Park

The past weekend we took Koleton to the park to let him run around and get out some energy (I drug the "boys" thrift shopping with me that day haha).  He had so much fun and went down the slide by himself for the first time! He LOVED it!!! He is such an outdoorsy kid :)

He had just so much fun! Sorry the pictures are so small, but I figured a collage would take up much less room than posting each picture individually! :)

Halloween

Well Halloween came and went! We didn't do anything on the actual holiday, mostly because Koleton's bedtime is (well was before daylight savings time screwed up his schedule!) at 7. By the time we had dinner, got him dressed and in the car, it would have just about been his bath time.  My mommy group, however, did have a Halloween party the weekend before that we went to and dressed him up!

I did a collage since this is only a few of the pictures of him in his costume, but he makes a darn cute little indian if I do say so myself!!!  I love the one in the bottom right corner with his finger pointing... that is one of his favorite things to do - give "lectures"! If he really gets going talking to someone (himself in the mirror, the dog, occasionally Brad or myself, or a random stranger even!) he gets his finger pointing and enunciates his words as though whatever he is saying is so very important that you had better take note and pay attention! :) This kid is so stinkin' cute!!!

16 Months Old!

Well, Mr. Koleton is now officially 16 months old!  Time goes by so quickly!  We now say that he has officially reached "toddler-hood" because he can be such a little stinker at times! He is tall enough to reach things now... especially things he isn't supposed to have!  A few days ago he reached up onto the dining table and pulled the pepper shaker down and started licking the top. I just looked at him and he ran up to me and gave me his BIG cheesy grin and licked the top again! When I asked for the shaker back, he grinned at me again and took off running... another of his favorite things to do these days, the exact OPPOSITE of what we ask!  He is a better eater than ever, especially when it comes to mashed potatoes, broccoli, and condiments lol Yes, you heard (read) correctly... my boy LOVES condiments! Sour cream, A-1 sauce, ketchup, Italian dressing, ranch...if it is a sauce we are using, he wants it! Not for his food either! He just goes straight in with his fingers (or whole hand depending on the condiment haha)!  It is so bad that we have to hide the bottles/containers from him so he will eat real food!  

He is wearing 18 month clothes now, though the pants are still a little big (12 months are getting too short and a little tight in the waist!) and some sleeves are a bit long and a size 5 tennis shoe!  He jumped from a 3 to a 5! I think they are a little big, but that doesn't stop him from getting around! He LOVE LOVE LOVES being outside! Just about every night right now (until it gets too much colder) after dinner we take him outside and let him run around.  He has a car that he can ride in and push himself with his feet (though he doesn't do that yet) and he will ride around the yard in that, or take Walter's ball from him and taunt the poor dog with it!  It is always a fight to bring him back inside just because he loves being outdoors so much! 

When Koleton is interested in something, or is really playing with his toys, his new thing to do is lay down on his stomach.  We got him a Leapster (educational video game) at a thrift store for Christmas. Since he is too young to really understand it or play with it, we figured it would just be something that makes noise, lights up, and is electronic that may hold his attention when he has to sit somewhere (like at dinner waiting for food).  We "tested" it on him the day we got it and he grabbed it and laid down next to his daddy on his tummy and started playing with it! It was too cute!

Another of his favorite things lately is taking his OWN shower!  It started with him showering with me in the mornings, and then once the temperature started dropping, I didn't want him running around naked while I got myself dressed, so I left him in the shower on his own to stay warm. Now he LOVES it!  He practically kicks me out of the shower before I am done! lol!  Goofy kid :)

He is growing so much!  He is so smart and understands so much! He does sign language for "more", "eat", "thank you", "help", "bye-bye", "milk", and "all done".  He waves bye bye to everyone, and night night to his daddy when I go to lay him down at night :) His stranger anxiety seems to be easing up a lot lately too!  He may be stubborn and frustrating at times but he is our perfect little boy and we wouldn't trade him for anything in this world!!!!

Rummage Sale-ing

I LOVE thrift shopping and finding bargains any way/where I can! I go to Goodwill and Dollar Tree all the time. A small town out here was having a rummage sale to benefit their volunteer fire department, so I drug Koleton out there to go "shopping". We met Brad's parents there since they lived literally up the road from the sale. I found some good stuff for crafting, and then I let Koleton run around outside for a bit with his grandparents.  They played, he went on the swing by himself, then I swung with him and he started falling asleep. It was a good day!

