Cole is Four Months

I'm tardy in reporting Cole's four month milestone. I don't find much time for computer time or long phone calls these days. They boys schedules are way off. While it is nice to have some one-on-one time with each of them, I would like to have a little one-on-one time with me, myself and I.

So Cole was 24 and 5/8 inches tall at his visit and weighed 12 pound 13 ounces. For those of you that wonder how that compares to Carter's size, he's a little smaller than Carter was. Carter was 15 pound at his 4 month visit and 25 inches tall.

As usual, I took a monthly photo. Here he is in his exersaucer. The weather has been so pleasant lately, that I've kept it outside under the shade while Carter and I play in the pool.

And here is a pic of Carter - he kept asking, "take my picture, take my picture." So I obliged.

Cute pic of Cole drooling on Grandpa's knee.

Mom picked up a slip-n-slide at Walmart the other day and Carter and Brian tried it out. I need to check out the video and see what I got. I know there are several "plumbers crack" shots so I may have to refrain from posting it.

Carter got a new bike this weekend. Here's a picture. I try to get him to smile for me, but he's just too focused on riding. He is so proud of himself. I'm not sure I've seen him prouder actually. That is such a wonderful feeling as a parent, not only to be proud of your kid but to watch your kid be proud of themself.

I have a video camera on my cell phone now, so I take a video clip every day or so. Here are a couple recent ones ...

This was a video of the second time Cole rolled over. I have it on my nice video camera, but it's alot of trouble to splice and upload that video, so my choppy small cell phone video will have to do.

As I've posted before, Carter loves watching Dora. Yesterday morning he was learning "Larga" and "Corta" for long and short. He can count in Spanish, just a little. He likes to say "Quatro, Cinco, Sies" or however you spell all that.

Flood Pictures of Mom & Dad's House

I figured out how to link some of the photos Mom posted to her Photobucket account. These were taken of some of the damage from the flood last month. Construction is scheduled to start this week, no thanks to the insurance company. It's been 4 weeks and they still don't have an estimate (or check for that matter) of the damage. But they've hired a contractor to begin work next week. It's probably going to take at least two months before everything is done.

Carter rides a bike

Yeah for Carter - he learned how to ride a bike in the last week or so. Friends across the street have several bikes for the kids to play on, but until recently Carter only rode a bike like Fred Flintstone. Now he can pedal! Check out the video clip from last night.

Guess this means we'll be in the market for a bike for Carter this weekend. I can't expect Jacob to share his bike all the time - though he did a great job last night! Oh, and by the way, Jacob is quite proud of his pink bike. It's a loaner, so I expect Phoebe will be looking one for Jacob for his birthday this summer.

Our kids are growing up!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there. We had a nice day. Brian surprised me with a poem he had written for me that very morning. I feel bad asking him if he found help on the Internet, because he'd never written a poem for me before. But I shouldn't have been too shocked by his talent - he sings his own songs for the boys all the time. He's such a great dad/husband. With his permission I have posted it below ...

A Mother's Day Poem

Today is a special day, a day to honor what you've done.
A day to celebrate the way you've raised our two special sons.

There is no way to measure the love you have in your heart.
But I thought this poem would be a great place to start.

I got up this morning to try to put into words,
The fitting tribute I know you deserve.

Some days are tough, and never seem to end.
The laundry, the cleaning and wiping rear ends.

But coming home from work to see you with Cole and Cart,
It brightens my day and touches my heart.

I love you so much, more than words can say.
So please accept this poem as the start of your special day.

So lets raise a glass, it's to early for beer.
Here's to a special mom, who brings Mother's Day throughout the year.


Thanks Brian - other than you and my two beautiful boys, you gave me the best gift I could ever imagine!

Floating video, finally

I finally had some time to edit and upload the video of Carter floating. It was just about 5 minutes. This was his first of three tests. He is a really good floater. In his second test, he floated for just over 10 minutes. And his third test was just shy of 20 minutes. Most of that was spent hanging out at the side not wanting to get out of the pool. So for the sake of time and data storage, I've condensed the video into just over three minutes. The object of the float test is to float for 5 minutes or get to the side of the pool, whatever comes first. He is fully clothed because this is a safety test; to replicate what it would be like if he fell in a pool somewhere. The 5 minutes is supposed to be enough time for you to notice your kid is missing and in the pool. But Carter's teacher really likes to see what Carter can do, hence the 20 minutes on the final test.

He really enjoys his swim class. He's getting better at learning to use his arms and try to "stroke." He's only two, but has really started to understand the idea of swimming. We are proud!

Last weekend we went to a company picnic with Dad and Mom. Here are some pictures of our adventure at the George Ranch.

Carter really is a "Lady's Man" in his hat. This little girl was a granddaughter of one Dad's co-workers. she loved Cole. I've come to realize that the company picnics are basically a chance for all the guys to show off their grandkids. In my opinion Dad won, but there were some close seconds :)

Here are Brian and I. We enjoyed the margarita machine they had there since we weren't driving.

Carter got his first sno cone. Thankfully the green syrup was watered down and it didn't make a huge mess.

And Carter with his first cotton candy. I think Brian was more excited about all the treats. There sure were lots of "sugar shacks." I didn't get a pic of Brian and his blue sno cone. Or Carter and his coke. Or Carter and his popcorn ... you get the idea ...

They also had a pony for the kiddos to ride.

