New experiences...

So far it's been a busy month for Cole. With so much going on, it's no wonder his sleep is still off.

Rice Cereal: Last month, I asked Cole's pediatrician when he would sleep through the night and not wake for his midnight snack. Dr. Martin thought he probably was waking up hungry since he's so big. He suggested giving Cole some rice cereal before bedtime and I might gain another hour or two on his first leg of sleep. So that afternoon I picked up some rice cereal so I could give it to Cole before bedtime. If you've never tried to feed a baby solid food for the first time then it sounds so simple... give him some before bedtime and gain 1 or 2 more hours of sleep - awesome! But when Vere came in and found me on the rocker with Cole on my lap and a bowl of rice cereal on the table next to me and asked why Cole wasn't sitting in his own chair or wearing a bib, I knew that this was not going to be the simple task I was envisioning in my head. Needless to say, night 1 of rice cereal was not a success. And neither were nights 2 and 3. I soon realized that there is just no way I could introduce something this new to Cole just before bed, the time of day when he is the most tired and cranky. It was an impossible task. So the next day I started giving Cole the rice cereal at some point in the morning/early afternoon. That way I could get him used to it so I can one day give it to him before bedtime and then I may finally get another hour or two of sleep. But that dream is a long way off. I actually did have a couple of successful and super messy attempts but have decided to call it quits for now and will try again at 5 months. It was just too much work and neither one of us were ready for it. And at this point, I can live with waking up in the middle of the night.



Rice Cereal!



Travels: September 10 - 13 was the 3rd Annual Koga Family Reunion in Carmel. We rented a villa right on Highway 1! The weekend was so much fun! And I'm not just saying that because I managed to come home with the Koga Kup this year :) We really are lucky to have such a great family. We have so much fun together. This trip was Cole's first time flying and I was so nervous because we never know what we're gonna get. But he did such a great job on the way out there. Not one cry the entire day. It was funny because people on the flight even commented on what a well behaved baby we have and asked if he was always that mellow. The first night we were there, Cole actually slept the longest he has ever slept before. The room we stayed in was a level below the rest of the house. There was no heat in that room for some reason and there was a door to outside so there was a constant cold draft of air going through the room. Cole had on a long sleeve onesie, a long sleeve shirt, footed pants, sweat pants on top of that and 2 blankets! But when Vere and I came to bed he was freezing so I pulled him into bed with me. I don't know if it was the comfort or warmth of sleeping with his mommy but he slept 8 hours straight! Then went back to sleep for another 3 1/2 hours! I told Vere that Cole was gonna sleep in bed with us every night! But he quickly shot down that idea. Also, thank you Kimber for bringing the space heater - we wouldn't have survived without it! After that first night however, Cole began slipping into his pre-sleep-training days and had the two worst nights of sleep he'd had in weeks. He also was not an angel on the flights home. I did manage to get him to fall asleep on both flights but he did not go down without piercing a few ear drums first. The people on those flights did not comment on what a great baby we have...

Reunion Highlights:

• Winning the Koga Kup.
• The Koga Kup Tournament itself was super fun. Kimber organized it this year and added some seriously entertaining Minute to Win It games.
• The usual Koga smorgasbord.
• The 17 Mile Drive, although it was kinda cold.
• The jellyfish exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
• Uncle Curt saying that the brown mm's are the best because they're chocolate flavored. (sorry Uncle Curt... but that really was funny!)

Cole at the airport in his new stroller ready for his trip. He loves this stroller by the way. I guess it's kind of nice being able to see what's going on. Before he was in a travel system and always stayed in his car seat.



The villa

Our view of the ocean



The 17 Mile Drive: Bobby, Curtis Ross, Tommy, Yu-Chen, Chelsey and Kimber at Spanish Bay (I think)

KC, Maya, Vere and I at the same place. Cole and Kalia were sleeping in the cars. Which were parked 20 feet from us, we didn't just leave then in a parking lot somewhere.

Bird Rock with lots of seals on it.

Vere and I in front of The Lone Cypress along the 17 Mile Drive.



Bobby stacking his cups during the tournament.

Chelsey moving cotton balls from one plate to another with vaseline on her nose. These are the Minute to Win It games.

Curtis Ross trying to knock down soda cans with rubberbands. Sarah, Jan, Auntie Cheryl and Yu-Chen all laughing at something in the background.



Even mom got in on the action!



Cole with cousins Kalia and Maya.

Cole sitting on cousin Maya's lap. Maya was so cute - she had to have Cole on her lap just like Kalia.

Cole with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Cole with Auntie Midori

Mom with the cookies she made to look like Scrabble game pieces to go with the Koga Kup Tournament theme.

