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.

2011 Koga Family Reunion - Palm Springs

Last week we had our annual Koga Family Reunion. SO MUCH FUN! We rented this cool house in Palm Springs and just hung out at the pool, played games, ate tons of good food and did puzzles all weekend. I just love our family. I mean seriously, what other family would have paper airplane flying contests, make their own IRON CHEF competition and play pin the tail on the donkey all to win a coveted KUP made out of an old coffee maker??

I think Cole was a little overwhelmed with so many people around. He was a little clingy and didn't sleep very well. It was kinda nice though because on 3 of the 4 nights we brought him into our bed when he woke up in the middle of the night and he actually fell asleep. Cole has never been a cuddler and he has NEVER felt comfortable falling asleep lying next to us. So it was kind of nice to have him sleep next to me even though we were getting up in the middle of the night and waking up super early. I hardly took any pictures but here is what I have...

Cole with cousin Maya

Apples to Apples - seriously one of my favorite games!
(Auntie Cheryl, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Curt, Mom)



Cole playing with Great Grandpa



Puzzle 1 completed.



Iron Chef Koga - Brother vs. Brother
Secret ingredient: OPO??



The winning team (Dad and Tommy)



The close runners up (Uncle Curt and Bobby)



In 60 seconds, blow the cotton balls into the cups that are laying down, then bounce the ping pong balls into the other cups - AWESOME GAME! Dad apparently finished on time.

Cole getting help down the step from cousin Kalia



Grandma and Grandpa with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.



Grrr... I mean this year's Koga Kup winner. Congratulations Tommy!



Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ben and Auntie Midori



Auntie Midori, Uncle Ben and Jan



Puzzle 2 completed...just in time to check-out



On a different note... my goodness do the diapers pails stink!! Last year around this time when it was hot, I was still nursing Cole and he was not eating solid foods. I think you get the picture...

Anyways, speaking of solid foods, here are some latest pics of Cole eating.

Yogurt!

 

Rice, Chicken and Broccoli!



Homemade raspberry popsicles!

 

OK, maybe raspberries wasn't the wisest choice...



I'm still relatively new at this... lesson learned.



So we've had this toy for almost a year now. When Cole was really little the dashboard came off and we put it on the floor for him to play with. But it's been a little scooter for at least 7 or 8 months now. And Cole has finally figured out that he can sit on it. Needless to say, he's pretty stoked on his new toy.





June 2011

Well, Cole and I have been super busy since we got back from our trip (I guess that was almost 2 months ago now so I'm a little behind...). But we've been meeting with our moms group a lot and Cole started swim lessons. We did some fun stuff with Lucy and Hugh before they left for the summer and Vere was gone 14 days in June so Cole had a lot of mommy time :)


Cole is really starting to communicate and understand stuff! Here are some funny things Cole has been doing...

• I guess whenever I ask Cole where something is I put my hands up and out, like "where is your milk?" Well, Cole uses this hand gesture all the time now -when he drops something, when he can't find something, when he wants something he can't reach, up and out go his hands. It's getting a little out of control...  
• He has also mastered the sign language for milk and more. Sometimes he uses the more sign when he just wants a snack. But I still think it's pretty good.
• Whenever Cole hears an airplane, he stops whatever he's doing and puts both his arms up and looks up to the sky.  
• We also bought Cole this remote control car. He doesn't use it yet but likes us to drive it around. When he wants to play with it, he gets both the car and the remote, hands the remote to me and puts the car on the tile since it doesn't move on the carpet! He seriously amazes me!

 OK maybe I've created a little bit of a monster with this "where is it?" thing...

Here are some pics from June...

Strawberry Fields with moms group. It's funny because Cole is always destroying any plant life that he comes into contact with. And here he had an opportunity to pick strawberries and he wasn't that into it.



More strawberries...



Fiesta del Sol in Solana Beach with Lucy and Hugh

 

Lucy was brave and went on this ride twice by herself. I circled her so you can see her.

 

Cole wanting to go in the bouncy castle with the big kids.

 

Us at Fiesta del Sol



Legoland. Cole was trying to save Lucy and Hugh from the castle lock-up.

Dare devil Lucy climbing the burning building at Legoland.



Cole playing with legos in Duplo playtown.

Part I: This was funny. Vere, Lucy and Hugh did this competition at Legoland where they competed against 3 other teams to race across to the burning building, squirt water on it and then race back. They are the second truck (white) from the front. 

Part II: Apparently there is a lever that has to be pushed in order for the truck to move when you pump it. But in all the excitement, Hugh neglected to push it all the way.  It's been over month now so I think Vere may finally be getting over the loss...

Sealife Aquarium at Legoland (Lucy, Hugh, Cole and Vere)



Hugh inside one of the aquariums.



Lucy petting star fish.



Cole and me at swim lessons.

Some other funny pics/video of Cole...



Cole with a piece of macaroni on his head. I was mad at him because he wouldn't eat the mac n cheese or drink out of the new sippy cup. So I didn't tell him he had food on his head.



At pool party with moms group.



I was getting ready in the morning when I found Cole like this. Those are Vere's boxers from the dirty laundry pile. And I've found him like this 2 more times since.

 Cole has also been working hard to use a spoon...although he hasn't quite mastered the technique yet.

About 10 minutes later...