Comparisons

I've been meaning to try this for a while, and since I've finally gotten my pictures updated on my computer, I thought I'd try it (even though I should totally be in bed right now). The names are below the pictures.

BEAU

COLE

BEAU

COLE

BEAU

COLE

BEAU

COLE

I've been thinking Beau looks a lot like Cole did, but now I'm sure he doesn't. They might pass as brothers, but they definitely have their own unique features.

And while I'm at it, something I've been doing lately to depress myself...



Pretty amazing, huh? My little guy's growing up. (Boo-hoo)

This Boy is Just Too Funny

I could post a series of funny conversations with Cole at the end of every day. Really. Here are a few I've had lately.

On Thanksgiving, at the dinner table:
Cole: "Mom, what's that?"
Kate: "Peas."
C: "Peas like a river?"

I noticed Cole picking his nose, so I asked if he had a booger on his finger. When he told me he did, and I wasn't successful at finding a tissue, I told him that sometimes it's okay to just drop in on the ground (good parental advice, I know). He looked at me, wrinkled his nose, and said, "Can I just eat it?"

Today Cole asked me to carry him when we were leaving church. I carried him as long as I could until I got ready to get Beau ready to be carried out.
Cole: "When you're ready to carry me again, just let me know."

He went into Gilbert's office today and saw lots of gifts delivered by members for the Christmas for Everyone program.
C: What are those?
Gilbert: Those are gifts for kids.
C: Huh. Funny.

He loves to get wild when we're dressing him, especially if he's on the bed. It is MADDENING. It's one of those times when I really want to spank his bottom. Tonight I overheard, from Beau's room, him giving Gilbert a hard time tonight. Gilbert was begging him to calm down and get dressed.
K: "Cole, please let Daddy get you dressed."
C: "Mom, that's not dressed. That's clothes."
K: "Please let daddy get your clothes on."
C: "That's not clothes. That's p.j.'s."
(Gilbert snickers.)
C (to Daddy, quietly): "I did that all by myself."

My Funny Guy

Thought I'd share a few stories about Cole that have cracked me up lately:

Story #1:
He and I were playing outside. He was riding around in his Power Wheels Jeep, so he invited me to ride with him.
Kate: I'm sorry, but Mom's too big to ride in the Jeep.
Cole: Okay, Giant!
(So maybe this one isn't SO funny, but it cracked me up.)

Story #2:
(Beware, Lee. This may contain too much information for you. And I'm singling you out because I think you may be the only male reader of my blog, other than Gilbert, and he's used to being provided with too much information. Just thought I'd warn you.)

I've been working VERY hard to shelter Cole from my "getting milk for Beau," if you know what I mean. I must say that it's VERY difficult. Every time I've pumped with him in the house, he's been exposed to a little more and a little more. Finally the other day, as I sat huddled in the closet, I felt the door open behind me, and this time he saw much more than I wanted him to.

Later that day we were outside playing with water guns, so, in an effort to save time and energy, I brought out a cup of water and a funnel for re-loading. While we were playing, a ladybug flew over and landed on Cole's chest. He took the funnel and tried to trap it on his chest. After looking down at the funnel for a second, his face lit up, he smiled, and he said, "Look, Mom. A boobie!"

Story #3:
I tried to draw a picture of Curious George for Cole a few weeks ago. Because of my lack of artistic talent, the only thing about the picture that looked like a monkey was the tail. But Cole said that monkeys don't have tails. We argued about this for a while, until we both let it go. Then today when Curious George came on (and I'd long forgotten about the tail argument), Cole said, "See, Mom. Look at him bottom. He doesn't have a tail." (Why is that, anyway? Why would Curious George not have a tail? Don't all monkeys have tails?!?)

Story #4:
We were eating lasagna for supper a few nights ago, and Cole kept dropping pieces onto his lap. So I jokingly said, "Should I get you a bib?" He got a look of panic on his face and said, "No. I don't want a bib." So I explained that I was kidding and that he's too big for a bib. About 10 minutes later I dropped a little lasagna onto my lap and, without a second's hesitation, Cole said, "Do you need a bib?" I think he's destined to have his daddy's wit. Great.

Story #5:
And speaking of Daddy's wit, tonight Gilbert invited Cole to pull his finger. After Gilbert provided him with the appropriate (or inappropriate) result, Cole scrunched his nose up and said, "You need to take a bath."

I'm loving his sense of humor these days. And to be honest, I'd love it if he ended up with his daddy's wit.

