Can he understand me?...

I swear Cole has been understanding things that I've been saying! Maybe he's too young but three times last week when he seemed like he was getting tired, I asked him if he wanted to go "nigh nigh" and each time he let out a small cry and crawled over to me. Then I picked him up and took him upstairs and he went right down for a nap. Another thing that happened last week was when Vere came home from work. I heard the garage door open but he was bringing the trash cans in so he hadn't come inside the house yet. Cole was laying on top of me chewing on something. I said to Cole "Daddy's home". Well, I had to say it three times before he looked at me, put his toy down and started crawling over to the other room where the door to the garage is - he was seriously on a mission! He really has been so excited when Vere comes home from work and cries when Vere leaves in the morning. Sometimes he tries to follow him to the door to the garage. It's cute but sad. So anyways, I think he's starting to understand things that I say a lot.

Cole has finally got the real crawl down - stomach off the floor and everything! He's been crawling that way for about a week now. And now he's able to take toys with him when he's on the move. He'll hold something in his hand for a while now... crawl over to the TV with it, stand up against the TV stand, bend down to pick the toy back up, then get down and crawl over to the ottoman with it and chew on it there. It's pretty cool!

Cole demonstrating his real crawl and playing with his stacking cups.

The last week/week and a half, his sleep has been off and it's making him super grumpy. He's been waking up around 4:15 am. Last night I put him down an hour later and he slept till about 5:30 this morning which I was actually happy about. I don't know what it is, Vere is calling it "growing pains". I think it might be the pacifier. His crib is all the way down now with no bumper so his pacifier never stays in his crib. He used to find it and put it in his mouth and I think that would help him go back to sleep. Since he doesn't really have his pacifier at night and he's been grumpy anyways, I decided this week that we're taking drastic measures and putting the pacifier away for good - cold turkey. Yesterday was day one and so far it's been OK. It took him a little longer to fall asleep than normal but it wasn't too bad. I think it'll be better in the long run and hopefully a week from now, he'll forget that pacifiers even existed!

Latest pics of Cole...



A good shot of Cole's first 2 teeth!



Still going to the park a couple times a week and still loving the swing



Having lunch



sssswwwwING!!!!

I took Cole to the park the other day because I had to feed him and we were out running errands. I had also been wanting to get him on a swing but since it's been raining so much we haven't had a chance until now. He loved it! We spent the rest of the week scoping out parks in the area to see which swings we liked the best.



at the park on a swing



loves the swing! which is weird considering he never liked the baby swing we have at home

 

another swing, another park, another day


After thinking Cole was teething for the last 5 months, he finally has 2 teeth coming in on the bottom. I'm really going to miss his gummy smile but it's about time he had some teeth!


So Cole has been getting into everything and pulling himself up onto anything. I am seriously scared for him! He can pull himself up no problem but he hasn't acquired the skill of breaking his fall. He's just started to put his hands out to try to land on them. The other day he wanted to get back down on the ground and landed on his hands. He just laid there for about 5 or 10 seconds with his hands underneath him before he figured out what to do. It was pretty funny. He also loves crawling over to the barstools to try and pull himself up... which I'm guessing is because we don't allow him to do it because it's dangerous. But the other day I didn't realize Cole was over by the barstools and he pulled one down on top of him. He was laying flat on his back with the barstool on top of him and he was holding onto the footrest that he uses to pull himself up. It seemed like it would be a pretty traumatic experience for him but 10 minutes later he was doing it again. That same day he also pulled a bunch of heavy books down on top of him from a book shelf. I just can't leave him alone for a second anymore. Actually I was in the room both times... he's just quick!

Aside from all the trouble he's been getting into, he's loving his new trick of standing. He's funny. Now he just likes to stand. I have to put a bunch of his toys on the ottoman so that he can stand and play with them at the same time. And every time he pulls himself up he just gets the biggest smile on his face. Lately he's been letting go of whatever he's holding onto and standing there for a few seconds before he falls. He's really getting the hang of it!



playing with his toys



this is how Cole likes to watch TV now

It was funny, the day Cole was trying to touch his shadow. It kept moving though so he never got it but he put forth a good effort.

Last weekend, the kids were here and we went to the San Diego International Auto Show. It was OK, I thought there'd be a bunch of high-tech cars that you see in movies but it was just the latest models from the big car companies. Here are some pics from the day...



Vere, Cole and Hugh in the background playing with some steering wheel

  

Cole and Vere



Lucy spinning the wheel for a Corvette Diner giveaway (and Hugh is watching)

 

Tabatha spinning the wheel



oh ya... we got this new wii game called just dance. here is a little taste... :)

Christmas time and funny Cole videos

It's Cole's 8 month birthday tomorrow. 8 months... I can't believe it - it has totally flown by. Today, he pulled himself up into a standing position all by himself. It's hard to believe that less than 3 months ago he couldn't even roll over from his front to his back. Now he's crawling, standing, sleeping for 10-11 hours straight at night, going right down for naps during the day and eating solid foods. He and I have both come a long way together.

This was today!

So the weekend before Christmas we went up north to visit my family. We left around 6:45 p.m. on Friday night which was around the time when Cole would normally go to sleep because we wanted him to sleep the whole way. Which he did. But he did not make the transfer out of the car into his co-sleeper. Needless to say we had a rough night and I was tired pretty much the entire weekend which I think is why I hardly took any pics. But it was good to see family and show them how much Cole has grown!



With great-grandma

 

With Terry at brunch on Sunday


This year my parents came down to San Diego for Christmas. It was my first Christmas not at my parents house so I was a little sad. But Vere and I both wanted to get a tree and celebrate at home with Cole. The kids came over for Christmas Eve and had dinner and opened presents. Cole went to bed and woke up as usual - just another day to him. But on Christmas morning he had a whole bunch of presents to play with. Oh, and he had the toys inside too. He definitely liked playing with the gift wrapping. It's like he knows what he not supposed to play with and that makes him want to play with it more. We still have a couple unopened presents for him under the tree. We basically ate all weekend,watched movies and played with Cole. It was a nice holiday :) 

The kids on Christmas Eve

Cole enjoying the packaging of his presents

More presents...

Mom and Dad enjoying mimosas!

Playing with his new musical table he got from Tutu and Grandpa

 

Checking out his new alphabet caterpillar



My mom got my dad an iTouch for Christmas so they were both playing with their iTouch and iPhone together!

  

iTouch/iPhone - Day Two



Here are some funny videos of Cole from the last couple weeks...

Last week Cole started to eat these little puffs. I figured since he was eating those rice rusks like a pro he'd like a new treat. But it did take him a little bit to get the hang of it...

Here he almost had it!

But he caught on real quick!

I think I've mentioned before that Cole likes to splash in the tub. Here is what bath time with Cole is like. He is a little distracted by the camera so he actually isn't kicking as much as usual.

Bath time continued...

Vere always get the best laughs out of him...

This I just think is cool. Cole has figured out that the wheels on his toys spin and he has totally been spinning them! He seriously amazes me!

Other pics of Cole...



Playing with his favorite truck



Cole has been trying to get my phone lately.
And this is the look on his face when he sees it and wants it!



He is a determined little guy!

 

Very determined...





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...



Eating more rice rusks

  

This was Cole a couple weeks ago sitting in the swing that he never liked



This was Cole in the same swing when he was about 7 weeks old! I can't believe how little he used to be!



Oh ya... Cole's latest obsession - his socks.



He's always moving his feet around so his socks never stay on. Needless to say, he keeps finding them everywhere.

Another sock...

Watching daddy