Our poor boy is sick. When we got him out of bed yesterday morning he was warm to the touch. He quickly worsened through the day as his temperature increased (roughly 102.5). He was fussy and not himself at all. He went to bed early and although he slept through the night, it was a restless sleep. We went in at 3am to check him (and ended up waking him). It did provide us opportunity to give him another dose of Tylenol, then nursed him back to sleep. He slept until almost 6am, then in to bed with us until almost 8am.

So glad it’s Friday! It’s been a good, but long week. Doodle continues growing and he is starting to make some associations between things. When he’s hungry, he is beginning to pitch a fit when putting on his shoes and socks – like he knows we’re leaving the house. He also takes the remote control and pushes the buttons, then looks to see changed on the TV. What a smart boy!

There are so many things that are so “essentially Doodle” that I think about and want to note so I don’t forget them in my old age…
– when nursing, he lifts his “outside” arm up straight in the air
– LOVES hair (always wants to pull it or run his fingers through it)
– in his carseat, when he gets bored he ranks hard (and repeatedly) on his moose
– LOVES the song “Old McDonald” – sung by Daddy. At times we’ve sung this song through the alphabet (ants, beatles, cats) in order to soothe him while on the road.
– while climbing the stairs, when he gets to the top he immediately races for the gate and pushes it shut
–

On another (paranoid mom) note, he does have some behaviors that concern me. His repetitive movements are extending in time. For example – if he has two items (a sock and a binky for example), he will pick up the sock and place it on his left, then pick up the binky and place it on his left. Then pick up the sock and place it on his right, then pick up the binky and place it on his right. And back and forth – for upwards of an hour. He doesn’t really appear to even know I’m sitting there, and doesn’t get “bored” and move on to other things – just continues until I distract him. He has also begun this with a drawer in the kitchen (opening and closing).

On a personal note, I’m beginning to look for opportunities to do other things. I feel my brain going to mush (!) and would like to start a business or something. However, at this point I haven’t even figured out how to go to the gy with him…so a business is out of the question at this point!

Overall, I’m so in love with my son that it’s undescribable. He’s an angel!

Our first blog about Cole (aka Doodle). We’ve been meaning to do this for some time now (he’s 11 months – I’m a little slow), but the first Sunday of the new year is a good time to start.

The day began at 3am with Doodle AWAKE – we tried the cry-it-out, then brought him in to our bed…nope – just playtime! We took turns with him. In reviewing the past week or so, it seems that he has been growing/developing like crazy and has hit the point that there is simply SO much to see and do that he can’t be bothered with sleep.

So far this week, Doodle has…
– learned to go down stairs (crawls up to them, turns around and slides down)
– walking behind a “walker”
– a lot more cruising
– brief periods of standing on his own (until he realizes – then he drops!)
– learned to wave goodbye

These are all the “great” things he is doing in his progress. Unfortunately, there are also downsides…like sleep. Used to be he’d let me nurse him to sleep in bed. That stopped in dramatic fashion. Now he MUST be in his rocking chair. I’ve yet to move from the chair without waking him (with no hope of returning to sleep). So – once I thankfully get him to sleep – I’m stuck in the nursery rocking chair until he wakes. He’s also trying to drop his afternoon nap. It continues to get later and later (some days he doesn’t fall asleep until 5pm…a bit late when bath time is 6:30pm!) Needless to say, Mom’s anxiety is increasing –

He is, however, our precious boy whom we love madly.