Pre-Crawling
Ila is not quite crawling yet, but she has developed her own way to get to where she wants to go. Also listen for Nicole saying Ila’s name in the background.
Ila is not quite crawling yet, but she has developed her own way to get to where she wants to go. Also listen for Nicole saying Ila’s name in the background.
Sorry to those who may be tired of our recent video dump, but I just can’t help but post two more that I took today.
Here is a video of Charlotte singing a song about Ila while Ila accompanies her on the rattle:
And here’s a video of Ila laughing:
Lets face it, that hour of Sacrament meeting is challenging on Sunday morning when you have young children, possibly when you have older children too, but I don’t know about that yet. I spend a lot of time and energy fretting about how I can keep my children in their seats behaving well and for the most part we don’t do too bad. Having Zach on the stand now has presented some new challenges and I have not completely figured out how to deal with our children without him. So this particular blog post has two purposes:
1) To keep a record of how things are now, including a record of how they used to be and how we came to do things the way we do them and
2) To solicit ideas on how to improve the way I do things.
We’ve been on the phone detailing injuries to families for the last few days, but I know we have some close friends and family members who get their updates here. For their benefit, as proof for compensation after a traffic injury, and for our written record, I will write the details of the injuries sustained during our car accident on Friday night. Since the pictures are a little gross, you will have to click the “Read more” link at the bottom of the page to read about them and see the pictures. If you’re dealing with similar circumstances, it might be helpful to consult a car accident attorney to ensure you get the support and compensation you deserve. If you follow us in a reader, I’m sorry because you may not have the option to skip looking at the entire post. If you or anyone you know needs legal assistance, consulting a New York personal injury lawyer could be very helpful in such situations.
Read more »Note: I know it’s probably a little gauche to blog so soon after an event like this. However, I want to get my feelings sorted out and writing is a good method. Might as well update everyone while I’m at it.
I left the house this morning in a somewhat grumpy rush. Often I’ll forget my morning prayers during my usual routine, so I’ll pray in the car before I pull out. I was in enough of a rush this morning that I only really prayed for two things; that I’d be safe and my children would be safe as we traveled about today.
For some reason, my attention wandered and I did not see that the light was red. We got hit on the driver’s side, smacked a pole on the passenger side, and wound up where you see us. As we were smashed from side to side, I was calm; I’m generally calm enough when these things happen, but I felt for some reason that things were fine. I had reason to doubt when we saw the children.
I reflected back to July 4, 2004 during testimony meeting today. That year, the 4th also fell on a Sunday, it was when Zach blessed our first Child.
Our celebrating mostly took place on July 3rd this year.
Video = While throwing Snaps, Isaac shows off his missing tooth, Jackson shows off something else.
We lit sparklers during the day and then again at night. Nicole held one too, but when it started the “popcorn†phase, she dropped it in the grass and ran away. The kids enjoyed chasing parachute fireworks.
Poor Nicole was scared of all the fireworks. She hid under my chair or hugged me or Aunt Dee whenever she saw Zach approach the launch site. She was even worse in the evening. She spent the majority of time under my chair, mostly with her face buried in the grass and her feet sticking out the front of the chair. A few times she sat in my lap and hugged me. When I tried to turn her around, she gripped the back of my chair over my shoulder and wouldn’t let go. I had her facing towards the fireworks once, but she covered her eyes the whole time and refused to look.
A movie (Shaun the Sheep) helped pass the time until it was dark enough to light more fireworksAfter fireworks we drove home. A good time was had by all and luckily, bedtime was simple:
Nicole has been walking into the living room wearing other people’s shoes so frequently, that I thought she might enjoy playing with the dress-ups.
