November 2014 (for lack of more creative title)

Here's all the fun Team Cohen had (and recorded) around home in the month of November.  

In Ethan's 3rd month, he mastered the smiles, charm, and coos to attract anyone passing by. He is a great conversationalist, and participates nicely in 1-on-1 discussions.  His neck control is incredibly strong as he masters tummy time.  He can also track you all over the room as he watches from a distance. While Ethan sleeps well at night in the crib, this spoiled baby demands to be held for all daytime naps.

a great hippo shirt given to Cohen babies from Aunt Sandi before Gabi was even born

(just a cute picture)

rockin' out in his Ocean City shirt bought by family when his family couldn't participate in the vacation

Here, Ethan models some great Gator clothes given by good friends, Jared and Marni.

I'm sure this is the recommended way to do tummy time, right?

"Good morning, everybody!"

A little sample of the budding conversationalist:

Gabi's language and vocabulary continues to be her most noteworthy area of growth. She can not only repeat anything, she can describe her observations and thoughts with impressive toddler detail as she works to make sense of her world.  Her memory, recognition, and attention span continue to grow as well, and we are so fascinated as we watch this little genius develop before our eyes. Like her brother, she too has read all the books about how she is supposed to act and certainly tests her boundaries, demanding control of most situations in her mischievous, sneaky 22-month-old way.  With that being said, however, she remains a delightful ball of fun, helps put her toys away, and can never be accused of not having personality. She gives us daily smiles and laughter!

a gorgeous girl on a gorgeous day!

The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day.   I sat there with Mommy. We sat there, we two. And I said "Wait a minute, There IS something to do!"

We were really grateful for a weekend visit from Aunt Mor! We didn't capture too many pictures, but we had a great weekend together (despite the icky weather outside).


Some good family togetherness captured on camera this month (most of which doesn't require explanatory captions):




We went pottery painting. Gabi got messy.

before

after

You should see her now with any alligator or football. It's even better than the video. "Go Gators chomp chomp!"

Because isn't this what all 2.5-month-olds do?

Probably my 2 favorite videos from November:

showing off her latest moves

Bluesy Baby

Hopping to Houston

At Ethan's 2-month checkup, his pediatrician asked if we had been out of the country in the last 2 months. I looked at her like she was nuts and answered, "We JUST made it to Houston. That's as exciting as we get!" Having not left the city of Austin, Texas in over 5 months, we decided to go CRAZY and drive 3 hours to visit Aunt Sandi and cousins Mira and Jacob. We explored fun, child-friendly Houston activities during the days and had great cousin time in the afternoons and evenings when they were out of school.

packed and ready to go!

We arrive and head straight into cousin time!

time to get busy in the kitchen with 2 kinds of challah dough to prepare

fist bump!

While the dough is rising, we head to a playground close by.

How else do you get down?

sweet cousin time with Mira and Gabi

In the morning, the Cohans go to do their responsible stuff, and we head to the Houston Zoo. (A note to the concerned public: Ethan was with us, just sleeping nicely in the stroller.) Gabi loved looking at and naming all the animals. She waved to them and said goodbye to them as well.

looking through the window at a monkey

Now, those are some LONG horns!

giraffes far away

giraffe up close

The petting zoo was a success:

Daddy made a new friend.

looking at the meerkats

In the afternoon, we all go out to have eat some fun at Chocolate Bar!

Group shot! Hooray responsibility!

Being that Gabi doesn't even eat ice cream (shocking, I know), these pictures are confusing. However, her cousins share their ice cream very sweetly!

Sweet Jacob loves his Aunt Debbie.

Sweet Jacob loves his cousin Gabi.

After ice cream, it's time to go to Jacob's soccer practice and watch/cheer him on!

Uncle Jon and Mira do some practicing of their own.

Gabi's on the edge of her seat with excitement!

special aunt time

After the ice cream and soccer excitement, we couldn't possibly contain ourselves to cook at home. So we had to go out to dinner...And then, the mature ones started a selfie explosion.

The selfie that started it all! (from the bathroom)

Before heading out the next morning, we got the siblings to sit with each other and pose for some cute pictures.

Since we got to watch Jacob's soccer practice the day before, we were very excited to watch Mira's gymnastics practice. They even had an extra young participant.

I guess Ethan was less enthusiastic about the gymnastics?

November 4th - Ethan Robert was 2 months old, and the big boy wanted to show off his smiles AND neck muscles simultaneously!

When we got back to Austin and had to unpack our suitcases, Gabi was already ready to go back to Houston. We had a great visit!