I can write my name!

At Taryn's preschool, they dot the students name and then the kids trace over it.  At home, I pushed Taryn a little more, writing her name and then having her write it below.  No dots.  The other day, while playing with her whiteboard, she told me she could do it herself.  No dots, no example.  And she did! 

(At first I was like "Oh crap, how am I going to keep this for her scrapbook?  It's on a whiteboard."  Thus, the pictures.)

Angels... When they're sleeping.

I feel like I have gotten an inordinate amount of "sleep pictures" lately.  Perhaps because this is the main time that I actually have time to run and get the camera and snap a few shots. 

 

 Taryn has been avoiding naps.  The result...  She zonks out in the car and will barely wake up for dinner!

 Lee enjoying her sleeping in his arms for the first time in a loooooooong time. 

 How do you sleep like that?  She must have had a sore neck in the morning. 

Another nap in the car carries over into the house. 

 He makes sleeping look good. 

 Snuggley soft!

 Sleep thinking. 

 Sleep vogue-ing. 

Sleeping with the remote control.  Must have learned that one from Lee!

Welcome Wes!!

 Last weekend we went to meet my cousin's new baby, Wesley Owen.  He was a good sized little guy, weighing 8lbs3oz at birth.  However, he looked so tiny next to our little beefcake Cole.  It is amazing what 3 months will do! 

We are so excited that my cousin had a baby boy right after us.  The Klemme side of the family seems to be tapped out on grandkids, leaving Cole 10 months younger than the closest cousin on that side...  And it's a girl.  It will be great for him to have a playmate on my side of the family! 

If you think 3 months makes a big difference...  Talk about what a difference 3 YEARS makes!! 

Congratulations Carly & Bake (his name is actually Blake, but Taryn calls him Bake and it has caught on...)  You have a cutie on your hands! 

Siblings Share Everything!

Well, at least they share shirts... And they share a dad that likes beer.   

(Same age, same shirt, same bouncy seat... Definitely different physiques!)

Our little 3 month man!

 A few days ago, Mr. Cole turned 3 months old.  I feel like he grew and changed a bunch the week he turned three months old. 

 Cole is an amazingly good, laid back, mellow baby, apparently following in the footsteps of his old man.  He started daycare 2 weeks ago and the daycare lady has been throwing around terms like "best baby" and "easiest baby I have taken care of in 20 years".  Cole hardly cries and really just fusses a little when he is hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper.  He loves to smile and coo and make gurgling noises, especially to Mommy.  He looks deep into your eyes and is a little charmer.  He loves to watch his big sis and will crane his neck around to see what she is doing. 

 I don't have any measurements for the month since we didn't go to the doctor.  Cole is still long and lean, though.  He is almost out of 3-6 month clothes, especially the one piece rompers.  He must have huge feet because I have had to get socks for 6-18 month old boys.  He has almost no baby rolls.  He loves to try to sit up and stand.  When he is laying on his back, if you grab his hands, he immediately is stretching his neck forward, trying to sit up.  I have a feeling he is going to meet a lot of physical milestones early for this reason. 

Cole still loves his baths.  Incredibly.  As soon as you place him in the water, he's smiling and splashing and kicking.  He will get this serious look on his face and then do a serious splashing session.  You can tell he thinks he is really swimming. 

Cole still has his baby blues.  Not sure if they will stay or turn green like the rest of the family.  He has fluffy, light brown hair that is filling in quickly. 

One of Cole's gifts is the gift of sleep.  He loves his naps and is really turning into a great night sleeper as well.  Quite often now, he will go to bed between 8 and 9pm and not wake up until after 5am.  This is better than his sister was sleeping at 6 months of age!  One day last week he slept from 8pm until 7am.  It is amazing.  He has also been known to take a 4 or 5 hour nap at daycare if he is feeling drowsy. 