Where I Am Right Now

Let me deliver this stream-of-conscious information to you with a caveat: I am not suffering from postpartum depression. I do not feel the desire to hurt myself or my baby. And I promise I'm not making light of situations that involve women who have or do feel this way. I guess this is my way of saying, "I understand how one can get there." But don't be worried about me after you read this post, please.

As I hope you all know (although it would be my fault if you didn't), our sweet Beau Asher has graced our lives with his presence. He has been with us for more than two weeks now. And he is such a joy and a blessing. Sweet, mostly mild-mannered, sleeps well, eats well, fun to be around.

However, I'm sharing with you where I am right now. I just went to the bathroom for the first time since 8 this morning. That's 11 hours ago. I'm starved, even though I just snacked not very long ago. So as I type, I'm taking breaks to scarf down leftovers. Lots of carbs. My right boob is hurting--again. But in a different spot this time. It's 7 p.m. To me this means two things: Cole's going to need a bath soon, and Beau's going to need lots, LOTS of TLC soon, because he's about to get very fussy for about 3 hours. And after Cole's bath, he's going to need to be put to bed. And I'm exhausted.

Did I have a nap today? No. I chose to go shopping for real shirts today instead of maternity clothes during my nap time. Nice to have the clothes; not nice to be sleep deprived. And Beau napped the entire time I shopped. Nice to have the ability to focus; not nice to be sleep deprived.

As I'm typing, Cole's piling a million CD's into my lap for some reason. And honestly, I'm trying to pretend he's not doing that. He's asking to listen to some annoying lady sing songs about him. "This song is for COLE, he's a special boy..." I just don't think I can handle that.

And bed time right now sounds great. But Biggest Loser is coming on in 50 minutes, and I really want to watch it. Looks like I'm making some choices today, huh?

I need to hear this is normal. I don't need to be scolded. I know I should nap when the baby's napping. I know Cole needs me to give him attention. (Now he's wadding up scraps of paper and chunking them at me while I search frantically for my happy place.) But honestly, I know I should have napped today, and to be frank, I think I'm doing pretty well not to yell at Cole for being himself--funny but with annoying tendencies.

So, that's where I am. I'm not really going crazy, but I need a break. I'd take a 24 hour break if it didn't mean I'd have to strap myself to a breast pump 8 times over the course of my break. So what I'm saying is that I'll go back to what I was doing 10 minutes ago. I'll get up from here, give Cole his bath, rush him to the bed in hopes that I haven't missed too much Biggest Loser, latch that baby on "to feed" (as Gilbert says) and hope that pep-talk I gave Beau about not being fussy tonight actually works. Because I guess this brief pause I allowed myself is all the break I'm going to be getting.

A funny (and crude) story...I guess I should get used to crude around here

A conversation with Cole this morning (I love doing these):

(Cole stands in front of me in his underwear, and he pulls them down just enough to show me his bottom.)

C: Mom, smell my bottom. It's stinky.
K: I don't want to smell your stinky bottom.
C: No, smell my bottom.
K: I'm not gonna smell your bottom.
C: (dramatically) You hate me.
K: I don't hate you. You know I love you very much, but I'm not sure I love you enough to smell your stinky bottom.
C: It's not stinky!

Oh my. What does my future hold?

The Bus Ride

Today I planned for Cole and myself to take the city bus to the library (two things we haven't done this summer, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone [yes, I should be ashamed that we haven't been to the library all summer]). Cole has been fascinated with school buses and city buses for as long as he could inquire about them, and our bus tour on a converted school bus with cows painted on the side at Fair Oaks Farms, an awesome, fun dairy farm between here and Chicago, sent him over the edge. He had to have another experience with a bus. It was just too much for him to do without.

So I got online and learned about riding the Lafayette CityBus system--how to get on the bus, how to pay, and which was the correct bus for us to ride if we wanted to go from the closest stop for us (the Meijer store) to the library. Then I got on the Weather Channel website and made sure that we wouldn't be walking to our bus stop in the rain. The forecast was storms in at 6 a.m., cloudy all day, and then storms again around 4 p.m. So we were all set. And this morning, as we discussed our plans, Cole was thrilled and I was nervous.

We made it to Meijer just as the bus was pulling in to the parking lot, so we jogged to the stop, climbed on, put our money in, and chose a seat that put Cole's little head below the windows. But this boy was as content as could be. He didn't want to move and he didn't want to sit in my lap so he could see the diggers working on State Road 26. "I fine," he said, after having to answer my million questions that would enable him to be "fine" in my book. Such a big guy. And he asked his own million questions along the way, about the lights, the red levers on the emergency windows, the pull-cords that let the driver know when we need to get off.