We also celebrated National Grandparents Day on September 12. Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Midori, Uncle Ben and Mom.



The cake



Kalia and Maya looking at fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium 



The jellyfish

More jellyfish

Jellyfish video. I wish I had made it longer...



Vere (last year's winner) passing the Koga Kup on to me after I beat out KC in the final round. We were happy to bring it back home to San Diego. Better luck next time guys :)

2010 Koga Family Reunion Pic (minus Jan, Auntie Midori and Uncle Ben because they were still at the aquarium and Tommy was leaving with his cool camera).





Below are some of the other things Cole has been doing this month...

Cole in the middle of his new playroom. It used to be our living room. He has accumulated a lot of new toys this month.

Cole playing in the activity center he got from the Levensons. It was so cool because he was actually making the bird spin.

Deciding which new toy to play with.

This is Cole's new thing. Pulling clean diapers out of the diaper caddy when I'm changing him.




And then he tries to put the diaper in his mouth. He has really been grabbing at everything lately.



This is how Cole has been sleeping at night - with his feet up. Sorry if you can't see it that well, it's on Cole TV (aka: the baby monitor).



Cute video of Cole...and Vere.

Milestones...

The last couple weeks have been super busy for all of us. Vere and I had our Kick-off Event for our new charity - Kits for Africa, which was a great success. We pulled in a good crowd and made a decent amount of money to go towards our cause. BIG thanks to everyone who came out to support us. It was my first night out without Cole and it was surprisingly not stressful and it was actually nice to be out in the real world and have conversations with adults. The kids were able to attend and helped us pull raffle tickets. We also had the most amazing raffle prizes donated... signed Luis Castillo official jersey, signed Shawne Merriman football, signed Dick Vitale basketball, a football signed by about 20 of the Chargers and more! It was insane. But at the end of the night I was ready to get back home... I missed Cole! My mom was nice enough to come down to SD to babysit so we could enjoy the important night (thanks mom!).

Vere talking about Kits for Africa and thanking everyone for coming

The kids pulling raffle tickets with Charlie

Bobby and Chelsey

Pascale (right) and her friend Gay

That following weekend, Mark and Victoria had a Bon Voyage Celebration. They were getting married in Maui later this month so they had a party beforehand to celebrate with friends. It was the first time anyone had met Cole so it was fun to introduce him and show him off. And even though he was up way passed his bedtime, he was totally mellow and just people watched the entire time. It was also nice to see old friends, meet all of their kids and meet new spouses... OK I seriously have not been keeping in touch. I brought my camera but forgot to take any pictures.

Last weekend my parents were down for a visit. They watched Cole on Saturday night and Vere and I went out on date night - the first in over 4 months! We just went out to dinner and came home but it was nice to have time alone. Catrie, Levy and little Reecia also came down to SD that weekend. We had brunch at our place and played with the babies. And I forgot to take pictures again...

This is one of the only pictures I took last weekend. Cole and Grandpa. The other one was of them too. They were playing together for so long that day... it was cute.

We've also had a lot to do before this weekend because we're participating in a South African Cultural Day event on Sunday hoping to spread the Kits for Africa word. Plus, I've had a ton of other work to do as well as hang out with little Cole so it's been a little crazy...

Now on to Cole... he had his 4 month well visit yesterday. He was 17 lbs, 2 oz. and 27 inches long, which means he was 89 percentile in weight and 99 percentile in height. They called him "a huge baby". But at least he's symmetrical and growing in length as much as he's growing in weight.

It's crazy because he's already changed so much since the last time I posted. Aside from gaining a couple pounds and growing a couple inches, he has hit so many milestones!...

1. He knows his toys exist. He may not think about them after the fact but he is kind of playing with them. Before he wouldn't even acknowledge them or would just look at something if it was held right in front of his face. But now all of a sudden he actually sees a toy, picks it up and holds it with both hands, then tries to put it in his mouth. It's seriously amazing.

Playing with one of his toys on his new blanket that Tutu made him.

2. He's rolling over - from back to front. Pretty much every time I put him on his back, he winds up on his stomach. Unfortunately, he still hasn't figured out how to roll back onto his back which is weird because it seems like that would be easier.

This is a twofer! Cole playing with his ball and rolling over!

3. He is talking so much now. Not real words of course but some seriously happy sounds.

Cole talking. Even after his Dr. appointment and vaccinations, he was still in a good mood. He is such a trooper :)

4. The mini swing and the baby carrier. He sat on the mini swing for about 15 minutes the other day! Unfortunately is hasn't happened again but I did take pictures and video because I was so surprised. He also likes being carried around in the Bella baby carrier when we're doing things around the house. OK, maybe these aren't true milestones but I thought they were serious breakthroughs!

