Look at How You Have Grown!

I decided it was time to record Cohen's stats for the last 15 months. It is fun for me to look back and see where he was at each stage of his life. It is amazing to see how much he has grown in such a short time!

Newborn: 5-18-09
Born at 2:07 p.m.
Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
Length: 19 3/4 in.

2 Months:
Weight: 13 lbs 5 oz (84 percentile)
Height: 23 1/4 in. (62 percentile)
Head: 15 1/2 in. (34 percentile)

4 months:
Weight: 16 lbs (72 percentile)
Height: 26 in. (84 percentile)
Head: 16 1/2 in. (39 percentile)

6 months:
Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz (65 percentile)
Height: 27 1/4 (76 percentile)
Head:17 1/4 (50 percentile)

9 months:
Weight: 20 lbs (39 percentile)
Height: 28 3/4 in. (66 percentile)
Head: 17 1/2 in. (24 percentile)

12 months:
Weight: 22 lb 5 oz (43 percentile)
Height: 30 3/4 in. (81 percentile)
Head: 18 1/4 in. (50 percentile)

15 months:
Weight: 23 lb (41 percentile)
Height: 32 1/2 in. (93 percentile)
Head: 18 1/2 in. (52 percentile)

Family Pictures...

Family pictures is not something I look forward to on a regular basis, but it is something I want to have when looking back on my life. Tyler, unfortunately, has a strong dislike for pictures. I told Tyler it was time to get a "real" family picture together. To my surprise, he agreed. Cohen is at a horrible age and I luckily have a great sister that took the pictures for me. Tyler and I seem to prepare for everything we can in life. For these pictures, we of course found the perfect locations, Legends Auto in Springville and the railroad tracks in Palmyra. We drove by each location a few days ago to scope them out. I was excited to get pictures at both locations. Well as we get to Legends Auto today (which the sign said they were closed on Saturday), we found a ton on motorcycle dudes hanging out. Dang...cross that place off my list. I thought that has just been our luck this week. Fortunately, the railroad tracks were abandon and we were able to get some fun shots there. I thought the pictures turned out great. My sister has shown me some fun editing actions that I used for the pictures. Thanks Linds for taking the pictures! We love them! Here are just a few of my favorites:

Baby Contest

I entered Cohen into the annual Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Baby Contest and found out this isn't for me. Here are the top 5 reasons why I am not ready to be a stage mom.

#5 Not my kind of competition
As I walked into the Senior Citizen Center, I looked around and saw moms dolling their kids all up. I mean I definitely dressed Cohen up cute and did his hair, but I didn't bring any extra hairspray or gel to add if needed. I am used to the competition where it is okay to be dirty once you start, but this isn't how baby contests (aka Toddlers and Tiaras) go apparently.

#4 Too Stressful
Who can handle the stress of these competitions. I am told to meet my sister there at 3:15 which is 15 minutes before it starts. I get a call at 3:00 (while I am still debating on what Cohen is going to wear) from Jamie wondering where I am. I didn't know I needed to be there an additional 15 minutes early to the 3:15 time. Once I got there, I had to register Cohen. Apparently they have a line for people like me trying to fill out their registration form while in line and a line for the true stage moms who knew to pre-register. Then I had to figure out where to go first. The paper says to see the judges first, but everyone (Stage Moms) knows you head straight for the photo op. Luckily, my sister knew the ropes and took us to see the photographer.

#3 Parents
Another reason why I can't be a stage mom is because of the parents. I saw one mom practically pinching her son trying to get him to laugh for the judges. I figure if it takes abuse to get Cohen to perform, then it is not worth it.

#2 Practice
Let's be honest. What parent has the time to practice performing for judges with their kids? I know I don't. Between taking care of the house, working full-time, and chasing Cohen, I can't take on another thing. I looked around and saw several kids who knew how to work the judges and score a 10 on personality. My little man was more worried about how to make a break for the door then batting his eyes for the judges.

#1 Adorable Child DOES NOT perform under pressure
This is the number one reason why I will not be a stage mom! Cohen is so full of it and has the craziest personality. Those qualities are the only reasons why I even entered him. I thought he will be his silly self and show the sweet judges why he should win. NO WAY! Cohen wouldn't even acknowledge the two ladies. He kept running for the exit! Maybe next year he will learn to be a performer!

...World Cup...

Up until about 2 years ago, Tyler had never seen a complete soccer game. He found the sport to be boring to watch; now, his attitude has changed completely. It all started with taking him to his first BYU soccer game to watch my cousin Lauren play. After the game, he told me that was way better than he ever expected. As these last few years have gone by, we have gone to several BYU soccer games as well as watched quite a few on T.V. We can now add soccer to our list of avid sports we watch! The World Cup has been on the last two weeks and we have loved every minute of it. We tried to find Cohen a USA jersey, but they don't make them quite that small. My little brother gave Cohen an Argentina soccer jersey that we decided to have him wear during the Argentina vs. Mexico game. It looked a little bit like a dress on him, but that is okay, right? Cohen got the biggest kick out of running around in it and celebrating the goals with us! We were really disappointed when the USA lost, but hopefully they will do better the next time around.

