Nolan, Nolan, Bo-bolan: Pictures and Videos

We'll see if I can figure out this whole video thing. I decided I would try to capture a few things just on my camera (read: poor quality) to get some video on here. Maybe that will buy me some time to figure it out on my regular video camera. I told someone that when I start to read the directions, I just stare at the pages like they are written in some language I've never seen before. Then I get a strong urge to take a nap.


Here are a few random pics. Bailey has decided she's an amateur photographer so some of them happen to be taken by a 4 year-old. Not too bad, huh?

(Yes, he has a thing with toothbrushes!)

Okay, so some of you might think this video is mean. I mentioned his new reaction to the word no. If you can't hear my voice on the video, you'll still realize when I've said it. I promise you, no babies were permanently scarred in the making of this video.




Nolan has actually taken his first big boy steps on his own, but he's still in that stage where they are hard to catch. So, instead of independent walking, I give you some video of him with his walker. Now, what's interesting (to me) about this clip is that he's figured out how to adjust the walker when he runs into something. This is a new development, as he would previously just shove it against the wall (or coffee table, or human leg) over and over again until someone finally decided to go help him. The movements are not as obvious on this video but he usually is very forceful about his repositioning of the walker....he looks like he's vacuuming or mowing the yard. I say "good practice, son!" Okay, when I watched this, it's really dark....sorry! I'll try to turn on all the lights in the house the next time I want to get something on video.

Kendy Cox: An Off The Wall Review

Okay, so I WILL get those pictures up....along with some BIG, BIG news. But, while you're waiting, I thought I'd take the opportunity to blog about something that's been on my mind. Now, I'm gonna go all "serious Kendy" on ya'll, so feel free to discontinue reading this if that's not the Kendy you've come to know and love (smile).

See, the thing is that I am very conflicted about my love for "the teenage shows," as my husband has dubbed the likes of 90210, The Hills, Real World, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (okay, I was just joking about that last one!). I love me some teenage drama. However, I KNOW those shows are just lard for my brain, especially being a Christian and struggling daily with upholding the image of Christ through my actions. But, many times, I just watch because, well, I'm weak and it's fun. It's not heroin, folks.

But, I saw something on CSPAN as I was flipping through the channels on my way to MTV, VH1 or Bravo. You know Stephen Baldwin, the wayward Baldwin brother turned rehabilitated Christian? Now, I normally think of people like him as a bit more harmful than helpful. But, I admit that I haven't really listened to much of what he had to say before I got sucked into his speech on this particular t.v.-watching occasion. I wish I would have tuned in earlier in his speech because I was mesmerized. I'm not kidding - he was good.

His whole presentation was about how being a Christian today, especially in Hollywood, is the hardest battle there is. He began talking about the assault on our children, and the media's blatant disregard for family values. Here's where I get to the teenage show piece. He began talking about "Gossip Girl." Now, I haven't seen this show, but it's probably something I would secretly enjoy if I were to ever catch just one episode. Apparently, the marketers of the show have used the feedback from appalled parent groups to promote the show. Pretty clever from a marketing standpoint, but pretty gross when you're on the side of the fence reflected in this entry.

The first says "Every parent's worst nightmare" and pictures a young couple in a sexual embrace.

The second says "Mindblowingly inappropriate" and uses a visual of an older woman in bed with a teen.

The third shows a picture of a couple naked in a swimming pool with the words, "A nasty piece of work."

The last one has artwork that I don't remember but the letters, in large print, OMFG.

Stephen Baldwin lamented, "You can bet that doesn't stand for 'Oh my faith in God.' We've come to a critical point in our battle when a popular t.v. show is winning over YOUR children...those who've grown up in church and are trying to live the righteous life.....with the F word in front of the name of our Savior."

This speech made me think...and it made me shudder...and it made me pray.

9 1/2 months: Tooth Sighting!!

So, acquiring a first tooth is not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. That is, if your kid gets teeth on a traditional schedule. Here's the situation with a number of Nolan's friends and acquaintances:

Xander
Age: 10 mos.
Number of teeth: 8

Owen
Age: 8 mos.
Number of teeth: 6

Joseph
Age: 8 mos.
Number of teeth: 4

Samantha
Age: 8 mos.
Number of teeth: 4

NOLAN
Age: 9 mos.
Number of teeth: 0

So, you see how timing can affect the world view on all things teeth??

BUT, I feel a tooth!!! Yea! Maybe I won't have a strange, oddly toothless 2 year old!!! (Yes, I'm dramatic.)

