Nicole’s 2-Year Well Check
Name: Nicole Kate Cochran
Age: 2 years, 1 week
Weight: 24lbs 20th percentile
Length: 32 3/4 inches 20th percentile
Head Circumference: 47.8cm 60th percentile
Tag Archives: Nicole
Isaac’s Field Day
On Tuesday was Isaac’s Field day. I was a little nervous about taking my three girls by myself, but since I knew I was likely to see some other mothers whom I had met that might be able to help in a pinch, I decided to give it a shot. I love that Nicole’s sign is upside-down in this pic and she looks bored.
I knew Isaac wanted us to be there. He even suggested that we make signs that said “go Isaac with two exclamation points.†As you can see, we followed his suggestion. Charlotte was a great sign holder and held up her sign every time Isaac ran or she thought he might run.
Isaac is always very concerned about doing what’s right and not getting into trouble. He was afraid to even hug his mom without his teacher’s permission, at lest at first he was. I’m glad that he’s consciences, but I worry that he doesn’t stand up for himself and get what he needs. Here he is lined up for his first race.
I wasn’t able to get a picture of it, but while most kids were focused on the finish line and running as fast as they could, Isaac was searching the sidelines as he ran and ended up being the slowest kid in every race. Here he is getting ready for the sack race
The ‘Pony Express’ race was a relay race with 4 other teams competing. Isaac’s team came in last place, but they had ribbons for all 4 teams so Isaac ran to me after the race with his white ribbon and announced that he his team won!
Apparently an employee of Tennessee State Bank has a kid at Mount Olive, so these guys pulled up and started cooking hotdogs. They gave everyone who came up the hill to the truck free hotdogs, chips, and water. The guy who grilled the meat also helped me to my car when he saw me hobbling up the hill with my overloaded stroller in one hand, Nicole in the other, and Charlotte trailing behind me.
The girls didn’t really eat the hotdogs, but they thought the water was great!
It got really hot out and the Kindergarten tarp was right in the sun, so towards the end of the morning, we broke out the umbrella we had brought to provide a little shade. Charlotte joined the kids under our umbrella.
And finally, here’s a picture of Isaac’s class with their teacher, Mr. Burton. I didn’t notice the arm in my pic till I got home, oh well.
At the end of the day, I was glad I got to go and observe and cheer Isaac on, but next year I might call a babysitter!
Happy 2nd Birthday Nicole!
Today my little Nicole turns 2. She has blossomed into a funny quirky little girl. She loves to be the center of attention, stealing
glances at visitors and then beaming from ear to ear with her head cocked or galloping around the room in her own unique dance.
She has recently entered a new stage of language development. Her vocabulary is exploding and she has started regularly using two word combinations and small phrases. Where she would have said “shoe,†I hear her carefully articulate “one shoe†or “Charlotte’s Shoe.†One of my recent favorites is hearing her say the whole phrase “Mom, where are you?†I’ve started working on encouraging words instead of crying or yelling for something. She’s doing quite well with that. She says things like “help, please†and “orange, please†or “Oh, no ball!†Every time we drive somewhere, she likes to say goodbye to everything “goodbye houseâ€, “goodbye treeâ€, and so on.
She loves hats and shoes and she smiles and dances when I put either one on her. 
This evening, I watched her try to fit her brown sandals onto her big sister’s foot. She regularly emerges from her siblings bedroom and clomps down the hall in a pair of oversized shoes. Then she’ll climb into her seat at the table and say “oh no, shoe!†as one of the shoes slips off and falls to the floor.
Six months ago, it was a rare treat to have her sit still in your lap for a hug, now she seeks out and sustains hugs regularly. 
She has started hugging both of her sisters spontaneously and occasionally crying for a hug. The 2nd hour Nursery leader at church says that every week at about 10:30 she just stops playing and comes to get a hug then goes back to play happily. She went through a short phase of saying “awww†every time she hugged someone. Charlotte and Nicole loved to hug and say “awww†over and over again.
