Eli & Cole - a world of adventure

Friday, June 4, 2010

11 months old

Wow, can it be? Baby Cole you're 11 months old.......30 days away from being 1!! Let's see, what do we have to report...

You are getting to be such a big boy. I'm not sure but I'd guess you weigh at least 25 pounds. I didn't think you'd reach Eli's 1 year weight but I think I was wrong! You're wearing 24 month and 2T clothes and seem to grow overnight. I feel like I clean our your clothes every other week.
You are still our little scoot-arama boy. You are so fast and cute as can be doing it. You are now pulling up to stand on your own and cruising along furniture. It won't be long and you'll be walking.
You have gotten MUCH more physical in moving over the past month. You don't want us to hold you and wallow around to get down or get to where you want. You figured out how to flip over and sit up and you love showing your skills off!
Sleeping at night is getting better - thankfully. When you & Eli both sleep all night, we feel like we've won the lottery (granted it has only happened a few times so far!).
Eating.....oh my goodness. This is probably my single biggest frustration right now. One day you like food A and then the next day, you don't want food A and we have to figure out what you want. We're also trying to get you interested in the sippy cup and off the bottle. You have developed a love for Propel and you will guzzle it from a sippy cup. You're not as excited when we put milk in there. At least we know you can use it!
You now have 7 teeth and we think at least one more is coming in now.
You are such a sweet boy and your personality is definitely becoming apparent. You're not as "out there" and open as Eli. With Eli, what you see is what you get. With you, you seem to be more laid back but when you don't get what you want, you let us know it. But then, you make us work to figure out what you want. Little stinker!!
Good thing Mommy loves little stinker boys!!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Random

Some random shots from the week

Our cute little cowboy - Eli has fun dressing up with hats.

Cole has learned how to operate the work bench, much to Eli's dismay.

He's not too thrilled that Cole wants to play with all of "his" toys. Here is a backpack LOADED with Monster Trucks to keep them away from Cole.

Cole is getting very good pulling up to stand and cruising. Won't be much longer and he'll take off running after Eli.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Memorial Weekend fun

What a short and long weekend all in one. Hard to remember all the stuff that we did! We stayed in town and had pretty much a normal weekend, just one day longer.

Saturday was the normal: go to the Y, run errands, do chores. Fun part was going to the pool after nap. We get to see all of our neighbors there and Eli LOVES being in the water.

Sunday Eli & I went on a long walk, he got a hair cut and then we went to BJ's just before GRANDMA arrived. Eli was so excited that Grandma had arrived that he didn't take a nap. Eli & Grandma played while Cole did nap and after nap, we headed back to the pool.

Monday Tim & I enjoyed a road bike ride together while Grandma watched the boys. It was our first road bike ride together in probably close to 3-1/2 years. Such a treat! We all went to lunch at Moe's and shopping at REI - Daddy & Eli got new shoes. We had to say goodbye to Grandma after lunch and then we headed home for naps. Again, Eli was having none of the nap so he & I ran some errands. We had planned to go to the pool again but weather wasn't very cooperative and the pool was crazy busy with a Memorial Day party. We weren't really interested in the huge crowd.

So all in all it was a pretty chill normal weekend. Next weekend, we're headed to the mountains for a little family getaway - looking forward to it!

Eli & Grandma had a blast playing with punch balls - just look at his face =)

Grandma is so much fun.

Crawling around the pool - they were pretending to be something, not sure what.

You can just see how much Grandma loves the boys.

We tried to get a decent shot of me with them to prove I was there.

This was a hit. Eli found a water blaster and figured out how to use it. He was dangerous!

Eli pushed both Tim & I into the pool on his dump truck. That boy is strong.

all the way into the water.

Snack time

Friday, May 28, 2010

Class pictures

Eli's class - he's in the green shirt. Notice how much bigger he is?!

Cole's class - right up front in red

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Back home

Today I picked up Belle's remains from the vet. I chose to have her cremated and bring her home. I had always said I would take her remains and leave some at Umstead and some at the farm - two of her favorite places - but for now, I think she's staying put. She's on the mantle, right next to a picture of Eli & Cole. In a weird way, it makes me feel better that she's home. I know Belle is watching us from doggie heaven, missing us I'm sure but probably very happy that she can run, jump and not hurt any more.

The neatest thing about today is that I brought Belle home and the gardenia bloomed. It did not have blooms on it when I got home, they happened after Belle was back. A beautiful reminder.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's......in the city

I remember growing up needing a point of reference and trying to remember which Grandparent was which and where we were really going when my parents said we were going here or there. It's hard when you're little and you don't understand last names. So......Eli has determined that Tim's parents are Grandma and Grandpa that live in the city - not the farm where my parents live. It's so darn cute.

We took off to Tim's parents' house this past weekend to visit them and get away to help me absorb the loss of Belle. We headed out Friday night and the boys were great driving down - sleeping a lot of the way. As soon as we arrived, Eli popped wide awake and asked if we were in the city. Adorable!! It took a while to get everyone calmed back down and to sleep but we managed it - me sleeping with Cole and Tim sleeping with Eli.

We had grand plans to go to the beach on Saturday but we ended up just enjoying being with Tim's parents and relaxing. (I even managed to read a book over the weekend!) We hung out in the morning and then went to see Tim's friends Preston, Maria and their two boys after nap time. It was so much fun to watch four boys running around and playing together. Cole wanted to be part of all the action but just isn't quite there yet.

Saturday night was kinda rough - Cole did a lot of crying and screaming. We're not sure what was going on but it was obvious that he was in pain. We managed to daylight but poor Cole was never a super happy camper. Eli enjoyed roaming the yard and playing outside with Grandpa and playing cars with Grandma. Cole had fun exploring and seeing what he could find. It was very exciting on Saturday when Cole pulled up for the first time! He was so proud of himself! Now he has done that several more times. That boy is about to take off running after his brother.

Sunday's drive back was a little rough. Eli is a great traveler but Cole isn't quite there yet. He was pretty fussy most of the drive back and we're still trying to figure out what is going on. Coming home was a little hard on me. It was the first time I've come home with no spotted dog waiting on me. The weekend away was a great distraction and helped me deal with things a bit but I must confess that I still have my moments. All things heal with time.

Eli was all about strawberries this weekend. He ate TONS of them.

What happens if you're too slow taking a picture - toddler subject decides to leave.

Baby Cole testing his walking legs outside with Grandpa's help.

Eli had so much fun riding in Grandpa's trailer behind the lawn mower.

I love this face!

Grandma's teaching moment - Eli kept pushing rocks into the fish pond so Grandma made him get them out. He didn't push them back in the rest of the weekend.