Lucky Number Seven

Thursday evening, I did not cook dinner.  Jeremy said he was going to take me out to the Blue Ribbon Cafe so I could try their shrimp and grits.  I was excited.  So, here's my review: Shrimp and Grits - creamy, luscious, fluffy, melts in your mouth;  Seafood Bake - cheesy, creamy, makes you feel good.  The cheese sauce in my Seafood Bake would make a fantastic mac and cheese.  I give the Blue Ribbon Cafe two thumbs up!

12 weeks

13 weeks

Saturday evening, we ate at Wimpies Home Cooking (I think that is their name...).  It was just ok.  Maybe the hamburger steak isn't their specialty.  Or maybe the Powlas family spoiled us on their <awesome> hamburger steak and gravy.  We've decided that we'll give Wimpies one more chance, but probably not any time soon.

14 weeks

 

15 weeks old



16 weeks old

On our way to the Blue Ribbon Cafe on Thursday I spotted this big, wooden, castle type thing way off on the right.  It was raining on our way home so we didn't investigate.  On Saturday, I noticed that it was across the street from Wimpies.  After we ate, we investigated and found that the big castle thing is a fantastic park!  There were swings, slides, sand, monkey bars, tires to crawl through, bridges to cross, rope ladders to climb, and tons of places to crawl into and hide!  I see many trips to Scramble Alley (that's its name) in our future! 

17 weeks old - notice the empty house....
Moving day was the same day as Cole's 4 month check up.

18 weeks old

19 weeks old

We put Cole in the baby swing and gently pushed him.  It was his first time and he wasn't really all that excited about it - he was actually quite frightened but he calmed down and really came to enjoy it! 

20 weeks old

21 weeks old

22 weeks old

So, we've been in Soddy Daisy for three months now and it seems like home.  The small town feel is comforting and familiar.  We can't go anywhere without someone stopping us to chat or coo at Cole.  I've wondered if they are sincerely stopping us to chat or if they are scoping us out because they've never seen us before!  (I know how these small towns operate!)
  

23 weeks old - Easter Sunday. 
Cole's face is broken out because I fed him green beans.  We stayed at home and there was no Easter Egg Hunt. 
This was the week of sickness - on this day, Jeremy was in the bed and he spent the next few days in the hospital.

 

24 weeks old
We took time to take his belated Easter pictures since we'd had a rough week before!



25 weeks old

  Since we've been here, we've been hit with sickness.  Cole has had the stomach virus twice, and Jeremy and I have had it once ourselves.  Jeremy had to spend a few days in the hospital after he had it - that virus was some nasty stuff and it affected Jeremy and me differently than it affected Cole.  We've been healthy for about 6 weeks now and I hope this streak continues! 


6 months old - professional Olan Mills pic

 

26 weeks old



27 weeks old

Well, I guess healthy is a relative term - Cole's spitting up has been awful and he's been constipated.  After a discussion with a nurse at Dr. Jimmy's office last week, Dr. Jimmy changed Cole's medicine.  We've also been supplementing Cole's feedings with at least one bottle of formula a day.  We realized that Cole was not getting enough to eat - that is why he has been screaming and not able to poop; he needed more liquids in his diet.  So with more food and new meds, he has been much happier (and so have we)!  He is still spitting up, but for the most part we are not soaking everything in sight anymore.  I actually feel like I might be able to take him places or to others' homes and not worry about him ruining something by spewing all over it.  This is a first.  And it only took 7 months to get there.

28 weeks old



29 weeks - Eating a frozen banana

Yes, that's right.  He's 7 months old!  He is sitting up, rolling all over the place, eating solids, jumping in his Johnny Jump Up, hiking his rump in the air in prep for crawling, and "rollin' 'em up"!  He loves to eat bananas, any way you give them to him!  From a jar or frozen!  He loves to take a stroll in his stroller whether we are just walking the cul-de-sac outside or at the mall.  He finds it fun to roll off of his blanket onto the hardwood floor (and then he spits up and smears it all over mom's clean floor)!  {side story: Yesterday he was in his Johnny Jump Up while I was mopping the kitchen.  I always put a rug under the J.J.Up so he doesn't hurt his feet on the hard floor - the J.J.Up is in the door way where the hardwood and the tile meet, so I had to move the rug to mop.  Well, he spit up in the floor and then smeared his feet all in it!  He looked like he was ice skating!  But oh, how happy he was to be sliding all over!)  ok, end of side story!}  He likes to play pat-a-cake and you'll often find him doing "roll 'em up" when he's playing by himself or when he's supposed to be sleeping.  He loves to take a bath and has been sleeping through most nights (in his own bed)!


30 weeks old - at the park

He is still a big boy.  At his 6 month check up he weighed 18 lbs 9 oz and was 26.25 inches long.  He is still wearing his 6-9 month clothes, so I think his weight gain has slowed down just a bit but he is definitely getting taller by the week.  He is now able to sit in his walker and get some toes on the floor!  It won't be long and I'm going to be chasing him all over this house!

7 months old