I have some cute pics to post and will get to that shortly. We are all dying laughing at Nolan's new response to being told NO. It's heeelarious. Not to him, I'm sure, when we look for opportunities to tell him "no" just to see his reaction. But, hey, we have children for our own personal entertainment, right?!

Hopping on the School Train!

Here are some pictures of Bailey's first day of school. First, preparing to leave the house...that is if the giant backpack doesn't prevent her from walking to the car.






A nice thing about the school she's going to is that they provide these backpacks for all the kids. And, when I say THEY provide them, I really mean we pay out the wazoo for them!



She was very particular about how I was to fix her hair and what outfit she wanted to wear. She has started using the word "cool" to describe things, perhaps because of the time she spends with grandma's 8-year-old neighbor. Regardless, it freaks me out when she has an opinion about what is "cool" and what isn't. I guess I should get prepared to hear that for the next 15 or so years, huh?

Here she is sitting in her very own cubby!



And, I title this one, "Hey, wanna be friends?" Sorry it's so dark, they were in Chapel singing songs and there wasn't much light.




Jason and I took her together for her first day, and then I stayed a bit longer to make sure she found her way back to the right classroom. As I left, I said "Have a good day, pretty girl." And, she replied with, "I will. I love you, mommy." I guess I couldn't ask for a better departure...no crying except my own.

After she had experienced her first day, we initially couldn't get many details out of her except that she liked it. Here's what I know:

1. She took her first nap (outside of just falling asleep in the car) in probably a year on her first day of school.....during her time in the extended day program. Weird.


2. She got to watch Veggie Tales.


3. She got to choose a circle mat for book time and she chose a Diego worm (???).


4. She didn't make any new friends on the first day, because, "It takes time to make friends, mom."


5. Her teacher gave her a hug.


6. She ate about 1/8 of her lunch (also out of character for Bailey!).


7. She learned about Creation from Genesis 1:1-2. She had a bit of trouble recalling the exact verse (In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.), saying He created the sky and the grass, instead. Then, she started talking about how God did all his work in 5 days (hee, hee) and then started talking about Moses. I'm sure we'll have many more jumbled conversations about Bible stories, but it's nice to hear her at least talking about the Bible. On a side note, she also said a wonderful prayer before dinner - I wish I could have gotten it on tape!

On a different note, she has started "playing" tennis. My mom and dad got her a tennis outfit, a racket and some pink tennis balls for her b-day, and we got around to taking her to a court over the weekend. She did connect with the ball some, but honestly she was just as excited about chasing the wayward balls as she was about actually hitting them. She also enjoyed hitting the balls that were at rest golf-style....and kept saying, "I DID IT!!!"



Nolan is 9 months now. I took him to his check-up thinking that the dr. was going to remark on how much he's grown. I had this in my mind because of his foray into people food and how rabid he is about eating sometimes. I always tell my parents that they will be to blame if he shoots up to 90% on the growth chart since they were the ones who introduced him to all kinds of new things when they kept him! Anyway, with these thoughts in mind, I was quite taken aback when she instead wanted to have a conversation about what I'm feeding him due to a fall in his growth percentage to under 5%. I look at my kid and think there's no WAY 95% of kids his age are bigger than he is. I've seen some scrawny kids and Nolan definitely has some chub in places.

But, nevertheless, she grilled me on his eating habits for a good 15 minutes. She said that eating people food is part of the problem since he just can't get enough actually in his mouth to equal what he would get should we feed him the recommended 3-4 small bottles of baby food per day. Fighting with him and the baby food is a nightmare, but I guess we're going to have to do again. And, actually, other people do better with baby food than I do....I think he just wants me to hold him. I'm also going to try my mother's recommendation of giving him finger foods on his tray to keep him occupied but then slipping in some spoonfuls of baby food when he's distracted.


I mentioned last time that he's starting to imitate and interact with hand gestures and tone of voice. I do think he's calling me ma-ma-ma-ma and Jason da-da-da-da discriminantly now. A few nights ago, after Bailey had gotten in trouble for not listening, I saw him shaking his hand at her and kind of yell-babbling. I honestly think he was chastising her just the way we do. I think this mainly because Bailey did the same thing with our dog when she couldn't yet talk. It's neat to see these moments! I don't know how soon he'll say a real word, and I'm trying not to compare the timing with Bailey's since she is a girl and was pretty advanced in her language early on, but I'm still eager to hear something and am trying to listen intently when he "talks."

Here are some cute pics of Nolan and the kids together from this week.

Story time!!!

Be-Bop-A-Bailey!

We survived Bailey turning 4!!!!!!

