Thanksgiving

Cole had a great time in Maui for Thanksgiving. He had so much fun with his cousins, Kalia and Maya who smothered him with love :) It was fun to see them all playing together. And Kalia and Maya had so many fun toys that he doesn't have at home, including a lot of trucks! And it was nice for us to spend time with family, relax and eat lots of yummy food. Here are some pics from the trip...

The cozy coupe. Cole could not get enough of this thing! When it was outside, he wanted to be the one driving. When it was raining and the car was inside, he watched TV and ate snacks inside the car. It was pretty funny.

 

Sidewalk chalk with Kalia.



Family photos in Napili



Laughing at Auntie KC's monkey impression!



They didn't want to miss anything. 



The cozy coupe again...



Snow White AKA Maya



Kalia and Maya at Dukes for Henry Kapono



Sitting nicely for a split second.



Us watching Henry Kapono (in the background with the white shirt)

Lots of fun running around the grass at Dukes.



Cole getting lots of love! That's him in the red... do you see him?



There he is!

Cole's first big hole experience at the Baby Beach. Cole played while the girls dedicated themselves to filling the hole with water.



Enjoying the big hole after a long day of work (well the girls at least).



First boogie board ride! He did not want to lay on his stomach.

Follow the leader.

 

Wild hair! Cole was all sweaty after refusing to take a nap and crying in the crib for 20 minutes.



Another hole at a beach near mile marker 14 (I think)



At Baby Beach again.

 

Being brave and going in deep with daddy!



There was hardly anyone at the beach this day.

Some other pics of Cole...


Cole's first pocky stick. I have no idea what I was thinking giving this to him in the car. He just would not hold on to the part WITHOUT the chocolate.



On the train at the mall.



All ready for bed. Vere had his Holiday Party at work so this was the first time Cole's babysitter got him ready for bed and he was happy as can be. Somehow she was able to wash his hair without him crying... something we are not able to accomplish.



18 months...

Cole had his 18 month check up this earlier this month. He weighed 31 lbs, 11 oz (96 percentile) and was 35 inches long (99 percentile). I don't know how accurate the measurements were since he was kicking and screaming more than usual but I think it's pretty close. He is just so big!

Cole has really been doing some funny things lately. I never child proofed the top drawers in the kitchen because at the time, Cole couldn't reach. But now it's a total jackpot for him. He is constantly going into the drawers and grabbing handfuls of spoons or pens and pencils, cooking utensils - anything he can get his hands on. Before he would run away into the bathroom and close the door behind him but now he just runs and hides behind the curtains where he can safely take a look at his loot. He is so sneaky!!

He also has more words in his vocabulary. The most popular right now is "Oh no!" Anytime Cole doesn't like something, throws something on the ground, drops something on the ground, falls, etc., it's "oh no!" We're hearing it a lot lately. In addition to his other word "truck" he can now say "bus" which sounds more like "us", "choo" for train, "ish" for "fish", "bA" for "ball" and "da" for "daddy". He actually has quite a few of them now. And he can point out all sorts of things in his books like animals, airplanes, helicopters, different types of automobiles. But still no "ma ma" :(

I've also started to implement time outs. Not all the time, but when he repeatedly does something I ask him not to do. Like pulling my hair, hitting or throwing hard objects at people, etc. And I think it may be working! I'm sure there have been a few times when he had no idea why he was being punished but there have definitely been some improvements. For instance, when Cole throws his food/snacks all over the floor (which is everyday), he will actually help pick it up when I ask him to! I had to threaten a time out several times but now, he just helps when I ask :) He also comes to me sometimes when I need to change his diaper...and when I threaten a time out. They have to be used in conjunction with each other. He is still pulling my hair and hitting though...

This gorilla was the first thing Vere ever brought home for Cole (before he was even born). We always thought it would scare the crap out of him. But the gorilla has turned out to be no match for our big brute!

Here are some latest pics of Cole...

