14 Months

Although I'm a day late, I couldn't let Cole's 14-month mark pass without a quick update on what's going on in his world.

He seems to have grown and changed so much in the last few months. We find ourselves saying how we can't believe how much more like a toddler he looks/acts than he did even just a few weeks ago.  It's probably a combo of the recent haircut, the walking and the constant babbling.

Here are a few highlights about Cole at 14-months:

• Loves to feed himself and although gets very messy, does a fairly good job.  
• Babbles all the time, with a periodic shouts mixed in. Current words are "buh-bye!" (said in a bit of a southern accent?!), Dada, Ra-Ra, uh-oh, mema (more more, using the "more" sign), and trying to say "what's that" and "all done".
• Walks everywhere.  Really only scoots when trying to find something to pull himself up on to initiate the walking (he hasn't yet figured out how to get up from the ground and start walking).
• Climbs up on the couch in the TV room and can climb into high chair.
• Speaking of high chair, he's now using the Stokke chair for meals.
• Always has his feet crossed at the ankles when sitting, regardless of whether it's in his car seat, in the high chair, on the ground. Takes after his daddy.
• Wiggles his whole body when excited about something - arms and legs stiffen and shoot out all over the place.
• Down to one nap a day.  He goes down around 12 p.m. and sleeps for 2ish hours
• Goes to bed between 7 and 7:30, and is up around 6:30, or closer to 7 on the weekends, if we're realllly lucky (like this a.m.!)
• Can understand many simple instructions i.e. "take this to Daddy", "get your shoes", "let me have a foot" (when putting on his socks) and then "let me have the other foot!" (he'll put the socked foot down and provide you with his other food to have a sock put on).  He even has helped set the table a few times. I gave him some napkins the other night and asked him to put them on the table. He did his little old man march over to the table and put them on the table. He's also helped with his and Jackson's silverware.
• Loves kitty cats and will trek right over to pet them when the neighbor's cats are in our driveway.

I braved the grocery store with both boys for a big shopping a few weeks back, and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  Definitely not as nuts as I'd expected.

He loves the park, just like his bro

He loves riding on daddy's shoulders, but always feels the need to hold on for dear life.  

Such a big kid, feeding himself oatmeal (one of his fave breakfasts)

They interact more and more and I just love it

Not sure what my fave thing about this pic is - his expression, his necklace, the Irish shirt, the hipster jeans, or his love of the slide

During a recent visit to Yakima, we were able to tour the local Pepsi production line and had a great time. We had to wear hairnets and surprisingly, neither boy seemed to mind. Cole ended up pulling his down so it covered half of his face, and still didn't mind.

In his big boy highchair, at the table

First Family Hike - Coal Creek Falls

With a break in the rain on Sunday morning, we decided to test out our recent kiddo backpack purchase by going on our first family hike. 

Corey did some research and thought Coal Creek Falls would be perfect and it didn't disappoint.  It was only about 15-20 minutes from our house, and was just 2.5 miles round trip, so we didn't worry about Jackson getting too tired, or about taking up too much of the day driving to and from the location.

It only took us about an hour round trip to hike to the falls and back and both boys seemed to enjoy the wilderness and the big waterfall that awaited us mid-hike.  I can't believe that this place was right off Exit 13, in the middle of Bellevue. Who knew?!

We are already planning some more hikes in the near future - a great way to spend a morning, now that Cole is napping just once a day!

He's trying to learn the art of the selfie...

My boys.

One more selfie try.

Hikes really wear a kiddo out - so much so, you've gotta sleep with the butt up.

 

Jackson's on the Move, Too!

While Cole's been working on his walking, J's been spending lots of time every weekend on his scooter and on his bike. 

He can bike all the way to the "horsies" (~2 miles round trip) and goes so fast, you have run to keep up with him. It's been a good work out for both of us.

He's getting really good at both activities and really seems to enjoy them.  Looking forward to lots of bike and scooter adventures this summer. We're already talking about biking to Starbucks for a morning pick-me-up when it gets a little warmer.

Cole's on the Move!

