You seem to be getting good at this walking thing.  So good that now you’re chasing Sully around, which he doesn’t much care for.  Check the video.

Mark this day down in your calendar, April 3, 2010. While the first picture in this sequence may look like you are “mooning” the camera, it’s actually a historic moment and why I’ve asked you to write it down.

Coen Gets to Standing on His Own

Coen Gets to Walk on His Own

Though the picture is of you sticking your booty in the air, it’s for the purpose of standing to walk. This is a task, which to this point, you had yet to complete and now on this date, you were successful not once, not twice but three times!

We are so very proud of you! With all the hurdles you’ve had to overcome, we’re proud of you for getting to this point on your own.

Lately you’ve become much more vocal, which is cool because you’re using words to communicate. Here’s the problem though, the word is usually followed by the opposite.

In other words, (pardon the pun) you have been using the short phrase “Hold you!” to indicate that you would like to be held. However, immediately after picking you up, you say, “OUT!” which means you want down.

Now, if you could just do us all a favor and pick one, that would be great!

Your Loving Father

Your mom just put you down for a quick morning nap because you are so TIIIIIRRRRRED. Anyhow, it’s been a long couple of days as mommy and daddy have been selecting new tile, granite and other things to go in our new house. We spent 5 hours yesterday at the builder’s main office getting everything selected. We don’t move in until July, so you’re going to have to hang in this apartment a tad bit longer! So, get some rest!

Last night, you had what could be described as your first official “Temper Tantrum”. Now, some people have made a point to remind me that it “wasn’t cool” of me to actually take pictures DURING the event, but I thought I should at least document the first one. Since you are my son, I figure there are many more to come.

Coen’s First Temper Tantrum

However, tonight you did something really amazing…you walked between your mom and I for more than 3 steps. I’m talking 5 or six at one point, I just didn’t get them ALL on camera but I have a few minutes I’d like to share with you to show you how proud we were!

This morning, another milestone for you! Your mom made blueberry pancakes, which you really love. You love them so much, you don’t even let us eat our own. So, your mommy makes you a pancake to have by yourself and I spent most of the time feeding it to you. However, as pancake #2 was placed in front of you, suddenly you decided to feed yourself!

Now, using an adult fork is no easy task because it’s kinda long and unbalanced for little babies. So, I took the initiative to stick the pancake onto the fork and you were handling the “plate-to-mouth” portion. You did such a good job feeding yourself! As a matter of fact, in the picture we took, you can see the big smile on your face.

Great job, Bud!

Changes are coming for your Mommy’s football team as the Carolina Panthers released Jake Delhomme.  This is a sad, maybe bitter-sweet moment as Jake Delhomme “did” take your Mom’s team to the Super Bowl back in 2003.  I actually covered the Panthers for a few games during that season.  They were really good.

The problem is, the start of last season and the end of the previous season were two of the worst games Jake Delhomme ever started.  Not to worry, he should find work elsewhere.  My point is that this story is the talk of Charlotte on today’s date!

One funny thing we’ve noticed lately is how you like to call your Grandma Saundra “Momma”. We have wondered if this is because you spend your afternoons with her. You say, “Dad-dy” a whole bunch at home but it’s directed at BOTH of us. We might want to “fix” this so you know that Sara is your “MOM-ma” and Saundra is your “GRAND-ma”.

Oh well, one thing at a time, right?

You fell asleep in the bed with me while your momma stayed up on the couch between the hours of 12am and 2am. She finally put you back in your room, where you slept until 6:30am. There was just a bit of a rustling as usual, but then the shrieking started again. I couldn’t figure it out, you didn’t have anything more than a wet diaper, so I fixed you a bottle.

However, the wailing continued for no obvious reason. Soon thereafter, your mom woke up and fed you the usual breakfast. The crying continued intermittently through the morning. Strange.

I’m proud to say that today you took your first steps! It was our weekly therapy session with your pal, Whitney Brown and you needed very little coaxing to get this whole walking thing down pat!

OK, well Daddy’s jumping the gun just a little bit. But, you did take as many as three whole steps before falling into one of our arms! We’re so proud of you…just remember that like crawling before walking, you have to WALK before you run. (By the end of our hour-long session, you were going for the gold and making quick steps!)

We’re so very proud of you, our big boy growing up so fast!

Dad