She put everything she could possibly put on, notice how she is trying to pick up a 3rd glove to put on.Once she was all decked out, she didn’t smile and dance around, she just started playing blocks with everything on as if nothing was out of the ordinary.Charlotte put on her ballet slippers and picked up two purses and announced that she was “a mom with slippers on.†I was proud that she dressed up as a mom instead of a princess. Then she was a mom with a tail. Isaac put on a tiger hat and tail and he was done. Even Ila participated, although not really by choice.The End
Six months old seems like the turning point for so many things. I started Ila on solids which she hated initially. She had the worst reaction of any of my kids. She’d scream every time I tried to give her a bite and stop screaming when I was not trying to feed her solids. I contemplated putting the pureed green beans away and trying again when she was older, but luckily I kept at it. It took about 2 weeks of offering her green beans every day before she started eating them happily. I kept her on green beans for a few days after she started liking them before introducing her second food, peas. Now she’s on her 3rd day of peas and seems to have taken to them more quickly. Now she seems to enjoy solids and eats about 2 teaspoons 3 times a day. I also put her in a booster seat a few days ago and she did just fine. Since then she has taken all her meals in it and sometimes plays with toys or bangs the tray while I make dinner.
She’s become quite good at rolling over and can surprise me with how quickly she moves from one place to another. She’s much happier playing with toys on the floor than she was even a few weeks ago.
She has started sitting and can sit without support, although it usually doesn’t take long before she topples over and she cannot get back into sitting position on her own. Here’s a little video I took yesterday:
She outgrew the baby bath. She’s a small baby and still fits in the bath, however she tries to sit up and it’s just not made for that. I switched her over to this bath support and she does great in it. She doesn’t need any additional support.She also has an adorable closed mouth smile. Every time I try to take a picture of it, it changes into a big mouth smile or shocked camera face. This was the best I could do: We have mostly taken away her pacifier. I keep one in the diaper bag that I often find attached to her bib when I pick her up from the childcare at the gym. I never use it at home, but I did use it on Sunday when Zach was on the stand for the first time and I was by myself with the kids. Incidentally, I tried giving her a bottle on Sunday at church and she would not drink it, she only drinks her milk right from the source.
I don’t know if this is a particularly unique thing or if I’ve just never noticed it in my other children, but when Ila is laying on her back and I give her a toy, she’ll play with it in her hands then transfer it to her feet and hold it with her feet. I noticed her doing that repeatedly with a variety of toys. THE END
Name: Ila Jane Cochran
Age: 6 months, 8 days
Weight: 12 lbs 15 oz 5th percentile
Length: 24 1/4 inches 5th percentile
Head Circumference: 43 cm 60th percentile
Last well check (4 month) comparison:
Age = +2m 1wk, weight = +1 lb 11 oz, length = +1 1/2 inches, head = +2 cm
This is my first attempt to post a video that I uploaded to YouTube. In the video, Ila is squeaking, smiling, and “talking.†I think she’s adorable, but you can see for yourself.
Charlotte: Sometimes Ila looks like me. She looks like me when we both wear our kitty pajamas. Do you think you might not be able to tell us apart when we are both wearing our kitty pajamas?
My girls love to help me bathe their baby sister. If Nicole hears me mention that Ila needs to have a bath, she’ll run into the kitchen and pull a chair up to the counter by the sink.
We had an assignment on the Cochran family blog to write about what inspired the choices we made in naming our children so I thought I’d share what I wrote here as well. What I thought would be a short post, turned into a rather long one.
Our first boy was going to be David Hyrum Cochran. I still like that name, but after I got pregnant, Zach had changed his mind about the name and we had to start all over with ideas. We used to discuss names in the car and I specifically remember that we were driving down I-15 when one of us came up with the idea to name our son Isaac. I think it was my idea, but I think that Zach thinks it was his idea. We thought the meaning was perfect since it seemed like we were finally getting the promised blessing of having a child after a long wait, just like Abraham and Sarah in the Bible. The name means “he laughs†in reference to the joy that Abraham and Sarah felt when they found out they were pregnant. Later when I read the scripture again, it seems like they were laughing because of how old Sarah was when she was pregnant, but for me it will always be about the joy. We thought we’d call him Ike, but we never have.
