Spoon Time!

Colten started eating solids about 2 weeks ago, but I was just dissolving the rice cereal in a bottle. Now I'm proud to say that Colten is eating from a bowl with a spoon! His first spoon experience happened on July 23rd and we have been going strong ever since. It sure is messy and much more time consuming than simply breastfeeding, but he is loving it! I thought that he would start sleeping longer during the night since he'd be more full, but that has yet to happen. In fact, some nights he is up even more - I think I just have a really hungry guy : > Here are some photos of his first day eating rice cereal with a spoon. "It's all gone already?"


On Saturday, Tom was in Dayton at the National Air Museum with a buddy so Colten and I went to a pig roast with my mom and dad. The weather was crummy, so we basically stayed inside but the food was yummy!

And finally, Colten's new obsession is his exersaucer from Aunt Tunny, Karol, and Jerry. Thank you so much! Colten cannot get enough of the fun!!

Road Trip!

Colten is ready for the trip, sporting his cute outfit from the Belschner family!

This past weekend, Colten made his first road trip to Columbus to visit Uncle Mike. And we are happy to report that it was such a success! Colten stayed busy in the car by playing with his car seat toys and blanket until he dozed off. About 20 miles outside of Columbus, he started to fuss so I climbed in the back with him and kept him company; it seems that was all he wanted because he made the rest of the trip in good spirits. One lesson that we learned - my Kia is too small. Luckily, my parents made the trip as well so they took Lady and some of Colten's supplies; otherwise, we never would have had enough room - babies need so much stuff : > Before we make our trip to visit Beth and Dave in SC next year we will probably have to invest in a new car . . . I love my Kia though.
Yay! We made it to Uncle Mike's!

Playing while Mommy packs.


I was a bit worried about how Colten would sleep at Mike's, especially since we just got him to sleep in his crib, but again, I'm happy to report that he slept quite nicely in his pack 'n play too! It was a weekend for firsts because Colten also enjoyed his first outing to a restaurant - Uno's Pizza. Luckily it was loud in there because he did have a crying spell, but then he fell asleep and slept long enough for me to get some shopping in at Tuttle too! I love my boy!
Colten enjoying some of Daddy's pizza - one day : >

After a busy day of shopping and after Tom fell and skinned his knee in Mike's driveway (I haven't seen a skinned knee in years : >), we headed to my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Frank's house for dinner, and boy was it yummy! Even more than the food though, it was so wonderful to visit with everyone, but as KC said, "boy how our dinners have changed!" Instead of all sitting down to a quiet meal, Cars was playing in the background for her son Braden and Aunt Joyce held Colten so he wouldn't cry and Chris and Liz's new puppy played at our feet. Much more chaotic, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. We had so much fun!

Visiting with family at Aunt Joyce's
Colten with his older cousin Braden
Colten and Daddy!

In other news, Colten had his 4 month doctors appointment today. Since Tom is on vacation, he was able to meet the doctor for the first time, but he conveniently left the room before the shots, leaving Mom to handle it : > Colten weighs 17.1 pounds (although he may weigh more because he no longer fits on the baby scale), and he is 27 1/2 inches long! No wonder so many of his clothes do not fit ; > The doctor also told us to give him rice cereal to 3 times a day, and next month we get to start stage one baby foods! I cannot believe how quickly he is growing up, but he'll always be my sweet baby boy.

Happy 4 Month Birthday, Colten!

Tom and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on Sunday by going to Youngstown State University's annual art festival. We usually attend every year but missed it last year since we were in DC. The day was absolutely beautiful, and we had such a great time. Colten loved being out in the fresh air, too. Then toward evening, Krissy and Victor came over to visit and talk babies while we waited for the Campbell City Fest fireworks from our deck. What a great way to end such a fabulous day!
Yay! Colten is 4 months old and loving it! After a wild start to the day, we had fun bumming around town to run some errands with Grandma. What I mean by wild start . . . Colten was as happy as could be in his crib while I was doing some morning chores like feeding Lady. He was talking to his mobile and playing with a blanket so I was not expecting what I found. Upon picking him up, I saw a poop spot on his sheets and thus on him as well. I know what most of you are probably thinking, 'big deal; we've all been there.' Well it wouldn't have been a big deal if I could have done laundry, but our water lines were being flushed so the water was rust colored to say the least. Note to self - buy extra mattress pad. Luckily Grandma saved the day. She came over and got our laundry and we packed up and headed to her house to finish getting ready. After a much later start and lots of laughs, we finally ventured out. To our surprise, we ran into Colten's doctor at the Sprint store. We are going for his four month appointment next week, but Dr. Jose gave us the go ahead to start solids! Yay! We'll give that a try tomorrow so I'll keep you posted ; >


Here's a picture of the only way Colten will sleep now. At first I was really nervous about suffocation (who am I kidding, I still am). But I'm feeling better, at least somewhat, thanks to Steph reassurance : > He loves to sleep on his belly!

