Sibling love

 

These two just love each other! Cole didn't mind that there was no room for Kate (who he calls "Tay-tee"), he let her slide him over and squish right next to him. I hope they always stay that close ;)

Update: Month Nineteen

I missed it again...but who's counting? :0)  Nineteen months, yikes!  As I've said before, I've got a BUSY boy on my hands...combined with Kate it's complete chaos here!  Cole has really started "talking" a lot more this past month.  He says "he ye go" (here you go), "le go" (let's go), "bye dad!", "TAY!!" (Kate), and when we're at the dog park he yells "INNY" the whole time.  Of course we love to make him repeat all sorts of other words so we can all giggle at the outcome :0), and he's happy to oblige.  Have I mentioned that Cole is a climber?!  I can not leave the kitchen without coming back to him standing on the table...I've started flipping the chairs up on the table, but then I worry that he will pull them down on himself...definitely worse than just standing up there!  He enjoys jumping on the bed or off the couch (after he and Kate have piled all the cushions on the floor), and now that it's finally nice outside he enjoys playing in the yard all day long! 

 

 

He's not going to believe that I used to let him walk around in these pink boots!  And he's never going to want to admit that he loved them!  I finally put them away, but while they were out he would constantly bring them to me so he could put them on him.  He's sitting on the vacuum...another favorite thing to do...ride it around while I'm cleaning :0)

 

 

Why play the drum when you can wear it like a helmet?!

 

 

"Coo coo"

 

 

That's his "more food now" face.  Insert a big "aaaahhhh" here.

A few birthday pics

I posted an update for Kate's birthday, but never got to the actual birthday pictures.  Kate had a busy day with school in the morning and gymnastics in the afternoon.  We celebrated with a pizza party and cake with just the four of us...it was a good time! 

 

 

Kate looking oh so stylish in her new birthday shades! 

 

 

Ooh la la!

 

 

This party was all about shades and hats :0)

 

 

Showing off her new shoes (they are not only rainbow colored and sparkly, but they light up with each step!...she walked into the basement the other morning and I though the cops had showed up... :0)) and new jammies.

 

 

Kate requested a rainbow cake this year...a change from her usual order of strawberry cake.  I picked up a delicious chocolate cake at Whole Foods and decorated it with sprinkles...she thought it was great!

 

 

Blowing out the candles!!

Update: Month Eighteen...and 10 days...

Well, the 30th came and went, and for (I think) the first time EVER I forgot that I even had an update to write...busy much?!  Cole is more verbal by the day, and although I don't want him to get any older I can't wait to hear his little voice more and more!  He has the funniest "word" for yes, it sounds like a no, and it's hilarious :0)  He is OBSESSED with trucks and tractors, and if Marc brings a machine home from work, Cole promptly gets his coat and heads to the door so he can go out and investigate!  He loves the phone and  we can't talk on ours unless Cole has one too.  He especially loves it if we put ours on speaker phone and he just chatters away at whoever is on the other end.  He has no new teeth to report, a point that stresses me out way more than it affects Cole :0)  Enough for now, I'll leave you with a few pics of the wee man...

 

 

This is how you will often find this little guy :0)  Smiling, and with some leftover food on his face...

 

 

He's a whopping 19 pounds 12 ounces and 30 1/2 inches these days!

A whole lotta love

After spending five months in Vermont, Indy came home last month.  Not to humanize him, but I'm sure the first time we all left the house and he was alone he breathed a sigh of relief :0)  Being home is quite different for him than being with Carol and Urs, but what we lack in acres to roam, no kids, and a strict feeding schedule we make up for in love :0)  Kate and Cole especially love Indy, and they show him quite often!

 

 

He's always stays put for a hug.

 



 

Cole loves getting in on the action!  In fact Cole was more than excited the morning that he woke up and Indy was here!  He (Cole) didn't stop barking all morning, and still a month later when he sees Indy he says dog, dog, and sometimes gives a little woof!

 



 

He's such a good boy!



