Kolton's Firsts

Since my last post, which has been quite a while ago (I know...I promised myself I would get better at keeping up with this thing!), Kolton has continued to have a lot of firsts. Here are some of his firsts....

Kolton's First Plane Ride/Christmas: For Christmas, we flew to Georgia to celebrate with my family. It was Kolton's first plane ride, which I was very nervous for. He did really well, considering how long the flight was, and only had one little meltdown for a few minutes.

At the airport..Kolton's first plane ride!

We were able to spend 2 weeks in Georgia and we really enjoyed visiting family and friends during that time.

Kolton must have been really good the first 6 months of his life, because he was definitely spoiled by Santa...or as his bib said..."who needs santa when I have grandma".

Kolton's First Cruise/Beach Day: While in Georgia, my family was able to go on a week long cruise. We went to Cozumel and Calica, Mexico. A baby has to be 6 months old to go on a cruise, and we left on the exact day that Kolton turned 6 months!! During our stop in Calica, we took Kolton to the beach for the day (or for a few hours). He didn't like the crashing of the waves, but surprisingly, didn't mind the sand! Cruises are definitely the way to travel, and I think Kolton enjoyed it! He was a trooper the whole week! We returned home with a child who had an ear infection and bronchitis!

Kolton's First Wedding: In March, my brother, Matt got married! Ryan, Kolton and I flew out for the occasion. It was a very busy few days!! Poor Kolton was exhausted by the end of the week! Kolton was able to meet some of my moms family: my uncle Bob and Aunt Vicki, my aunt Julie and my grandpa Mooring. It was great getting to see everyone. During this short trip, we also went to the park to feed the ducks and watched Shannon go off to senior prom! I always say that any chance/opportunity to get out to Georgia, I am all for it!

Ryan left early to get back to work, so Kolton and I got to stay and get spoiled by my mom!! We had a great time shopping and hanging out. I was very nervous flying home because I would be flying with Kolton for the first time by myself. Depsite the nerves, everything went as smoothly as it could have gone.

Kolton's First Trip to the Zoo: One of the perks of Ryan being a teacher is that he gets a lot of time off. A couple weeks ago, Ryan had his spring break. We decided to take Kolton on his first trip to the zoo. It was a beautiful day that day and we had a lot of fun. Kolton enjoyed the zoo as much as you would expect a 9 month old child to! He didn't really know what was going on at first and was more interested in watching the people around him then actually looking at the animals. The bigger animals caught (and kept) his attention easier.

Kolton's First Time Brushing his Teeth: After going to Kolton's 9 month well check, the doctor suggested that we start brushing his 2 little bottom teeth. I was glad he mentioned it, because the great mom that I am hadn't even thought about that! They doctor also gave him a prescription for fluoride. So Kolton now brushes his teeth twice a day!!

Kolton's First Time Crawling: Kolton began crawling the week after he turned 9 months. At first I couldn't wait for him to crawl because he is such an active child that it was hard keeping him occupied and happy not knowing where he wanted to go. I have since learned how nice it was to be able to set him down and have him stay relatively in the same spot!! We have begun our "child proofing" around the house and continue to find things daily that we have to change around so that he doesn't destroy everything!

Kolton's First Easter: A couple weekend ago we enjoyed Easter by decorating eggs, watching conference, getting Easter baskets and having a nice Easter dinner with Ryan's family. It was a blast!

Meeting Santa

Last night Ryan and I took Kolton to the local mall to meet Santa. It seems pretty silly to take a 6 month old who has no clue what's going on to meet Santa, but we wanted the classic picture. We were very curious to see how Kolton would react and both bet that he would cry (I think because we were both secretly hoping that that was what would happen...I know, harsh, but aren't the crying pictures so funny?). To our surprise, he didn't even fuss. As you can tell by the picture, he wasn't quite sure what was going on or who was holding him, but there was no crying to be heard. We had a hard time getting him to look in the direction of the camera because he wanted to look up at the curious man holding him. When it was time to get him from Santa, the man asked if we really wanted to take him with us because he was enjoying holding such a cute kid that wasn't crying. Here is the picture.....

