The Baby

Meet "The Baby."

I bought Cohen a play doll. Don't worry, I'm not trying to make him "soft," as David would say. Cohen is obsessed with real-life babies, but he can get pretty rough with them. It got to the point where he was hitting babies on the head, grabbing at their limbs and hugging so hard I'd have to pry him off. He was even hitting pictures of babies that I showed him. I knew he needed to practice gentle touch. Within a day of getting "The Baby," Cohen showed so much improvement. He LOVES his baby. We've had fun practicing putting the baby down for nap time (Cohen always does the "sshhh" noise), putting the baby's hat on, rocking the baby, holding the baby, etc. Every morning, we wake the baby up together. I looked over to Cohen on the couch the other day, and he gave the baby the sweetest kiss and gentle hug. He is going to be such a good big brother!


The summer heat is getting brutal. It has been in the 100s this past week, and it is hard to stay cool. I try to find fun indoor activities for Cohen, but his favorite place is still outside. We went to the pool this weekend, but it was like playing in bath water it was so warm. David took Cohen to the park this morning, and afterward, he enjoyed running around in Finn's sprinkler (naked in the front yard). Now that Cohen is getting older, he and Finn have become such good buddies. It is fun watching the two of them play.

What a Week

Can you believe this sweet little angel face was in the hospital on Tuesday?

Poor Cohen. He was up all night Monday with a terrible case of croup and stridor. I took him to the doctor first thing Tuesday morning - She didn't want to scare me, but I heard the words, "almost panic mode." After receiving treatment there, we immediately headed for the hospital, where we stayed for 24 hours. I think Cohen is going to be traumatized by people in scrubs for a while. He handled the stay relatively well for a 19-month old - he even had to get an IV. Poor little guy! It killed me. By Wednesday morning, he put my shoes on my feet and dragged me to the door. He proceeded to walk up and down the halls waving and saying, "bye" to everyone. He was ready to go!

As you can see, Cohen had made a full recovery by Saturday. He loves making "funny faces" - basically sticking his tongue out.

We are having a lot of fun on our new back porch. Since Cohen loves being outdoors, it was great to have the porch when it rained this weekend.

Cohen got a new basketball hoop on Saturday. We also got him a tee ball set (What? He totally deserved both after the terrible week!).


Look at that dunk! Thank goodness our baby is healthy again.

More July 4th Pictures

Some more pictures of our fun in Jax...

Cohen relaxed on the raft in the pool after a long day at the beach.

He loved jumping into the pool with David, by himself and getting thrown around.



We celebrated my birthday while we were home. Here's the cute cake my mom and Aunt Margaret made. YUM!

Cohen loved singing "Happy Birthday" - he thought it was for him.

We also got to see Uncle Gardner, who was home from school.

We also saw little Aiston and Connor on Saturday. Cohen and Ace chatted it up at dinner at Al's.

The Big 3-0

Today marks the beginning of a new decade for me. I honestly never thought I would be in my 30s - it seemed way too far off, but time flies, and here I am. It really hasn't hit me yet, but I will wear my age with pride, knowing everything I have accomplished up to now. I am so proud to be Cohen's mom and I couldn't be happier about baby Henry, who will be here very soon! I have a feeling that the next 10 years will be the best of my life.

Just looking at this sweet face makes getting older kind of fun.

Update: David surprised me last night with an amazing birthday dinner with my close friends. I was shocked to see everyone's smiling faces when we walked into the restaurant. It was a fun night!

July 4th Weekend

Cohen got to celebrate 4th of July Jax Beach style this year. Boy, did he love it! We were home four days, and Cohen went to the beach and swam in the pool at least twice a day. He slept like a log while we were home - We had to wake him up from all of his naps and sometimes in the morning too. It was a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends.

Warning: Get ready for a ton of Cohen pictures. There are more to come too...

Cohen got to hang out with sweet Leo. They "played" for all of five seconds before Cohen was up and running around again.

Cohen still tries to catch his shadow.

There was a lot of watermelon consumed over the weekend.

Our little Sinka'

Nana, Cohen and David

Cohen loved the festive attire.

Papa, Cohen and GiGi

We got to see our other babies too. Grady didn't appreciate Cohen stealing the attention.

Cohen had so much fun playing in the pool with Papa.

More watermelon...

Cohen walking around like Julius Caesar

Grady and Cohen splashing around in the mud puddles

We had a blast...it was sad to see the party end.