On Second Thought

Donny and I have decided to leave our blog as an open site. We are NOT going private. We would love everyone to continue to watch our family grow without making our family and friends go through any challenging computer muck. Since we will be open to the world, we will continue to be very vague about places we visit and things we do. Hopefully this will be enough to protect our family from any weirdos. We appreciate all who are sharing in our joy by viewing this blog.

Some Old News and Some New

A couple of weekends ago when we went on our family weekend get-away, Cole finally cut his first tooth (he's been working on it for months). Ever since then I've been trying to get a good picture of it but have failed miserably. It's really hard to get a picture of a baby's tooth. Here's the best I could do:

With his new tooth Cole is eating Cheerios, sliced fruit, chicken, veggies, cheese, basically anything and everything off the table. He is Mr. Independent and loves to eat things that he can pick up and feed himself. This morning after breakfast (I was washing up the dishes) I found Cole eating dog food out of April's bowl. Eeeeewwwhhaaa! I don't think he actually swallowed any but he had a piece in his mouth that I had to pry out of there with some force.


April and Cole have become quite the duo. They play like siblings and from my point of view it's kind of funny to watch. Cole's newest trick is to chase (crawl really fast) after April and take one of her toys. He will sit in the middle of the floor holding the toy (usually a ball) close to his chest and reaching out for April with the other hand. If she tries to get the toy, Cole gets her. He smiles the entire time knowing that she can't resist getting her toy back. The other day Cole had one of April's toys and he and April played tug-of-war with it until Cole let go. So cute.

Cole is learning the mechanics of everything right now. He is intrigued by how things work. For example, he will sit in the hallway where I keep his jogging stroller and roll the tires to him and away from him for several minutes. I even caught him rolling the wheel on top of his toes and then pushing the wheel off of his toes. He watched every inch as it moved.

Here's a couple of cute miscellaneous shots of Cole for you to enjoy:

****Please remember to leave me your email address in the comments section of the previous post titled WE ARE GOING PRIVATE! if you would like to continue to view our blog.

WE ARE GOING PRIVATE!

I've been debating whether to do this or not for months now. After seeing how a complete stranger is really giving my niece a hard time over her personal blog I've made my decision.

This world is not "safe" and I'd like to protect Cole as he grows up, as much as possible. Saying this, if you are a friendly "blog stalker" as I am to many blogs, please leave me your email in the comments section of this post. I will kindly add you to the list allowing you to continue to watch my family grow.

I appreciate your understanding as we make this transition. You have ONE week from today (Saturday, August 16, 2008) to leave me your email addresses.

A Long Weekend Away

My Love hadn't taken a day off from work since Cole was born so this little extended weekend together was very much needed. I was so glad that he was able to have more time with us.

Day 1 - Friday:

We stayed home on Friday and ran a few errands that needed to be done. The best part of the day was when we went to lunch at Pappadeaux's and My Love showed Cole all of the fish that were hanging on the wall. The last time we went, Cole was not that aware of his surroundings and I'm not sure he could even see the fish.

Day 2 - Saturday:

We spent Saturday morning leisurely packing and preparing for our weekend get-away and left for the coast that afternoon. My Love, Cole, our dog April, and I arrived at our hotel late that afternoon. We checked in, unpacked the car and went for a short walk on the beach. Then we went to dinner at Fish Tales on the beach. It had the feel of Joe's Crab Shack and was a decent meal but I would not recommend it to anyone.

That night when it was time to put Cole to bed, he wasn't having any of it. He refused to sleep in his pack and play. I really don't understand why because he takes naps in the pack and play at home all of the time. There were two "queen" beds in our room (I really think they were double beds, not queen) so at a little past midnight My Love made himself comfortable in one bed and Cole and I slept in the other bed for what was left of the night. Oh yeah, and April joined Cole and me.

Day 3 - Sunday:

Waking up to the alarm that I was sharing the bed with shortly before the sun rose, we started day two away from home. This would be a better day for all of us but we were so tired from the loss of sleep the night before. We got up early and went to breakfast at Denny's. Once all of our bellies were full we gathered up our beach attire and went in search of a somewhat secluded place to spend a few hours.
It was still early in the morning so not many beach bums were up yet and My Love found the perfect place for us to have some fun. We parked the car and headed for the sand and waves. Cole loved the beach. He let the sand squish between his toes and even ate a few hand fulls of sand. He was amazed with how the waves came and left every few seconds and loved to splash in the water when it was there. My Love took Cole into about a foot or so of water but Cole did not like the waves crashing that close to him and splashing his face.

