The Reynolds-Hales: Thanksgiving and the couple weeks before and after...

Everytime I sit down to write a post, I can't believe how much Cole has changed from the last time I wrote. He is constantly learning new tricks, getting more personality and becoming more aware of his surrroundings. I just feel so proud of him everyday because he is learning so much! And now he is finally on the move! It all started about 3 or 4 weeks ago when he would sort of drag his body and legs behind him - army crawl. But now it's turned into a pretty good crawl. I think he's still unsure about what to do with his new found freedom. Sometimes he'll start to crawl out of the room and then will turn back to look at me like he's making sure I'm watching where he's going. I'm letting him go explore as safely as possible although I did find him in the bathroom the other day chewing the rug on the floor. He's also drawn to the door stopper to the back door. I guess cuz it's sticking out of the wall. I tell him "no no" about a dozen times a day. Now sometimes when he crawls over there, he'll stop to look at me just before he gets there like he's checking to make sure I'm not watching. He's pretty funny like that. I think I'm going to have my hands full very soon.

This was today - crawling over to his favorite strange thing sticking out of the wall. He can't help himself!

We spent Thanksgiving in Maui with my family this year. Cole was pretty good on the flight out there. He was pretty tired and couldn't get comfortable but managed to take a couple of naps. 5 1/2 hour flight with a constantly moving 20 lb. baby on my lap = Cole is getting his own seat going forward. Flight home was not as good but at least it was shorter. Thanksgiving feast was delicious as always. As usual, we celebrated at KC and Erik's house and Mom and Dad cooked and made 2 yummy desserts (lemon meringue pie and a chocolate peanut butter cake) Thank you Mom & Dad! I don't have any pictures because I got sick when we were in Maui and that day I was feeling the worst so no pics for some reason...

Cole had tons of fun on Maui. He totally loved being in the water and I think as a result splashes like crazy in the bath now. He also managed to put two handfuls of sand in his mouth while we were sitting in the water at baby beach. I didn't realize he was grabbing the sand while we were sitting there. Guess it tasted salty. He also liked playing with the grass with his cousin Maya.

Cole having fun at Flemings. Vere is coming back from body boarding.

Hanging out with grandpa at the condo

Loving the water (and sand) at baby beach

Henry Kapono at Dukes. Mom and Dad babysat Cole while Vere and I went to watch him

Cole is a little dare devil. He loves to be thrown up in the air. It's just one of those things that makes him laugh.

You can't see it but he has a big smile on his face

And here, he's laughing/screaming

Playing with the grass with Maya

Us at the pool

Maya, KC, Me and Cole in the pool. Look at the tummy!

He was pooped after a long day at the beach and pool

Hanging out with Kalia and Maya. Those two gush over him! He seriously doesn't know how good he has it.

with Kalia

So Cole is eating all sorts of things now. He loves bananas! In fact he eats a banana a day. It's his favorite thing to eat so far. The things he likes: bananas of course, pears, sweet potato, butternut squash (in the mornings only), brown rice and cinnamon. Things he DOES NOT like: carrots, avocado and butternut squash (in the evenings).

He is also eating these little rice rusks - totally self feeding himself! There were a couple times where it seemed like he ate it so fast that I looked around for where it went.

This is what happens when Cole is fed butternut squash at night before bedtime. The best time to give him the things he's not so thrilled about is in the morning. His head it wet from sweat and food.

avocados... in the morning so it wasn't as dramatic as the butternut squash photo.

Finally, something he likes!... rice rusks.

We also got our Christmas tree last weekend for Cole's 1st Christmas!

Me, Cole and our xmas tree

Us at the xmas tree place

Cole in the back of the car with the tree

On a separate note... tonight when Vere came home, Cole crawled over to his feet and waited there until he was picked up. It was cute.

Does this sound bother anyone? It bothers me A LOT. I can feel it in my jaws almost like when you eat a sour candy. I think it's kind of like how people feel about nails on a chalkboard. Cole likes to chew on this teething toy right in my face while leaning on my stomach. The things you do you for your kids...

At almost 7 1/2 months, Cole is now 21 pounds, 7 ounces. I took him to the doctor a couple days ago because he had gotten sick over Thanksgiving too and was still pretty stuffed up two weeks later. The doctor gave him a prescription for antibiotics if he didn't get better in the next day or two. Luckily I didn't have to get it filled. Anyways, he basically gained 2 pounds, 7 ounces in 6 weeks. Guess it's all those bananas!

Here are some other photos of Cole from the last few weeks...