I cannot believe my little baby is four years old and, on top of that, going off to preschool. My mind simply can't handle it sometimes - I listen to her tell me long, complicated stories and my mind often wanders, thinking back to the days when all of her words came out like questions. She'd sing-song, "tabub"(taking approximately 3 seconds to say the word and ending with a higher pitch than she started, thus creating the question feel) for bathtub and say her A-B-C's with great skill, yet little clarity. Gosh, I have to stop thinking about it and just get on with the party stories.


We decided on a 50s theme this year. We always have a theme, and I've learned that there aren't that many that aren't cheesy, but that my young child really understands. While she loved dressing up and all the decorations, she clearly had no idea what any of it meant. For example, we went to Party Galaxy to get balloons and chose a theme-matching Mylar jukebox. Bailey thought it was really cool, but kept telling people how much she loved the "juicebox." Oh well!! Here's a couple of pictures of her when she first woke up and then waiting patiently for guests to arrive.

I was so impressed that lots of party goers dressed the part - Jason may have threatened people with not letting them into the party if they didn't dress up. I'll point out Jason's Elvis sideburns - he couldn't keep them on all the time because Nolan really didn't like them. He didn't cry, but he would look at Jason like he was petrified. He did the same with me and my glasses. I guess babies don't like change. Smile!!

This was our first party to invite friends. While Bailey always has a built-in friend with cousin Anna, we opted to select just a few church and/or school friends to join in the fun. I was a little worried about the whole, "two's company, three's a crowd (or four or five)" thing, but they did pretty well. Of course, being 3 or 4 brings some inevitable breakdowns - Bailey not at all excluded - but nothing too devastating. Here are the girls:

And, the only boy - Brody - who REALLY did not want me to take his picture!!

We had soda shop treats - hamburgers, hot dogs, old-style coke bottles and orange drink, floats, etc. We had a banana split-making contest for the kids and a sack race in the back yard. I wanted to have a dance contest, but there simply wasn't time....or space in my house or yard, for that matter!! I told Jason that, before we have another party, I really need a bigger house. Yeah....we'll see about that one.

Oh, I almost forgot the biggest excitement. OUR SMOKE ALARM WENT OFF DURING THE PARTY!! And, let me tell you that this alarm does not make a little "woo, woo" sound. No, it's deafening. Now, this may not seem like that big of a deal.....if we knew the code to turn it off. Yes, we've lived in the house for over 5 years and don't know the code. The alarm has gone off twice before - both times when something I was cooking in the oven started dripping - and we searched through all the manuals left for us by the builder and didn't have any information. Both times, we ended up pushing buttons for no less than 30 minutes before we finally hit something that worked. We called the alarm company and they said that only the builder would be able to help us. We never called the builder because, ya know, it's not like the alarm would ever go off again, right??!! Well, this time, the offense was just the grill outdoors and people going in and out of the house. And, fortunately, a group of 4 or 5 men were able to disarm it somehow fairly quickly. I was in the process of conducting sack races at the time, but my mind was madly thinking about what to do with 30 people if the alarm was to keep sounding for the remainder of the party.

Bailey got lots of neat stuff but, just like any little kid, was in "next present" mode and didn't really try to figure out what anything was until well after the party had ended. So, to everyone there, she loves everything and has littered our house with every piece of every toy she received. And, Nolan has tried to eat every piece of every toy she received!!

My only disappointment was that I didn't have her BIG present ready for her to enjoy on her birthday. Jason and I got her a playhouse for the backyard, with every intention of putting it together for a big reveal on her birthday. However, the big proposal for work consumed the majority of my time for the past few weeks, so I was unavailable to work with Jason on the assembly. So, instead, I wrapped a picture of the playhouse in a box for her to open. Three guesses how that went over....I think that's an abstract concept not yet understood by a child. She looked at it and said, "Mommy, this isn't anything that I love!!" You have to imagine a disappointed look on her face. So, I said, "What do you think it is?" She said, "Some picture." So, I had to explain to her that it was really a playhouse that daddy and I would build for her the next day. Ehhh....she wasn't going to appreciate it until it was assembled.

She also got a new big-girl bike, which she loves but is having to get used to since it is so much bigger than her other bike.

And, here's the aftermath....lots of stuff strewn everywhere (this is cleaned up significantly - didn't get one of the total destruction!) and Bailey trying to sneak another lick of cake frosting at about 10 p.m.

So, here's the segue into the playhouse-building section of this blog....

Jason and I knew this playhouse thing wasn't going to be an easy task. Despite the fact that the box said "Two-hour Assembly!!", we weren't naive. We don't have a strong track record for putting things together, or at least without yelling and tears involved. So, we got all ready on Sunday and settled in for a day-long assembly adventure.