Jolly (not so) Old St. Dadalous

I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but I love Fotofly!  It is a photo studio here, and since finding it last year we have been there every few months...  Well, for Christmas they do something that is SO genius that I am sad I didn't think of it myself!  You have the option to have your kids sit on Santa's lap, or if they won't be comfortable with that, dad (or mom) can dress up like Santa and they take pictures of the kids interacting with Santa but never showing his face.  I really thought Kate would be ok with Santa, she was really excited to see him, but once we got there she wanted nothing to do with him.  So, Marc donned the suit and we got a few photos... (I'm really bummed I didn't get a picture of Marc dressed up!...Next time..)

 

 

That's Kate's fake smile :0)

 

 

 I love these two pictures!  Look how Kate's got her arm around Cole in the second one...it's so cute!!
 

Where's my food?!





 

Is that a great picture or what?!  We went out to eat last weekend and when I took Cole's hat off his hair stood straight up and he was actually in the mood to look at the camera (although you can see that he was trying to grab my phone to see the picture...he learned that from Kate).  He had actually had dinner before we left the house, but he was ready to try whatever we gave him :0)

Update: Month Fourteen

 Why do babies have to grow up so fast?!  This past month Cole has really started to think he is a "big boy"!  Even with a lack of teeth he wants to eat only solid foods, he's (finally) drinking milk (thank goodness!), and he is trying to transition to ONE NAP.....NNNNOOOOO!!!  The only good part about that is that I can shift bedtime to an earlier time (for one kid anyway).  Cole is constantly hugging and kissing us, and he loves to snuggle...I pray that he stays as sweet as he is now forever!  He continues to be a happy little guy, and he has the funniest fake laugh that he does if he hears someone else laugh or if he hears you say that something is funny!  He is finally saying mama, although not as often as he says dad.  He also says hi, bye, and (his version of) Kate.  He makes animal and truck sounds, he is starting to point to his head, hair, nose, and mouth, and he is now signing "more".  I LOVE watching how Kate and Cole are able to interact together more, but it is frustrating for both of them at times.  Kate loves to play store, but when she mentions it Cole thinks that we are literally going somewhere so he just hangs out by the door waiting to leave, meanwhile Kate has headed to the living room to play...minor miscommunication!

 

 

Cole has only three teeth...those bottom two and one on the top that we call his "snaggle tooth" :0)

 

 

 For being such a "boy", Cole LOVES stuffed animals!  He always sleeps with one or two, and often brings one up in the morning.
 

He's quite the dare devil these days!  He can also be found climbing the kitchen chairs, the couch, the tub...pretty much anything you can think of!

Fun with car seats

I recently had to take my car in for some maintenance, and what that really means is that there was a lot of switching around of the car seats...  While they were out of the car, I figured it was also time that the covers get washed.  Kate and Cole thought this meant that it was time to PARTY!...because what's more fun than hanging out in the car seats?!

 

HI!

 



 

Kate and her baby "Bity".

 



What a face! :0)



Update: Month Thirteen

Oh how the time flies...it's time again for another update!  In the past month Cole has gone from walking to running around the house!  It is seriously crazy how fast this guy can get around!!  He is also trying to climb more and he does this funny little thing where he lifts his leg trying to get up onto things while making a cute grunting noise :0)  He constantly has a new bruise somewhere on his body from a crash, and I suspect that that will only increase in the coming months.  He is obsessed with trucks, turning anything he picks up into one, and he even made a truck noise the other day when we came out of a building and there was a truck parked on the curb.  Cole is trying to communicate a lot more this past month and it is so much fun!  He lets up know when he wants his shoes and coat on by bringing them to us and he says hi, dad, mom, and even Kate (tay)!  He has also started saying "wow!", which is my favorite!  As Cole gets better at communicating he and Kate have been better at playing together and it is so amazing to see :0)  It will only get more fun for the two of them from here!  I can't wait!

 



 

This picture is "so Cole"!  He truly is the happiest little guy :0)  He and Kate have really enjoyed playing in this box the past few days! 

