Cozumel

I meant to post this in December...whoops.  Jeff and I just returned from a couples vacation to Cozumel, Mexico.  We went with two other couples.  We spent seven days and six nights at an all-inclusive resort.  We spent most of the time laying on the beach enjoying the sun and some beverages.  We ventured into the town of Cozumel a few times.  Once for an outstanding dinner.  I had coconut shrimp that were served in a halved coconut with a coconut dipping sauce.  Jeff had surf and turf, which was filet minogn and lobster for $20 USD.  Both dishes were amazing.  We toured the town square and did some shopping.  We got Andrew a maraca, which he loves.  Another day we took a catamaran down the southern side of the island to do some snorkeling.  Cozumel is well known for their snorkeling and scuba diving.  We stopped at two different spots.  We saw some fish and coral, but didn't see much else.  Our trip dropped us off at a beach for a burger and some time playing in the ocean.  They also had water toys to jump on.  We had fun trying to stay on the giant trampoline and climbing and sliding down a slide.  We felt like little kids trying to get as much playing done as we could in an hour.  Our second to last day, we took a taxi part way around the eastern side of the island.  This part was much more rocky and had harsher waves.  We stopped at a "nude" beach, we think it was just a gimmick as there wasn't anyone there.  We also visited a restaurant called, "Coconuts".  The food and scenery was great.  We had a nice, relaxing trip.  I think this was the first vacation I actually came home rested.  However, we were so happy to see our little boy.  We are so thankful to have family that are willing to take care of Andrew.  He probably had more fun than anyone!

15 Month Stats!

I know I'm a little behind.  With Thanksgiving, Black Friday, a week in Cozumel and a mountain of laundry, I've been a little busy.  Andrew had his 15 month check-up right before Thanksgiving.  Needless to say, he is a healthy boy.  He was at 28.6 pounds, 97 percentile and 32 inches tall, 85 percentile.  Despite his size, our doctor is happy that he is in proportion. 

Andrew is walking around every where and rarely crawls.  He is starting to run, but sometimes his legs get going a little too fast for the rest of his body to keep up.  He is a great sleeper and usually goes to bed by 7:30 P.M. and wakes up around 6:30 A.M.  He'll either take 2-1.5 hour naps or 1 three hour nap after lunch.  He is a pretty good eater, but can be kind of picky.  His favorite foods are: corn, watermelon, and tortellini with spaghetti sauce.  He has mastered signing: more, all done, and please so he uses those to his advantage to get what he wants.  It is really hard to tell him no when he is signing please.  :) He loves reading books and is starting to sit and listen to stories.  He also likes music and dancing.  His form of dancing is stomping his foot with the music.  He is a big fan of balls and we've started letting him throw Kinnick's ball.  They both seem to like the game!  He is talking more and more each day.  I'm always shocked to hear the words that he knows.  He can say: mama, dada, ball, cracker, uh-oh, thank you, banana, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, and that is what I can think of right now.  He likes to be very independent, so that will become a challenge as the real parenting has begun. 

Run, Daddy Run!

 Wearing Daddy's medal.

 The sun is too bright!

This summer Jeff has been running and training to compete in the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon.  His race was last Sunday, October 21st.  It was a beautiful fall day for a run.  Andrew and I went to cheer him on and were able to see him near the end of his race.  However, due to a late start and traffic we didn't get to see him finish.  He beat his goal time and was pretty happy with his race overall.  He was a little sore, but thinks he might do it again. 

Hear me ROAR!

Andrew is going to be a lion for Halloween!  Lucky for him that is one of the two animal sounds that he knows and can perform if the mood strikes.  We went to Night Eyes at the Blank Park Zoo on Saturday.  Andrew was able to do a little trick-or-treating and we got to see a few animals.  A little disappointingly, most of the animals were in their winter homes.  Notice Andrew doesn't look too enthusiastic.  He had just woken up from a nap.  Hopefully, he'll be a little more animated on Beggar's Night on Tuesday.  Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

Starting a blog seemed like a good idea about 13 months ago when Andrew took several naps a day and I was on maternity leave.  I still like blogging, but I am struggling trying to find the time to balance everything.  Here are pictures from our trip to Center Grove Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch.  Mom and Dad came to watch Andrew, so Jeff and I could attend the wedding of my college roommate.  We enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We: fed the goats, played in the corn, rode on a tractor with Grandpa, went on a hay rack ride, and picked out pumpkins.  We love Center Grove Orchard and try to make a trip there every fall. 