She goes to bed easily most days both for her nap and at night. At times she’ll be up for an hour or two after being put to bed, but she never leaves her room or climbs off her bed. She usually doesn’t even cry. She’ll be in there for hours, just singing and talking and looking at books. I think it’s only been in the last month that she’s started insisting that she sleep on top of items. She gathers at least three toys and often a book or two along with her water 
bottle in her arms and sleeps on top of them. A stuffed Curious George toy is always under one of her arms. I still don’t understand why she prefers to sleep this way, but she gets mad if I try to move something she’s laying on. It reminds me of a silly sleeping phase Isaac went through. It’s funny how these strange little things they do pull at your heart strings.
She still doesn’t like to be forced to sit still. If I try to get a picture of the kids lined up or sitting next to each other, she’ll be the one who refuses to sit still long enough for me to take the picture. Church meetings can be challenging, 
I was counting down the days until she turned old enough for nursery!
Her favorite show is Curious George. She’ll carry a remote over to me and say “George†periodically during the day. She also loves to be outside. Everyday when we get home from picking up Isaac she climbs out of the car and runs directly outside to play. If you mention leaving she’ll to to the door to the garage and say “outside†over and over.
I also love her big brown eyes and her silly smiles. She has started smiling and saying “cheese†when she sees my camera. Sometimes she gives me a goofy smile where she protrudes her lower teeth and it looks like she has an under bite (I think that’s the right term).
A Cupcake for Nicole
Charlotte is a creative little girl. If you start making up a story, she’ll add to it. Today I decided to see what she could create on her own. I only helped her with prompts like “what would she do when she is a great-grandma?†The sequence, ideas, and pictures all came from her.
Picture Note: A cupcake in the middle with sprinkles on it. Surrounded by candy, including a lollipop. I don’t know what the line on top is for.
Picture Note: The picture of Nicole as a mom is wearing glasses, like Charlotte’s mom. The other picture is of a taco. Again, the line on top baffles me, I shall have to ask her.
Picture Note: The circle with a dot is a belly with a bellybutton. The other picture is a bowl of Marshmallow Mateys.
Picture Note: The green picture is celery.
The End.
This story has inspired Isaac to write his own, only he wants to write a non-fiction book about Space.
The Bumbo
I bought a Bumbo when Nicole was a baby and I was desperate for a way to put her down and have her remain happy. She wasn’t happy with the swing, or bouncer, or lying on her back and as it turned out, she wasn’t particularly thrilled with the Bumbo either and I thought that perhaps it was a gimmicky waste of money. She was content enough in it a few times. 
However, Ila is definitely helping me get my money’s worth out of it.
Nicole’s Sleeping Oddity
Nicole insists on sleeping on toys and books. If you try to move them, she’ll put them right back. She likes to have a stuffed animal (usually Curious George) or doll under each arm and then she places books in the middle and sleeps on her tummy on top of all of them! And she will scream if she drops her water bottle, which she hugs along with everything else as she sleeps.
The best part of my day. . .
was this morning when as I walked down the hall to get Isaac up, I heard Nicole’s sweat little voice calling out “Mom, where are you?†over and over again. She’s just at that age where her language skills are exploding. Not only is her vocabulary increasing, but she is starting to string two words together. Ironically, “where are you†is like one word to her. Usually in the morning, she’ll be sitting up in her bed talking gibberish and occasionally she’ll sit up and cry to be released from her room. This is the first time I’ve heard her call out a whole sentence. 
While Iâ€m on the subject of Nicole, I ought to share two more stories from this week. The picture to the left is from the other day when she spilled some water on the floor. She said “oh, no†then opened the drawer containing washcloths and hand towels, retrieved one and started trying to clean up her mess. I was so proud. She has observed the times when her older siblings have spilled and I’ve directed them to clean up their own spills.
