Remember When Wednesday

Remember when Cole was a Buddha baby?

Yeah. It's hard to believe he's gone from Buddha Baby...

Cole at around 2-3 weeks of age 

To Hill Climber in just 18 short months ...

(Click on the video to watch it. It's only 31 seconds, but it's precious and worth every second of your time.)

I've recently heard about a parenting podcast called "The Longest Shortest Time." How apropos.

Cole at play

Like any toddler, Cole is a playful little guy. We play every day after school and then again on the weekends. He loves to stack blocks and stack the "stacker". He loves to read books, stand at the dining room table and most of all, if the weather is nice enough, he loves to run around with his wings behind him sailing through the wind. On days when the weather permits, I take him to the town park where he can find sticks and freely run. He also enjoys the swing and climbing the various ramps and bars they have at the park.'

My little runner.

I take Cole to the park, and THIS is where he wants to go (the steps next to the community center)

Stacking the blocks

Stacking more blocks

Hmmm, can I eat this?

This kid loooooves schools buses.

In the middle of a truck wasteland

The sandbox at Hasbrouck Park.

Hike: A verb. A noun. A way of life

I discovered my passion for hiking when I tagged along on Keith's business trip to the Napa Valley 4 years ago. I know, you're probably thinking right now- how does one discover a passion for hiking when one is in California Wine Country? Well I had dabbled in it here and there since I arrived in New Paltz in 1995 as a college freshman. And when we were planning the trip, I knew I wasn't going to want to go wine tasting alone, so I decided to plan some adventures that I knew I could do by myself. One of them was hiking in the Napa Valley State Park. It was an empowering experience. I got lost, but found my way back all on my own. When we returned to New York we began hiking on a regular basis. Eventually we became members of the Mohonk Preserve and only took a hiatus from hiking when I was on bed rest with Cole. (During the final week of my pregnancy though, I was in so much pain that we went for a hike at Lake Minnewaska in hopes of getting the labor moving- it worked!). Since having Cole we've continued to hike the beautiful mountain range in which we live. That's why having the right baby carrier has always been so important to me. I'm always thinking - how's my back going to feel if we go hiking in this?

And since we no longer belong to a gym, we hike to exercise and as a way to connect with nature. It really has become a way of life for us. When we blessed Cole, we promised him that we'd foster within him a love of nature. As far as I can tell, we're off to a great start.

Every so often I go back into the blog book I created from this here blog and have a "this time last year" moment. I don't know how, but I found the time to post nearly every day during Cole's first year of life. I checked recently and discovered that at this time last year Cole was just learning to sit up while also trying to crawl. I remember that he started sitting up on his own for a total of 2 days and then it was on to bigger and better things: getting moving. He's always been an active person. Lately it's climbing that he wants to do all the time. All he wants to do is explore unchartered territory- the table, the bookshelves, etc. So with that in mind we take him out to parks every weekend where he can climb and run free. These past two weekends we decided he needed real rocks to climb on and a real forest to run in. So we took him to Mohonk. As expected, all parties involved had a blast.

Here's the proof:

Happy little man 

Oh boy, I get to play with sticks, rocks, and run at the same time?! Neat!

At Trapps with all the other cool climbers

"Tunna!"

Dada and Cole walk back down the trail

Climbing up the Millbrook Ridge Trail with Dada

Climbing on his own 

Dada and Cole

Taking a break for some Doo Doo

At the top of the trail wearing Cole in the new Boba 3G 

New Paltz and beyond

Back down the trail

Out of the carrier - time to run!

Precious cuteness

Mama has to do some babywearing so we can move before it gets dark!

Cole's Christmas Wishlist

This is what boxes were meant for!

I know Christmas is still a month away, but now is the time that people usually start shopping (although if you're Keith's Aunt Susan, now is the time that you're finished shopping!) And if there are any family who read this blog and who need ideas on what to get for Cole, we created an Amazon wishlist for that very purpose. We will be updating it periodically, so check back often. The link is on the upper left hand side of this blog. But here's another one for good luck. Thanks for thinking of us.

Remember When Wednesday

This was Cole this time last year. No hair, but the same sweet baby face...

Our weekend to-do list

Cole's tasks finally made it into our to- do list that we make at the beginning of every weekend (see bottom of list). Judging from his 5 poops today and the numerous times we stopped to nurse, I'd say he accomplished his tasks.

From the funny files

Cole likes to hug us whenever he sees bare skin. This includes when we are taking our work pants off to put on sweats. He also will lift up my shirt so he can hug my bare back.

Lately, Cole has been yelling at Kiwi and Clem to get down from wherever they are. He sees it as his duty to make them get down from either the couch or his desk. He either says, "Kiwi. Down!" or "Cat. Down!"

Sometimes when he has climbed onto something he's not supposed to, he yells from his perch "Get Down!" as soon as he sees me approaching him to do guess what? You got it - tell him to "get down!" It's too funny.

Cole likes to play with my hair bands (or pony tail holders as I call them). He gets a kick out of shooting them across the room.