In all of our names we discussed, there were several people we wanted to honor in our son’s name. We considered using a grandfather’s name. We also considered adding a name to honor President Hinckley, but at first we ruled out both Gordon and Hinckley. Obviously we changed our minds and gave him the middle name Hinckley. President Hinckley was the prophet during most of the important things that happened in our lives at that point and we felt impressed and inspired by him.
Charlotte’s name came from Zach. I was initially opposed to the name because of a strong connection I had with that name and the story of Charlotte’s web. We continued to discuss the name and the association softened enough that I started to really like the name. I liked that it was unique and still recognizable.
I think I came up with the middle name. I remember thinking about family names and wanting to honor Charlotte’s grandmother by giving her the same middle name. At that point I didn’t realize that Rose was also Charlotte’s great-grandmother’s first name.
Nicole’s name also came from Zach. Zach left work early to go to her ultrasound and he said that as he got into the car he thought to himself, “it’s going to be a girl and we’re going to name her Nicole.†I was initially opposed to the name because I thought it was too common. I loved how unique and familiar Charlotte’s name was and wanted something along the same lines as that, but eventually (while I was in labor and couldn’t think of a name I liked better that he’d accept) Zach convinced me that Nicole was not a common name for her generation. I wasn’t initially thrilled with the choice, but the day Zach blessed her I changed my mind. I remember him saying in the blessing how her name was in remembrance of Christ’s victory over death (Nicole is a french form of Victoria which means victory) and that brought tears to my eyes.
We chose her middle name Kate because it sounded good with Nicole and we wanted something more interesting than the common middle names like Marie and Lynn (no offence to Heidi or anyone who named her).
I assume everyone knows by now who we named our Ila after. I always liked her name, maybe it was partly because I loved my grandmother so much. I felt close to her and yearned for more time with her throughout my life. I actually tried to get Zach to agree to putting the name Ila in Nicole’s name, but we couldn’t come up with a first name that worked with Ila as a middle name and we weren’t fully convinced that we should use it as a first name. We really struggled with finding a name for Ila. Zach liked the name Mellissa, but I couldn’t be excited about that name. We toyed around with several names and didn’t have a strong idea about what we wanted to name her. Jane was a name that I liked and was possibly at the top of my list for first names.
Out here you have to set up an appointment with the hospital and register before going into labor. The first step is to set up all of the billing information. As I was giving my information to the lady she asked me about names and if we’d chosen a name yet. I told her that we hadn’t and she continued to ask what names we had been thinking about. I told her the list of names that we had discussed and somewhere in that discussion, I said that I had wanted to use the name Ila, but I couldn’t figure out a name to go with it. Jane was also one of the names in that group and the lady suggested the name Ila Jane to me. I instantly loved it and even told her so. I wondered if Zach would agree to it, I was almost too afraid to ask because I was so excited about the name. I honestly could not wait to tell him the idea, but was very nervous that he’d reject it at the same time. That night I presented the name to him. I told him that me and the lady at registration had decided on a name for our baby and that I wanted him to think about the name while I showered and then I’d come back and he could tell me what he thought. When I came back into our “wood room†after our shower, he instantly agreed to the name without further discussion. I was so excited, but also afraid that he’d change his mind at the same time. We agreed not to tell anyone about it before she was born.
Someone asked me what we were naming her just after she was born and as I said the name Ila, I instantly felt like maybe it wasn’t the right name, but after telling a few more people it started to sound right again and by the time I left the hospital I was feeling good about the name. When my mom came she told me that we were at the hospital that they had taken my grandmother to after her stroke and that my grandmother’s room was even on the same floor.
As time has gone by, Ila’s name has increased in significance to me and I find myself more and more pleased with our choice. I know that my kids will all know about my grandma and that as she grows, Ila will want to know about the woman that she was named after. The name is unique enough that she’ll probably be asked where it came from throughout her life. I love that by using her name, my grandma will be remembered for generations more in a very personal way by Ila and by Ila’s children and maybe even by Ila’s grandchildren!
An unexpected consequence of naming her after my beloved grandmother is that I become emotional about hearing her name said in frustration and I have this increased desire for everyone to love her. There is a connection to her name in that desire that I can’t entirely explain because I know she’s a different person, but it almost feels like when people love Ila, they also love my grandmother.