We have a walker!

On September 10, 2012, our lives changed and will never be the same...Andrew took his first steps!  While it is so exciting for him, we weren't exactly wishing for this day to come.  You see, Andrew already gets into everything.  Standing up only gives him more access.  Despite all of our misgivings, he is SO excited and proud of himself.  He always smiles and giggles as he walks, so it makes it very difficult to be so apprehensive.  So, while our lives may never be the same, we are so proud of how he is growing and changing right before our eyes.  Now, nearly two weeks later, he is toddling everywhere as fast as he can.  This usually results in a fall, but he always gets back up to try again!  Thank goodness for those puffy Pampers!

Andrew's 1 year stats!

Super dad Jeff took Andrew to his one year check-up by himself since I was at teacher in-service.  We have a healthy little toddler...I know he isn't a baby anymore and I about had a meltdown when I got my first email update for toddlers instead of babies.  He weighs 26.4 pounds, 97%. He is 31 inches tall, 86%.  He is finishing up the last of his formula with his only bottle at night.  He drinks whole milk or water during the day.  He is eating all table food, but we have to finish up the last of his baby food.  He loves his fruits and veggies! He especially loves corn off the cob and melon.  He has all of his teeth except his 2 year molars, and they are so cute.  They are nice and straight, which we hope means no braces down the road!

He isn't walking yet, but loves to push stuff and walk with help from an adult.  He crawls so fast that I don't think he cares that he isn't walking.  He loves pushing little cars, tractors, etc. and playing with balls and his little people.  He has three key words: mama, dada, and uh-oh. He likes making lion and monkey noises and can sign all done.  He loves his blankie and is a huge source of comfort at daycare.  At home he still takes two naps, but at daycare only 1 long afternoon nap. He continually makes us laugh even though we are constantly saying no. It is so fun to watch his learn and discover new things!

The End of Summer

Andrew's birthday seems to signal the end of summer or at least the end of summer vacation.  The past two and a half months have been fun, but a lot of work.  It has been a practice in patience, redirecting, and coming up with new activities VERY often.  I remember the first day of break and in the first thirty minutes we had already played with all of his toys and read books.  I wondered how we would ever get through the day without going stir-crazy.   It has become more enjoyable as the summer went on and Andrew and I were able to get into more of a routine. We've went on lots of walks, swam, went to story time at the library, played outside, and had play dates among other things.  I'm going to miss "cuddling" in bed in the morning (by that I mean alternately getting hit in the head and keeping him from diving off the bed) and relaxed days of not worrying about getting anything done.  I'm especially going to miss my morning naps!  A part of me is excited to go back to school and start a new school year.  I really enjoy teaching and both the challenge and reward each day brings.  I might change my tune after this year though :) I love raising my wee one and watching him discover new things.  This has turned out to be a great summer and I'll just enjoy my nights and weekends with our buddy boy and look forward to Thanksgiving break!  Ahh, the life of a teacher :)

Andrew 1 Year Pics!

Happy First Birthday, Andrew!

I know it is so cliche, but I can't believe how quickly this past year has gone.  Our little punkin has went from      a cute, little bundle to a rambunctious boy on the go.  He has ALL of his teeth except his 2 year molars, eats mainly table food, and only takes a bottle of formula at bed time.  He loves snuggling with his blankie at naps and bed time.  Right now, he takes a morning and afternoon nap for about 1.5 hours each.  He has been sleeping from 7:30ish P.M. to about 6:00 A.M.  He likes to: swing, go for walks, and roar like a lion.  He is quick to smile and laughs easily since he is very ticklish.  He likes to play with his outside toys especially his water table.  He says: mama, dada, and uh-oh.  He crawls like crazy and tries to get everything he isn't supposed to like: Kinnick's food dish, the stairs, tv, and fireplace.  He cruises around the furniture and likes to toodle around pushing his walker.  We love our sweet, little boy!

