11 Months Old!!

I can't believe we are so close to Cohen's first birthday! This past month has been so awesome with Cohen.

- He has finally got the hang of crawling, and now he loves chasing a ball all over the living room
- He has 6 cute little teeth that we brush every day with his own toothbrush
- His absolute favorite thing to do is run up and down the hallway with one of us holding his hands.
- He also loves dropping things and bending down and picking them up while still standing. He will just stand there dropping something over and over just so he can pick it up again.
- His favorite thing to eat is frozen blueberries. I will fill a muffin liner with them, and he will eat them by the handful until every single one is gone. Blueberries are the only food that he doesn't throw on the floor.
- He pretty much eats whatever we eat now. Some things he has tried and liked this month: scrambled eggs, frozen yogurt, liver pate, rye bread, garlic fingers, pizza, kale, corn on the cob. He loves it all. It seems like he is never ever full. He eats a lot.
- He still isn't saying much other than dada, but his baby talk is getting way more animated.
- He loves to wave, and gets really excited when someone waves back at him
- Still sleeping through the night, from around 7:30 pm to 6:30 am
- I breastfeed once in the morning and once in the evening now. Thinking about phasing the evening feed out really soon.
- Jon and I talk about how lucky we are to have such an amazing little guy at least once a day. I feel so fulfilled by my little family of three.

Cohen's Last Teaching Day

Cohen and I went to the elementary school this morning for his very last teaching day! It was in the gym with the two other anti-bullying babies and all the grade three students in the school.

The kids all sang while we walked in, then the babes were all meant to sit in the middle for questions. Well, Cohen insisted on walking around (while holding my hands) the whole time, and one of the other babes crawled after us. They put on quite a show.

The three babies are all born around the same time. This guy, Freddy, backed right up and sat in Cohen's lap. Cohen didn't seem to mind. So cute. The kids asked how many teeth each baby had. Cohen won with his six teeth, which the kids figured was because of his parents' profession. The kids also asked what size shoes that the babes wear. I have no idea. Tiny? Baby sized? one kids got up and said what moments with the babies were their favorite. The kids from our class said their favorite was the time that Cohen held hands with the doll and thought the doll was his girlfriend. So Cute!

Then all the kids were offered a cupcake, including the babies. Cohen dove into his like he had never tasted sugar before (which is pretty much true). The other babies were not so interested. Cohen was a sticky mess in minutes. He also insisted on wearing only the one shoe. The kids were commenting on how messy his hair is. Basically, he is just a total mess all the time. Love him.

The kids gave him homemade cards and a new outfit. The whole event almost brought tears to my eyes. There is nothing better for me than seeing Cohen interacting with other kids and babies, and seeming so happy and content. Thank you grade three students!!

PS: The first class, third class, fourth class.

Some recent cuteness and firsts

(digging in to a care package from auntie Krys) 

(baby's first hot dog. he loved it) 

(baby's first creamer. he loved it more than hot dogs) 

(in heaven with the creamer) 

(baby's first ice cream. he loved the banana flavour) 

(baby's first outdoor bath)

A sunday hike

It was finally nice enough to do a little hike the other day. We did this same hike back when Cohen was just a few months old. Looking at those pictures, I can't believe how big Cohen is. I am really loving this stage, which I guess is what I have been saying at every stage.

We are now using the happy trails carrier from MEC. We love it. It is really light, and relatively inexpensive compared to other carriers we considered.

The carrier must be comfortable, because Cohen was shrieking with happiness for the first 45 minutes straight. He seemed so happy to be up and able to look around. There is absolutely nothing better for Jon and I than to see Cohen so happy, especially doing something we love to do.

We stopped at the top of the mountain for a little snack. I love that he can eat whatever we eat now.

The last half hour or so of the hike, Cohen fell fast asleep. That carrier must be pretty comfortable. I love that little baby so much. Look at those sweet eyelashes. And that fluffy baby hair! Anyway, I am really looking forward to doing a lot of hiking this summer.

Back from vacation

We just got back from a little family work/pleasure vacation. Jon and I had a course in Toronto on Friday, and my grandmother turned 80 on Saturday. 80! We decided to extend our work trip a few days so we could celebrate with family.

Cohen was so amazing during the whole entire trip. I was a little worried about the flight, since it was way longer than any of the flights he has taken before (3.5 hours or so). We got lucky on the way there and had a flight that was pretty empty. We had three seats to ourselves, which was the best.

Cohen was able to stretch out and snooze for a while. Note that he is a total mess. We found that the best way to keep him occupied was to bring out snacks every hour or so. At 10 months, I find he is too young to be interested in watching a movie or playing with any toy or game for longer than ten minutes. He ate abut a million of those little artificially flavoured puffed rice things made especially for babies.

One of the best parts about traveling with a baby is you never have to wait in line to go through security. They just whisk you off to the front of the line. It's the best. Thank you Coco.