We sometimes get freeze dried fruits and vegetables from the health food store. Cole especially likes the freeze dried peas. Sometimes, when he's in the middle of eating them, he likes to flick them across the room. At first I thought it was on accident, then I realized it was completely intentional.

Cole likes to turn the faucet off in the bathtub. He'll usually do this when I'm still filling up the tub and no matter how many times I try to turn it back on, he pulls the faucet down so it goes off.  As a result, he sometimes ends up taking a bath in about two inches of water.

Cole loves these two words: sneaky and stinky. We have a book called "One Sneaky Sheep" and he's always begging me to read it. He also doesn't mind smelling our socks just so he can shriek the word "Stinky!"

He also says "fart" or "I fart" or "poop" or "I poop." And his "Fall Down" sounds scarily like "Fuck Them." Mana and Dada really need to work on their potty mouths!

Explosions of life

Word explosion
Last weekend Cole was sick with a bad cold. He had a fever, a nice cough, and lots of congestion. Since we stayed home the whole weekend we invited Keith's mom for dinner, and she acquiesced - she doesn't let a little cold stop her from seeing her grandson! Cole was all kisses and hugs that night and after she said good night, she followed it up with "I love you" and Cole said something that sounded like "I wu you" back. It was so sweet, it made me (and Carolyn) feel all gooey and happy inside. This past month or so we have seen a huge explosion of words for Cole. Not only is he mimicking us, but he's practicing this newly acquired language by communicating with us in a more understandable way. It is truly amazing to hear your child speak in a way that you can understand. I never thought I'd be able to understand "toddlerese" but - most of the time - I get what he's saying! Not only is he saying words, but he's building up and saying sentences more often. He says things like "I cook," "Shoes come off," "Come back," "I go." He is also more patient with me when I don't understand something he is saying. For instance, we were reading (for the 10th time) the song book "She'll be comin' round the mountan" and he kept saying "book!" and I kept going, "Yes, this is a book." Finally, he pointed to the fork in the illustration and said what then sounded like fork (more like fook) because I finally got what he was trying to identify.

Explosion of interests
Cole has become interested in several things: cooking, stacking blocks, stacking the wooden circles (what look like donuts), and reading books (oh - and the television - but I only let him watch Barney and Sesame Street in the a.m.).  We usually read the same few books for a few days to a week. Then Cole gets interested in new (already owned) books. And we read those for another week or so and the cycle continues. He absolutely dies laughing when I read "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Five Monkeys Jumping in the Bed." He's very into turning pages, even if it means I'm speed reading or skipping. He doesn't care - he just loves having that power!

Space explosion
We also finally rearranged some furniture in the living room, dining room, and Cole's bedroom so that we'd use our space more efficiently. Cole now has two shelves of a bookcase in the living room where we put books and where he can stack his blocks. He also uses a semi-empty shelving unit we placed in the dining room, and he has another shelf in his bedroom. Funnily enough, the book case in there was Keith's when he was a baby. We are also trying to decorate our space with photos. I didn't post about it at the time but a few months ago, we finally got some prints made using this professional printing service Keith likes. We got some floating frames and some fake canvas wraparound frames. We even got one printed for Cole's room. It's a blog photo of him sleeping on a pillow when he was a few months old. It's above his crib.  We are currently waiting for more pictures to be printed that we ordered a few weeks ago. This time I asked Keith to print some of the nice landscape photos he has taken in addition to some family photos. I'm waiting for them with baited breath.

Arts Explosion? Not so much
We have tried crayons with Cole, but this is what he does when we give a crayon to him with a pad of paper: He draws on the paper for 5 seconds, then he walks around the house and draws on whatever else he can find. I decided to copy Randalin (I have no shame) and get a chalkboard for Cole in hopes that a wider surface would deter him from walking around with the chalk. No such luck. He drew a triangle on the board, then the next time a bunch of lines. But each time, he walked away from the chalkboard and over to some other object to draw (television hutch, the couch, the ottoman, etc). It seems that the world is his canvas.

Teeth explosion
He has so many teeth now we can't even count. We just end up saying things like "Holy Shit! He has so many teeth!" whenever he opens his mouth to laugh. He's still teething though because the molars keep insisting on coming all the way through. He's been nursing a lot more lately and chewing on anything he can get his hands on - including his hands, his arms, my iPhone, the remote control, and even the cat.

The reduction of the baby carrier force
We no longer have an explosion of baby carriers. I returned Heather's Ergo, sold the Beco Butterfly, and lent out my Zolowear ring sling. Keith uses the Beco Gemini when he's with Cole alone. I've since found the Balboa Ring sling useful in the hip hold and a few weeks ago, I finally purchased a new soft structured carrier - the Boba 3G. I love it because it's much more comfortable than the Ergo. Keith also likes the Boba because it doesn't hurt his back. He's also used it a few times. Cole is OK with it, but he doesn't love it as much as he loves the Ergo. I think he misses being able to lean back, which he really can't with the Boba. I had him on my back a week or so ago, and I said to Keith half-jokingly. "I should've probably just gotten the Ergo." He gave me an emphatic "No more baby carriers!" Then Cole said, "No more!" and we both cracked up.