In other news: Thanks for everyone's patience with my cell phone issues. I picked up my 3rd new phone today so hopefully I'll be able to text again. No promises : > So hang in there with me if you still get random texts. Krissy, you are a pro at decoding my crazy messages!

And CONGRATS to Adrienne and Domenico! We are so happy for you guys and can't wait for updates as your belly grows!

July 4th

Colten wore his "I Love the USA" outfit from Krissy and Victor to celebrate the 4th!


Colten's first Independence Day was surely a day of firsts. Since I was just starting to feel better after battling a sinus infection, we only made it to one party - the Beck's block party. We have been going to their 4th of July celebration since I was in high school and only missed last year since we were away for Janelle's wedding (Congrats on 1 year by the way!). Colten loved his first party and even took part in his first parade lead by Mr. Camuso to the tune of patriotic music. Colten already told me that he is looking forward to next year because he'll be able to walk in it himself : > It was so great to visit with two of my best girls from high school, Angie and Jen! We say it all the time but we truly need to get together more often because I enjoyed our conversation so much.Getting ready for the parade.


Colten had so much fun!

Ang and I in the parade with the kids!

The night was filled with fireworks, but Colten didn't seem to mind. As you all know I have been trying to transition Colten from sleeping with me in the recliner to sleeping in his crib. At the end of June, he was napping in his crib for short periods but still sleeping on me at night. July 4th changed all of that! He spent the whole night in his crib, only waking twice for feedings! I'll take that : > Since then we have had our ups and downs. On the up side, he has slept in his crib ever since. However, not all of these nights are restful for me as he still sometimes needs me almost every hour for food or just comfort. Still, I'll take that. We are making progress, and that's all I can really ask for. Thank you so much to everyone who offered me their advice or even just words of encouragement. Sometimes it's nice just to know that I'm not alone in this and that I'm not messing up too badly : >

Battles Lost, Battles Won

The Belschner Family sent Colten this Curious George onesie. Doesn't he look so cute with his stuffed animal : >


First I have to thank Christine for helping me change the background of my blog - you're the best! And now on to Colten. . .

On June 30th my sweet baby boy rolled over for the first time! He had been trying to roll over for a few weeks, and he finally did it!!! We were playing on the floor with his keys and rattle and before I even knew what was happening, he was on his belly. I am so happy that Tom was in the living room with us, too! I know that when I go back to school, I will miss so many of his firsts so I am thrilled that we were both there to witness this milestone, however small (to us it's huge : > ).

For those of you who read my blog on a fairly regular basis, you'll remember that I have been trying to get Colten to sleep in his crib, but I haven't been having much luck. I mentioned that the vacuum worked so we purchased an mp3 of a vacuum. Well Master Colten can tell the difference and the CD did nothing more than give me (and probably him) a headache. So then we thought we would try to put a massager under his mattress; we hoped he would like the humming and the vibrating, and it worked - to a degree. By this I mean that we could eventually calm him down in the crib if we rubbed his belly for 30-60 minutes. Then he would sleep for 20-40 minutes. I'm not sure if this is a success, but we took it as one. However, we were burning up batteries so quickly. . . so I invested in an electric massager that we could plug in. But once again Sir Colten decided that he had had enough of this tactic too. It never worked again. Regardless, I am determined to break him of his habit of sleeping on me because school is just around the corner. So I vowed to not let him nap on me, and insisted that he sleep in his crib. . . We are making progress (I think). He still only naps for 20-40 minutes during the day so if anyone has any wisdom about getting him to sleep longer and helping him fall back to sleep on his own once he wakes up, PLEASE SHARE! Last night we had a bit of a breakthrough; he stayed in his crib from 8pm-12:30am. This sounds fabulous and is on some levels but I got no sleep during that time because about every 40 minutes he woke up and needed his pacifier again. So as happy as I was that he was in the crib, I want sleep too : > Today, his naps have not been any longer but he has gone to sleep much more easily than ever before. He's either getting used to the crib or he is so tired from lack of sleep that he can't help it : > Either way, he is in his crib! I never thought that this would be one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I always assumed that babies just naturally slept in their cribs - I guess not.

Sorry if this has bored you, but it's important stuff in the McCutcheon household : >


Colten loves to play in this jumperoo! Thanks Candice!