and home to stay... at least for a little while!

The past week and half have been busy! The last weekend in June, friends of ours, Ellen and Mike came down from London to visit with their daughter. Hailey is getting so big... walking and talking a mile a minute! It was their first time meeting Cole, he didn't have a very long awake period but it was a good visit all in all.

Jeff was off work this past week due to shutdown. We decided to take Cole on his first big roadtrip. Off we went to Grand Rapids to visit his aunt, uncle and cousins. He did really well travelling... slept all the way there and back other than stopping for one feeding at a midway point. Caitlin and Mackenzie loved being near "baby", Cole looked a little unsure at first but Caitlin got a bit of a smile at one point! Uncle Matt got to meet his nephew and Jeff enjoyed getting out to play some golf with him. Cole's colic we discovered, although helped by the gripe water, is not gone:( He had a 3 hr crying spell while we were there. It's so frustating not knowing what really causes it and sooo hard to handle hearing his pain for that many hours on end.
In spite of Cole's "episode" at the Flannigans we ventured out again on Wednesday to head up to the farm. Grandma was so excited to see Cole again. We also enjoyed seeing other family while we were there. Once again though it seemed Cole got overstimulated and had another meltdown. Not as bad as the past ones though so maybe the new gripe water that we have now switched to is working better? I hope so...
Now back to routine with Jeff returning to work today. I don't know when we'll be brave enough to leave home with Cole again. Hopefully the colic subsides after 3 mths like most books say. Until then we're doing everything we can to lessen it... swaddling, sound machine, colic hold, vibrating bed, gripe water, keeping him on a schedule and trying to make sure he's not overstimulated. I think this last thing is his biggest issue... some of the books say that it is some babies' inability to block out excessive stimulus that causes colic... I think this is true for Cole. Hoping for a good week!

Photo Shoot!

Today, with the help of my brother, David, we did a little mini photo shoot with Cole! I think it was David that got this shot and it is by far my favourite... can't decide if I like the sepia or the colour one better though?!!

Uncle David Visits!

My brother David just left this afternoon after visiting since Sunday. He just graduated this past weekend from his Police Foundations course in Orillia! We hope he enjoyed his little mini vacation before he heads back to further his studies. I know Cole and ecspecially the dog and cat loved the extra attention they got with him here!
Cole has been continuing to work at eliminating his night feeding. Last night he made it through the night for the second time! The other nights in between weren't quite as good but he's been making it longer stretches and typically seems to last till at least 4:30-5:00. After the first 6 weeks... we'll take it!

Happy First Fathers Day!

Jeff's first Father's Day! I had planned to let him sleep in but Cole wanted to see him to personally "talk" to him... yeah, he had a little bit of a fussy morning on Sunday:) We had a good day all in all though and got a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather outdoors that afternoon with friends.

Sleeping through the Night?!!

Above: Cole today, at 6 weeks

Was it just a fluke? I hope not! Last night Cole slept through the night (11pm-7am-when I woke him up!!) I've been using PDF scheduling (parent directed feeding) which is basically following a set schedule, within a 1/2 hr either way, unless you determine that changes need to be made ie. additional feeding for growth spurts. The book this is in, "Babywise" says that 80% of infants will achieve nighttime sleep by 8 wks... I hope Cole is part of these statistics!

Last weekend was exciting with a visit from my sister, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Shlomi.(pictures below) Shlomi's got a little height on Sarah as you can see... he's got really long legs... heehee:) It was so great to have my friend Alison visit last week as well! She was great with Cole and it was so nice to have some adult conversation ecspecially since Cole doesn't have much to say these days, although his new little coos and smiles make the crying spells a little easier to bear!

The past week felt a little long after all the visitors last week. My sister Miriam did make an overnight visit though with some more freezer food, sooo appreciated, and this helped break up the week a little! For Fathers Day tomorrow we are having a bbq with a family that lives down the street. Tomorrow evening, Cole's Uncle David is hoping to make it down for his first visit to see his nephew. Here's hoping for a good and restful next week!

Aunt Sarah and Cole

Sarah and Shlomi

Alison and Cole who's once again in the football hold, you don't mess with what's working!

Awww!

A couple pictures so cute I had to add them right away!
Above, I managed to get some pants on Cole this morning... he's a pretty warm baby and generally prefers to just be in his diaper... we weren't going to push our luck with trying to get a shirt on too.
The picture below was taking last night after bath-time. Cole is a big fan of the football hold that Grandma showed to us... puts some pressure on his stomach which seems to help out with the gas pain.

Jeff's "mini me"!

above: Cole in his crib, loving life a little more since we discovered the Ortho Pro pacifer!!

below: one of Jeff's baby pictures

Since the day he was born, it was pretty easy to see Cole's resemblence to Jeff. The other day though looking at Jeff's baby pictures (one posted directly above) the similarities are even more evident. (he does have the deBoer chin though!)

Cole's been missing his Grandma since she left 2 weeks ago.. (me too!) so we're all happy that she was able to come down today. He's also really looking forward to meeting Alison and Aunt Sarah (coming all the way from California to meet her nephew) ...both are coming to visit before the end of the week.

We've found our sanity again with using gripe water! Cole has developed a few colic symptoms over the past couple weeks. Gripe water and switching his pacifer to one he can hold in his mouth better have helped.

Cole has been putting more of a strain on our arms carrying him around the past week. So much so, that to satisfy our curiousity of his current weight we invested in a digital scale. He's now weighing in at 11 lbs 6 ounces!! Almost a pound per week gain since he was born. He's already outgrown some of his clothes... they sure don't stay little for long and we're trying to enjoy every moment even the night-time ones that seem like they won't end!

taken at the start of last week, doing some tummy time, he's gotten really strong!