Cohen Jacob 11 months

Dear Cohen,

I am afraid to blink.  You are one month shy of a year.  Say it isn't so.... As my baby each and every milestone will be so bitter sweet.  Be gentle with me sweet boy.  You have had my heart from even before I knew your name.  

You are so much fun!  You are all over the place, rough, loud, and bossy!  You may be small, but you make your presence known.  I love your style baby boy!

You are a great eater.  You pretty much eat whatever we put in front of you.  Your teeth have gotten you in a bit of trouble.  Due to a few "biting" incidents we are beginning to wean from nursing.  Sniff.  You are down to only nursing at night.  Soon enough that will also come to an end.  I think you will be okay with it.  Me?  I'm not so sure.  

You love to play.  You play well with toys and people.  Would you believe me if I told you that you already like to play ball?  Well, you sure do.  When I sit on the floor with you I roll the ball to you and you throw it back to me.  I videoed us playing ball last week.  You are quite impressive if I do say so myself!

This next month will be rough on me.  So I would appreciate if you were extra sweet to me.  I would appreciate double the snuggles, triple the kisses, and a hearty portion of squeezes.  Before I know it you will be blowing out your candles at your first birthday.

The past 11 months have been a joy.  I love you so very much.  We all do.  Your smile lights up the world and your personality brings so much joy!

As always, "you are a good boy and will do GREAT things in this world.

All my love,

Mommy

Cohen Jacob~ 10 months

Dear Cohen,

Precious Cohen, I have a word for you.  Your word is gregarious.  (Adjective) -of a person find of company; sociable.  What ever you do is big.  Laugh, cry, smile, or scream, you go all out.  I like your style kid.

You have mastered your crawl and you are all over the place.  You are efficient and you are quick.  You are like a stealth bomber.  You pick a target, aim and fire.  All within the matter of a second.  One of your favorite targets is the toilet.  Our house is under strict order to keep the bathroom doors closed.  Anytime we have a breach in protocol you attack.  Nothing like finding your baby splashing away in the toilet!

You are babbling up a storm.  You have a pretty advanced vocabulary consisting of:
Dadada
Ma
Nana ((banana)
No (accompanied with the head shake)
Your favorite word is Dadada, however you are known to shout out a "ma" if in a pinch.  Oh how that little syllable is music to my ears.

You are still nursing like a champ and eating us out of house and home.  My baby likes to eat!  I am still making your baby food, but you are starting to get real food.  MiMi snuck you a bowl of beans and you loved it.

Monthly Stats: 

6/13/12 birth weight- 9.2

7/12/12 1 month- 12.2

8/11/12 2 months- 14.8

9/14/12 3 months- 17

10/14/12 4 months- 18. 4

11/13/12 5 months- 19.4

12/14/12 6 months 21 

1/14/13 7 months 21.4

2/15/13 8 months 22

3/15/13 9 months 23

4/15/13- straight up forgot to weigh you this month!

I can't believe we are nearing the one year mark.  You have brought so much joy to our lives.  It is hard to remember a day without you.  Always remember that "you are a good boy and will do great things in this world."

All my love,
Mommy

So about your face.
You had a minor altercation with the concrete
after you jumped out of your car seat.

Cohen Jacob~ 9 months

Dear Cohen,

Cohen, Cohen, Cohen.  My precious and spoiled rotten baby boy!  You are my rotten egg.  You are happiest when you are in my arms.  One slight problem?  You are HEAVY and give my left bicep an extreme workout.  You are loved and you are connected.  That is all that really matters!  

You have had a really big month!  I finally admitted to your daddy that your first word was "dada."  I am still working diligently for just one "mama."  Deep down I know that you love me. :)  You now clap all the time.  (and I so love it)  Your brothers love to fire you up.  They cheer you along with each and every milestone that you hit.  You LOVE music, singing, and dancing.  We now have daily dance parties.  You are so much fun!  

You were sick for the first time this past month.  You had a double ear infection accompanied with a cough and a snotty nose.  You were pretty down and out for a few days.  Just when I thought you were better you were hit with another round of ear infections.  I hate to see you sick, but I did enjoy the extra sweet snuggles.

You are still nursing well, but LOVE to eat food.  You pretty much enjoy anything that I make for you.  Your current favorites are banana, avocado, and pears.  You also really enjoy meat.  You eat as fast as we feed you and you barely make a mess.

Monthly Stats: 

6/13/12 birth weight- 9.2

7/12/12 1 month- 12.2

8/11/12 2 months- 14.8

9/14/12 3 months- 17

10/14/12 4 months- 18. 4

11/13/12 5 months- 19.4

12/14/12 6 months 21 

1/14/13 7 months 21.4

2/15/13 8 months 22

3/15/13 9 months 23

Even though you are spoiled rotten you are my sunshine.  I love your little personality.  I can not get enough of your eyes, dimple, teeth, and big ears.  One flash of the goofy grin and I am yours.  You are precious and you are so loved.  "You are a good boy and will do great things in this world."

All my love,

Mommy

Oh how I adore this goofy grin.

Hey Ma, you don't really expect me to sit in the baby seat?

Comparison shot with giraffe.