April had a blast chasing after her ball and jumping over the tiny waves. She was super friendly with anyone that happened by the spot where we were playing.

My Love found a hermit crab for me and showed it to Cole. Cole really didn't pay too much attention to it and I let it get washed away by the tide.

That afternoon, we ate lunch at Casey's on the beach and it was fantastic. I would recommend this place to anyone and everyone. After lunch we took a tour of the airplane museum and learned about the history of aviation. There were two hangers full of different planes used in WWI and WWII. The museum was kind of off the beaten path and didn't have many lookers so we basically had the place to ourselves. It was great!

After attempting to take a nap at the hotel we went to dinner at Willie G's. The food there is fantastic and Cole was still in a pleasant mood (which was surprising because of his lack of sleep). That night we just relaxed at the hotel after dinner and didn't even bother with the pack and play. Prince Cole slept in the bed again.

Day 4 - Monday:

We all woke up early again but it was ok because we at least got a full night of sleep. We went to eat breakfast, packed up the car and headed for home. On our way home we stopped at My Love's parents place (Papa and Nanny's). With the storm brewing in the Gulf we were glad we were able to help them get ready to weather the storm while we visited. After weather proofing the house My Love piddled around the deck and threw his cast net into the water to see if he could catch anything to show Cole. He caught a chad and a shrimp. Cole immediately grabbed the shrimp off of the table and tried to eat it. Eeewwwahhhh.

We left Papa's and Nanny's house late that afternoon after a good visit and made it home safely before any bad weather hit. Thank God. I was so glad to be home. I think we all were.

Day 5 - Tuesday:

My Love was suppose to have jury duty but the court house was closed due to the bad weather. It has rained all day. Yeah, another day together. Boy are we going to be spoiled tomorrow when My Love has to go back to work. :(

Dada (Daddy) gets a gift

Okay, so I've been meaning to post about Cole's new skill. For about two or three weeks now he's been babbling up a storm. My Love and I could not get him to be quiet for anything. He'd even try babbling with his pasi in his mouth. So cute. Mostly he'd say dadadadadada over and over again. I've been a bit jealous because I was just certain that his first word would be MAMA. Anyhow, I'm over it now ;) and am really proud that My Love can have this gift from Cole. Cole said Dada the other day while looking at his Daddy. It was his first word association. This week he's said a few other things that sounded like words; no and bana (banana). Still no Mama. Oh well, I'm sure it will come later.

(The Hulk toy that Cole is holding in this picture was Donny's as a child.)

What a Day, Cole & Jasmine Get to Play

Today started off a typical Tuesday for Cole and myself. We were just hanging around the house doing pesky chores when my friend Marianne called to ask if she and Jasmine could come over after they ran a few errands. She said that they would be in our area and they'd like to swing by. Cole and I always love it when they swing by. We always have so much fun.

Jasmine is sitting by herself very well now and is content playing with any toy that is right in front of her.

Cole on the other hand is crawling her there and yonder wanting to pull up on everything and wanting to play with whatever Jasmine is playing with. He can't sit still for anything. He even "chased" me around the couch while they were here. I can already see that we are going to have a lot of fun in the near future and through the years.

I truly LOVE this little boy.

A Dark Knight in the Middle of the Day

My Love and I got to go on a date today. It was great! We went to lunch and saw The Dark Knight at an IMAX theater. It was an excellent movie. I loved Batman Begins and the quality of The Dark Knight is just as good or better. There's so much depth to this movie. It will keep me thinking about it and things for weeks to come. I can't express how good this movie is. You'll have to go see for yourself.

While we were out, our dear friends watched Cole for us. Cole got to play with Micah and Jasmine. Micah is a couple of years older than Cole and you could tell that Cole looks up to him already and watched his every move. I can see that they will be great friends in the future. And Jasmine, all they have to do is catch each other's eye and they smile. They are good friends already. I think Jasmine is entertained by Cole's energetic and curious nature. Cole had such a great time. Thank you guys.