Park Hoppin'

Cole and I had an errand to run early this morning (and by early, I mean 8:30 when we are normally in our pjs having breakfast) so we had some time as the only people at one of our neighborhood parks. When we were done freezing from the June Gloom we're experiencing we had a bagel, went to Target and then headed to another park to watch my neighbor's daughter for a bit. Turns out running around early and hitting two parks by 10:30 is the secret to getting Cole to nap at a decent hour!

Park #1


Park #2

I almost accidentally squashed this little guy but luckily for him Cole pointed him out in time for me to avoid him!

We tried to put him in a tree for safety but he kept falling out. Hopefully he found another safe spot! Cole thinks he turned into a butterfly already!

Cole swinging with his buddy Grace

Wordless Wednesday (is nothing safe anymore?!)

Snow Boots and Flip Flops

Cole is going through a "I do it myself" phase. His most spoken words are "Cole do it!" Sometimes it's frustrating (like when he wants to change his own diaper) but other times it's just cute. Like when he wants to dress himself. In flip flops and a hat.
Or just snow boots. In May. With a diaper.

He gets a big kick out of wearing his brother's pajamas too. Because pajama pants totally complete the outfit, am I right?!

Underwear

Cole picked out his first big-boy underwear today. He couldn't decide between Thomas the Train and Cars and adamently insisted on getting both. So I told the cashier to pick on and leave the other out and it worked! So I think we're going to slowly introduce potty training. He has a potty and he's used it in the past but now that he knows he has his own free will he has decided to refuse so this may be a very long process.

A VERY long process!

Just 'cause he's cute

Haircut

Saturday I spent the entire day out and away from the family shooting a wedding with my sister. Friday night Cole looked like this:
Imagine my surprise and sadness when I came home to this:

Yeah, I know, he's way handsome. But he's just not the same!

Olibur's House

Cole just love going to "Olibur's House." Not to see Aunt Laura or Uncle Justin (both of whom he loves!) but to see the dog, Oliver. Yesterday we went to visit Oliver and went on an adventure in Grand Terrace with Laura's inlaws. I think Cole wants to learn to be a punk rocker like Amy and Rudy.
Cole has big muscles doesn't he?

Stickers in his shoe from hiking.

A whole evening with "Olibur" and not one picture of him? How did that happen?!

Lovey

Some kids sleep with their blankies or favorite stuffed animals. Cole sleeps with his monster truck.

Wordless Wednesday

Dump Truck Bath

You probably know by now that Cole is not a good sleeper. Either he won't go to sleep or he'll go to bed and then just get up like he was just resting and want to play. And he STILL doesn't sleep through the night. He's two for goodness sakes! Luke didn't either till 2.5. You could say I'm tired. So last night was one of those nights where he went to sleep at a decent hour and then woke up and decided to stay up. He doesn't have a crib anymore or his own room so it's not like I can FORCE him to stay in bed. What can I do?
So I got this brilliant idea that I was going to leave him with daddy while I take a warm bath. I slept wrong the night before and my shoulders were hurting and a bath sounded amazing. Too bad that Cole also thought a bath sounded amazing and before I could even turn the water on her announced he was going to have a "dump truck bath" and carried his sand covered dump truck to the tub. I guess he was right; the toy did need a bath. And as much as he tried to get me to join him, there's just not enough room in the tub for mommy, Cole AND a big yellow dump truck.

Tonight he is sleeping great though! All it took was not letting him nap and then taking him on a 1.8 mile hike!

Hiking Shoes

I'm trying hard to get the boys outside more. We don't have a backyard and so getting them out means getting ME out more too. Which is fine, I need to get outside in the fresh air and get some exercise anyways, it would just be NICE (not to mention convenient) to open the back door and say "go play" while I cook dinner or pick up toys. Or veg out. So in my attempt to get them out more we have taken up hiking in the trails near home. And by hiking I mean walking and exploring but going only as far as a two-year-old's legs can take him. Not to mention Luke must be home by 5 for his daily addiction: "The Most Extreme" on Animal Planet. So we leave at a time that will allow us to get back for at least part of Luke's show and we go exploring and the weather is so nice and the scenery is so gorgeous that I actually look forward to it now. Only today my car has a dead battery and so we are stranded and I am FINALLY doing a blog post since I am such a bad blogger. I just hope Ish gets my car running so we can go hiking again tomorrow!

Cole absolutely loves going hiking. He likes walking through the tall grass and finding ants and running "aster, aster!" If I ask him if he wants to go hiking he runs to get his shoes and repeats "iking" in his super excited tone. This morning I told him to get his shoes and he brought me a pair and dubbed them his "iking shoes" so that they shall be!

Two

I don't believe in the "terrible twos." Luke was a JOY at two. I loved every minute of him being two. 18 months wasn't so easy. Four through six has been more difficult. But two was just fun. Or maybe I have forgotten the tough stuff?