The other story happened outside this week. I had all 4 kids outside with me and we were playing with balls and other toys. Our driveway has a rather steep decline towards the road, so I have repeatedly told Isaac and Charlotte that if a ball rolls down they are not to chase it into the street. I tell them that I will replace the ball if it gets hit by a car, but that I can’t replace them. I didn’t see when Nicole’s ball rolled down the hill and across the street into the little ditch on the other side, but I did see that Nicole was upset and instead of descending into tears she looked at me and said, in a very sad voice “oh, no! Ball!†
and pointed towards the street. Not having seen it roll, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d find a ball, but I cautioned her to stay up on the hill and went down to investigate. Sure Enough at the bottom of the hill I could see her ball. After I retrieved it, I handed it to her and my heart swelled with pride at this successful communicative exchange that I had just experienced with my daughter. I am still puzzling over why that experience felt so profound to me. Was it that she finally caught on to the lesson I’ve been trying to teach her (don’t cry, use words instead) or was it that she gave me information that I didn’t know and I was able to act on that information to achieve a successful result?
Nicole’s Birthday Gift Ideas
Before anyone went shopping, I thought I’d post some pertinent info. I hope this isn’t too presumptuous of me. We’re really ok if no-one gets her anything. She is only turning 2, but I know that a grandma or two may be thinking of sending something and I thought this format would be acceptable. If you do buy her a gift on this list that’s not eatable, leave a comment so no one duplicates. If you like the suggestions, I’ll post the same sort of thing for Isaac’s birthday which is a month later.
A snapshot of Nicole
I like this picture of Nicole. I found her sitting on the kitchen floor, wearing her father’s hat and looking at this book that she took from our bedroom.
There’s just something about this picture that seems very silly to me. Maybe it’s that she didn’t just take the book or the hat, but the two of them together and then walked all the way into the kitchen to sit down and ‘read.’
Nicole
She’s a funny little girl. She seems to really like Ila, but she’s not quite two and can be a little rough in her attempts to be kind. I generally try to avoid laying Ila anywhere Nicole can reach her when Nicole is awake, but today I thought Nicole was distracted so I laid Ila down while I poured drinks for dinner and when I went back to check on her, this is what I found:
Nicole had neatly laid trucks and trains around Ila
I came into the kitchen the other day and found this: 
It made me smile because I am sure I know exactly which child made the mess. Nicole has a thing for wire whisks.
It was nice out
So I went out with the kids to play, even though I had cleaning to do inside.
Nicole enjoyed laying on her tummy in the dirt with her arms reached out as if to make upside-down dirt angels, she also tasted the dirt.
The family dynamics as they are now
Since moving to Tennessee and adding one more child, I’ve noticed some changes in 
how the kids relate to each other.
Isaac and Charlotte still get along very well and play together all the time. It seems like they’ve been conspiring more and getting into more trouble since the move, but maybe I just think that because I am much busier and have less family support out here.
This picture makes me laugh
I came into the living room to find this scene, luckily I always have a camera close by. Editor’s note: Nicole is trying to sit in a tiny doll-size high chair. 
Quality Time with Nicole
I find myself with very little time during the day to spend one on one with my children, so I do my best to take advantage of any extra moments throughout the day. I do things like play games with them while we wait in the grocery store line or at the doctor’s office and singing songs or talking with them in the car.
Lately, Nicole has developed her own little way to have some time with her mom. 
It started off with Nicole trying to put my shoes on my feet once when I sat down to feed Ila. Soon she was trying to put my shoes on me each time I fed Ila. I recognized a new opportunity to play with her and I started trying to tickle her with my feet, or give her feet hugs. Sometimes my feet try to dance with her or startle her by jumping when she least expects it. I know this sounds strange, but we both started to really enjoy this time together. Now whenever Nicole sees me sit down to feed Ila she gets a big grin on her face and runs over to my feet and she gets very frustrated if they’re not on the ottoman where she likes to play with them.