Just a photo as proof. I won't bore you with a 60 second video of Cole swinging back and forth.

Cole in the baby carrier

Sleep Update: Cole's sleep has had highs and lows the last few weeks. It's just crazy how one little thing can effect a baby's sleep. After about a week of sleep training, I admit I started to get a little lax on the naps. It is just so hard to hear your baby cry. People told me it would be and I didn't believe it, but it seriously is. So I started rocking him - for nap time only. And of course it totally effected his night sleep which was going great at the time. Suddenly, it would take him over an hour of crying to get to sleep at night. So I realized I had to go hardcore on the naps again. And miraculously, sleep was great again. Cole would fall asleep at night in 5 minutes, sometimes he didn't fuss at all and his first leg of sleep is now up to 6-7 hours! His naps took a little longer - 15 minutes but he'd sleep for about 40 minutes and would take 3-4 naps a day. Even though my books say Cole should be taking 2-3 naps a day and they should be 2-3 hours long, I'm pretty happy with the 40 minute nap.

But now we have the "Rollover Factor". Cole can rollover onto his stomach but can't roll back. And since he hates tummy time, he gets upset when he suddenly finds himself laying on his stomach. Then I come in to flip him over and then just leave the room and he gets more upset. So now, it's taking about 30-45 minutes for him to go to sleep at night and during the day - sometimes longer. I actually started writing this post last night but didn't finish because I had to go upstairs and flip Cole over 4 times. And just now as I was finishing the post, Vere and I had to go up there a total of 6 times and he only had a 30 minute nap. It's never ending. I'm sure his sleep will return to normal again right around the time that his first tooth comes in...

The next month will also be super busy for us. We have the SA Cultural Day event this weekend, the Koga Family Reunion in Carmel in a couple weeks (Cole's first time on a plane) and Vere will be traveling 13 days this month so Cole is going to have some serious Mommy Time!

Some more cute pics of Cole...

Cole in his big boy chair

Cole in beanbag heaven.

Cole's bald spot... well it's really more like a bald band that goes around the back of his head. And it's actually worse now.

Cole's first day at the office... OK this is kinda silly but it was all Vere.

The first 3 1/2 months...

OK, so I wasn't going to do a blog because I didn't know when I would find the time to do it. Because let's face it, there have been some days that I haven't even had a chance to shower, leave the house or eat anything of nutritional value. But I was catching up on KC's blog the other day and was smiling at all the cute/funny things she writes about Kalia and Maya. I decided that I did need to document Cole's growing up because Vere and I may not remember it all and it might be kind of cool for Cole to be able to look back on it later...or maybe not? 

So from the beginning... I swear Cole already had this head strong personality when he was born. He knew what he liked and what he didn't like and boy could he scream.

Things he liked: Sleeping on the boppy and looking out windows.

Things he didn't like: Cold wipes on his bottom, any sort of chair, swing or bouncer (Vere and I bought 3 different ones thinking he had to like one of them), pacifiers, red lights and stop signs, any type of baby carrier, sling or wrap.

Cole sleeping on the boppy. He was so little he actually fit inside it. He's wearing a newborn onesie in this pic and it's so big on him.

When he was about a month old we got him an activity mat because we thought he might like that instead... our house was soon beginning to fill with all sorts of things that Cole didn't like.

At 7 weeks, my parents hosted a Welcome Cole Party and all my relatives came to meet Cole. Even KC, Erik, Kalia and Maya came from Maui. The theme was "elephants" because the bedding in Cole's room has elephants on it. We had an elephant cake, my mom made cute elephant cookies with Cole's name on them, Cole-slaw was on the menu and there were mms with Cole's face on it. It was seriously all about Cole.

Cole's Cake

Cole's Cookies

Uncle Ted and Terry

Kanhchana, Terry and Cole

Auntie Cheryl and Cole

Uncle Yuk and Kanhchana

Jan, Gay, Conner, Uncle Ben, Tommy and Yu-Chen

Tutu and Kalia

Great-Grandma and Cole

Maya and Grandpa!

Auntie KC and Cole

KC, Erik, the girls and Tutu also came down to SD for a few days to visit. It was pretty crazy having Kalia (4), Maya (18 months) and Cole (7 weeks) at the house at one time. But it was fun and the girls totally gushed over their new cousin. Thanks to Auntie KC, Cole found a new love of pacifiers and has loved them ever since. And after planning Cole's party and all the other stuff going on, Mom finally got some much needed rest.

Auntie KC, Cole, Maya and Kalia

Tutu and Cole taking a nap

And another nap...

