did you ever see such a sight in your life?

cohen with his grandma and his cousin jonah (more on their visit soon)

i was sitting here pretending to look at blogs, but really just staring into space enjoying a moment of quiet as marko put cohen to bed, when i heard some rustling in the kitchen. i could tell it was galena and assumed she was simply chasing her shadow again, either that or one of the dozens of matchbox cars that seem to litter our apartment these days, and so i gave it no mind. after ten minutes the clanging hadn't let up though and so i decided to pick myself up from the chair (not an easy task) and go have a look thinking that maybe the frog escaped from our freshwater tank and was now dinner. turns out i wasn't far from the truth, there it lay in the middle of the floor with one of galena's paws on it's back, a mouse. who knew we had mice? but more importantly who knew galena had it in her to catch one? way to go my lazy fat cat, i am impressed indeed. she is now sitting by the front door with an intense look on her face, i wonder if that is where she saw this one in the first place?



in other less macabre news, cohen has taken to climbing. i don't just mean your run of the mill climbing onto the couch or bed, more the variety where we find him sitting in the middle of the kitchen table sipping his cup of milk that mom had accidentally left up there out of his reach, or on top of the tv table holding a bottle of tums (there are a few around here in places i thought were out of his reach, cause you never know when you are going to have a heartburn emergency). it all happened so fast. the first time i saw him on the kitchen table (and yes i said first time) i had no idea he could even climb onto a kitchen chair? things like fish tanks and bookshelves become a little trickier when climbing enters into the equation, (and don't even get me started on some of the stunts he tries to pull off at the playground these days!). i am starting to wonder if the months of calling him monkey have finally gone to his head.

in new baby news, i had an internal at my appointment yesterday to see if all the braxton hicks contractions i have been having have been productive or just plain annoying, and it turns out i am just shy of 3cm dilated. i would say woo hoo, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything really, still with cohen i was closed tight until the night i went into labour, so i will take anything i can get. jokingly i told marko today that i want a baby by sunday, we both chuckled for a moment and then fell silent, because wow, i really could have a baby by sunday. exciting and incredibly overwhelming, mixed in with a little bit of questioning, can i really do this?

if you haven't yet entered a guess as to who this little one is and when they are going to get here then what are you waiting for?

jumping fences to see what's on the other side

cohen climbed out of his crib tonight. we were all sitting here quietly in the living room when we heard the thud. i knew right away what it was, i had been waiting for it. a few weeks ago i caught him trying to hoist one of his legs onto the railing, but he failed. then a few nights later i saw him try again only this time he managed to get his leg up and onto the bar, but then he didn't know what to do with it and he fell back, resigned to try another day. i wasn't sure if he was ready to make the leap yet, but i was bracing for it. so it wasn't a shock when i ran into the room to find him in front of the crib flat on his back screaming. not unlike the first time he fell off the bed, i was gripped with panic at the prospect of what i would i find when i bent down. now, as in then, as soon as i saw his eyes i knew he was ok though and he stopped crying as soon as we were there, a slight smirk appearing on his face.

i would like to think that it was a one time thing, that we have more time before we have to make changes, but i don't think that's true. now that he has had a taste of freedom and adventure (all at bedtime!) i am guessing that his mission will be to hone his skills silently in the night when we least expect it. given a few more weeks and an abundance of opportunity and he will likely be climbing out with ease. so what do we do? buy him his own big boy bed i guess, as sleeping with us in our queen size bed is no longer a viable option (especially with me 31 weeks pregnant), but then how does that work? do we ask him really nice to stay put and close his eyes, or do we spend the first several weeks lying next to him enduring his fidgeting and poking and prying for an hour or more until he eventually falls asleep and then pray he stays asleep until morning? i guess that wasn't much of a question since the answer is glaringly obvious. and where am i supposed to put this bed? i thought we had time, so much more time. thankfully, despite living in a one bedroom, we have enough room in there for a dresser, our bed, his crib and bookshelf and yes a toddler bed can somehow work it's way into the mix, maybe even a bassinet...sigh. now him and galena can both gang up on me at 3am (which seems to be the magical time for both of them) and secretly sneak over to my side of the bed where they will gently rub their whiskers against my cheek asking me to wake up, and i will because after all isn't that what being a mom is all about?