 Just running around :)

 "Playing" with his shadow

 Trying to get around Grandma lol

 Talking with Grandpa

Swinging away with his oatmeal cookie!

He had a good time (and looked so cute if I do say so myself lol)  We went to Goodwill the other day and while we were walking around he spotted a keyboard and he HAD to have it! He pointed and whined and pointed and grunted lol I gave it to him and turned it on and it had working batteries! We walked through Goodwill listening to some pre-recorded songs accompanied by Mr. Koleton himself! Honestly, if people minded, I didn't care lol My boy was happy and having fun!  He even played with it the whole way home.

Look at that face!! That is the face of one happy little boy! And yes, I realize the keyboard is pink... but he doesn't yet know that pink is "for"girls and blue is "for" boys.  We are trying not to gender-ize things too much for him yet.  The girls I was watching left a doll stroller over here... and it is one of his favorite things to push around! Brad is wanting to make him a kitchen out of an old entertainment center (assuming we can find one that will work!). We are really trying to not get caught up in little things like "girls'" or "boys'" yet, so long as he is happy and healthy, we are happy!

Dinner Out

We generally try to go out on family dates on Saturdays. It usually ends up being a late lunch/early dinner deal, which is nice since we beat the crowds.  This last Saturday was no different! We went to Golden Corral "early" for dinner, or so we thought! It was pretty busy when we got there. Normally I send Brad to get some food for himself and Koleton. Well, he came back without Koleton's most FAVORITE food... mashed potatoes!!! They were out! Blasphemy! He did manage to scrounge up some other food the kid will eat (I mean, he really isn't TOO picky lol).  Eventually, they whipped up some potatoes and Koleton ate a bowl and a half of them!!! The only thing he possibly loves more than "Crushed Idaho's" as we have to call them around here as "code" would be broccoli! Grilled chicken (a la George Foreman), broccoli, and mashed potatoes would have to be his most favorite meal to date :)

At the Golden Corral here they have a chocolate fountain now! I went and got some marshmallows, pineapple, and strawberries and covered them in chocolate, YUM! Of course Koleton wanted in on the chocolate goods, so I gave him a marshmallow on a skewer and he went to town!

Brad started freaking out because Koleton was such a mess while eating. I told him "Let him! When else in his life will he get to eat like this and make such a mess without people staring?" lol I figure, he will clean up and if he is happy and not hurting himself or anyone else... why not?!

P.S. He dropped the marshmallow on the floor... he just indulged in the chocolate ;)

Wordless Wednesday

The Park

Today we finally got out of the house for a little bit and went to play at the park with some of our friends.  I realized when we got there that this was the first time Koleton has been to a park since he has been walking!  At first he was being shy and didn't really know what to do, but then he took off! He was standing on some of the "baby" equipment that is lower to the ground, walking in the sand (like a PRO), climbing the stairs to get up onto the bigger equipment, and just running around like a madman! haha!  He kept trying to run into the street, so I had to keep redirecting him. That became a lot easier once I showed him the birds! He chased those pigeons down! haha He ran after them for the majority of our time there! When they would fly away to another side of the park, he'd run over to them and chase them there :) My boy loves animals!!! He also went down the slide a couple times (with me holding 1 hand) and LOVED it :) He tried climbing back up, but that didn't work out so well!  I wish I would have gotten some pictures, but I didn't even think about it I was so busy trying to keep him from running into the street or falling off the equipment! He had a blast though! Next time for sure I will snap some pictures :)

Scariest Night of My Life!

1 week ago today, Koleton gave us the biggest scare of our lives.  It was a normal day, I had the girls I was babysitting, Koleton was running around playing all day, he wasn't acting sick at all.  When he woke up from his nap around 5:15PM he felt a little warm. I took his temperature and it was 101.5. Not too high. I also wondered if maybe his room was hot or something and that was why he felt warm since he was eating fine and had been running around all day.  We had dinner and he ate like normal, but he still had a fever. After dinner he was acting kind of lethargic, which is normal when he has a fever.