But I think one of the biggest hits of the day was the huge tree house. My goodness this place has the most beautiful old oak trees. They have to be several hundred years old. They were gorgeous. You can't see how far off the ground it is, but probably 25 feet maybe. Carter loved it.

And lastly, here is a picture of what I caught Carter doing the other day. We said he was trying to be a mountaineer like Uncle Matt. It was the air mattress that Dad was sleeping on while they stay here.

First Video

Here is the first video I could post. It's of Cole "talking" to me.

Where do I begin?

It's almost been another two weeks since I last posted and I just don't know where to begin. Let's see. Should I start with the fact that I have my computer back and it still has some issues wrong with it. Or maybe start with the fact that I've received two replacement phones and both are broken. I finally received my third last night and let's hope it's the final replacement. No - those aren't good enough lead in stories. How about the birth of a new Wilcoxson? Or the story of how Carter locked himself in the master bathroom . Nah, here's the biggest news - Mom and Dad's house was flooded during Monday and Tuesday's storms. Yep. That's a good lead story. Let's start with that.

Every evening around 7 or so, we head outside and meet neighbors in the cul-de-sac so the kids can ride bikes. It's become a nice ritual. Carter burns some energy for an hour or so before bed time and I can relax in a lawn chair and visit with friends. Well on Monday it rained, and it rained alot. Brian and I decided to pull the cars out of the garage and let Carter play in there and we all watched the rain. We laughed at the rain and said "Ha, you can't damper our fun."

Our street on Monday night.

Well, the rain got the final word. We woke to a news report that said the Bear Creek area was under an evacuation or shelter in place order. We were shocked. Mom and Dad were in Austin so we headed over Tuesday morning and were stunned at what we saw. Their entire street was under water. We witnessed an actual boat rescue of a family with small children. There were news trucks, fire trucks and canoes not just in their neighborhood - but on their street. We were in disbelief. Most of the neighbors received 1-2 feet in their house. Mom and Dad got 3-4 inches, but did tons of damage. Basically everything that touched the flood waters is being replaced. Hopefully some furniture can be disinfected, but they are waiting on an adjuster to come out. They've had all the hardwood floors and carpet removed, and today they are having all the sheetrock up to 4 feet high removed. They are staying with us in the mean time. They think they are in the way, but we enjoyed going to bed last night without putting the boys to bed - Grandma did it.

The beginning of Mom's street, looking towards their house (which you can't see) the next morning.

The boys and I have some sort of cold we are suffering from. I got some antibiotics for the bronchitis, but the boys just have stuffy noses. Thankfully it isn't swine flu, though we have honestly put a damper on as many public playdates as we used too. I'm not going to freak about this "potential pandemic" but I have tried to be more aware of how often we wash our hands and how many germs we come in contact with each day. Thursday in the waiting room at the doctors office, some random little girl came up to me and was grabbing at Cole, wanting to touch him. I tried to remain calm, but I practically ran over a coffee table trying to get me and the stroller away from her potentially disease ridden hands :)

Yesterday, the boys and I decided not to go to our usual Friday playdate at K2 Academy. I just wasn't feeling up to it and really didn't want to expose them to anymore germs. So we just cleaned up the house and went to the grocery. While I was unloading the groceries, Carter got quiet, so I went to check on him. He had gone into our master bathroom and accidentally locked the door. I remained calm and looked for the little tool that is supposed to unlock doors from the outside in circumstances like this. But we don't have one. The builder never gave us one. So I started disassembling the door handle. I called my friend, Phoebe, across the street and she brought her tool and her two kids over to help. I am so thankful she was home. The tool didn't work so she showed me how to take the door off the hinges. Carter did surprisingly well and I did the best I could to stay calm. I won't lie, I really wanted to freak out. But it would have only freaked out Carter.

Okay, enough complaining. Let's talk about some amazing news that happened in the last week. Carter and Cole have another cousin. We aren't sure what his technical "relationship name" is, we just consider him a cousin. But my cousin Scottie and his wife Kate had their first child - Evan Lee Wilcoxson. He was born on Thursday, April 23rd and was 6 pounds 8 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Practically identical to my boys. He and Kate are doing well. Here's a picture of the little guy and his daddy. Scottie has set up a website if you want more pictures - http://evan.kateandscott.org/

When we don't have all the drama around here, we spend lots of time outside. The $15 plastic baby pool was our best investment yet. As is the $1 Walmart water guns. Carter LOVES to shoot at the birds that come to eat our bird food. He gets real close too. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can see the bird flying away while Carter shoots.

Check out these two pictures. The one on the top was last week. The one on the bottom was almost a year ago to the date. He can still wear the same swimsuit, but it is a much bigger boy now. My goodness is he growing up!

Another addiction Carter has now is Dora the Explorer. I really don't want him watching alot of television, but when he is allowed - thats all he wants to watch. Here's a picture of the boys watching Dora.

And Cole is doing so well. I think he grew two inches over night. I tried to put a diaper on him yesterday and I think they're too small. Or getting there. We might need to pull out the 1/2 instead of just 1's. He has figured out that he has hands and he can use them. He's grabbing at toys and batting them around. Here he is with a rattle.

I do have some videos I need to post, but I need to work through my computer issues and then I'll get to that. Maybe this weekend I'll have some time to edit the video. Especially since I'll have a couple extra hands around to help entertain the boys!!