We were delivered safely to our stop, and we walked the rest of the way to the library. When he got there he walked right up to the librarian and inquired where he might find Arthur and Curious George, and he proceeded to pick out his books. Then we got comfy and read a book, then chose an Arthur video, then pottied, and then headed out for the maybe 4 block walk to the bus stop.

Just as we got there I saw a bus pass by and wondered if it was ours, running a little early, but I knew another would come before too long, so I didn't sweat it. As we crossed the street to the corner, I pointed out to Cole that the sky to the left of us was extremely dark. And before long, those dark clouds were rolling right over us. But still, I was remembering the Weather Channel and was not concerned. Even when the huge rain drops started falling, we stood by a tree to stay pretty dry, and I was still not worried... until the lightening and thunder started, and two buses passed us on the opposite side of the road. So I started to consider that maybe we should be boarding the bus on that side of the road. So we crossed over and stood under the overhang of the Journal and Courier's private employee entrance. Despite being asked about 4 times by the sweet employees to come inside, I knew that we would not see the bus approaching if we went inside. So we continued to wait, watching both sides of the road for a bus to come. And I asked Cole numerous times, "Should we call Daddy, or do you want to wait for the bus?" "Let's wait for the bus," he'd say, with drippy hair and chattering teeth. Until finally, after probably 20 minutes, I did see a bus coming from the opposite direction. So I did a jay-walk move, running across to the other side so the driver would stop for me (I learned that on one of the videos I watched last night--if you're not on the correct side of the road, they won't stop for you.) I waved him down, and we were safely headed back.

And as Cole shivered on the bus seat, he still refused to let me hold him in my lap. He was taking this like a man. And the thought I couldn't get out of my mind was this: Had I been experiencing this by myself, I would have been nervous and grumpy. But having Cole there to experience it with me made it more of an adventure. I knew we were safe and that we'd eventually get where we needed to be. And as often as I'm reminded that many things in my life become a little more complicated with a boy standing at my feet, some things become more enjoyable with that little guy there with me. So despite the rain and wet, it was a good trip. And before we were even halfway back he was already asking when we could ride again. I would say that meant it was all worth it.

Cole and his brother

Every time I pass through Bowling Green, I itch to have pictures taken by Melissa DeVries. She does such a good job! So this time when I passed through (toward the end of June), I set up a time with her and had some done. I'd wanted a few good pictures of Cole and his baby brother before he actually came along, and that's just what I got!

I LOVE that Cole already likes to interact with Brother (although when he gets here he might feel differently for a while!) He cracks up when he's sitting or lying next to me and he feels him moving. He says, "Mom, Baby Brother wiggling?" He also says, "Mom, tell Baby Brother to watch me." So I have to pull up my shirt and make BB "watch" while Cole does something interesting like flop on his bottom on the couch, do a flip, or jump on the bed. The other day when the baby moved and Cole felt him, he said, "What's Baby Brother doing?" So I said, "He's probably practicing that flip you taught him the other day." Cole just grinned.

So I wanted Melissa to capture his excitement about his brother, even if he doesn't totally get what's going on. As you'll see, she did an awesome job.

I'm doing this to myself again?

Maybe it's because I kind of liked seeing pictures of myself in the same position almost exactly three years later, or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment and low self-esteem, or maybe this time I'm thinking that I'm not going to look as rough in this current picture as I did in the last one, but I'm posting a "pregnant now" picture vs. a "pregnant then" picture again. Let's see if I feel any better about myself this time...

This is me today.

This was me on June 15, 2006, with a sweet Cole in my belly. (Maybe about 29 wks?) Right now I'm 31 weeks, somewhere between the above...

and this one on July 15, 2006. (About 33 weeks?)

So I don't look quite as tired today at 2:30 in the afternoon as I did at about 10 p.m. in the last picture I had Gilbert take. I do think I look a little more like a mom in today's picture. Hmmm. As much as I risk lowering my self-esteem by comparing this pregnancy to the last one (including weight gain by the dr. visit!), I do kind of like doing it. Am I nuts or what?

Beach Photos

We just got back a few days ago from a week in Destin with my parents, my little sis, and my niece. We had lots of fun. Just wanted to share a few photos with you. (Some of you may have already seen many of these on fb.)

More funny conversations with Cole

Conversation #1:
Gilbert's getting ready for work and Cole walks in while he's putting gel in his hair.
Cole: Daddy, what you doing?
Gilbert: Putting gel in my hair.
C: Why?
G: So I can pick up chicks.
Later, at the mall:
Kate: Cole, we need to go show Daddy your new glove and bat (Yeah, the real deal. I couldn't say no.)
C: No, Daddy's picking up chicks.

