Dear Cohen,
Yesterday you turned a year and a half! I was reflecting on how 18 months ago you came into our lives bringing with you the greatest journey we will experience. We have had some really hard days throughout the last four months, but definitely some of the best in my 25 years and 5 years of marriage to your daddy!
You are now officially a little boy! You run and pretend and have your own ideas of how life should go. You are so curious and are constantly exploring and learning new things, getting hurt and getting into mischief! You leave no door unopened and no breakable object untouched. You empty every drawer that crosses your path. You push the limits and test your parents patients! You have the cutest cheesy grin and your little voice just makes us melt! You have said so many words (probably more than 20) and are so smart! One of my favorites are when you tell the dogs to "stay" and you put your hand up too. I love when you sign more, please, thank you and all done.
Being the only child, you have trained us well and we are trying to get some of our own control back! Have I mentioned before about how you scream, A LOT? There have been some days when I thought my head would seriously explode! Since I have learned some new, more productive ways to communicate with you and found some ways to keep you busy, there has been less screaming. I still feel like I could improve on parenting because I want to do my very best in raising you, it is something I work on everyday and some days are easier than others.
You are also an awesome sleeper now, which is a great gift to your mommy! You sleep about 10 hours through the night and take a couple hour nap! It is truly wonderful. Thank you!
You do so many funny things, like how you talk on the phone. You giggle and jabber and give a fake courtesy laugh here and there.
I am having so much fun staying home with you everyday! We play games and read and watch your favorite movies (Nemo, Monsters Inc. and Ice Age). We eat snacks and run around after the dogs. We laugh and cry and hug and kiss!
We have done so many fun things in the past four months since I wrote your last newsletter. We have gone boating and on walks up the canyon, we took your trick-or-treating for the first time and to the zoo as well! We went to the Ranch, to California, to the beach and to Disneyland! You loved the beach and the sand, but not so much the crashing waves! You loved Disneyland and were so brave on some of the rides I thought would have scared you. You stayed with your Grandmommy for a night, this marking the first time you were away from us and you did great! You have played with all of your Grandparents and all your cousins and even your Great Grandpa Haile.
You have decided that you like the taste of food, but you don't like swallowing it so it has been a challenge to get you to eat enough each day. You try and give as much as you can to the dogs, which they love, but I don't! We finally got you regular after trying Mira lax for a couple weeks and we are so happy that isn't a struggle for you anymore! You have four teeth on top and about six on the bottom, your molars have just been coming in. You have been learning where all of your body parts are and you already know your hair, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears, head, teeth, bellybutton, fingers, hands, knees and toes!
We are so excited about Christmas this year with you! It is going to be so much fun to see how you light up when you find the gifts Santa has brought you! Having you has brought the magic back into the holidays.
In your last newsletter, I told you about our fourth miscarriage and unfortunately we had another one since then. We lost our fifth angel in November. That baby was due two days after your second birthday. We have been so sad and have gone on to do some further testing and blood work and hope this last miscarriage truly will be the last.
My dad's move back to Colorado looks like it will be a good thing for him and his on going recovery against alcoholism and drug addiction. We won't see him as much now, but he is in a healthier place, so I am happy for him. Your uncle Dustin is actually doing really well! We are so proud of him, he has almost finished his rehab in California and is a completely different person now that he is clean. He has been here visiting for the holidays and we have had so much fun spending time with him and he just adores you! You said his name the other day and he loved it!
We are excited for the new year and what it may hold for our family. Some big changes are probably coming up which could move us to California. We are in limbo on things right now, but it could be a possitive move, especially for your daddy. We will see, we would be sad to leave the house we brought you home in, but as long as we are together, that is where home is. Your Grandmommy would have a really hard time letting us go (and I have a hard time thinking of leaving her), but is supportive of whatever path we take. Other than that it could be another exciting adventure of our family! We will see what this new year will bring...
I love you my sweet boy!
Love,
Meme (that is what you have been calling me, sometimes Mama as well. :))
Today I kept my friend Ashley's little girl for her while she worked. Cohen and I had so much fun with Charly (who is 2 and a half). She is so cute and kept saying the funniest things! She and Cohen played pretty well together, which is hard to find a playmate at this age where it is hard to share! They had so much fun taking turns on Cohen's new bouncing Zebra.
Charly loved the dogs and threw the ball for them at least thirty times! They loved her too! She kept saying, "Oh man, puppies scary! Oh man!" and then laughing!
Cohen got in on the ball action as well!
We are happy to have Charly come and play anytime Ash! :)