Brad and I both are thermometer addicts of sorts. When Koleton has a fever, we are constantly checking it, and not just in 1 ear, but both ears (just to be sure).  Around 7 we took it again and he was at 102.5.  I always figured that a fever is your body's way of fighting something off.  Unless he would get above 103, or he couldn't sleep, I try not to give him anything for the fever so his little body can do what it is supposed to do.  I've heard other parents say they let their kids have a fever up to 105!!! I wouldn't do that! 103, to me, is a high temperature and is nearing the "dangerous" temps so that is when I will give him some Ibuprofen to bring it back down.

102.5 degrees. That is manageable! Brad started running him a bath hoping to help bring it down a little.  Koleton was in my lap and looked like he was falling asleep. I turned him around and he laid his head on my shoulder. He is not the most cuddly child, nor does he just fall asleep anywhere...ever. I knew he didn't feel well now! I sat on the couch and started kind of rocking him. He  just laid there, head on my shoulder, and started falling asleep. Brad let the water out of the tub since he was so sleepy.  Normally since Koleton LOVES his bed so much, I would go lay him down and let him sleep.  Maybe it was because I hadn't given him anything for his fever and I wanted to watch him, maybe it was because I was loving him cuddling with me. For some reason, rather than putting him in his bed, I moved to the rocking chair and just rocked him while he slept.

After a few minutes, his leg started twitching. For a second I thought it was him falling asleep and his nerves getting out their last energy, but it kept shaking. Then his head shot up off my chest and his whole body started convulsing. I told Brad, "I think he is having a seizure!" I laid him on the floor at my feet, Brad put him on his side and held his tongue in his mouth while I went to get my phone. Well these fancy phones we have now are nice, but not when I couldn't get out of the game that was on the screen to get to the actual phone part to call 911.  Of course it didn't help that I was panicked because my baby was laying on the floor having a seizure!  Brad took the phone from me and called 911.  While he was on the phone with them, I knew they were sending an ambulance and I knew we were going to the hospital. I rounded up the dog and put him in the back yard, went and opened the gate so the EMT's could get in, made sure the dog had water and looked around the house for anything else that needed to be done before we left. I am admittedly not good in high stress situations, but I knew I couldn't just sit there and cry over my son... it wasn't going to do anyone any good, and if I stopped doing things, that was what I did - cry.

Brad hung up with 911, Koleton had stopped seizing but was still completely stiff and was moaning. "unhhh unhhh unhhh unhhh" very rhythmic and kind of short moans.  His eyes went from open back to closed. We didn't know if we were supposed to keep him awake or not and the ambulance wasn't here yet, so Brad called 911 back.  The EMT's got here pretty quick after he called 911 back, and by then Koleton had stopped moaning and was starting to come to.  They came in and we told them he had woke up with a fever then had a seizure. "Yep, that's what caused it" they said.  I had heard of febrile seizures before, and I knew they weren't serious but when it was happening, all of that "knowledge" went out the window. All I knew was that there was something wrong with my baby and I didn't know what to do.  Since he was sort of coming to, they EMT's asked if we wanted them to take him to the ER, or if we wanted to drive him.  They said that he would be ok if we drove him, so that is what we did.

We had him in just a diaper (by their recommendation) to help with his fever and we loaded him up and went straight to the hospital.  The whole way there, I sat in the back with him and he was still out of it. His eyes were open and he was looking around, but he wasn't looking AT anything. It was kind of like when newborns look "at" you, but they don't really see you. His eyes weren't focusing on anything until we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and he looked at me.

We went in, filled out the paperwork and took a seat.  We waited. And waited. And waited more. Poor Koleton (obviously) didn't feel well and was getting fussy so we walked him around the waiting room.  They kept calling people back, but we still were there waiting.  After we were there for about 45 minutes, another mom came in with her daughter who was about 5-6yrs old.  She seemed clingy to her mom, but she definitely did not seem any more sick than Koleton was.  She and her mom sat and read books while they waited.  After another 45 minutes (total time waiting so far 1.5 hours or so), that mom and her daughter got called back. WHAT???!?!?!?!?! My 1 year old son had a seizure from his fever, and we are waiting for almost 2 hours and they are calling back people who came in AFTER us?