Thrice Bitten; Once Removed
Cole has gotten bitten at day care more times than I wish to count (I think 3 or 4 and all by the same child). Two times it's been on his face. This last time he was bitten twice in one day. The bite on his face was pretty severe. He didn't bleed, but it did cause an abrasion and there is still a mark on his face . The director called me last Thursday (11/3) at work to tell me what happened. Thankfully, they've removed the child from the day care and the parents have to bring the child to a behaviorist who will be in direct contact with the day care director before he is permitted to return. I feel (just a little) for the parents - I'm sure that's not an easy situation to be in - but when I looked at my child's face those first few days when the bit mark was really obvious, I also felt anger that someone had hurt my child. Thankfully, the director understands my anger and apprehension about having Cole near this child when this child does eventually return to day care. She says she's working closely with the behaviorist and also said she'd keep me posted, which is reassuring.

The bite

Stacking the blocks 

What an adorable toothy smile! (Keith took this one)

My lists

Things that annoy me:
Being in a rush, and then getting in line behind someone who is playing lotto.

Letters to the editor in a community newspaper the issue before election day.

Voting on a supersized paper ballot and then running it through a glorified Scantron machine. There has to be a better and quicker way, especially after I stood in line for 10+ minutes listening to the volunteers complain about the Board of elections and the way they changed the table locations of the different districts, but then those same volunteers refusing to move the map to a central location so that voters could easily see what table they need to go to. No. Just go on complaining.

Legislators whose signs appear in the shape of a voluptuous womanly elephant. Seriously.

People who cut me off on my morning commute.

When I don't get into the lane I need to be in quickly enough and then, because I don't want to cut anyone off ( see above), I am forced to take the really long way home instead (as if the original way wasn't long enough).

Things that make me feel all gooey inside:

Hearing Cole say "I love you" to his grandmother.

Letting someone merge instead of yelling at them for cutting me off and then watching as they raise their hand in a kind gesture of gratitude.

Watching Keith cuddle with Cole on the living room floor. He doesn't know I'm watching, which makes it feel that much more special.

Watching Cole hug Kiwi (because he never manages to catch Clem) while saying "hug."

And capturing these moments...

All that glitters is silver (and has bangs)

I have silver hair. There I admitted it. I noticed a few strands near the top of my head maybe six months ago. At first I was appalled, flabbergasted. Then I realized - hey it's better to have silver hair than no hair, right? I let it go. Now, however, the silver hair is moving to the front. There's not that much of it, but now that I have bangs, you can notice it more. And just when I was thinking to myself - I'm never going to dye my hair again.

Oh yeah, and I now have bangs. It was Tuesday afternoon when I took the plunge  - and for real this time (not like in the summer when I wore my hair as bangs for a week and then pinned them back for the next 3 months). My heart fluttered as Brigette cut them off, and I knew there was no turning back. She cut them short. So short that it is now obvious (not like during the summer), and so short that if I try to pin them back (because yes, I've tried) it looks kind of weird. You may have first noticed them in my post about getting Cole to brush his teeth. Some of you posted that you liked them (thanks Andrea and Peg!) I've noticed over the past week that people either love my new "do" or they hate it.  Most people follow the rule "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all." So they basically don't say a thing. It's as if there was no change in how I look whatsoever.  One work friend of mine said hello and then averted her eyes. Really? Do I look that bad to you that you can't even begin a conversation with me? I think some people worry I'm going to ask them what they think. Well, don't worry. The only person I will ever ask that is my husband. And you can see his reaction below.

The aftermath of the bangs
Tuesday night:
Me: Soooo, what do you think?
Keith: (hesitates) It looks different.

Wednesday morning:
Student 1: Mrs. Ferris, did you dye your hair?
Me: No!

Student 2: Mrs. Ferris, what did you DO to your hair?
Me: That is not the proper way to ask a person about their hair.
Student 2: Ok. Mrs. Ferris, you look so pretty. What did you do to your hair?
Me: Much better.

Student 3: I like your hair Mrs. Ferris. Did you get bangs?
Me: Yes, thank you.

Wednesday afternoon:

Male Co-worker: Did you do something different to your hair?

Me: Yes, I got bangs.

Male Co-worker: (silent)

Toothbrushing a Toddler 101

Teaching Cole to brush his teeth!

So this is how you do it!

A Belated Halloween

For those of you who were not in the know, here in the Northeast, we got pummeled with a crazy snowstorm on Saturday. It caused massive power outages in our region (thankfully not us - we had enough during Irene thank you very much!!), caused administrators to cancel school for the day (which is a blessing in disguise - have you ever been in a middle school on Halloween?!), and caused numerous municipalities to cancel Halloween and reschedule it for next week. So technically (if I were living, say, in the town of Montgomery) this post is not belated at all.

So... Happy Halloween.

I am a Ferris, hear me roar!

Our little lion (who refused to wear his mane) watches the neighbors

Keith walks Cole for his second trick-or-treat

Wherein Mama tries to get Cole with the hood. I succeeded, kind of.