At the pumpkin patch



Cole really wanted to get one of the big ones!



But we ended up taking 2 small ones home.



Handing pumkins off to Daddy.



Cole's first shiner. I'm not exactly sure what happened. He was running his shopping cart into the back door over and over again. The next thing I know there was a crash and this nice bruise. Of course the next day was Cole's dr. appointment. Luckily he was crying so much his whole face was red.



On the Legoland train with Daddy!



Spraying the Legoland frogs.

 

Showing Lucy what he did to the gorilla!



Hanging out with big sister Lucy.



Me and Cole. A rare moment of calm after a 2+ hour nap...which is also rare...

Planes, trains and automobiles...

So Cole is in love with anything that has wheels or flies. It's funny how boys are just hardwired that way. Last month we went to Legoland and the Poway-Midland Railroad. Here are some pics...



Legoland: Cole had to sit in every vehicle we passed.



Ambulance



Go cart



Police car

Poway-Midland Railroad: The steam engine train we went on.



Waiting for the train to move.



And we're off..



Cole held my hand and Thomas in the other for the entire train ride. It did go a little faster than I was expecting.



Train robbery reenactment.



So Vere got Cole a Cars Racetrack with Lightening McQueen and Francesco Bernou that race when you shake them. Cole likes to sit right in the middle of the track to play.  

Cole really needed another toy...



I also took Cole to Sunset Park where they have a splashground. It wasn't super warm that day so I didn't bring his swimsuit or towel or anything.

  

But Cole didn't care!



16+ months

Wow...so Cole is 16 months now! He had his 15 month visit over a month ago and weighed in at 27 lbs 15 oz. (88 percentile) and was 34 inches long (99 percentile)! Everyone that meets Cole thinks he's at least two. He's my little brute.

Cole's first and only word is truck. Everything is a truck. No mama, no dada, just truck.  I guess he has his priorities... His pediatrician said that normally by 15 months kids have about 3-6 words, but he said he would count Cole's sign language as words so we have no, milk, more, please, all done and truck - so that's six! He was also impressed that Cole can stack legos at this age. He said usually block stacking comes at about 18 months.

Playing with legos...

I'm really loving this age because he's understanding so much now. I think he pretty much understands everything I say, whether he chooses to listen or not is a different story. He's still totally crazy with energy and constantly moving but sometimes he'll chill out and sit on my lap for 5-10 minutes. It's nice... and I'll take it :)

Here are some of the things Cole has figured out in the last couple months:

-Turning the lights on and off. Well, he can turn just about anything with a button on or off.

-He can also unscrew just about any cap. He loves putting lids on things and he knows which lids go with what.

-The power of the remote. He's always has a small obsession with the remote, but now if he doesn't like what's on the TV, he brings the remote to you! And if you don't change it, he just starts pushing buttons and watches the TV to see what happens.

-He has tons and tons of little cars and trucks. Lately I've noticed he'll pull out all of the cars or trucks that came in the same set and just play with those. Right now he loves to line them up and push them all together like a train.

Cole has also picked up some funny habits...

Cole does this funny thing after he takes a drink. I think he learned it from daddy. Just the aww... part, not all that other stuff afterwards.

 Cole has also picked up a fakey laugh, which I have no idea where he got it from.

Here are some pics of what Cole has been up to...



At the park on National Springbok Fan Day (or something like that?)

 

At another park with Tutu

  

At the beach with his buddy Edward.

 

Pushing the pink stroller with the girls...maybe he's smarter than I think...

 

At the beach on a super sunny day

 

At the beach with Reecia (Catrie's daughter - 2)



Another day at the beach. Cole likes to feed people his food. He's sharing his cookies with Lucy.

 

...three of them

 

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to share my ice cream bar with Cole. He really liked it!

  

...until I wanted it back



See, he does chill every once in a while.



At Feather Acres Farm with moms group

  

Fun in the backyard!

Playing with trains at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park.