Brad went up to the counter and asked why we are still waiting and that girl got called back first. The lady at the counter told us she has nothing to do with that but the nurses choose who is in the most "need" and take them in that order.  So, since Koleton isn't a "priority" to them, why are we even sitting here waiting? Koleton doesn't have insurance right now since Brad just switched jobs (we will have it Oct. 1), but we were willing to pay whatever bill we were going to receive, since Koleton is OUR number 1 priority! I had Brad call a nurse hotline we have out here to see if they thought it was worth us waiting for us to be the hospital's "priority".  They said that febrile seizures weren't life threatening, but they couldn't tell us to stay or go.  I told Brad we should just go home and I will take him to his Dr. in the morning.  It was so ridiculous! I was LIVID, Brad and I both were.

We woke up bright and early and headed to his doctor.  We waited less time there, without an appointment mind you, then we did at the ER (frustrating!).  They checked his ears and said he had an ear infection which is likely what caused his fever.  Now, Koleton has pretty good stranger anxiety, but his doctor anxiety is even worse than that! As soon as they TOUCH him he screams. I always wonder if there is more to seeing his "ear infections" than a red ear drum, since him screaming and crying will also turn his ear drums red (so says his dr!).  I figured something caused the fever anyway, and I did NOT want to go through that again so antibiotic prescription? Yes, please!

Because Koleton was out of it for so long after his seizure (he seized for about 1.5 minutes, laid there moaning and 'asleep' for a few minutes after that, then was out of it for like 8 minutes after he 'came to') they recommended we see a neurologist.  I don't think anything is wrong with him (neurologically speaking ;) lol) but I figure, it is better to be safe than sorry!  The poor kid had to get more blood work done and apparently he is a "hard stick". Even when they find a vein, they are so small once they get the blood going, it stops before they get "enough". Well, that's what happened at his 1yr appt for his standard blood work.  They said they got enough this time though.  He also had to get a catheter put in for a urine sample. Poor kid! It was funny though cause once they got the catheter and started putting it in, he peed all over the nurses! lol They weren't quick enough to grab the cup and catch it though (she kept trying to put the catheter in further, as if that would catch all his urine? I don't know lol). She finally (about when he was done) grabbed the cup and caught a little. I don't think they got enough for any test really, but I haven't heard back so I assume all was ok with those tests :)

We go the neurologist on the 13th of October.  Like I said, I am sure everything is fine, but I'd rather just check to make sure all is good.  I am no longer watching the girls here (they got into a daycare center that they were on the waiting list for) so I'll be able to take him and to any follow up appointments without having to worry about anyone else!

I will for sure keep everyone updated on what the neurologist says! Thankfully now, Koleton is back to normal :) He never got a fever back after that night.  Minus the "tummy troubles" from his antibiotics, he is his normal self - running around, chasing the cat, giving his puppy chair lovin' ;)  I even caught him kissing himself in the mirror this morning! haha!  I am so grateful to have such a wonderful boy, and even more grateful that this whole episode was not any worse than it was!

My oh my!

We have been so busy lately! I haven't had time to do most of my "normal" things!  I recently started watching a couple little girls (1 and 2yrs) during the week.  Between planning crafts and keeping the house clean, on top of taking care of Koleton and Brad (hehe), it does leave much time!  Things are going well though! Koleton doesn't really much care for the 1 year old little girl. In fact, he cries if she even touches him! He runs if she is heading his way lol The first day they were here, she scratched his face... I think that may be why? He wants NOTHING to do with her! lol She, of course, is absolutely in LOVE with Koleton! haha He is also having a hard time with sharing his Mommy :( Now he has to share all of his toys AND time with me.  He does not appreciate that at all! It seems to be easing up a little though. Thank goodness :) This is also supposed to be a temporary "gig" so hopefully it won't last too long OR he gets over it soon.

