Cole - 2 years and 9 months

cole is definitely turning into a little rascal. he is constantly beating up on stella. whether it's hitting her on the head, sitting on her, throwing toys at her, or swiping her feet out from underneath her, he never misses an opportunity. but then when asked if he loves stella, he'll smile and say "yes." he does the same with us of course. he can be so sweet and say "mommy i love you, can i get a hug?' then smack me upside my head as he walks away. he's still stripping down to his diaper whenever he feels like it and is consistently loud all of the time. he has certainly been a challenge :)

lately cole has taken to negotiating. one night i got his bath ready and was asking him to come upstairs to take his bath...

cole: MOM! (not mommy) - FOUR MINUTES!
me: four minutes?... two.
cole: ok!

and it's pretty much happened every night since and anytime he wants a little extra playtime. seriously, negotiating with a two year old? i was not expecting that.

here's what cole has been up to...

playing on the ipads with lucy and hugh

zoomars petting zoo - having a picnic with his animal friends. cole has been really into having picnics ever since stella got a picnic set for christmas from auntie kc and fam - one of cole's favorite gifts!

pump it up! cole going down the big slide! it's not that clear but he went up and down all by himself!

 

more pump it up fun!

 safari park - playing the african drums!



more safari park fun!

 

angeley's bday party at kidding around (with emma and zylia)

he still likes lining up cars...

rainy day fun...

...which started off like this.

cole and stella could honestly not be more different. it's so crazy how from the very beginning they each had their own personalities. here are some of their differences...

1. stella has been an amazing sleeper from day one, cole has been a terrible sleeper from day one. in fact he has been waking up in the middle of the night and sleeping the rest of the night in our bed since thanksgiving!
2. i didn't even know when cole was teething, he would just have a new tooth one day. stella on the other hand had a very hard time with her one little tooth.
3. cole has always been a picky eater - no meat, no cheese, no veggies - the kid lives off of snacks! up until recently, stella ate anything i gave her. i think she's probably had more meat than cole has in his entire life!
4. stella is a drooler - i'm sure you've noticed but she is always wearing a bib for this very reason. cole hardly drooled but he spit up a lot.
5. cole is very dramatic and loud. stella sort of just sits back and observes. so far at least, although she is starting to learn a thing or two from her big brother. 
6. i could probably go on and on but one thing they do have in common - they both love to dance!!...

stella - 9 months!

stella is growing up way too fast - i can't believe she's 9 months old already! here are her stats from her last dr. appointment: 29 inches long and 20 lbs, 2 ozs! in the last couple of months, stella has lost her gummy smile and cut a tooth, started standing on her own, has developed a love of dancing and hangs out with her own little friends. she is her own little person already. she is also getting quite sassy! she will actually get mad at me now if i take something away from her! she no longer just eats anything i give her. and today i tried to give her her water and she swatted it out of my hand and then knocked it off the table. i think with cole beating up on her all the time, she's turning into one tough cookie. she has also been having a little bit of separation anxiety i think. i can't go anywhere! even if i'm just in the kitchen doing dishes she will stand there next to me and hold on to my pant leg until i'm done. i want her to be independent but i'm gonna be sad when she outgrows this phase.

here are some recent pics...

loving the swing just like big bro!

 

mommy and me music class. we go on thursdays when cole is at school with stella's friend ava.

ava and stella :)

tofu! cole didn't like it so i didn't realize it would be so messy!

she loves to dance!

 

pulling up to standing - 1 week after thanksgiving (7.5 months old)

her standing today - it's crazy! she's gonna be walking soon and couldn't be more pleased with herself!

christmas and new years

it did not feel like christmas this year. i don't know if it was because i did most of my shopping online and didn't hear christmas music at the mall or because it crept up so fast or because it's been an unusually hot winter. i have no idea but i can't believe it's already over! but it was stella's first christmas so that made it super special. it was also the first year that cole realized there were presents under the tree so that was...er...super fun. he even opened a few before christmas - luckily they were all stella's.

here are some of the pics..

christmas morning - santa came!

playing on his new street mat with tutu - thank you hendricksons!

riding his new bike - thank you koga cousins!

shooting with his spiderman glove - thank you bailey and conner!



she isn't normally dressed like such a diva but i think it's pretty funny that she's playing with the vanity mirror in this outfit - thank you auntie kc and fam!

 



this year we invited friends over for a new year's eve bbq and rang in the new year in english style - big ben struck midnight at 4 p.m. PST! it was perfect because everyone was gone by 7 and the kids went to bed at a decent hour. here are a few pics...

stella and tutu - mom stayed around for a few days after xmas so i could prepare for the party - thank mom!

 

stella's first new year!

happy new year lucy!

vere and his old friend tony

party favors!

sometime in november 2012...a day out with thomas

every year thomas the tank engine tours the US and one of his stops was in perris, ca. here are some pics from the day...

us and thomas... and some other kid ;)

boarding thomas!

cole and his jr. engineer certificate

me and stella

watching thomas videos in the train museum

thanksgiving in maui - a vacation in paradise that was not so paradise :/

i wrote this one a while ago but then i didn't have enough space to download the pictures and then christmas and new years and here we are...

we're back from 8 days in maui but it really feels like we need a vacation. just to summarize...

• the day we left cole was going on day 8 of diarrhea (sorry cole if you're older and reading this).
• the plane we were traveling on didn't have a changing station in any of the bathrooms which made it kinda tough when you're traveling with 2 kids in diapers.
• stella had 2 blowouts before the plane even took off so i went thru all her extra clothes before we even left lax (sorry stella - same reason).
• about 2 hours after we check into our condo cole fell and hit his mouth on a table and knocked in and chipped his 2 front teeth :(
• the day after thanksgiving something clicks in stella's head and she's crawling!
• we find out that cole gets car sick - on the way down from haleakala - after lots of snacks...
• vere leaves his wallet on the top of the car after gassing up but a good samaritan returns it.
• departure day - cole's first solid poop in 15 days.

whew!... it was a crazy week! sorry for all the bm talk but this has been our life for the last few weeks! oh and mom and dad once again made a delicious thanksgiving meal - thanks guys! here are some pics...



cole's fat lip the morning after his fall :(

the most fun cole has ever had in a cozy coupe thanks to auntie kc's chalk streets!

the girls!

 

the day after thanksgiving...stella's crawling!

 

at the maui ocean center

tunnel pics

stella checking out the fish

boogie boarding with daddy at baby beach

maya coming in from a swim!

net fishing with auntie kc

the dirtiest stella has ever been



trouble...

yogurtland here we come!

stella and her toes...

top of haleakala

us at the top of haleakala. we were not planning on going here that day but it was so clear we decided to take a detour. we were not dressed appropriately - it was cold!

me and stella outside mama's fish house



i just wanted one picture with both my kids. cole is impossible sometimes!!

cole did not want to leave this cool beach outside mama's fish house

waiting for the sugar cane train

on the sugar cane train

me and stella :)

too soon?