Cole Turns THREE!

I'm a few weeks behind, but wanted to take a few minutes to recap Cole's super fun third birthday!

His day began with us waking him up singing happy birthday with a bunch of balloons.  Then he enjoyed a yummy birthday hot chocolate complete with whipped cream and sprinkles (one of his favorite treats), and opened his presents from us before heading to school.

Corey, Jackson and I joined him in class that afternoon for his birthday circle. They do such a great job of celebrating each kiddo on their big day, complete with walking the earth (a globe) around the sun (a candle) for each year of life, and then showing photos of the kiddo at each age.  And to top it off, Ms. Kelly made him a crown again, which he loved wearing for his celebrations at school and at home. 

 

We all adore Ms. Kelly!

 Ms. Regina is pretty great, too!

Neal is one of Cole's BFFs.

After his birthday circle, he and I grabbed ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and then went to his 3-year check-up.  He did great and the doctor only had good things to say about his growth and development.  That evening, Ellie, Natalie and Lisa (poor Hads was sick and couldn't join in the phone, so Jason stayed home with her) came over for birthday dinner and cupcakes.

 

This perfectly sums up how he felt about his day - he loved all the attention and was so happy and excited all day long.

The next day, my parents and grandma joined Joan at our house for a family celebration complete with a yummy lunch and giant chocolate chip cookie. Of course he was spoiled with more presents.

 

So excited for his toy grass trimmer! Thanks, Uncle Elliott!

 

Totally normal.

 

This is a giant chocolate chip cookie - so yummy paired with vanilla ice cream.

 

Corey and Jackson got Great Gramma involved in their rubik's cube fun.

 

Not sure who enjoyed playing with Playdoh the most.

Cole has turned into quite the big boy over the last year and is so much fun. 

• Said goodbye to his pacifier and crib
• Talking up a storm
• Continues to love candy and all sweets
• Back to sleeping through the night after a few month off and on rough patch after giving up his bink (hooray!!)
• Knows all of his colors
• Counting to 20 (though sometimes forgets important numbers likes 14, 15 and 16)
• Knows the days of the week and their order but is never clear on what day it is, or which days mean school or not (when cuddling tonight (a Friday), he asked me "when I get up tomorrow, do I go to school?"; almost any time you ask him what day it is, his answer is "Monday?")
• Says the ABCs
• Understands past/present/future but hilariously has no concept of how far in the past/future something's happened (i.e. he'll show you an owie on his leg and say he got it "last year")
• Loves playing outside and is great at driving his car
• Loving his swimming lessons
• Continues to express his excitement through jazz hands (one my fave things!)
• Still taking a nap for 1.5-2 hours per day but we've been waking him at 3 p.m. or else falling asleep at night takes forever.
• Says "I love you" to us out of the blue.  
• Continues to give the BEST bear hugs.

It's been a fun year watching Cole's personality continue to develop and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.