The poor kiddo was sick all last week too :( He had a fever from Tuesday night until Friday night ranging from 100-104! No other symptoms, he was eating normally and running around when his fever was down.  He was more tired and whiny, so I figure it was a virus of some sort. Luckily the mom I babysit for now works in a doctor's office. Since I couldn't leave to take him to the dr, she had her doctor call in a prescription for amoxicillin for him. I was so grateful! I wasn't sure if it was his ears or a virus, so since I couldn't get him to the dr I figured it was better to cover all bases :)

I've been so busy, but here are a few pictures of my little stinky boy (no, he doesn't really stink, it's just what I call him lol) I need to get the camera out more often, but as soon as he sees the red light or hears the "ding" he comes running so pictures are almost impossible these days! lol

 He was telling me something VERY important... waving his arm around to get his point across! lol

 Here he is rockin' the shirt I made him :)

He was cold after getting washed off from eating, so I wrapped his blankie around him to keep him warm lol He actually kept it on for a while! Well, until it fell off anyway ;)

Wordless Wednesday

First Haircut!

So we finally decided it was time to cut Koleton's hair.  Time for him to become our "big boy" and leave "baby Koleton" behind.  There is a kid's salon out here that does a certificate, a picture and a baggie with their hair for kids' first haircut so we decided to take him there, especially since we had heard great things about them!  I had heard though, that they just stuff the hair in the baggie so before we left I cut one of his baby curls, taped it to a paper and put it in a ziploc bag so we'd have that :)  We got there and the place looked fun! They have play structures for the kids and different kid "chairs" like a police car, an airplane and a barbie car.  Well, we all know about Koleton's stranger anxiety! We tried to be prepared... I put his favorite VeggieTales songs on my phone, we both were calm and not worried about him freaking out, we let him play for a few minutes before we were ready to do the cutting.  As soon as the cape went on, it didn't matter how loud VeggieTales was or how calm Brad and I were! All that mattered to Koleton was that some lady he did NOT know was touching him! We had to move from the police car to a regular seat with Koleton in my lap.  There were lots of tears, screams, and it took both Brad and I at times to hold him down! After a few minutes though, all was done, his hair was gone and our BIG boy emerged!

 The beginning

 See how red he is here??? Poor kid did NOT want her touching him! lol

 Telling us how HORRIBLE it all was!

 Look at that face!

 He actually liked the Barbie car hahaha

 Checking out the airplane

All smiles at dinner after the "traumatic" experience! 

All in all, it wasn't SO bad! We wanted just to spike his hair up and that is what we told the lady.  She asked if she could style it in a faux hawk. I said that was fine. She slathered him in gel and got it all "hawked" up lol We changed his shirt and then she came back up to him, scissors in hand and cut MORE from the front of his faux hawk! We didn't think much of it until later when we got home.  First I realized that the back was in a straight line and not blended like I had asked. To me it looked like she traced a line and cut his hair along that line. I didn't like it at all! So I asked Brad to get his beard trimmer, with the guard on and just shave the very bottom so it would be more blended.  Koleton held still, he didn't even mind that Brad was shaving his head! After 2 swipes of the trimmer, the guard fell off and Brad didn't notice and kept shaving! Bzzzzz! Oops! Now Koleton has a little bald spot on the back of his head! I still think it looks better, bald spot and all, after he blended the back!  The next day after we washed his hair we realized how SHORT the front was!  That extra snip snip she did after he was DONE with his haircut? Made the front so short! If you look at the pictures of his hawk, you can see how much shorter the front is!  It's ok though...He is still adorable! His hair just takes a little more styling than we had originally planned. Overall I suppose we ended up with a handsome young man and a funny story to boot! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Puppy Love

Nothing comes between a boy and his dog!

 Playing cars with Walter (if you look closely you can see Walter sticking his tongue out! haha)

 KISSES!!!!!

Walter checking Koleton's diaper situation maybe? haha

Mr. Clean

My little helper, Koleton! He loves to help me clean! He loves the vacuum, the broom, the mop, the duster, all of it! Most of the time I will let him help me vacuum after I get done for a minute or two and today he helped me dust.  He wanted the Swiffer duster, so I gave it to him, took his hand and showed him how to use it and off he went! He was doing a really good job too! (Until he decided to dust Walter's water dish... that just turned into a big wet mess! lol) Here he is!

 Clean away, my son!

 He's doing a really good job!

 Yuck! So dirty! 

He even dusted the opening on the diaper box covering Brad's computer! lol 

Popsicles!

