before there was stella...

Wow... OK so I'm a little behind. Cole and I were really busy in the months leading up to Stella's birth. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him before we threw another baby into the mix. So we spent January - April going to every moms group event we could attend and using every season pass we own. Here are some highlights...

San Diego Zoo with moms group. This is cool because once a month we go on a private tour of one of the animals. This month was polar bears. 



Piloting a helicopter with snack in hand.

Catching the last snow in Julian.



Oceanside pier - Cole and I went to the Oceanside farmers market one day and then headed over to the beach afterwards.

 


My Big Messy Art Class - I signed Cole up for an art class at Kidville. He had fun but classroom settings are a little hard for him - he is not good with transitioning from one activity to the next. Here he's drawing with chalk.

 

Yep... that's Cole in a hat. He went through this phase where he wanted to wear a hat all the time.

 

A paintsicle. Frozen paint - very cool idea.

 

Checking himself out on my phone. He wasn't always into the art class so he spent a lot of time on my phone.

  

Painting.



After class frozen yogurt treat!

Not sure what this stuff was but Cole really liked it.



Legoland - on the train



Squirting water at the frogs.

Playing with the splashground at Legoland. I don't know how he didn't get soaking wet!

Escondido Childrens Museum - Cole had such a good time here. They had so much stuff to keep him busy. Of course he managed to find a truck and carried it in his hand the entire time.

 

Making music with a drum stick and a tambourine.

  

the truck...



Playing the drums with Noah (fireman)



Sealife Aquarium at Legoland

 

He really is getting remarkably good at building things with legos.



Shish! That means fish in Cole language.

 

Art Soup with moms groups. Cole making a spider out of a paper plate and construction paper with Makenna and Zylia.

 

Chalkboard Fire Truck



Painted car.



SeaWorld

Cole is not afraid of heights. He was looking over the edge for the entire skyride. He also tried jumping up and down for an extra thrill.

Shamu

Chasing bubbles at the San Diego Botanical Gardens.

 

Building blocks



Climbing through the SD gardens' tree house.

Carlsbad Flower Fields



Cole and Edward









Playdate at Aven, Easton and Cutter's house.

Cole also kept himself busy at home. Here's what I have to look forward to when I get out of the shower each day:

Sticky notes!



Books!

Put all mommy's shoes in the hamper. This one is a favorite everyday activity for Cole. 



Clothes!



Shoes in boxes!



Why are all these drawers full?





xmas and new year...

well cole had a great christmas. so great in fact that he still has a couple presents that are unopened. i decided that he had way too much stuff and would wait to give them to him when he was really bored or i needed him to behave. speaking of which, my latest thing with cole is bribing him to get his diaper changed with a chocolate chip. he is really getting to be a tough age. my toddler 411 book is my new bible. it says the terrible twos are from age 15 months - 3 or 4 years. so i have a long way to go and apparently this is just the beginning...

in the last month...

• cole spent 2 weeks not napping until almost 3 p.m. and would then sleep for 20 minutes. he is finally back on schedule this week.
• cole has decided he doesn't eat dinner.
• cole has decided that he doesn't listen to mommy and it's funny. he's been in time out a lot lately and now, doesn't always mind it so much.

on the flip side, he has been doing some really cute things...

• he loves to dance. when a show comes on that he likes the theme song of, he will run and get me so i can dance with him.
• he has started to say "ma"... i think...
• he says "hi" all the time.
• he is stll wrestling every day with that darn gorilla.

Here are some pics and video...

moonlight beach xmas eve. we've been having some great weather!

vere says cole likes the rough housing because he's a boy. i don't know, what do you think?...

the cozy truck from tutu and grandpa. cole was SO excited about this truck. he had the biggest smile on his face and walked around the entire truck touching it like it was a brand new maserati.

 

cars book set from auntie kc and crew.



car carrier from tommy, bobby, chelsey, cr and kimber. thanks guys! he loves it!

 

legoland xmas day...



..with us and tutu and grandpa.



new years day at the beach with all the kids. here is vere, hugh, cole and lucy.



hugh riding the body board. it's been nice but that water is still cold!

 

lucy's turn



cole throwing the ball.

this was weird. cole just fell asleep in the living room watching tv. he has NEVER done that before.

 cole screaming and yelling and running around as usual. nobody ever sees him like this because he's usually mellow for the general public.  

cole is pretty brave when it comes to slides. he'll go down just about any of them by himself.

hanging out with his buddy, gorilla.

 

Big Brother Cole!

So Cole is going to be a big brother to a baby sister! Who is gonna have to be very tough with Cole as her big bro. We are super excited! She's due April 22, 2012. Cole has no idea. Everytime I say baby and point to my stomach, he just thinks it's funny. Here are some of the first pics of baby girl...



8 weeks



12+ weeks

Here's a funny video of Cole with his other brother and sisters... he loves to dance!

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.