Conversation #2:
K: Cole, it's bed time.
C: No, I don't need to go to bed. I happy.

Conversation #3:
After finishing his bedtime story:
C: Mom, you lay down with me?
K: Not tonight. I'm going to go downstairs.
C: No. You tired. Let me see...(as he pokes his fingers into my mouth and pries my jaws open) Yeah. Your mouth is tired. Let me see... Eww! You got dirt in your mouth!
K: Uh-oh. What should I do? Brush my teeth?
C: No. Spit it out.
Then, after he schools me in the right way to spit dirt out into his hand:
C: I'll put it in the flowers tomorrow.

Love, love, loving this age. I need to be writing more down.

For Melissa

Melissa M. called the other day and dogged me out for not having shared a belly picture. Okay, so she didn't "dog me out," but she did make a request. So here it is:

And, not to be too critical of myself, but yes, I am every bit as tired in this picture as I look. My picture dilemma has been that in the afternoon I usually go to the gym, so in the evenings (the best opportunity for photos) I either look like I just came from the gym, or I look like I just came from the shower and am ready for bed. On this rare night, I had gone smelly but more nicely dressed to the ball park, so I took advantage of the moment to give Melissa what she wanted. Maybe next time I get dressed up for something and Gilbert is around, I'll have him snap another, more becoming shot. (And I'm sure I'll thank Melissa later when I realize that I only took a few pictures of this pregnancy.)

You know, just for the fun of it (or to let you decide how much having a child has aged me), why not throw in a picture of me at exactly the same point in my pregnancy with Cole?

Yuck. I wouldn't say I'm glowing quite as much with this pregnancy as with the first. Why am I doing this to myself?!? Oh well. I must really love you guys (or at least Melissa.) Just when I thought I wasn't one of those moms on the Suave commercial that says, "x percent of moms say they've let themselves go since having children." I guess that's just part of it. =-)

By the way, in case you're not facebookers, it is another boy!

A Funny Conversation

Inspired by Melanie's posted conversations heard around her house, I thought I'd share one with you all. (This is actually a conversation within a conversation. I hope you can follow):

Gilbert: I think I messed up. I gave Cole a bath while you were at the gym, and I think you already gave him one tonight.

Kate: No, I didn't.

Gilbert: Well, he told me he'd already had one. Plus, his gun (that shoots those little styrofoam disks) was laying by the tub.

Kate: He had that in the bathroom earlier while I was trying to (pardon my language) poop. Here's how that went:

Cole: Watch out Mommy! (as he points the gun at me and shoots)
Kate: Please do not shoot at Mommy. (I'm trying to poop.)
Cole: I not shooting at you!
Kate: Yes, you were. You pointed the gun, pulled the trigger, and hit me in
the chest.
Cole: I not shooting at you.
Kate: Please do not shoot Mommy.
Cole: But I not...
Kate: Just say, "Yes ma'am."
Cole: Yes ma'am. (Then under his breath) But I not shooting at you.

A Scolding

Okay. So I've been "scolded through the grapevine" by my in-laws and others (ahem, Sandra) for not continuing to fulfill my original purpose for blogging--keeping you long-distance loved-ones updated on Cole. I realize that most of you care nothing about reading my ramblings but check the website in hopes of getting a glimpse at my cute boy. So I do have some pictures to post, and I thought many of you would like to see how our baby has quickly turned into a big boy.

We just returned a few days ago from a spring break trip to south Alabama to visit Gilbert's parents. We'd talked it up for a long time to him, promising that he could put to use the Superman fishing pole he'd gotten for Christmas, and he could not wait. Just a few days before we left he started asking when he would go fishing with his Paw-paw. It escalated from asking daily, to a few times daily, to several times a day. The night before we left, he was praying and he said, "Thank you for Paw-paw, thank you for fishing." As he said fishing, he did his little hand motions for reeling a fish in. He even told a lady in a Tennessee Zaxby's about fishing. He was beyond excited. To build his anticipation even more, he had his very own tackle box, complete with his very own rubber worms, waiting for him when he woke up on Monday morning. He hauled a worm around with him every second we were there, even to bed each night. And finally, he got to fish. Here are a few pictures from the week.


This picture isn't the easiest to see, but Gilbert took it on his phone because I, of course, left my camera in the van for this excursion. Cole "caught" this one with Gilbert's help. He was so very excited.

This was the second day on the boat, when I did remember my camera. We did not catch one single thing this day, but I did get some cute pictures anyway. Cole amused himself (and I think annoyed others) by constantly checking on the minnows we were using as bait. He got very brave and ended up spending most of the time waiting for someone to need a new minnow so he could use the net to pull out some fish, stick his hand into the net with the flopping little things, get a good grip on one, and take it over to the person who needed it.

