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.

Who needs toys when...

you can play with Mama's jogging shoes,

play with a pasta spoon,
or, play with an empty box.

Today when Cole and I went to Wal-mart I was on a mission to find him some soft plastic Tonka trucks like his friend Lyric has. They didn't have the exact ones that Lyric had but Cole immediately recognized the Tonka toys. (The ones at Wal-mart were smaller and more came to a box.) I'm not kidding when I say that he recognized them. As soon as I started to pick the box off the self he squealed and started kicking his legs and waving his hands with excitement. I just had to get them for him then. (I know, not a great practice to get into but we haven't bought him one toy since he was born. All of his toys thus far have been given to him. I just couldn't resist.)

So I guess he still needs his toys. :)

Okay, so I have to brag on my wonderful husband. Today he surprised me by coming home early and bringing me flowers. He brought my favorites, Daisies. He is so thoughtful. I am so very blessed. Thank you Love.

Flashback

Do you ever wonder if you looked anything like your parents at the same age? People always say that I am a good mix of both my parents (and I would agree) but when I look back to pictures of my Mom at the same age, especially baby pictures, I just can't help but see the resemblance. It's not like looking in the mirror or anything but you can definitely tell that I am her daughter.

Well, Donny's sister (Aunt Nell) came across an old picture of Donny when he was about 7 months old. I remember seeing this picture before but did not have a copy of our own. I remember thinking how cute Donny was in this picture. In fact it was this picture that made me ask God for a baby boy that looks exactly like Donny.

Well they're not spitting images of each other but you can definitely tell that Cole is Donny's son. Look how cute they are:

Cole - July 2008

Donny - August 1978

Grammy & Pa's

Cole and I went to Grammy and Pa's for part of the week this past week. I took my camera with me but never seemed to have it around when I needed it. This is so unlike me. Needless to say, I did not take one picture while we were there. :(

Anyhow, Cole had tons of fun (as always). He got to ride on a large tractor with his Pa, feed the horses, walk in his walker inside the barn, wrestle with Pa, go shopping at Home Depot, get rocked and cuddled by Grammy, visit with Great-Grandmommie and crawl around everywhere. Cole also got to watch Pa feed the pigs. Cole has never seen a pig in real life so it was so neat to watch him watch the pigs snort around.

Grammy and Pa have peach trees that were ready for picking. Pa let Cole hold one of the peaches after he picked it and Cole bit it (like he does everything that he picks up). Well to his surprise, he got a piece of peach and juice squirted into his mouth. This was a first. His puzzled face was priceless.

Cole had another first this week. He is now pulling up on the couch or whatever he can to stand and he even walked a couple of steps while holding onto the couch.

Next time I will have some pictures of Cole's adventures. I just thought you guys might want to know where we've been and what we've been up to the last week.

First Thing I See

The very first thing I do each morning when I wake up is go check on Cole. Most mornings he is still asleep but sometimes he has been awake playing in his crib for a few minutes. He gets so excited to see me and gives me the biggest smiles each day. I think I can't wait to see him as much as he can't wait to see me each morning. His smiles just make my day.

This morning was one of those mornings where he had been playing for a while and when I walked in his room he sat up, crawled to the side rail and stood up waiting for me to come greet him. This is what I saw:

(I lowered his mattress to the lowest rung today so that I won't have to worry about him climbing or falling out just yet.)

Later this morning while I was collecting the laundry from his room he finally discovered the cloth blocks that have been stacked at the end of his "big-boy" bed since he came home for the first time. The blocks were stacked and tied with a red curly ribbon. Needless to say, he went straight for the ribbon. I thought he was so adorable playing by himself.
Oh how I love this boy. Thank you God for this precious wonderful gift. I am thankful for each day I have with Cole and count him and the days as my blessings.