Happy 3 months sweet Mr. Cole, we love you so much!  I can feel it when I look at you and you smile.  I see it in Daddy's eyes when he plays with you and in Taryn's actions when she fawns over you.  You are as calm and quiet as your sister is loud and dramatic.  We feel so lucky to have you complete our little family.  You are SO incredibly loved! 

Like Father Like Son

Cole is a sleeper.  We could not have gotten much more lucky in the sleep department.  This is a gift that he gets from his dad who has been the master of naps since he was a baby.  One day it was Cole's bedtime, but I had a couple urgent matters to attend to, so I had to put him in his boppy for a few minutes.  Taryn was sitting next to him "reading" to him.  I came back into the room about 5 minutes later to find him asleep.  This looks nearly identical to how Lee sleeps with his hands up on his chest.  The only thing that could make this more like Lee is if the Dr. Brown's bottle was replaced with a beer! 

Christmas... Only like a month ago!

 So, I had been trouble uploading pics to my blog, so it took me quite awhile to get around to posting about Christmas.  It certainly didn't help that my maternity leave ended...  Adios any spare time... 

On Christmas eve, we celebrated at Lee's parents' house.  Above is a picture of the TEN grandkids.  Barring any surprises, I think the family is done making babies.  It is kind of strange to think about since we've had a baby or two almost every year for the last 8 years!  All the kids got scooters for Christmas and took them down the basement to ride.  Taryn broke some ground speed records...  Not really.  She may be the slowest scooter rider ever! 

 On Christmas Day, we started off at our house.  Taryn woke up to find that Santa had filled their stockings and left each of the kids a gift.  She is fully into "Santa" mode these days and has about a million questions about him.  Sadly, I realized one day when she had been questioning me on multiple topics that I knew far more about Santa than the movement of the earth, moon, sun & planets...  Hmm. 

 Santa's gift to Taryn was a "walking baby".  She was thrilled.  The doll asks you to hold its hands and then let go and it walks by itself.  One time the baby asked Taryn to hold its hands and Taryn replied "Sorry, I have to go to work."  Another time she got annoyed with the doll and said "No, you can do it yourself, you don't need my help."  I pointed out that Lee and I say that to her sometimes and that really made her think. 

 Another of Taryn's favorite gifts was a guitar.  It really doesn't stay in tune, but come on...  It's not like she can really play it! 

 Cole slept through Taryn opening all of her gifts.  We got him up to open his gifts.  He got a racecar and an activity cube.  (Taryn had told us that Cole asked Santa for a racecar.) 

 After opening gifts at our house, we went in to my grandma's.  We started off with a small crew, but later had my other uncle and his 3 kids, their spouses and a few more grandkids show up.  Taryn and Cole got spoiled properly by their "Gamma", of course.  Good food and family fun! 

Four generations of ladies.  It is funny, we used to have pics like this where it was me, my mom, my grandma and my great-grandma.  We missed pulling off the 5 generation picture by just a few years. 

Taryn - LIVE!

Video of Taryn practicing for her one woman show...  Coming to a stage near you!

Mr. Cole is 2 Months Old!

I am so sad to think that this is my last few weeks home with my little man.  My real "maternity leave" is over this Friday.  After that, I just have our normal Christmas break and it is back to the grind on January 3rd. 

 Cole is still a very mellow baby.  He really doesn't cry much, but more makes little "bah" sounds when he is angry.  The only time he all out cries is when we don't respond to his bah-ing fast enough.  He makes this adorable little frown face when he is upset that cracks me up.  He has also started doing this bratty sounding high pitched whine on occasion.  It is also funny.  Poor kid, he wants to express his displeasure and Lee and I think it's hilarious. 

He isn't overly smiley, but when he is in the mood, he'll sit and coo and smile at us for a bit.  He still loves when Daddy says "CUCKOOOOOO" to him and that can generally still get a smile.  He is very tolerant of having a 3 year old in his face and screaming in his ear.  In spite of it all, he loves her and likes to stare at her and her crazy antics. 