Yes...I know, Santa's shirt is hideous!! We were one of the first ones in line and as he came in and sat down, he took of his coat and I about died! I went to the mall today and happened to walk by the Santa and he was taking pictures with his coat on!! Should have waited until today!

Rice Cereal

Last night we gave our first attempt at feeding Kolton rice cereal. He wasn't too fond of it and most of what we tried to put in his mouth ended up elsewhere, but we know it will take time! I'm hoping once he gets the hang of eating it, he will sleep better at night.

4 Months

Kolton turned 4 months a week ago and had his check-up yesterday. Here is an update on his growth:

Weight: 15 pounds 2 ounces (50th percentile)

Height: 25 inches (50th percentile)

And they didn't do his head for some reason

So it looks like we have an middle of the pack baby. Everything else was good and he is learning and growing each day. We learn more and more about him everyday and get to see more of his personality shining though. Here are just a few of the things we have learned about Kolton:

LIKES:

**baths--every time I undress him to get in the bath he gets super happy and gets a big smile

on his face when I pick him up to put him in the tub. He could stay in the bath for hours!

**screaming/yelling--he likes to listen to his voice and many times, this means screaming and

yelling. Cute and funny at times...annoying at other times! :)

**his feet--he has found his feet and loves to pull his legs up and grab his toes. Usually he

screams/yells while doing this.

**his stroller and going on walks--just about everyday I take Kolton for a walk in his stroller. He is a very alert little boy and loves to just "chill" in his stroller and look around.

**drooling and spitting up---not the funnest thing!

**standing--he would much rather stand then sit.

**his mommy--I think he might be a mommas boy! :) Not that I'm trying to influence it!

DISLIKES:

**naps--we have had trouble with naps for awhile now, but he has now realized that when we walk into his room and turn off the lights, it's time for a nap, so he starts crying the minute

we walk in!

**his car seat/car--he has gotten much better within the last few weeks, and in fact, will fall

asleep in it. This is a big change from crying as soon as we left the driveway!

**loud/sudden noises or people crowding around him--Kolton is a sensitive little guy. Being

the only child in a somewhat quiet house with quiet parents, he hasn't been around loud

noises or big crowds a ton. When he is, he often makes this pouty face that is the cutest

and saddest thing or he will get scared and cry.

**being on his tummy for long--he can usually only last a couple of minutes before he starts crying. He can roll over onto his back, although it is a rare trick for him. And that won't happen if he gets upset while on his tummy.

Kolton's First Halloween

This year was Kolton's first Halloween (duh...). We dressed him up as a panda. Here's the story behind our decision to make him a panda....Ryan was a panda when he was a little kid and his family always talks about the picture they have of that Halloween. There have been many laughs around that picture and of Ryan as a panda. So Jason and Tiana (my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) came across this costume before Kolton was born and had to get it for him so he could be like his daddy :) It is the cutest panda costume! It has been sitting in his closet for many months and last night he was FINALLY able to wear it!

A little blurry...he wouldn't stop moving...he was excited! :)

ALL smiles :)

So once he was ready, we took him out trick-or-treating. And let's just say that it is quite awkward and embarrassing knocking on doors and asking for candy when my child obviously cannot eat any of it!! We ended up following a few other kids so that it wouldn't be quite so weird, but that didn't really work. It was a good thing Kolton got tired after about 5 houses and didn't really care because we were happy to be done!

Ready to go home!

Mountains and Pumpkins

Last saturday was a fun filled day. We took Kolton up to the mountains for the first time. We didn't go too far up, but it was still a nice trip. It still amazes me that we live so close to the mountains, but are only able to see them a few days a year since the smog is so bad here. All in all it was very relaxing.

car ride up

Daddy and Kolton

Smiley baby

When we got home, I thought it would be fun to paint our pumpkins (I decided to paint instead of carve them because I thought it would be more fun to do with Kolton). Kolton didn't know what was going on...I mean he's only 4 months....what was I thinking? Despite the mess and need for a bath afterwards, it was a fun time.

Getting ready..not quite sure what's going on

Here we go!

First mishap...

Second mishap...

Working so hard!

Ok, getting bored...15 seconds later :)

Tired after a long day!

Pumpkin Patch

A couple weeks ago we took Kolton to his first pumpkin patch. He had a great time and was pooped by the time we left.