Happy Birthday a Year Later!

Cole turned two last week....so now seems like a great time to get started on blogging again.  :)

Cole's birthday was pretty relaxed.  The night before, on Friday, we went to the county fair.  The boys loved it, minus the storm that flew in right as we were leaving.  The rain and wind were so strong, and the dirt was pelting our faces.  It was a long wait to get out of the parking lot, but we were just glad we weren't in the jeep that didn't have a top!!

The day of his birthday we opened his few presents, one of which was a helmet.  The size was for toddlers up to age three.  He was so excited to put it on.  He tried really hard to, but his poor head is too big!  He was crying and screaming trying to get it on and then get it off.  I bought him a new one a week later, and it fits, but he's still a little wary of it.  He doesn't like it on his head for long.

Then Ethan, a 14 year old boy from our ward, came over to babysit the boys while Ryan and I went tubing down the Weber river.  I felt a bit guilty for going, but our friends invited us and I figure Cole doesn't really care right now.  The tubing was fun....but too cold.  It was probably in the 70s and the wind was blowing a bit, so on the quiet stretches of the river, it got really cold.  I would like to go again if the temperature was in the 90s, but I don't think I'll go again if it's not hot!

Just last night, we had family over for dinner to celebrate Cole's birthday again.  And we included Bree (our new sister-in-law) in the birthday celebrations, since her birthday is almost here.  I made some lasagna and a texas sheet cake that I put in a toy dump truck (the bottom was covered in saran wrap).  The others brought some salads, a fruit bowl, garlic bread, and another cake, so we had plenty of food to enjoy.  Cole's sweet cousins gave him some gifts and it was a relaxed enjoyable time.


Cole is such a fun, sweet little boy.  Here are some things I want to remember about him.