Cole turned two yesterday. I am so excited to have a two-year-old again! We had such a fun day to celebrate. He woke up to his new scooter (which he calls a bike) and a new dump truck (trucks are his "thing" at the moment.) Playdate at the park with friends. Much needed nap and then a playdate at another park with other friends (and more cupcakes!) Daddy came home early and we went to Chik-Fil-A for dinner because they have a fun play area there. Then the evening was spent playing trains with Daddy.

I am amazed at how much this boy has changed in a year. Even as a baby he was (dare I say) "advanced" when it comes to getting around. Sat up unassisted at 5 months and crawled at 6 months. After that pulling-up and climbing came very quickly. Then walking, running, and climbing. Oh, and skateboarding. Now he has the big-kid playground equipment mastered and easily keeps up with 3 and 4 year olds. I thought for sure we'd have had at least one broken bone by now but thankfully, we have avoided that so far!

Not only can he get around now, Cole talks so much more than just a couple months ago! It's so nice that he can almost always tell me what he wants so we can avoid tantrums and meltdowns. He repeats EVERYTHING. It doesn't always sound anything like the word he's repeating but he tries and he comes close more than I expected! He understands everything too. Trucks, trains, and planes are his favorite things right now. There are regular trucks, "ucks" and fire trucks (any truck with a light on top) and dump trucks, or "dunks," and he just realized the differences in busses so now we knows bus too. And airplane and helicopter (which were also called airplane until yesterday) and train (woo woo) and of course car. I guess he is 100% boy. Except when he tries to put on my makeup in the morning. But don't tell Daddy.

The craziest thing is how independent Cole is becoming. He has to do everything himself. No help from Mommy anymore. Some things are fine, like eating. Others scare me, like going down the stairs (which he likes to jump down one stair at a time.) He tries to dress himself now and when he succeeds he yells "I DID IT!" and is oh so proud. And I am too. And Cole is so loving. He is always up for a hug and kiss. He never gets tired of giving them and I never get tired if getting them. He's my little love bug and I am so excited to see him grow as a two-year old!

Homework

Luke does his homework every afternoon after school. Cole feels left out and asks for homework too! He's been asking to go to school lately too. Yesterday when Luke got home Cole grabbed Luke's backpack and started crying to go to school! I hope he still wants to go to school and do homework a few years from now!

Car Wash

Obviously by now I know not to trust Cole alone in the bathroom for even a minute. Toilets have been clogged, bubble bath has been emptied, and many other messes have been made in just minutes by my wonderful child. So anytime I hear him run down the hall toward my room I follow him quickly! The other day though I was relieved to find that he was making any messes; he was washing his cars! He used hand soap and cleaned them all!
I don't think they were dirty to begin with but really, have you ever seen a cleaner toy? :)

Bagels!

Cole loves eating bagels and cream cheese. And by eating I mean licking the cream cheese off and not taking a single bite!

Messes and Milestones

Legos and Fruity Pebbles. Just what every mom wants spread all over her kitchen floor. I need to keep the cereal higher. But I need to keep everything higher and we only have so much shelf space out of his reach!

Yum, uncooked pasta!

Did I say I was giving him till three to be able to climb up to the top bunk? He made it before he ever turned two! And this is WITHOUT the ladder, we removed that months ago!

Rainy Saturday

At least the sun will be back tomorrow!

One Point For Cole

Well he succeeded in clogging the toilet. That's what I get for putting the paper towels in the bathroom in preparation for cleaning it and then checking on dinner. It took him about 3 minutes to leave me, find the paper towels, and stick the remaining half a roll in the toilet. And flush. Figures we're now out of paper towels so I didn't even clean the bathroom.

Almost Friday

Cole was in the mood for books yesterday. He'd bring me a book, I'd read it, and then as soon as I finished he'd yell "MORE!" and run to get another book. When I went to his bookshelf at the end of the day every single book (that he didn't bring me) was on the floor. I'm glad he likes reading at least!

Wearing Daddy's underwear. Isn't this how everyone wears their dad's dirty boxers?

When he's not getting into trouble he looks like an angel.

Cole doesn't "do" sippy cups anymore. Not that he ever really did. Try to give him one he will take the lid off so I just give him a cup with a little bit of juice in it.

Dancing on Mommy's bed. Sometimes he's just cute.

What happened to that sleeping angel?

Have I mentioned he finds a way to get things that I move out of his reach?

I guess he thinks he's pretty funny!

For some reason he loves getting into Luke's toothbrush and toothpaste.

Just being cute again. If only you could hear him saying "airplane!" That multiplies the cute factor big time!

Cole is a little helper. He helped make pancakes for dinner.

Not quite mixed yet but he knows what to do!

He LOVES to wear Luke's old t-ball cleats. He doesn't just cook, he cleans too! He cleans the TV with baby wipes. Wearing Luke's cleats.

He decorated our counter top with some stickers he got from grandma. He usually puts stickers in his hair.

Playing with his "uck" before bed. Looks like someone is getting a cold. I guess that means I'm next!

It's 10:00 am and I think we're off to the park. He's already given me plenty of material for tomorrow's post though!