, cards and flowers. You will be missed by all of us Grampa Bob ...


Now I'll try to catch up where we left off ... in the end of September, our friends Nick & Alicia Moser had a housewarming party at their new digs. It was great to catch up with our friends! And Colson hung out with his pals too :)

Here's Colson with Crystal & Zach. The guys (Nick, Adam & Matt) with their kiddos (Colson, Taylor & Ryan). And the munchkins messin around.

Caleb's First Birthday

Our good friends Patty & Caleb had a birthday party for their son Caleb who turned 1 year old! We joined them for the celebration :) There was a playground there too, so we decided to let Colson try out the swings - he loved it! Was even holding on :) [this is when I had another "I can't believe he's growing up so fast moment." sigh.]

SF Aquarium

A few weeks back Nick's cousin Kristin & her beau David came out to visit SF from North Carolina. We went to meet them at the Aquarium on Pier 39 and had lunch after. Colson was fascinated by all the fish and other sea creatures at the aquarium -he even got to pet a sea cucumber ;)