By two months Cole had almost doubled his birth weight and grew 4 inches (94 percentile in both height and weight)! Sleeping on the boppy was still his favorite thing to do and I still spent hours a day sitting on the couch letting him do it.

Now he's now 3 1/2 months old and getting so big. He's outgrowing his 3-6 month clothes and I already have an entire drawer of clothes that no longer fit him. He's really starting to notice the world around him. He smiles and laughs so much that it makes me smile just thinking about it. He's also been examining his hands lately - every chance he gets. Like he's starting to realize that they're his and he can control them. Or maybe he's just wondering what those things are in his face all the time...I have no idea. He still doesn't like the swing but does like sitting in his bouncy chair (if we don't leave him there for a long time) - the Baby Sitter by Bjourn. Which Vere has renamed the Baby Sh*tter because often when Cole sits in it, well you know... must be something about that sitting position. Cole also does not like things hanging above his head when he's tired. That includes the elephant mobile on his crib, the animals on his activity mat and especially Mr. Happy on his car seat. Mr. Happy has since been removed from duty. I can totally understand how somebody constantly smiling at you when you're in a bad mood could be a little annoying. Sadly, the boppy is no longer his favorite place, now he likes to sit in the corner of the couch where he can sit on his own like a big boy. He thinks it's especially funny to lean forward and fall onto his face/stomach. He is also really liking bathtime and splashes A LOT. 

Examining of the hands

More examination...

I wasn't kidding...he's obsessed!

Mr. Happy.

 The Corner - his new favorite spot!

Tummy Time! - Cole is in what I call Phase 3 of Tummy Time. Phase 1 - The Total Workout: he got super tired super easy. It was hard work holding his head up for that long! Phase 2 - Exciting: he loved being able to see the world from a new angle. Phase 3 - Frustration: now he's totally frustrated because no matter how hard he tries, he just can't go anywhere. It's sad but he'll get the hang of it soon, I'm sure of it.

 When it was still fun...

Two weekends ago, the kids were here and we celebrated Tabatha's 11th birthday. Auntie Cheryl, Uncle Curt, Bobby and Chelsey also came over that Saturday for a BBQ so we all celebrated together. We also took Cole to the beach for the first time that weekend. The water was a little cold for him but he did seem to enjoy people watching.

Happy Birthday Tabatha!

Lucy showing us her card trick (thanks for the pic Auntie Cheryl!)

Cole with Bobby and Chelsey

First trip to the beach!

Me and Cole :)

Cold water!

So a few weeks ago Cole decided that he doesn't sleep anymore - day or night. It was taking us 2 hours every night of rocking/crying to get him down. As soon as he would start falling asleep he would just fight it for some reason. Then he'd wake up an hour/hour and 1/2 later and we'd have to do it all over again. Vere started taking him on drives at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and he would spend the rest of the night in the car seat which I was absolutely against at first but we really had no choice. Then he was so tired during the day that he couldn't sleep. I would rock him to sleep but as soon as I put him down, he would wake up. It didn't matter if I waited 15 minutes or 60 minutes he just knew when I would put him down. So I started taking him on drives during the day just so he could get a nap in. And I'm not talking a trip around the block, I'm talking getting on the highway and driving in a direction for 20 minutes. I seriously put more miles on my car in those two weeks than I did the two months before that.

The only place he could get any rest.

So about a week and a half ago we started sleep training. I had mixed feelings about it because I still liked having him right next to us in the co-sleeper at night. I was going to miss him and putting him in his own crib in his own room seemed too grown up, too fast. But I knew it really wasn't about me and Cole needed to learn how to get some sleep. The first night was the worst, he cried for 1 hour and 20 minutes and it was torture for me. But it was actually less time than he was crying when we'd try to put him to sleep so I took a little comfort in that. By the third night, Cole fell asleep in 15 minutes and stayed asleep for 5 hours until he woke up to eat. Then went right back to sleep and slept the rest of the night. It was more sleep in one night than he'd ever had (except when we first brought him home and he slept all the time). Naps are not as good and we've had an occasional bad night and I have definitely had some feelings of self doubt thinking Cole wasn't as happy as he was before the sleep training. Although I do realize that he's probably just tired after we've had a bad night. So thanks to 2 how to get your baby to sleep books and the awesome support of my big sis - KC, Cole is now getting some much needed rest... except for last night :) It's like he knew I was going to write that. I think I'll probably be stressing about Cole's sleep for a long time.

Below just some other cute pics from the last 3 1/2 months...

Cole's new toy from Auntie KC. He wasn't ready to touch it but liked looking at it.

Hanging out with friends

My favorite new pic of Cole

He thought this super man thing was pretty funny.