From newborn 8-11-11

to big boy 8-11-12

Andrew's First Haircut

Here are some pictures of Andrew's first haircut.  He got his haircut a few weeks ago, but I'm just now downloading them from my bloggie.  He was supposed to get it cut during my haircut on a Saturday, so Jeff could bring him in, but Andrew ended up getting a stomach bug.  My Grandma Stallman and I took him in when she was in town to see Billy Elliott at the Civic Center.  Josie, my stylist, did a great job!  It is amazing how much a trim does to make my baby look like such a big boy!  He was so good and pretty much chewed on a teething bar the whole time.  He didn't like her messing around his ears and would turn his head, but he did great other than that!

Melinda and Dillon are Married!

My youngest sister, Melinda, got married over the weekend.  I was Matron-of-Honor, Jeff was an usher and Andrew was the cutest ring bearer ever!  A year of planning created a perfect day that ended all too quickly.  The weather was beautiful and we had a great time dancing the night away.  It was really fun to spend some quality time with our families.  We are so happy to have Uncle Dillon as an official part of our family.  For the first time, boys out-number the girls in the Coberly family.  (Dad is probably thrilled although he secretly has a soft spot for us girls :)

 Grandpa Coberly and his boy! 



 What a pair!

 The beautiful ladies: Lindy Hoy, Erin Cubit, Melinda Eggers, Laura Coller, and Candace Carman.  While we were unsure at first, these dress were beautiful and flattering on all of us!  They looked great with our pink flowers, shoes, and other pink accessories for some of us (ie. ME)!

 What a cheeseball!  Isn't that the cutest flower ever?

9 month stats!

Last week Andrew had his 9 month check up at 10 months.  He is a healthy, growing boy.  He is 30 1/4 inches tall, 91%, 24 pounds, 93%, and his head circumference is 18 3/4 inches, 95%.  The doctor mentioned that he is well-proportioned, so his high numbers aren't concerning.  He is still a good eater and is eating a combination of baby and table food.  He loves Cheerios and any crunchy snacks like puffs and crackers.  He is starting to do pretty well drinking from a cup.  He is sleeping through the night, going to bed between 7 and 7:30 and getting up around 6 A.M.  He usually takes two 1.5 hour naps during the day.  He is a busy little boy bouncing from activity to activity.  He likes going for walks and playing in the water.  He is pretty happy and is quick to smile and laugh.  He is starting to say "mama" or "mom" quite a bit now.  He can pull himself up and cruises around the furniture.  He thinks he is big and tough when we stand him behind his walker.  He is a mamma's boy, but gets really excited when daddy gets home.  He even crawled to meet him at the door the other day!  We love our big, little boy!

**I'll post pictures soon!  I lost my camera during our trip to St. Louis and I just got a new one.  Expect pictures soon!

More teeth and the flu

Poor Andrew looks to be getting more teeth. His eye teeth and the teeth next to them are really swollen. During a tickle session yesterday, I noticed that he must be getting his one year mortars in because I saw something white poking through. To top it off, we got Andrew all tucked into bed on Friday night and I went up check on him when he started eying, which is unusual. I got upstairs and he was all covered with throw up. We changed his bed and gave him another bath and got his back to bed. He slept through the night fine, and took his morning bottle fine on Saturday. Unfortunately, his tummy was still upset because his bottle came back up all over both of us and the couch. We gave him another bath and got him settled into in a nap. Luckily, that was the end of the throwing up. He is back to taking bottles again, but I am having a heck of a time getting him to eat anything besides Cheerios. Do I give in and allow him to eat what he wants, or make him eat what he is supposed to. Besides the swollen gums, it doesn't seem like his teeth are hurting too much. So who knows? We've had a great start to the summer! We've done story time, which Andrew tolerated just like every other "first". He seems to like to take things in a little, which isn't a terrible thing. We went to the splash pad with our good friends/neighbors, and again Andrew pretty much just sat at watched the other kids while chewing on his plastic shovel and getting his other toys stolen by other kids. We take Kinnick on a couple of walks a day and today we went to the pool with our friends, the Beaudets. Surprisingly, Andrew seemed to like the pool and giggled while playing. He even fell asleep while we were playing in the water. All in all, a good start to summer!