Koleton's new favorite treat is a nice cold popsicle! We found him these somewhat "mini" popsicles that are pretty soft (as in the melt nicely and break easily when you bite them if that makes sense). They come in 6 different flavors in the box and he LOVES them! He will sit in his high chair or walk around the house until it is gone! He holds it perfectly and is so cute eating them! Here are some pics of him devouring his dessert yesterday.

Wordless Wednesday

Stranger Anxiety

While he hasn't been professionally diagnosed, I think Koleton has severe stranger anxiety.  He never really has liked many people other than Brad and myself.  He goes through stages where sometimes it is worse than others and right now seems to be a worse time :(  We were paying for groceries the other day and he was a little bit away from me so they could fill up the cart.  Normally he is ok with that, especially because he can see me and I try to give him something to occupy him.  Well the lady bagging our groceries just thought Koleton was the cutest thing (which he is of course!) and kept talking to him and rubbing his arm and he just burst out almost screaming.  Then the lady tries to console him... all the while I'm just thinking "lady, you are the reason he is crying!" haha Even with people he knows like his grandparents out here, it takes him a while to warm up to them, if he ever does.  He swats people away, kicks his feet if they talk to him, and kind of tries to "disappear" by pushing himself back against something away from whoever it is he doesn't know.  I feel bad for him, but I know (or I don't think anyway) that it is anything serious or that I should really be worried about...yet.  We've always known him to be "calculating" and a perfectionist.  He has to study things before he will try them and even then he won't do them until he has "perfected" them.  This seems to relate to how he is with other people.

 I have started taking him to the play area at the mall every day to get him out around other people, and, well, just out of the house.  At first when we started going a couple weeks ago, he was really shy about it.  He would take one step away from me, then come back, then two steps and back and so on until he felt comfortable enough to go play.  Now he almost climbs out of his stroller to go play as soon as we get there!  I always tell him to go play and make some new friends and he runs off.  You can see him watching the other kids and wanting to play with them but most of the time they are a little older than him and are up climbing and going down the slide, which he doesn't do yet.  I figure that by watching the other kids playing he will also be learning how to do things (Mr. Calculation himself).

 Yep, I climbed up here all by myself!!!

And Mama put me in the slide for a picture... I haven't gone down it yet.

While he does have stranger anxiety, separation anxiety doesn't seem to be a real problem! ha! You'd think with how shy he is and how much he doesn't like people he doesn't know that he would stick close to me or at least where he can see me, but every chance he gets he tries to escape the play area! He is quick too! He runs out and towards one of the stores! lol At first I though, heck, he won't go far, then he didn't come back! I looked and he was FAR away running! lol Little stinker!

Here he is playing at the mall.  You can see him looking at some girls that were there and I think he was wanting to tell them to stop yelling! lol 

Koleton is so stinkin' smart! (I'm sure every mom thinks their kid is the smartest there ever was ;) ).  Whenever we get home I tell him "Let's go let Walter out to go potty" and he walks right into our bedroom and up to Walter's kennel to let him out.  Then he walks with him to put him outside!  He helps me put Walter in his bed before we leave anywhere too.  He knows when we give him his blankie that it is bedtime and he wants me to pick him up and wait for his milk to warm up.  Today at the mall I was giving him some Gerber fruit melt things (his favorites) and I asked him if he wanted more and signed "more".  It is similar to clapping but you touch all of your fingertips together on each hand, then touch them to the other hand (kind of hard to describe lol). I have been trying to get him to do sign language for a long time since he always seems to get so frustrated when he something doesn't seem to go his way.  Well, low and behold, he walks up to me with 1 hand in a fist "clapping" with his other hand! He was saying more!!!  I was so excited!  I know he wasn't just clapping because later he clapped with both hands open, then closed the one fist and clapped again, all the while watching his hands. It was like he was so proud of himself!  He had signed milk as well a month or so ago, but just for a couple of days and hasn't done it since.