I had to add these pictures of Cohen and Tyler's cousin Chuck. We went swimming a few weeks ago and this was Cohen's first slide experience.

Ready...Set...Go!

Ready...Set...Go! Cohen is off and there is no stopping him now! We are so proud of our little man for learning how to walk!

If only...

Cohen was this tame all the time! Unfortunately, he is a little monster. He loves to growl and get into everything possible.

My little monster needed some nourishment a few nights ago and I offered him his favorite, milk. I accidentally referred to his bottle as juice. As soon as he heard "juice", he was gone; he wanted nothing to do with it. I even tried to get him to taste it so he could see it was milk. After a few minutes, my monster started to whimper at the fridge. I knew he wanted his milk, but he still wouldn't take the original bottle I gave him. Luckily, I am smarter, for the time being, than my little monster. I put the milk back in the fridge and pretended to get a new one. Little did my monster know, it was the same bottle as before. This time, however, he took the milk with no argument because I knew to call it milk, not juice!

The Joy of Being a Toddler

The joy of being a

TODDLER

Bundle of energy

Full speed ahead

No, no, no, time out, getting bigger

Bath time, storybooks, naptime,

I can do it, talking up a storm

I found this description of a toddler a few months ago, but didn't realize how this is the perfect description of Cohen until recently. Our crazy boy is non-stop energy. In church last week, he got away from me and was crawling down the row in front of me. Before the people in the row could grab him, he had zoomed away! The guy turned around to us and said, "Man, he is fast!" This is a comment we get daily from people! Cohen's favorite activity is to crawl and walk circles around the family room before bed time. He loves to play peek-a-boo around the couch to get your attention. His energy keeps him going until he finally runs out of batteries. At this point, he finds Tigger and goes to the kitchen for his bottle. That is our cue that he is no longer a bundle of energy and needs to charge up his batteries for the next fun day.

Full speed ahead is a great description of his actions. He is has no fear. When he is on our bed or the patio, he is like a freight train coming through. The edge doesn't even phase him as he goes tumbling over it.

No, no, no is something he learned at a young age thanks to my mom! She would always tell him, "Cohen, no, no, no!" A few months ago, Cohen learned to wiggle is finger and say this back to her. It is pretty funny to watch. He has even got to the point where he does something naughty, turns around, and wiggles his finger saying, "No, no, no" to me.

Time out has been used many of times at the ball park. It doesn't work too well at our house yet, but putting him in the stroller, strapped in saved us through all the ball games we went to this Spring. He wasn't necessarily in real time out in the stroller, but it would give us a break from chasing him!

Getting bigger makes me happy and sad at the same time. I love seeing him grow and learn new things. Tyler and I get so excited when he walks 5 or 6 steps, throws or hits the ball, gives us kisses, goes to the Jesus statue and says, "Jesus", and all the other things he does daily! I also get sad thinking how fast this one year went by, but I try not to focus on that part as much and look at his growing up as an adventure for all of us!

Can I say I love bath time? This has always been one of my favorite things to do each night. Cohen loves it and doesn't like when it is time to get out. Lately, bath time has turned into hide-and-seek. He grabs the curtain and buries his head in it. I'm always rewarded with a huge smile and laugh after I find him.

Storybooks is something Cohen has tons of. I think the teacher in me is coming out. I love getting Cohen new books. Usually Cohen has way too much energy to sit still to read a book, but every once in a while I can convince him to read a book with me. I have been working on letting Cohen have two choices for things we do. The only problem with this is he seems to always see the Christmas Mickey Mouse Music book and wants that option. Unfortunately, this is the least likely book I want him to choose. I am so tired of hearing Christmas songs in the summer! He plays them over and over again. He gets this trait from his Grandma Pat and I think I will send this book over to there house for them to enjoy together!

Naptime is my favorite time! This is the time I get the house cleaned, dinner cooked, yard work done, and my blog up-to-date. Yes! Naptime is happening as I write. I thought being off for the summer meant I would have more time to do these things, but I have found that isn't the case. Cohen keeps us all way too busy so naptime is a must at our house!

I can do it! I found actions speak louder than words in this case. Cohen has my drive for things. When he falls down, he gets right back up and tries it again. He is very persistent and doesn't like when he can't figure something out. Last night, we were out doing yard work. As I am shoveling, I see Cohen dragging the broom to the back yard. At first, I couldn't figure out what he was doing, but then I realized he wanted to climb on the back steps. Instead of leaving the broom (which he thinks is a big bat), he drags it with him. I took the broom away at first thinking it would be easier to climb the stairs without it. Of course, I was wrong; he wouldn't think of leaving his broom behind. He crawled back to where I took the broom and dragged it back to the stairs. Eventually, he made it to the stairs with the broom.

Talking up a storm is a perfect description of our little guy. Cohen gets his talking from one of us, but I am not sure which one. He is a non-stop talker. His favorite thing to do is to put the phone to his ear and jabber. I am surprised that he knows how to talk on the phone because I am positive he didn't learn this from me. Special Agent Oso or Mickey must do this a lot on their show! Cohen has always been a talker and an entertainer. He loves the attention he gets from performing for people. I am curious to see if he will be like this when he gets older.