-He calls dogs "Ruff"s.  He loves dogs, as long as they don't attack.  :)
-He loves turtles.  Like Teenage mutant ninja turtles and the Tiny Tim turtle song.
-Cole loves Mickey Mouse.  I think his love started when I showed him his diapers that have Mickey on them and then he saw a Mickey Mouse show.  He doesn't get to watch Mickey Mouse as much as he would like, because he has older brothers that hog the shows, but every once in a while we'll watch, "Mouse".
-He is very easy going, unless you tell him no.  He has now started throwing temper tantrums where he'll just scream and scream and try to hit you.  It's so darn cute, but I try my best not to encourage the tantrums.  But he's always been very chill and calm.  If his brothers are around to play with him, he'll just go downstairs and play.  When we are out and about, often he'll just be content in what we're doing.  In fact, just until recently (now he's getting to be a bit more saucy) I would be thrown for a loop if he was ornery for a day.  He was my rock, my calm baby, so when he wasn't, I didn't quite know how to take it!  Usually I'd figure out he was teething or had an earache, because really, he wasn't a fusser.
-He kind of likes to get other kids in trouble.  He's really tough, but he won't "fight" for anything with other small kiddos.  He'll let them take over and then he'll quiver his lip and cry, honestly, I think to help get them in trouble.  When we had swimming lessons, if the other little boy was there (the one that would scream and be ornery a lot), Cole would sit at the top of the frog slide, instead of going down like normal, and just quietly watch the boy scream and holler at him, ha!
-He loves to snack.  All the time.  If the pantry door is left open, he's in there grabbing something to eat, usually goldfish or fruit snacks.  Just this last week, I walked into the kitchen/living room area, after having finished getting ready, to see Cole with stuffed cheeks, and two fistfuls of fruit snacks.  I took them away while he threw a tantrum.  Landon was kind and brought me all the fruit snack wrappers from the office....there were about seven empty wrappers!!
-Cole is really starting to talk now.  He knows so many words and cute little phrases.  I love hearing him say his brothers' names, "Dosh, Darder, and Yandon".  Sometimes he says, "Landon" and I'm pretty impressed.  He loves to repeat words he hears, and he's very good at saying, "Tain-too" or "Tank You" if he's speaking well. :)  He will say thank you right away when I ask, "What do you say?"  and he'll often beat me to the punch and say thank you right when he walks up to you.
-If he's in any kind of mood, teasing, or ornery, his favorite response is "No".  Even for things he likes and/or wants.
-He loves to tickle.  He'll come up and say "tichkle tichkle tichkle" in this cute little voice while tickling your toes or neck.
-Cole loves to bug Ryan.  He'll come up and smack him to hear Ryan say, "Hey!" nice and loud.  He likes to try and wake him up, sit on his head, anything to get Ryan's goat.
-Cole absolutely loves to wrestle.  Josh is so good with him and will let Cole pull him down, sit on him, and do whatever, minus biting.  Cole did that to him today and Josh did not appreciate that!  When I talked to Cole about it, it was so cute to see him so nervous.  He quickly said sorry and was very "nice" after that.  All the boys are really kind to Cole.  He still gets to play the "baby" card, I guess, because although the boys ride each other pretty hard, they give Cole a pass.
-Cole is a snuggler at bed time.  And Ryan can get him to really snuggle in sacrament meeting if Ryan rubs him.  I love to sing to him before bed and just have him lay on my shoulder or in my arms.  When I sing to him, he'll say "more" after each song, so I've started telling him "last one" to prep him for the end.  But he does love songs!
-Cole loves to imitate.  He'll repeat back phrases we say, and he'll dance the same moves if others are dancing, and he'll exercise like Mom if he sees me exercising.  When Josh and Carter played baseball, he'd run over to where there team was standing, grab a huge helmet and put in on backwards, and steal a bat and try to go out and play.  When I would cheer for the boys and yell, "Run, run, run!!!" Cole would be copying me saying, "Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh" as fast as he could.
-One of my favorite things is when Cole passes some gas, he'll smile and say, "Toot".  And he'll call out the rest of us too.  Sometimes he'll say "Poop?" if he thinks you need to take that into the bathroom.  :)
-Cole loves his grandpas.  He loves his grandmas, but Grandpa Farnsworth and Grandpa Allen are special to him.  When we visit my parents in Cedar City, he's glued to my dad's side and loves to tease him.  And up here in Farr West, we live around the corner and down from Ryan's parents, Cole will call out "Gampa!!" anytime we drive by their house.
-Cole has the biggest blue eyes and chubby little cheeks and very blonde hair.  He's just such a cute little stinker.  I admit, I'll be a bit sad when his chubby cheeks go away.  Hopefully they do someday, I'm sure chubby cheeks aren't as cute when your 17.
-I treat Cole much differently than I did Josh.  Poor Josh and poor Cole.  I know I was a bit too strict with poor Josh, and I'm a bit too lax with Cole.  Ryan often tells me, "And this is why the youngest kids are always so spoiled!!" because I never want to do something that Cole doesn't like, like take away his binky (dad's a dentist, so they are gone at age two at our house!), or tell him no more snacks, ha.  With Ryan's encouragement :), I'm getting a bit better.
-Speaking of binkies...Cole refuses to let his go.  With Josh, we cut off the end of the binky, and he was done with it.  Ryan cut off the end of Cole's and he was confused for a while and tried to fix it, but finally just gave up and kept sucking on it.  So Ryan cut off more, and Cole kept sucking on it.  Finally, Ryan cut off enough that Cole can barely hang onto it with his teeth, but Cole's doing his best to hang onto it, ha!
-Cole loves tractors and dump trucks.  And he loves digging in the dirt on the side of our house.
-Cole has always been a climber.  From the moment he could stand, he's been trying to get higher up.  This has caused some injuries, like falling off the piano and slicing open his eye...or falling off the high chair...but he seems undeterred.  He loves to grab the bar stool, scoot it over to the counter and climb up.  Just like he likes to climb up on the computer desk and the fences, and rocks, and basically anything he can get a foot hold on.
-And lastly, Cole loves to be the cream filling in our family "Oreo" hugs.


There's so much more to say, I guess that's what happens when you go a year with out posting.  Regardless oh my lack of posts, there is no lack in my love and interest and excitement for this little boy.  Cole, you are such a sweet blessing to our family.  You truly are a peacemaker and a happy little boy.  I love you so very much!!