I previewed a room transition that we had started, but it didn’t go as planned so we had to change things around a few times to get it right, but I think we’re finally settled. For the sake of family history, I will be thorough, so this might be a long one. In the future, we might consider using reliable movers to avoid such hassles. Their expertise can ensure a smooth and efficient process, saving us time and stress.
My late nights were starting to wear on me so we decided that it was time to start teaching Ila to sleep through the night and to go to bed at a decent hour, but I didn’t want to do that with her sleeping in the living room. I also didn’t want to subject any of the kids to her crying so we decided to try moving Nicole into Isaac and Charlotte’s room temporarily with the plan to move Charlotte to Ila’s room once Ila was settled into a good sleep pattern.
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Since Isaac is in school and here in Tennessee they start early (he leaves at 7:20 each morning for a 7:45 start), we thought we’d make the transition over a weekend. On Friday morning I rearranged Isaac and Charlotte’s room and moved Nicole’s bed in. Our first trial of the arrangement was naptime. I put Nicole down for her nap and she fell asleep perfectly! I was hopeful.
We usually put Nicole down to bed at about 7:30 and she had been perfect at staying in bed. She’d be in there for hours just reading and singing and eventually she’d fall asleep. On the few occasions she dropped her water bottle or another essential item out of her bed, she’d cry for someone to come help her, but she’d never get out of bed. She hadn’t even gotten out once since moving into a regular sized bed. It wasn’t for lack of ability, because she would climb in and out of her bed during the day to get something or pretend to sleep.
We had recently started a tradition of giving the kids a movie night in their room on Friday nights so our first night of the transition was movie night. I actually thought it might make the transition go more smoothly, but it was the opposite. Nicole started getting out of bed to get library books (which we don’t like her to have in bed for fear she’ll ruin them) and other things. She seemed to think it was great fun to laugh and play and climb into Charlotte’s bed with her and although she never left the room, she would not stay in bed and she would not calm down. Somehow she eventually went to sleep after hours of misbehaving.
Night 2 we thought might go better since it was not movie night and would be a more traditional bedtime routine. Unfortunately the results were much the same. She was out of bed constantly and was noisy and playful.
Ila on the other hand was doing great. She didn’t cry for too long falling asleep or in the middle of the night and it was so nice not to be up past 11:00 settling her down only to wake up with her again in the middle of the night. Nicole’s loud yelling woke Ila a few times which confirmed my notion that Nicole and Ila couldn’t share a room at this point.
I was particularly worried that we’d broken Nicole’s perfect bedtime behavior of never getting out of bed and I didn’t know if we’d ever be able to get her to revert back to it. I wondered if we should put everything back the way it was, only I really wanted to stay on track with Ila’s new sleep schedule.
We decided to try swapping beds. We moved Nicole over to a spot against the wall and put Isaac in the middle. He had been the calmest on previous nights and had even fallen asleep amid Nicole’s craziness. Unfortunately, this plan didn’t work either. It’s too tempting when the beds were as close as they needed to be for a leg or arm to travel over to the wrong bed and Nicole was still getting out of bed frequently.
Frustrated and desperate for a fix, we finally decided to try another re-arrange. This time we moved Charlotte into Ila’s room and put Isaac and Nicole’s beds on opposite sides of the room. I was a little worried for Charlotte to sleep in the room with Ila since she was still crying to fall asleep at bedtime and during the middle of the night, but we decided to give it a shot anyway.
After a few nights of bedtime with the evens and odds* together, I think we can say that it’s finally working. Charlotte has had no problems sleeping in the same room as Ila. We have a fan running in there to dampen the noise, but Charlotte sleeps right through Ila’s crying. Nicole is still a little loud and silly at night, but she has been staying in bed and Isaac has been falling asleep fairly quickly.
*{evens and odds = even numbered children 2 and 4 (Charlotte and Ila) and odd numbered children 1 and 3 (Isaac and Nicole)}