A Happy, Little Traveler

We've been planning to head to St. Louis over Memorial Weekend, for my cousin Drew's graduation, for quite some time. while I was looking forward to seeing our family and have a mini vacation, I was dreading a 5-6 hour car ride. However we were pleasantly surprised to learn that we have a good little traveler on our hands. Besides an hour when I sat in back to play with Andrew, he either slept or entertained himself. He was even flexible with bedtime and naps, with exception of a minor meltdown at the zoo. However, in his defense, it was 90 plus degrees outside! We had a great time celebrating Drew's graduation and hanging out with family. Sunday we went to the St. Louis Zoo and had fun despite the heat. We went into the special sting ray exhibit and were able to pet them and even feed them! It feels like a vacuum sucking food from between your fingers. The penguins mesmerized Andrew. One in particular was trying to show off for him and even splashed him a little. The hippos were swimming right in front of us and there was the cutest baby elephant! All in all, a great day. Later that night, we went swimming. This was Andrew's first time and he was less than enthusiastic. Hopefully, with warmer water he'll have more fun!

9 month pictures and finally a smile!

Look at those chompers!  They do hurt when he bites.  He is getting really good at feeding himself, too!

 He thinks he is big stuff when he stands up on his own.  I wouldn't be surprised if he were an early walker.  He likes to "stand" up on the couch.



 Look at that potbelly!  I love his tie shirt :)

How can our baby be so big already?  You can't tell, but he was rocking like crazy.  He was a big fan of the rocking chair.  He is a boy always on the move.

Dirty Day

We started out our Sunday on our way to our nephew's 1st communion.  We were almost to the church and we're going to be early until our trusty Garmin, Glenda, lead us astray.  Yes, I've named our Garmin.  Our first warning was when she sent us down a gravel road, but not thinking much about it we continued.  She told us to turn down a road that the sign designated at a level B road.  We commented on how it was strange and how it had just rained, but continued on because Glenda told us to.  As gravel gave way to mud, we realized that we made an error in judgement.  Thinking we could make the mile long road, we continued, but not for long as we nearly got stuck.  I started praying and Jeff alternated between going forward and reversing.  Flinging mud EVERYWHERE, we finally decided that reverse was our best option.  We finally made it back to the gravel with mud chunks everywhere and mud caked to the tires.  We felt like Michael Scott on The Office when he followed his Garmin's directions into a pond.  Duh.  15 minutes later, we made it to church only a little late!

Then, a dirty day wouldn't be complete without a complete diaper blowout.  Noticing I had a stinky boy, I laid him down to change him.  Pulling back his shirt, my finger met something squishy.  Instantly grossed out, I peeled back his shirt to reveal poo clear up Andrew's back.  I decided my best course of action was to take off his shirt and undershirt.  His undershirt was so covered, I decided it wasn't worth saving and just pitched it.  After I got most of the poo cleaned up, it was into the tub for a sanitizing bath. Yucky!

On a side note, I decided that we'd try having Andrew sleep though the night last night.  Expecting the worst..hours of crying.  I was mentally prepared for a little crying.  I was pleasantly surprised.  He woke up a couple time, but quickly got himself back to sleep!  Yay Andrew!  Hopefully tonight will be more of the same! 

Crawling Like Crazy!

