♥ The Toole Family Blog ♥

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

one smart cookie... 8:32 AM

Colin is so smart! Every day he is impressing me with something new. Yesterday the new thing was pushing a car around and saying "vroom, vroom"! so cute!!! Today he took a comb and was putting it up to his hair and trying to comb his hair! The other day he learned "ut oh" and any time he drops something now he says "ut oh". He also just learned to point to his nose or teeth when i say "where's your nose" or "where's your teeth" (by the way he has no teeth!!) He was playing with Brandon's tools and he knows that you pound a hammer and that you go back and forth with a saw. He was copying the kids at art time rolling his hands around and saying "roll, roll, roll". There are so many things he does that sort of come out of nowhere and it's so cool! I just love him!

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Saturday, May 16, 2009

No pics 5:35 PM

Right now I don't have any new pictures because our computer crashed again...wahhh! But we still have the laptop, I just have not uploaded the camera software to it to get any new pictures. I thought I would do a little update on the boys since I don't have any pictures to add.

Colin just turned one and he had his one year well-baby visit. He weighed in at 20 lbs, 14 oz and is 27 1/2 inches long. He had a little ear infection, but thanks to the antibotics, he is all better now! He still has no teeth, but I see his bottom right gum is starting to look a little white, so there may be one coming in soon! Brandon didn't get any teeth until 14 months, so Colin just may beat him out. He is such a little babbler, and is starting to say a few words, including: hi, hey, dog, up, mama, dada, and ball. He waves hi and makes a cute little "ahhh" sound after he drinks something. He is still nursing, but not nearly as frequently and he is a little piggy that loves his fruits and veggies, loves carbs/bread/cereal/crackers/pancakes/did-i-say-carbs? He is a speed crawler now and can pretty much keep up with Brandon in a race. He pulls up to his knees, but still can't put weight on his feet. We are actually going to have him screened to see if he needs physical therapy to gain stregth in his legs. Other than that, he is right on target for a one year old. He is very happy and healthy!

Brandon is doing great too! We tried to do the big boy bed thing, but it turned out that he wasn't ready, and neither was mommy. After 5 nights and 4 days, the poor boy was so sleep deprived. He didn't sleep well, fell out a few times and refused to nap. It was really hard on him during the day after having sleepless nights. After doing research and reading books and talking to people, i realized that it's ok that he isn't ready. And if it means he'll sleep more, and I'll get more sleep and get more stuff done while he's sleeping, I'm ok with putting his crib up for a few more months.

His vocabulary is expanding so quickly! He is almost to the point of being able to repeat almost anything. He says a few short phrases, but mostly just still single words. His signing is really helping too, and I think it's hilarious when he tries to sign to Colin or to Daddy and Daddy isn't sure what he wants :)

We joined a new playgroup that meets 2-3 times a week and that has been fun, another thing to do to get out of the house and we have been walking frequently with our neighbor and her dog. They love going to the pool and playing in the back yard. They are in a phase where they are fighting over everything, but hey, isn't that what being a brother is all about?

All in all, they are doing great! Lots of love to our little boys!

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Big Boy Bed 6:31 PM

We decided to "just do it" and took Brandon's crib down so he could sleep in his "Big Boy Bed". It's a toddler bed that he'll sleep in until we get him a full size bed. We made a big deal about taking down his crib and talking to him about sleeping in the bed. He would get into the bed and say "night night". So when it was time for him to go to sleep, we thought it would be easy. He cried for a bit and Daddy stayed with him until he fell asleep (which only took about 5 minutes!!) He was fine until about 2am, he woke up crying and came to the door. We had to put him back in bed and he fell back asleep until 3am. This time it was much harder to get him to go back to sleep. Mommy ended up in the tiny bed with him for a few hours. The plan was to only stay in there a few minutes, but every time i moved to go out of his room, he woke up and looked at me and patted on the bed signaling for me to get back in there with him. I eventually fell asleep and woke up two hours later all cramped up. Anyways, I left and he did stay in there until 8am!

Nap time was a different story. He refused to sleep and I ended up just letting him stay up because his crying was waking Colin up from his nap. Plus he had to be ready for speech therapy to start in an hour.

The second night was a little harder (so far). He fell asleep crying at the door. I picked him up and put him back in bed and so far he is still out, but seeing him asleep at the door was just heartbreaking...

Anyways, here are a few pictures. I'm too scared to go in there to take any pictures of him asleep yet because I don't want to wake him up. Maybe in a few days I'll brave it. Hopefully he sleeps all night tonight...(we'll see!!)

Here is his bed with all of his little animal friends:

Mommy showing Brandon how to sleep in his bed:

He lays down:

He instantly sat back up...it was tough love leaving him there...

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new slide 6:24 PM

I got this slide for the boys at a swap meet for $5. I had been looking for one forever and at the store they are like $60. I was so happy to find this one. It was the best $5 I've spent in awhile! Brandon LOVES to slide. Every time we pass the park he says "SLIDE". I actually let him put the slide in the pool and go down into the water. It was REALLY hot out and we didn't care that he wasn't even in his bathing suit. He didn't seem to notice or care!

brandon's new slide

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Saturday, May 9, 2009

brandon spelling... 11:58 AM

Brandon can name every letter of the alphabet except for W and V, but we're still working on those. Anyways, he likes to go around and say what letters he sees. I caught him spelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY and got him to do it on camera a few times.

take 1

take 2

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Monday, May 4, 2009

Colin's one year pictures 9:12 AM

My favorite photographer, Brandi Bailey, took these pictures of Colin for his first birthday. She really did a great job in capturing his personality! I still have to order some, so be patient and you will get some in the mail soon, but here are my favorites, and again, there are more in the May album at webshots!

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Happy Birthday Colin! 6:42 AM

Yesterday Colin turned ONE YEAR OLD!!! We still can't believe that it's been a whole year since this:

and this:

And here is the birthday boy a whole year later!

Unfortunately he was a little under the weather on his big day, but he did manage to open a few presents and take a tiny bite of his cake. We may get him another cake next weekend, if he feels better, so he can really go to town with it.

The birthday boy with his presents, which he had more fun eating them than opening them:

Big Brother Brandon helped Colin open his presents.

Colin got lots of cards!

There were even THREE cards with the same envelope!!

Colin and Brandon share the toys.

Then it was time for the birthday boy to eat his cake. Daddy made cupcakes and they were declicious! Brandon even ate two of them. Colin just took a little bite and the rest went on the floor. If he was feeling better, he may have eaten the whole thing!!