Cole still does the "quiver chin" on occasion.  I had read about it when he was first born and it said that it would taper off at 1 month.  Well, it is now 2 months and he still does it relatively often.  It is absolutely precious and is a crowd favorite.  He usually does it now when he is startled or mad, but also sometimes when he smiles or is "talking" to us.  My mom thinks it is so cute that she said she hopes he does it until high school...  For the sake of his dating life, I hope that is not the case!  I did ask the doc about it and he said it is fine. 

We can't yet tell who Cole looks like.  We're pretty sure he has Lee's eyes and my eyebrows, but beyond that, it's kind of a toss up.  I think he is more Klemme, but then we thought that about Taryn at this age and she turned into my clone.  Right now the person I think he looks most like is his cousin Ella, so that does point in the "Klemme" direction.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.  Cole's eyes are still big and blue.  His lips have filled out and his cheeks are adorably chubby.  He inherited the "mutant ears" that all the Klemme men have (it is a weird fold in the back of their earlobe).  His hair is filling in nicely and looks like it will be light brown.  He is long and lean and barely has any leg rolls. 

Cole is currently eating 4-5oz of formula about 6 or 7 times a day.  In the last few days, Cole's sleep schedule has taken a turn for the convenient.  He has started to go to bed at about 8pm, wake up ONCE to eat at 2am, and then be set until morning at 6:30 or 7am.  That is a schedule I can handle!  I hope it sticks around!

Cole is moving up to size 2 diapers as soon as we run out of size 1's.  He already wears 2's to bed.  It is hard to tell what size clothes he wears...  He is definitely out of 0-3month, but we still cram him in a few of his outfits.  He wears 3-6 month pretty solidly but even dabbles in some 6-9 month outfits.  He is long, so we have to get bigger one piece outfits, then they are hugely baggy on him.  He can wear smaller sizes when it is onesies and pants.  He is pretty much the opposite of his sister who was quite round. 
Stats:  Weight - 13 lbs 7 oz
           Length - 24 1/4 inches
           Head - 41.1 cm
His length & head are in the 97th percentile and his weight is more like the 60th.  Long and lean.  The doctor predicts him to be 6'1" when he is done growing.  Just tall enough that his dad will have to look up to him!  (Isn't it IMPOSSIBLE to imagine this little guy as a 6'1" fella?) 

Likes:  Baths, "marching", snuggling, being carried around, "standing", sleeping on people, sleeping in general, being talked to, the light up star on his play mat, still loves picture frames and lights.

Dislikes:  Hiccups, being swaddled (too bad!), bottles that flow too fast, gas, his current illness that involves a lot of snot and occasional coughing.

It is so wonderful to have Cole in our family.  Being an only child, I was anxious about how I would love another child as much as I love Taryn.  But, if anything it has been easier to bond with Cole.  Maybe it is because I am not learning the ropes as a mom.  I already know that this little helpless baby will eventually grow into a personality packed little human that will make me laugh and cry and amaze me every step of the way just like his big sis. 

We love you, Cole!  Happy 2 months! 

Cookie time!

Every year my family gets together to decorate Christmas cookies.  This is a tradition from way back when my mom was a kid.  Then, we continued it when I was a kid.  It took a hiatus while we had no kids in our family, but now...  IT'S BACK!  (We did it last year too, but it was just Taryn then.)  This year we added Rue, Maya & Macy to the mix. 

 Taryn and Rue in their aprons. 

(Note:  In this picture Taryn is pretending to be shy because Rue was being shy.  It was quite the ridiculous show since Taryn is almost NEVER shy.  Sometimes I really wonder how much of Taryn's life is spent acting...  I might be scared to know!  We're in for it when she's a teen.) 

 Of course many many many of the cookies ended up pink...

 And a decent amount of frosting was consumed sans cookie. 

 Another tradition is that we always make cookies that look like each other.  Here is the Cole cookie.  Pretty spot on... 

 The Taryn cookie.  If only I could have somehow made the cookie talk non-stop! 

 Our masterpieces. 

Always clean up before leaving Great Grandma's house!!!