He was also a very good car rider. We traveled the entire eleven hour trip home with only a two hour nap and two short stops.



We had a good time. The boys got a fishing fix, and I had time to read for enjoyment. Now it's back to the real world next week for a few more weeks of school, and then some summertime fun! I can't wait.

Kate's Top 3 Things

Top 3 things I should have posted on my blog in the last month or so:

1. Cole has been totally paci free for the last few weeks. He's pretty much been an "only-when-sleeping" paci user for the majority of his life, but I have been ready for him to get rid of it. Especially before a new paci user enters the picture (refer to #3). He came home from daycare about 3 weeks or so ago with a note that said, "Cole's paci has disappeared. Could you please send another? P.S. He DID go to sleep without it." That was the extra nudge I needed to attempt to help him kick the habit. So that night we put him to bed without, and not a single tear was shed. He drifted right off to sleep, and has only simply inquired about it a handful of times since.

2. A cute Cole story, as told by Gilbert: Cole calls my bras "boobies." When he sees me getting undressed he says, "Mom, you gonna take your boobies off?" So the other day Gilbert and Cole went to the store. As they walked down an aisle, they had a straight shot of the lingerie section. Just as the bras come into sight, Cole, at the top of his lungs, and with great excitement, says, "BOOBIES!!!" Gilbert almost died. I can imagine. I would have loved to be there.

3. As referenced in #1, we are expecting a younger sibling for our sweet Cole in September. I'm sure that you've probably all heard that at this point, but there may be a few of you who aren't facebookers. This pregnancy, so far, has been a little different from the first. I am just as weepy as I was with Cole (maybe even a little more) but I am a good bit snippier than I was before. When I was carrying Cole, I was, I think, much kinder than when I wasn't pregnant. Not the case this time. I am a roller-coaster, completely. My only hope is that this means I'm having a girl and the extra estrogen isn't treating me (or those who come into close range) too well. I had my second dr. visit last week and when I told the dr. that I'd had some sickness, he asked if I had the same with my first pregnancy. When I told him no, he said, "You know what they say that means..." Then when we heard the heartbeat and it was 160, he said, "You know what they say that means..." I'm trying not to listen to all that; especially since Cole's heartbeat was usually in the 160 range. Although I must admit that I do have plans to check the Chinese conception chart when I get done here.

I'm sure those can't be the only important or interesting things that have happened in the last month, but, as usual, I think of a ton of ideas and when I finally get on to post, it all disappears from my brain. So I guess that will have to tide you over for a bit. I'll try to get back to you if another comes to me. But, as you've learned in the last 6 months or so, you probably shouldn't hold your breath.

It's Time

Just because I'm trying to blog once a week, I'm going to bore you with some details of my day...
The exciting news (I guess) is that I'm off today because it's a snow day. We have about 5 inches. But on the negative side (which I'm disturbed to admit I can usually find), this means one day closer to June before school's out. Oh well. I guess a sanity day peppered into the spring semester is nice.
A perk of the day is that I have time to do some school work that I wasn't sure I'd ever have the chance to get started on, much less finish. Because I have a doctor's appointment today at 1:30, I had Gilbert take Cole to daycare (they just had a 2 hour delay) so I wouldn't have to find a sitter during nap time so I could go to my appointment. What that means, although I'm a little sad Cole doesn't get to play in the snow, is that I had time to work on my central office mandated assignment that I'd been refusing to do, and it's as done as it can be right now (although getting it done that quickly probably means I did it poorly. Oh well. At least I feel better about it, right?) Anyway, sorry to bore you. I just felt obligated to post. Hope your day is happy! (By the way, in proofreading this, I think I "sound" quite a bit like Ben Stein. Anyone else "hear" it?)

Slacker

Okay, so I'm an awful slacker. Horrible. I feel so guilty for having abandoned my blog. Honestly, I'm not even checking others' blogs on a regular basis. I feel awful. I may have mentioned this before (although when would I because it's not like I've been updating this thing) but I've been gallivanting around with Facebook instead. I should do better. I actually had a walk down memory lane today, which caused me to consider my relationship with my blog, because I put a year's worth of pictures in Cole's photo albums today. (Those hadn't been updated since August 2007, his first birthday. I guess you could say that Facebook isn't my first love affair. My child's photo albums took the back seat to my blog.) Anyway, I found pictures that I'd published on my blog and realized that I need to get back on the blogging track. So I'm thinking I could at least commit to once a week blogging, right? I'm going to try. We'll see how it goes...