Personality PLUS.
My little sunshine.

Cohen Jacob~ 8 months

Sweet Cohen,

Cohen Jacob.  My sunshine.  My precious baby.  You are such a light and I just know that you will be a little world changer.  You bring such joy into our lives.  You melt us with a flash of your smile.  You are so very loved.

About a week ago I was watching you and just like that you went dude on me.  In the blink of an eye you went from baby to dude.  It was such a noticeable change it took my breath away.  You now work the entire room and are a magnet for electrical cords and Mardi Gras beads.  You intently watch your hands.  You now wave, clap, and make sweet eyes.  You also babble up a storm.  If I didn't know any better I could have sworn that you said da-da-da-da yesterday.  You are a pro at going from belly to a sit.  You swing around one leg and keep the other straight.  You remind me of Spiderman.    

You now go to Ms. Holly 3 days a week while I work.  It should be of no surprise that you have also gotten sick for the first time.  The day that I took your pictures you went down hill quick.  I knew that you were not feeling well because you were not smiling. The next morning I brought you in for a well baby check up.  Let's just say that you were not exactly well.  You have a double ear infection, congestion, breathing treatments for 5 days, daily allergy meds, eczema, and had a hives flare up.  Other than that you were perfect!  You were pretty down yesterday, but perked up a little today.  Once you smiled at me I knew that you were on the mend.  I so hate so see you sick.  Believe me it hurts me too.  

Monthly Stats: 

6/13/12 birth weight- 9.2

7/12/12 1 month- 12.2

8/11/12 2 months- 14.8

9/14/12 3 months- 17

10/14/12 4 months- 18. 4

11/13/12 5 months- 19.4

12/14/12 6 months 21 

1/14/13 7 months 21.4

2/15/13 8 months 22

You are still nursing, but the frequency has decreased due to starting solids.  You bit me 2 nights in a row.  Hard.  Be gentle sweet boy.  I will blame it on you not feeling well.  I can't believe that we only have 4 months to go to reach my nursing goal.  Such a bittersweet thought...  You enjoy most foods that you try.  Avocado and banana are your favorites.  I am making all of your food.  Easy-peasy fruit or veggie in the steamer, puree it, dinner is served!  You had squash for the first time last week.  That night you broke out in hives on your back.  I will hold off on the squash just in case it was the cause.

Keep smiling.  The world is yours!  You are a good boy and will do great things in this world!

All my love,

Mommy

Smiling even though you felt yucky.

Daddy long legs

Comparison shot with giraffe

PHOTO BOMBERS!

Hummmm...... wonder where they get it from?
The daddy of all photo bombers!

My beautiful baby boy.

Roman adores Cohen.
He calls him "Baby."
Doesn't get any sweeter than that...

These boys make me smile...

Boys 8 month side-by-side shot

Cohen Jacob~ 7 months

Sweet Cohen,

7 months...  This past month was a big one.  It was filled with lots of fun and family.  You celebrated your first Christmas.  Such a precious first moment!

You are such a special baby.  You are filled with such sunshine.  You light up the world with your beautiful smile.  Your smile now includes one more BIG tooth!  After typical teething drama you cut a big-ole top tooth.  Yowza for you.  Yowza for me.  Waiting patiently on the other top tooth.

I love your style.  You like to do it BIG.  The other day you cut a tooth, refined your crawl, and started to sit down.  All in one afternoon.  Awesome.

Your favorite thing to do is play on the floor with your toys.  You especially like to play on the floor with the big boys in the play room.  You are a tough cookie.  When you want something you stand your ground.  You hold on tight and set off a growl.  You have found your hand and enjoy waving to yourself.  You have also found your voice and enjoy letting it roar!

You are now eating food several times a day.  You love avocado, carrots, yogurt, bits of bread, and bananas.  Green beans?  Not so much.  Being able to give you food is really helpful at meal times and in restaurants.  I love to watch you try to feed yourself cereal puffs.  You work so hard and concentrate to get the puff to your mouth.  You are still nursing like a champ.

You have had ZERO interest in sitting down.  Guess it just wasn't your thing.  Until the other day.  You now tri-pod sit.  Your landing is not the most graceful, but I'll take it.  The day you started to sit you became a big boy in your mind.  During bath time you wanted out of the bath sling.  You sat in the tub just like your brothers and played and splashed water in the tub for about 20 minutes.  We were all so proud of you.

My precious, I love you more and more every single day.  I study your face because I always want to remember you just the way that you are now.  Always remember, "you are a good boy and will do great things in this world."

Until next month~
All my love,
Mommy

Stat update:

6/13/12 birth weight- 9.2

7/12/12 1 month- 12.2

8/11/12 2 months- 14.8

9/14/12 3 months- 17

10/14/12 4 months- 18. 4

11/13/12 5 months- 19.4

12/14/12 6 months 21 

1/14/13 7 months 21.4

I love those little piggies!

Comparison shot with your giraffe.

Shocker.  Photo bombers on the scene.

Impressive length!

Big teeth. Big drama.

Drama aside. Isn't that snaggle tooth precious?!

Beautiful baby blues.

I love to study your ever little detail.

7 month brother side by side shot