He seems to get bored "showing off" his new "tricks" lol I asked him yesterday where his belly was, and both hands went flat up against his belly.  He did it a couple of times, then I asked him again and he just gave me this look like "Mama. Seriously? I showed you twice already! If you don't remember where my belly is, I'm not showing you again!" haha!!! We also played ring around the rosie yesterday and he loved it! He holds my hands and walks in a circle and I help him "fall" down and he just laughs and laughs!  He is such a silly boy sometimes.  Shy, outgoing, smart, however he is and whoever he becomes we couldn't love him anymore and wouldn't love him any less!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

I've seen a few "Wordless Wednesday"s on other blogs and thought I'd give it a try.
Future Wednesdays will truly be "wordless"!!!

My sweet, sweet boy!

My little man has become quite the sweet little boy lately! I mean, he has always been "sweet", but now he is actually starting to show affection.  He decided last Wednesday that he could walk on his own without any help (by the way... he is officially a walker!!!!!!!) and hasn't stopped going since! He will be running around the house in circles (his favorite thing to do lol) and if I hold my arms out like for a hug, he comes running up laughing and gives me a hug! It is the sweetest thing!  He also is giving out a lot more kisses! Those were a rare thing to come across! He would just look at me like I was crazy when I would ask for a kiss, but now I get that look a little less and even get a kiss here and there!

Today we were reading an animal book (a touch and feel book that are his favorites) and we were saying the animals and petting them and learning their sounds, etc.  I told him "give the puppy a kiss" and he leaned right down to his book and kissed the puppy! Then the kitty, then the bunny! It was so stinking cute! I hope he stays this sweet or keeps getting sweeter and sweeter!!! He is such a good boy! We are so lucky! :)

Bedtime Laughs

Since Koleton turned 1 year, we no longer use bottles. He got some new sippy cups for his birthday and they have since replaced his bottles.  Before he goes to bed or down for a nap, I still give him his milk and rock him to "sleep". That is next to go lol It is much rarer now that he falls asleep with me and I have to go lay him down.  Now he gets his milk, rocks for a few minutes, and I go lay him down to fall asleep in his bed.  Lately, he has been "needing" a laugh before bedtime haha  It started with him taking his paci out and trying to give it to me, while laughing! His laugh is so contagious! I really tried to hold it in, but I couldn't do it! Next thing I knew, we were both just laughing at each other for no real reason lol We laughed for a bit, then I went and laid him down and he went right to sleep.  Now I will tickle his foot by kissing it (I think that the pulling of his leg upwards actually kind of tickles him because it doesn't have the same effect unless I pull his leg up lol.  He even, now, just lifts his leg toward me waiting for me to tickle him! His favorite FAVORITE thing to do now is to pick my nose. Yes, you read correctly, my son thinks it is funny to pick my nose!!! He was trying to get his finger into my mouth for me to "bite" but I closed it so he couldn't get it in...then his finger wandered up my face and found itself in my nose! I looked at him and said "Hey! Pick your own nose!!!" lol Now he thinks that is the funniest thing ever! He takes his middle finger (of course) and puts it in my nose and just waits for me to say something! I have tried ignoring it... like it isn't a big deal that his finger is in my nose. That doesn't last very long! It's almost like I can sense his anticipation waiting for me to tell him to get his finger out of my nose added to the fact that it is actually IN my nose! I start cracking up and then so does he :) We go on for a few minutes and then he goes to bed :)  I love that we can do that and have that little silly time together and still he goes to sleep without too much trouble! I love my silly son!!!!

Superhero Night

Chick-fil-a out here had a Superhero and Princess night last week.  They had cows dress up like a princess and a superhero and had other characters in costume for the kids to get pictures with.  Lots of fun things for kids to do like a video game trailer and, of course, some inflatable bounce houses.  Koleton is too young to really get into any of these things, and too shy to care about the characters, or so we thought.  Mr. anti-social himself actually didn't cry when the cows came by our table, and he actually gave Mario (from Super Mario Bros.) a high five!!! The reason we went (other than to get out and about) was because if your child was dressed as either a superhero or a princess, they got a free kids meal! Well since Koleton has no superhero gear, I had to throw together a quick cape for him. He became "Super Koleton"! haha It's not the best work ever, but I think it turned out super cute, and Koleton looked adorable, of course!

 Here he is trying out the cape at home... a shot from the back

The finished "superhero"! Complete with cape, "goggles", and Super Grover t-shirt!