Mother's Day Weekend

My first Mother's Day weekend was jam-packed. Cole got his first real haircut, he got his nine month pictures taken with Bug, and we spent this afternoon at the zoo. I've always loved going to the zoo, and I can remember thinking on many previous trips that I couldn't wait until I had the chance to bring my own child see all the animals. Today was a day I'll never forget and a long-had dream come true.

First Flight

Cole and I had a great time visiting Grammy and Gramps in Missouri. Much to my surprise, Cole is a good traveler. I figured he'd throw fits on the plane because he hates sitting still, but he enjoyed watching all the people and playing peek-a-boo with the flight attendants. I think we're all left with some pretty memorable moments, several of which we photographed. I'm posting my favorite pics with captions in the Lance Family Web Album.

The Tubes

Cole was such a good baby for the ENT and all the nurses on the day of his surgery (Monday, March 14th). He was in a great mood during what I imagined would be a horrendous waiting period. Joey said he was flirting with all the nurses.

In the days that followed his surgery, I noticed a big change in how he reacted to everyday sounds. It seemed that his bouts of pain and sickness were finally over, but we were wrong. Poor baby... now he has some nasty virus. He's had a fever since Friday. It got so high that we took him to the ER Sunday night. The ER doc said there really wasn't anything he could do about it, so the saying's true. Viruses really do have to run their course. Through it all, I'm amazed at his happy-go-lucky spirit. The fever hasn't seemed to slow him down too much.

This video clip shows just how resilient babies can be. You'll notice he's playing with a tambourine. That was the toy he picked out right before he went in for surgery. It sounds like static on this video, but, believe me, it sounds like a real tambourine at home!

Into Everything!

I would be lying if I said adjusting to motherhood has been easy. Cole spent the majority of his waking hours crying during the first three months of his life. I did a good bit of crying myself. I remember feeling so helpless at times. I thought I was doing something wrong because I couldn't soothe my baby. So many people told me he was "colicky" and to just hang in there. Still, it was hard to accept that he wasn't a happy baby.

Now that he's mobile, he's a different little man. My Mr. Independent loves cruising around the house and picking up anything and everything his little heart desires. As long as he's on the floor, he's all smiles. It's amazing to me that he learned to sit up, crawl (in his creeping, armyman fashion), and pull up in such a short amount of time. Wasn't he just beginning to roll over?

He has also discovered a plethora of finger foods now that he has mastered the pincer grasp. He enjoys snacking on cheerios, bananas, crackers (thanks to Papa), and rice cakes. Going out to eat is so much more enjoyable now too. He is usually pretty content sitting in a high chair munching on bits of everyone else's dinner.

Six months has been a fun age for both of us, even if he is into everything!

Happy New Year!

Cole babbled his first word on New Year's day. I am amazed at how quickly he's growing. We have noticed so many firsts in the past three weeks: he is babbling with consonants, a tooth is beginning to show, he can sit in the tripod pose, he's actually eating his baby food instead of tasting, and he is getting on his knees daily in preparation for crawling.