First Easter

Kole's first Easter began with a quaint sleep-in. Good thunderstorms in the early morning hours meant snoozing well past 7am. Eventually, as is his routine, he quickly sprouts up to the side of his crib, bouncing like he's on a trampoline and starts happy-squealing. Which, today, prompted mom and dad to observe today's awakening of junior with ... he has risen!
He's just getting over little cold, and we thought we may not take him to church so he won't get other kids sick. As it turned out, he was ready for a nap as it was time to leave for church. So, Kathy went and I stayed behind to keep an eye on him. I was pretty ready for him to get back to church and repent some pretty heinous sins - including desecrating the Bible. Since he's been able to pull himself up, nothing has been safe on top of the coffee table. Remote controls, drinks, magazines ... and yes, even Kathy's Bible. He'll gleefully grab it and sling it to the floor, then crawl carelessly over it back and forth. So, we've been telling him he's committing a major sin. He usually responds with a giggle and a squeal.
Anyway, he takes all of a 30-minute nap while Kathy's away, she comes back and we headed to Shanna's (Gedy's daughter) new place. It's literally 1.5 miles from our house, on the other side of Polo Rd. Grammy and Grandpa Gedy, Kelley with Riley & Reagan (Kelly Don on the road to Georgia), Ben and Sydney, Ava, Gedy's dad Andy, Bruce & Kathy and their 6-month-old Bruce Jr. were all there, along with Shanna's roommate Etta. Big dinner in a big dining room, and a great time had by all.
Then came the big Easter egg hunt. Riley and Reagan pretty much did most of the egg hunting, but we did manage to throw an egg two feet from Kole. After lots of prompting and pointing, as he gazed around everywhere in la-la land, he finally reached out and got his first Easter egg.
Between being passed around and hugged and kissed and loved on by everyone in the house, to Riley playing with him unmercifully, crawling everywhere, pulling himself up to explore new territory, we came home and he was as exhausted as he's ever been in his life - and that's not an exaggeration. Just short of 10 months, he was POOPED from the day, as it would soon be obvious. He napped for more than two hours and would not wake up from casual noise outside his door. If it were a cartoon, you could have lifted his eyelids to find X's on his eyeballs. By 7:30, we woke him just so we could give him his last feeding before bed. Normally, we'll fill a bottle with 7 oz. of formula. Most nights he takes 5 oz, sometimes 6 oz, and a couple of times a week maybe he'll knock out all 7. Tonight - after taking all 7 oz, he was whiny and pitching a fit, so we made him 3 more ounces and he sucked those down. His bed time is normally 9:00, but we figured he was ready to crash again. So, we put him to bed at 8:00, and by 8:15 he was back with X's underneath his eyelids.
Great Easter Sunday - lots of great memories and some good pics.
PHOTOS: Aunt Shanna opens the doors to her home for Easter and Kole responds by immediately seizing control of the TV remote (I keep telling people it's genetic); Kole and Mom after a successful Easter egg hunt; Kole tracking down an egg, approximately 60 seconds after it was placed 2 feet from him. It was filled with chocolate treats which Mom and Dad confiscated.