What Creative ways have you found to spend quality time with your kids (or others) when you find you lack quantity of time?
Nicole’s New Bed
I have been wanting to see how Nicole would do in a regular bed for a little while now. Everyday she runs into Isaac and Charlotte’s room 
and climbs into their beds, pulls the covers over herself, and pretends to sleep. In addition to her enthusiasm for beds is that fact that Ila is sleeping in the living room in a Pack ‘N Play and I’d like to transition her into the crib in a few months.
The main thing that has been holding me back from letting Nicole try a bed is that I wanted to find a nice bedspread for her. I don’t like big cartoon characters or Disney princesses, but still wanted something feminine and girly without looking really cheap. Unfortunately, the only ones I could find that I liked were online and started at $80 (granted my local store search only included Wal-Mart and Target).
All in a day’s work
So I had this idea today that I ought to write down what a day in my life is like right now. I think I’ll look back one day and wonder how I did it, because there are days now when I wonder how I managed to make it through the day only to wake up and start all over. I have to warn you that this is very detailed and therefore long.
On a Typical Night. .
you might see a scene like this if you checked on the children after bedtime:
Isaac will likely be found surrounded by non-fiction books. He often has one propped up or will fall asleep with his finger in one. The globe is not atypical. He loves to study maps and other such things as he lays in bed (or when he’s on a road trip). He’s also a little heater so he’s often sweaty.
Charlotte typically sleeps with a doll or water bottle and sometimes both. I have to admit that the light saber is not typical, but I took this picture on the same night as the other.
Nicole will likely be fully away sitting up in her bed singing or talking for hours after you put her to bed. She generally doesn’t cry much if at all when she is put to bed, but it’s not uncommon to still hear her awake as much as two hours after putting her to bed.
Ila is still establishing her sleeping pattern. At two months old, she doesn’t usually settle down until about 11:00 (which is much better than last week when she didn’t settle down till 1 or 2 each night). She can be a little fussy in the evening which is fairly typical for her age, but once she settles down she usually only wakes once to eat before my alarm goes off at 6:30AM.
Nature vs Nurture. . . .really?!
I don’t think anyone who has had a little boy could make the argument that masculinity 
is something that we train in our kids. When Isaac was 17 months old, someone handed me a book full of trucks to show him. I assumed the book would not hold his attention for long, after all it was a book with nothing but construction trucks in it—I thought it seemed rather dull. Imagine my surprise when his face lit up as he pointed to each vehicle. From there he became captivated with anything that had an engine. Since that experience, I’ve noticed that every little boy I’ve known has gone through a stage where he is obsessed with trucks, trains, and planes.
My girls on the other hand, like girly things. Sure they’ll play with a truck or drive a car around the room, but they show their gender identity in different ways.
Charlotte’s Magic Car
Here’s a little video of Charlotte and Isaac playing with her birthday present:
She wanted “a magic car that goes by itself”. I think this works.
I also think Nicole is destroying a book in the background.
Moving: Day 9 the drive to Knoxville
DAY 9: On Wednesday we set off for Knoxville. 
It was a long crowded ride in my mother’s Tribeca, but the kids behaved well and the trip was uneventful. We stopped for lunch at Wendy’s and Nicole enjoyed dancing to the music and making faces with my mother. She was in such a funny happy mood that I was glad I had my camera handy to capture a few moments.
The only other noteworthy thing was the few times that Isaac announced that he needed to use the bathroom right away and we frantically exited as soon as we could only to find out that his need was not nearly as urgent as he had claimed.
When we arrived at our new place, the movers were still unloading the truck and a neighbor from the ward had provided a hot meal for the family.
The rest of our moving experience is not blogworthy as it consists of me unpacking and organizing our things into our new house, but I think 9 days of moving details really should be enough detail for the few readers we get to our humble little blog.