When Andrew started to scoot at Easter, we thought we'd have a couple of weeks before he would be up and moving too fast.  NOT!  Nearly right away he started getting into everything.  He either tries to go toward the one cord that we have in his reach or Kinnick's kennel.  Kinnick respects Andrew's toys, but Andrew isn't very good about returning the favor.  Gone are the days of him playing in one spot for any period of time unless he is in his Jumperoo.  Some days I wonder why we ever encouraged him to start crawling!  As Andrew starts sitting up on his knees, I know it is only a matter of time before our little buddy will be cruising and eventually walking. 

However, it is fun to see his personality develop.  He is a happy little guy and is quick to giggle and smile especially at mom and dad!  He likes trying to feed himself and thinks he's big stuff when he leans on the couch.  Thankfully, he likes going on walks, too!  I can't wait for summer vacation and all the fun we'll be able to have!

Andrew pics!

My first time swinging.  "I guess if you'll make have fun, I'll sit here."

Riding around in my cozy truck!

I'm trying to crawl.

Rocking the sweater vest and boy am I happy about it.

I love splashing in the tub!

Hand, Feet and Mouth Disease

One of the benefits of daycare is getting Andrew exposed to all the diseases going about town.  Apparently the Hands, Feet, and Mouth Disease is running rampant around Ankeny and has invaded our daycare.    It is a very contagious illness that is similar to chicken pox, but not as potent.  Our poor buddy has little, red dots (similar to a pimple) on his hands and feet.  So far, we haven't found any in his mouth..knock on wood.  Hopefully this explains why he was on a hunger strike at daycare and getting up every couple of hours on Sunday and Monday nights.  Yuck..it made me think back to a few months ago when nobody was sleeping at the Coller house. 

However, on a side note, we had a fun weekend helping Melinda and Dillon celebrate their soon-to-be wedded bliss.  We celebrated last weekend with a couple's shower and her bachelorette party.  Silly bands anyone?  We had a great time!

6 month stats (at 7 months)

We went to the doctor today for Andrew's 6 month check-up.  He is doing well and growing by leaps and bounds.  His head measures 18 inches and is in the 90%. He weighed 20 pounds 11 ounces and that puts him in the 85% and he is 28 inches long, 76%.  He is growing proportionally, so that is mostly what we're to look for during the first year.  He is sitting up by himself now with minimal tip-overs.  Last week, he started to get up on his hands and knees.  Friday he was up and rocking and Saturday started the beginnings of mobility.  He can "crawl" or scoot backwards, but hasn't mastered going forward yet.  We're looking forward to spending this week together since I'm on spring break.  We picked up some outside toys yesterday and wouldn't you know, it is supposed to rain.  Oh well, we can drive Andrew's new Cozy Truck in the kitchen if need be.  :)

New mom (and dad) must-haves.

As a few friends of mine are having babies, I've been thinking about the things that helped us through the past six months.  Here is a list of things I'd consider must-haves besides the basic necessities. 

*For nursing:
Medela breast pump and lanolin
PumpEase hands free nursing bra- This has been a life-saver to multi-task while at work or I've even pumped in the car.
nursing cover
Boppy pillow- We're even using this now to help Andrew sit up on his own.  (I found ours at a children's consignment store for half the price)

*Sock-ons- These are amazing for keeping those cute, little socks on. 

*Moby wrap- Within five minutes, Andrew always fell alseep.  It was nice to get something done, if wanted carried.  It felt safer than the Baby Bjorn type carriers.  However, he was so big and heavy that it made my back hurt.

*an Ipod- This was our saving grace.  I read many a book trying to get Andrew to fall asleep and as I would wait until that magical moment when he would stay asleep once in his crib.

*yoga exercise ball- He liked vigorous bouncing and this helped save our knees!

*Swaddleme swaddle blanket-  Andrew liked to be snug and tight.  He slept swaddled until he was five months old and we started sleep training. 

*Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West- We used this book in our sleep training.  A version of "Cry it out".  While it isn't for everyone, it worked for us, and Andrew sleeps so much better..as do we!  We felt better being able to sit with him as he tried to go to sleep.  Now, he goes to sleep on his own.

*A gardening mat to save your knees during bath time!  One from the gardening section is much cheaper than the ones they sell in the baby bath area.

6 month pictures