Boogers & Drool & Bonks, Oh My!

As I was going through my camera roll, I realized I hardly took any pictures this week! I feel confident chalking that up to the fact that for the last week Colin had a steady stream of boogies coming from his nose, and I just couldn't bear the thought of putting pictures of him on the internet when he's not at his finest. See how ashamed he is of himself; "Please no pictures!" 

We had his first cold this week - he still has a bit of a cough but the worst grossest is over. Colin never had a fever and his boogies were always clear so I didn't call the doctor. He was eating fine and sleeping pretty normally (except for waking up every now and then to cough) so I didn't think it was anything worth a doctor's visit. We just stuck to the saline drops and Vick's Baby Rub (get this if you haven't already!!) and let him fight it off! Throughout the whole thing, he was still happy as a clam - there were some times where he just wanted to snuggle but he was never overly fussy. Hopefully that continues well into his teenage years. 

Before Colin developed the cough, I thought he could be having symptoms of teething, especially since his drooling had intensified ten fold. I was poking around in his mouth and he chomped down real hard when I got to the center bottom. I checked and sure enough, there is a little clear space where a tooth will be poking through shortly! For me, that development will be the toughest because he won't have that toothless grin anymore - he will start to look even more like a big boy, like in the picture below. Oh be still my heart strings. 

Colin is a great sitter, but he's continuing to figure out new ways to get objects & move around, and therefore has become increasingly difficult to watch. Our apartment doesn't really afford a large space we can designate as a play room either, so he's been stuck in smaller areas. He's taken quite a few bonks to the head, which I know is normal for babies, but it is still hard to see him face plant against a toy or slip and smack his head on the shelf of the entertainment center. Today he bonked himself pretty good so I saw it as the universe's way of telling me to start baby proofing - thank you Amazon Prime! We would prefer him not to have CTE before his first birthday.  

This last week I've been focusing on putting him down for naps alone in the crib. Before, we would put him between two pillows on the bed, but I noticed he would push up the pillows and roll under them. It was not easy at first - he rolled and scooted around a lot in the crib so he would stay awake for a long time and I just kept readjusting him and putting the blanket over him. Then I started to make sure he was good & tired before I even put him in the crib and that definitely helped the process along! A few nights this week he's even gone to sleep at night on his own! The most important thing I learned is to stay consistent. In the beginning I'd stay in there and talk to him, try to soothe him to sleep, but then because 'mommy has things to do honey' I'd set him up, give him a kiss and leave. If he cried, I went in, readjusted him, gave another kiss and left. I slowly stopped going in as much and he learned to soothe himself to sleep. Such a big boy - I am thankful everyday of his temperament! 

It goes without saying - the kid is growing, still cute and showing more and more personality every day. He loves banging toys together, and playing in empty box and bins, and discovering all kinds of new and exciting foods, textures and sounds. We are on our toes waiting for him to start crawling!