Happy 4th of July!

Well I finally get around to posting and I realized just how many weekends of fun I haven't posted about so I'll be catching up on those as well!

Before heading out for the Parade, Cole thought the hats should be reversed, so he took care of that.

While we waited for the parade to start, he got to spend about 30 minutes on an incredible castle playset big enough to accomodate about 50 kids!

He's looking at Grandma in this shot. They liked to growl at each other!

As he was eating, he got a frisbee! Which he seemed to think was a plate.

Yeah sweetie, that's what we thought too... Grandpa's grand finale.

A nap in between dinner and fireworks left him as docile as ever, but he enjoyed the show. By the end he was giggling and pointing. Every time he took his arm out of the blanket to point though, he quickly grabbed the blanket to pull it back up. It's the first time I've ever seen him show that he was actually cold!

Cole's Aunt April with our latest addition to the family - 7 week old Leo.

The next morning dad and I took him to the park to play on a very cool playset and he got to see all sorts of animals. The mother of these goslings wasn't very happy with us and she made it clear with a great deal of hissing! I'm glad there was a fence there. I've been less afraid of snakes than that mother goose!

Then we stopped by the mall to pick him up a new hat since his old one is tight. Of course, we had to let him visit the playset outside the store. (If you're counting, this is playground #3 in 2 days)

Then on the way home, there was an arts in the park event I wanted to check out, so while I did that Dad took Cole over to the park next to it. Yes, play area #4 in 2 days. It was a big weekend for our little man :). Next weekend we'll go to another parade and to a carnival!

Words!

More than 1!! This morning he pointed to my eyes and said “eye” clearly! Then I pointed to my ears and said “what are these” and he said “eahh”. Then I pointed to my mouth and he didn’t respond for a bit so I said mouth and he said “eeth” (teeth). Three words in 2 minutes and it was so easy! It wasn’t like pulling eeth you might even say! The consensus seems to be that once they start, the words just keep coming and I’m sure hoping that’s true!

Busy Day

He wanted nothing to do with the inside of the church after finding gold outside. His eyes about popped when he saw all the stairs to climb. Even at the playground, he doesn't care about the slides. He just wants to climb up and down.
Hello? Daddy's cell phone.



I was in the living room and heard a clatter in the kitchen. Shortly after that, I heard some restling. Eventually I put all the sounds together and realized he must be in the cat food bag (yes, even the clatter didn't send me running out). but when I figured he was eating cat food, I rushed out there. Of course, I didn't rush so fast that I was against grabbing the camera first. I had the camera poised and ready as I rounded the corner and the first shot is what I saw. Sure enough, he was digging in the bag. I was sure the first one was going to head for his mouth but instead what happened next shocked me!



he was digging out individual pieces and putting them in the empty cat dish. He had worked out about 8 pieces so far. I hand't even noticed the dish had been empty before. So the cat has knocked it off the counter before (on the counter so cole can't play with it and the water) when it was empty. So I imagine the cat knocked it down and then Cole was trying to fill it up. Quite the team!



One or two weeks ago at the horse races.

This morning we headed to the grocery store. We hadn't done a big trip buying staples in so long that we filled 2 carts! After Cole's nap, we went outside to try the sidewalk chalk for the first time. He drew about 2 lines and that was the end of that! So while daddy took a nap we WALKED to the park!! He walked right next to me all 3 blocks. While we were there the little daredevil went for the 10 foot slide!! He started climbing up the metal stairs. I just hovered behind him the whole way and he kept pushing my hands away saying "no". He very definately wanted to climb that 10 ft ladder on his own. No fear of heights for this little one.

When we got back I did a little cleaning and he had to mimic everything! The video below isn't of today, but it's the same type of deal when I sweep.

Some days I feel so tired that I don't know how ppl with 3 or more do it and I'm afraid of what age 50 will feel like.

Warning: Rant Ahead

And a religious one no less.

I am so fed up with the baptisim issue. And because the majority of my family time gets spent with a majority that I'm not a part of it's hard to hold strong and not be guilted into feeling like a bad person/mother. Everyone has their own beliefs, religious or political... whatever they are. But I will say one belief I think everyone should agree on... that you support and respect everyone's individual beliefs whatever they may be, without imposing your own expectations on them or looking down on them for not sharing yours.

For those frustrated by my own decisions as a mother (which is to leave it to my son to make his own decision when he is old enough) I don't recall any of them ever asking me what my beliefs are or striving to understand why I feel it's the right thing to do.

/end rant.

Update

How FUN!!!

Cole is a total blast. Every single day. He still isn't saying much of anything intelligible but he sure does try. Sometimes he will say complete "sentences" with different sounds, vocal variety, and pauses and he'll look at us and gesture while he does it. Oh how I would love to know what he thinks he's saying!

Even though he can't say the words, he understands them very well now. The rate at which he's learning things is incredible. Before he loved to let the cat outside. This weekend I said "Cole outside yes, kitty outside nooo". This morning on the way out the door, he paused to push the cats head back when he started for the opening to get out.

His favorite toy is a desk I picked up at a garage sale. He loves lifting and closing the lid over and over. His favorite activity (I think) is riding on the lawnmower with daddy! Every day when we get home if I don't carry him inside, he runs straight from the car to the lawnmower and climbs into the seat and tries turning the key.

He LOVES to help us in any way we let him. Of course he doesn't have the best attention span, but he tries!

I didn't want to have to worry about him swallowing or sucking on change he finds (daddy leaves a lot of it around). So when he first found a coin, I brought him over to the piggy bank, took it off the shelf, and showed him how to put the coin in. Then I made a HUGE deal out of it cheering and clapping and congratulating him. Rinse and repeat. So yesterday I was washing dishes at the sink and he walked up to the shelf with the cow and pointed at it and did his "uh uh uh uh uh" thing. It turns out he had found a coin and brought it straight there! Yay!

I've been teaching him to do somersaults and to roll which he thinks is great fun. We're still working on drinking out of a regular cup and he's getting better but he still can't do it without getting wet. And if he walks around with a cup he'll bend over to pick something up without realizing it means dumping the whole glass.

We took him to the horse races the other week and he had a great time. He would point at the horses and say "arf". Hah! A little more work on animal recognition is in order I guess. He adores dogs and will crawl around on the floor saying "arf arf".

And it's time to get back to work!

Welcome Leo!

I have a new nephew! Welcome to the world Leo Henry! 8lbs 10oz, 21 inches. Mom April is doing just fine. Congratz April and Logan!

I'm very excited that Cole and Owen now have another little boy in the family to play with! I forsee trouble in our future!

After a day of play

This weekend.

Easter Sunday.