Here's what we had done by the two-hour mark (or 3....it's all a blur now):

And, 527 hours later:

It may be slightly crooked and we may or may not have had to cut some pieces to make them fit, but it was made with love. And, she loves it!! As you can see, she has moved some of her bedroom toys into the new house. The side in this picture actually has the front door with the cute shutters and where I'm going to put a plaque that says, "Cox Clubhouse." I may get that done in 2011.

I don't want to leave out little Nolan! He has really been active lately. He is pulling up on furniture, crawling super fast, eating all kinds of new and exciting things, and learning to play simple games with Bailey, mommy and daddy. I love this time in a baby's development when they are really getting a personality and sense of humor. His favorite game right now is "Mommy needs the binky." He thinks it's heeelarious to shove his binky in my mouth and then try to get it back. Yes, I know - gross. But, it's my kid so it's not gross to me! He also goads Bailey into chasing him all the time. It's so cute. And, while we are not big fans of this activity, he loves it when Bailey picks him up and carries him around under his arm-pits. His little legs just swing back and forth and he has a big smile on his face. Once again, we try to discourage this behavior with Bailey, but she gets such a positive reaction from him that she just keeps going for it day after day.

Sorry for the wee wee shot. Oh, yeah...and he STILL has no teeth. Go figure.

Next time, you'll also get to hear about Bailey's adventures in preshool!

K

Chance and Meagan Got Married!!

I don't have much time to write because, in short, my life started getting crazy right after July 4th and will remain that way until Bailey's birthday on August 23rd. Here's a rambling summary and pictures are all below:

1. I went on a business trip that got me stuck in Chicago, which I always hate more than words can describe. It just so happened that it was the night before Chance and Meagan's wedding rehearsal. I had so much to do and wasn't able to get home until noon the day of the rehearsal. Then, as I drove out of the airport parking lot, I got a flat tire. Murphy, why oh why do you torment me??

2. Chance and Meagan had a beautiful wedding and Bailey was a wonderful flower girl. I, unfortunately, cried through the whole wedding. I simply can't handle life. Nothing like one of the bridesmaids crying more than either of the people getting married. But, I digress. The only thing that went wrong was that Bailey refused to wear her shoes so she went barefoot throughout the ceremony. Thankfully, her dress was long and I don't think anyone noticed. I did, of course. Darn it!! And, once again, my old friend Murphy ensured that I had already thrown away the packaging and the receipt for those shoes that she'll never wear again. Anyone need a sz. 10 toddler bone colored Mary Jane?? Smile. I've attached just a few pictures to whet your appetite. The rest won't be available for another several weeks.

3. Bailey went to her cousin's birthday party - a Princess party - and had a great time getting all dolled up! She also had Vacation Bible School this week, which is one of her favorite things. She now runs around with her "posse" at church and learned something in the process. She now knows that Jesus gives us the power to help others, to be brave, to live forever and some other things that I can't remember. Since I know you love you some Bailey stories, here's her summary of the story of Jesus walking on water: "Jesus makes miracles and walked on the water. His friend Peter was scared and kept sinking because he didn't look at Jesus. But then he would look at Jesus and wouldn't sink anymore. So, mom, you have to always look at Jesus because he makes you brave." Pretty good for a not-yet 4 year-old, huh?!

4. I am in the busiest season of work....writing a huge proposal and dreading the last-minute craziness that comes with that process. Jeanne and Phil have been out of town, so the kids have been ushered here and there, and everywhere! Nolan spent four days with my boss's assistant, err monkey nanny if you can handle the truth. He did great and responded really well to Barb. I'm glad that's behind us, though, as I'm always wary of the monkeys, especially around my little baby. So, if at this point you are really confused and have lots of questions, please just look away and think about something else. It's simply something to ask me about when you see me!!

The kids are now both at my parent's house in Clinton and I miss them immensely. It's such a horrible plight that parents have....wanting time alone from their kids but then not knowing how to enjoy that time because you feel like your arm is missing. Anyway, Jason and I are going to an adult dinner and an adult movie while they're gone (and no, get your mind out of the gutter, I just mean something that's not animated!) if I can make some good progress on my proposal this week.

5. Nolan is getting so big and his abilities grow by the day. He's crawling well, pulling up on everything, saying "mamamamamamamama" and "dadadadadadadadadadada" incessantly, and he recently learned to eat cheerios. We're doing alright!

I'll post more pics of the wedding and, of course, Bailey's birthday....if you don't hear from me before then....but I wouldn't place any bets on it.

K