Cole is officially a walker!  Up until last Thursday, he'd take steps and walk between us/things often, but he definitely preferred scooting/crawling to walking. 

Thursday night, he kept wanting to go into the guest bathroom to stand on the stool so Jackson and I kept moving him further and further away, and having him walk back over to it.  We did this until we were all the way at the back door, and he was walking all the way to the front of the house, where the guest bathroom is.

From that point on, he's been walking all over the place. He even seems pretty steady and has decent balance. I joke that he was waiting to start doing it until he'd perfected it.

He did lots of walking at school on Friday and they even mentioned that he seemed extra happy with his new view point.  Along with his walking, he's started to become a better climber, finding it possible to climb up on the couch and into his Stokke chair...he's keeping us even more on our toes than ever before.

(He LOVES the necklace you see him wearing here...he seeks it out and then puts it on himself.  Thanks, Natalie!)

And Cole's on the move in other ways. One of the things he loves to do is to climb up the ladder on the slide, slide down and repeat. 

(Almost) Walking!

Cole's been taking steps between us and furniture for awhile now but a few weeks ago, his teachers were excited to show me his improved walking skills when I arrived at school to pick him up. They had me stand across the room and then stood him up, had him start walking while they held on very lightly to the back of his shirt, and then let go while he (very excitedly) continued to walk all the way to me.

Since then, he's done this quite a few times, but we are never quick enough to capture video before he loses his confidence and reverts quickly to crawling/scooting.  He doesn't seem to mind walking just holding onto one of our fingers - he'll walk all over like that.  He really just doesn't like when we let of his hand or shirt, so we have to be sneaky about letting go. 

We finally captured some walking on his own tonight.  Check it out!

(Side note: Cole is really starting to understand what we are saying, and follow simple directions.  The motivation to walk here was in response to me asking him to take the things in his hands to Daddy.)

This and That

Had to share a few funny things happening in our world lately...enjoy:

• Jackson came home from school today and told me that St. Patrick's Day was on March 17 and that "we need to wear green so we don't get punched".  (He'd mis-heard "pinched".)
• Cole very much uses "dada" properly these days and at times, seems to have a preference for him.  So cute to see, especially since J was a total mama's boy, often crying when I left the room.  Cole on the other hand could care less if I leave the room.  The boys and I were playing in the TV room with the door shut tonight and I heard the garage door open when Corey got home. I announced "daddy's home!".  Cole quickly crawled to the doors and smashed his face up against them to get the first peek of his daddy - but when daddy didn't immediately appear, Cole began crying and screaming, "dada! dada!"
• Jackson knows (and often reminds us) that when he turns 16, he gets to drive. In the car the other day, he said, "I'm excited to drive - it'll be fun because you get to steer and push buttons".  Only ~12 more years until you can steer and push those buttons, buddy!
• Cole started saying "Ra-Ra" for Roxy - he will point at her and say it whenever she enters the room, or when you ask where she is.  It's extra cute, because J used to call her "Ra".  
• Coley also says "Uh oh" now and says it appropriately, often with a palms-up ("where'd it go"/"what happened") hand gesture.
• J's been even more cuddly and sweet lately, giving Cole lots of hugs, and the both of us hugs frequently. He'll often even, out of the blue, say, "Mommy, I really love you."  And he used to often turn his face when I'd go in for a kiss so that I'd get just his cheek, but lately, when I ask for a kiss before bed, he gives me a very gentle kiss on the lips.

And what good is a blog post if I don't leave you with any photos/videos?!

This is what independent eating looks like (i.e. won't let mommy fed him, but still really wanted to eat what was in the bowl).  And this is also what a 1-year old eating soup on his own looks like. That blob just above his nose is spinach. 

 

#independenteatingcontinued #itwasn'tsupposedtobebathnight

 

Ta-DA!

 

Seriously - never knew a box could be SO fun. (And a diaper box nonetheless.)

 

This kid's getting pretty dang good at his scooter - balancing, turning and stopping.  Scooter videos to come soon, along with some bike videos (also something he's doing great with).

Don't mind the wedgie picking at the beginning.