Meltdown!

Cole is becoming more independent and as a result we are seeing more tantrums and naughty-ish behaviors. This sucks since I have no idea how to discipline a toddler. Last week he had a doozy of a breakdown at Whole Foods so strapped him in his stroller and raced out, hoping he would get over it on our walk home.  We figured after a block, maybe two, he would calm down and be fine. He was a fighter on this one. He looked like this for the entire walk and we definitely got some looks from other walkers. What you can't see from the picture is how much he is sweating, snotting and drooling -  he was literally spitting mad. But we held strong and just ignored him...when we got home he immediately recovered and was sweet little Cole again. Lucky us, looks like he has a temper AND is stubborn.

BFF Breakup

Since Kristin is now home with the kids all the time (due to her second stint of unemployment), I can tell Cole is starting to like her more. I can't tell you how disappointed I am. I may have to get myself laid off too. I know on a level playing field I can beat out Kristin. I'm funnier, stronger (so I can throw Cole around), and lax on the "rules."  Let me know if anyone knows of any job openings, so we can get Kristin back to work and I can get my BFF back.

Otherwise, not much new here. We still find ourselves very tired and very busy. In fact, yesterday I had to make myself some Garden Veggie Cream Cheese Turkey rolls for lunch, very fancy name for cream cheese on turkey slices. But that was all we had in the fridge. Luckily it wasn't a horrible combo.

I recently set up Cole with a new drawing area. It isn't anything fancy, but we are finally able to use the roll of paper machine thingy we got from Ikea a while back. I think Kristin must be rubbing off on me or I'm still feeling the effects of Cole's major fall because I took the time to sand all sides of the board and round the corners...just in case. Not something I would normally take the time to do.

Cole continues to "like" his brother. He wants to hug and kiss him. But if Henry is touching his blanket or in his personal space, Cole is not afraid to give him a nudge and tell him to move. Similar to the way he treats Bella. We are constantly telling him, "Be Gentle!!" This adorable look was quickly followed by Cole shoving an elbow in Henry's side and telling him to "move!"

Kissing

When Kristin is home alone she has to take the boys out to the car in 2 trips, usually Cole first because Henry is safe and sound trapped in his car seat. Cole doesn't like to leave Henry behind and will try to pick up the car seat and drag it towards the door while yelling, "da baby, da baby!" As if we might leave him behind...with Bella in charge.

"Da Baby, Mama!!"

Henry's One Month Checkup

Henry had his one month doctor's appointment. We are glad to report he is a healthy (and hefty) little man. He weighed in at 12 lbs 12.5 oz, which is apparently off the charts for weight. He is currently 23 inches long (95th percentile) and although Kristin was completely convinced he had a little head, which would be something new for a Fuchs, he is in the 75th percentile for head size. He must have a big brain, which I believe is also something new for a Fuchs.

I am also glad to report he took his shot like a man. He did have a brief grimace type reaction as shown below, but he was man enough to not go on and on about it. If I remember correctly, it took Cole a while to get over it.

Waiting for the Doctor

Ouch!

Nurse completely missed the fresh hole in his leg with her band aid. There's a nice vote of confidence in your doctor's office.

All done!

Day O'Fun

Recently we purchased a kiddie swimming pool and a picnic/water/sand table for Cole (and obviously Henry when he's bigger). On Sunday, we finally had some time for a Fuchs family fun day, so we decided to set everything up. The only problem with a Fuchs family fun day is Kristin gets an automatic invite...luckily we manage to still have fun despite her rule of "safety first!"

Set up was a little difficult, the "pop-up" pool stumped both of us and Uncle Ben.  Cleanup was even worse, but Cole had a blast. After the fun was said and done he took a 3 hour nap, he rarely naps so it was definitely worth it. The one mistake we made, and I can't believe we did it, was buying play sand. Sand sucks. It gets everywhere and you can never seem to get rid of it all. Cole enjoyed shoveling the sand into the pool and his wagon, on the grass and so forth but I think from now on it will just be a water table.

The worst part of the day was when we noticed Cole filled his swim diaper, and not with pee. Next thing we knew he was squishing poo water out everywhere. Fuchs family fun day ended with Cole getting a shower under the hose, naked and screaming.

The best part was when I realized how good Cole is getting at feeding himself. He was able to sit by himself at his picnic table and shovel in his favorites of pita bread and hummus and yogurt. It's a little messy, but after dealing with the above, washing off a little food ain't no thing.

Cole's sweet setup (more fun than it looks)

Super messy, but he doesn't need help

Cole, Uncle Ben and Bella watering the plants

Cole's summer accessory of a heavy sunscreen swipe down the middle of his forehead, usually covered by a bandaid but it fell off in all his pool fun

Poor Henry just gets stuck sitting on the table but at least we pulled out the umbrella for him

Buddah Baby

I was going to put this picture on the blog as the "Weekly Picture," but decided it was too good to possibly go unnoticed. This kid is huge! All Henry wants to do is eat. I don't know how he even got this big just off of liquids! I will have to check with Kristin to make sure we didn't leave a cake or something lying around that he got into. Maybe Cole feeds him like he does the dog.

Honorable Mentions

It has been pretty tiring lately with two little ones at home. So tiring, in fact, I don’t feel like blogging much, but I do feel obligated to keep all those interested up-to-date (as I’m sure it matters to you). Below are some current events, status updates and fun tidbits.

1. I think I forgot to mention this one – A few weeks ago Cole and I were playing outside. He came running at me all excited with his hand extended. Despite our best efforts to keep our backyard clean he had found a Bella turd and had brought it to me for show and tell. Gross.
2. Hank had a vomit that rivals Cole’s poltergeist puke. As Kristin was feeding him, he launched milk a little over six feet from the bed to the window. It was impressive and far enough that we pulled out the tape measure to document.
3. Fuck I’m tired. And Kristin sleeps even less than I do. The past two nights I went to bed about midnight (I know way too late), got up at about 2:30 a.m. to feed Henry, which takes about 45 minutes, then got back up at 5:00 a.m. for another feeding. Then Cole got up at about 6:30 a.m. Wow, kids are fun.
4. We have been calling Henry “Hank the Tank.” It seems fitting as he is a fairly big baby and never stops eating. As Kristin put it, “the Tank is never full.” (Except for the incident described in #2).
5. Cole still seems to like Henry, every morning he runs into our room screaming, "da Baby!" and races over to his cradle to point to him, hug him and try to shove random pacifiers in his mouth.  We have been encouraging him to call Henry by name...so Cole calls him "Hury."
6. Cole has completely quit walking and only runs everywhere. He is driving Kristin nuts with his wild ways and every day they "almost had to go to the ER again." 
7. Cole and I were having so much fun playing last night that he vomited.
8. Kristin and I got a night off and went to Summerfest to see Edward Sharpe. The concert was only okay, but I got carded so I'm happy to say I'm young at heart AND in the face. Kristin received one of the stranger comments I've ever heard from a beer vendor. He said she looked like she could star in her own crime drama on the USA network, "...like CSI." Weird and random.

To keep with this randomness, below are some miscellaneous pics.

Kristin after projectile bombing by Henry

Henry

Henry and Uncle Ben

Cole, Bea and Etta

Favorite pastime; reading and hoarding pacifiers

Relaxing with the boys

Cole helping dress Henry