First day of school

 Although Kate went to about 16 days (yes, I was carefully counting!) of preschool this summer, today was her first day of her new preschool.  We were very excited in May when we got a call from this school saying that there was an open spot!  We had been on the waiting list for a short three months and were (apparently) beyond lucky that a spot opened up so soon....did you know that people put their children on waiting lists for preschool the day they are born?!  I'm not even kidding....Cole is on the list now...he's been on it since he was 6 months old...madness!!!  Anyway, we really are excited to be at our new school, and after a fun first day we're looking forward to a fun school year!

 

 

Kate picked out her own outfit for today, it's not quite what I would have picked, but it did match, and it wasn't worth fighting over :0)  She insisted on the spoon in her sock for this picture.

 

 

Another "first day" shot.  Don't you just love that pose!? 



End of the trip

There are many more pictures from Vermont that will (sadly) never get posted here.  One last shot you've got to see is from our way home in the airport.  They had this cool conversation bubble hanging from the ceiling...it was the perfect height for Kate to get under, so it looked like it was coming from her :0)

 

 

It took a lot of convincing that she wasn't supposed to hang onto it!

 

 

You can't really see her face here, but it's perfect, like she's really shouting this out!

More from Vermont

One of the best things we've done in a while (in Utah or Vermont) was go to the Springfield Agricultural Fair!  The sign on the way in called it "the best little fair", and it didn't disappoint!  It was perfect for the girls, everywhere we turned there were activities just for them and they loved every minute of it!

Here we are watching the oxen pull.  It was really cool...those are some strong ox!!

I love this picture!

Forget cheese, say "CORN!"

By far the highlight for all three girls was riding on the swings!

Cole got to spend some quality time with the adults while the girls were on the ride.

The kids were asleep before we even got out of the parking lot! 



Parade

I am slowly (very slowly) but surely getting around to posting pictures from Vermont.  Here are a few from the parade on the Fourth of July.  As always we are the parade and as the girls are getting older they are enjoying it more, which is so fun to see! 

Mabel and Kate with Uncle Eric.

Cole with Uncle Pat, who lives for the fourth to be able to sport those palm tree pants!

Cole and Dad...Check out Cole's face, it's pretty funny :0)

On the move

Can you believe how bad I've been at posing lately?!  (Please don't answer that, I know how bad it's been because I am my own worst critic, but I just can't find the time!)  Anywho...I am finally posting about Cole crawling!!!  It's been about 2 weeks now that it's been official and of course he's getting faster by the day!  Almost immediately after starting to crawl he began pulling himself up to stand, so he'll do that but then doesn't quite know how to get down...it's the only time he slows down for a minute :0) 

This is a typical Cole smile!  He is such a happy boy!!

Moments after having his picture taken...later skater!! 

The kitchen sink

Now that Cole is sitting up (and far too wiggly to stay in the baby tub) he can take a bath in the big tub...or even better...the kitchen sink!  I used to love bathing Kate in the sink...funny enough she still wants to get in there from time to time :0)   

Along with sitting up and trying to crawl, Cole is also trying to pull himself up...quite a sketchy task in the slippery sink! 

I know he's not looking, but you can just tell that there is magic in his eyes as he is reaching for something on the counter.  Also note that his hair is finally coming in!  I'm in love!



Happy boy

I have been SO bad at posting lately...and part of the reason is that I rarely get my camera out and take pictures....how lame am I?!  (Not lame, busy!  But still!)  This picture is from almost a month ago(!), at least Cole still looks the same...maybe his cheeks are a little chubbier now :0)  I recently put some pillows in the window seat in the living room and it has become a "fort" mostly for Kate, but Cole occasionally gets in on the action too!  He was soaking up the sun this particular day, and loving every minute of it! 

Peas please

We've been having fun introducing Cole to new foods.  The latest flavor was peas...as you can see, he was a fan :0)  This was his also his first time in the highchair, and boy was he proud of himself sitting up there like a big "kid"!!  (He's already growing up too fast!!)

A wee bit 'o back blogging

I had all the best intentions of posting these on St. Patrick's Day...of course there were also supposed to be pictures of Cole...  Better late than never?!

HAPPY

ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!...Nearly a month late!....

(Better luck with the Easter pictures Mom :0))