Cole Carlson: 1 Year, 2 Months

Cole buddy is another month older and we are sure seeing more and more spunk from this little boy. He spends so much time growling, saying wow, throwing things, and demanding attention that I don't feel he will ever be that quiet youngest sibling! Here is what he has been up to:

*He is wearing size 12 month clothes still. Size 4 diaper during the day and size 6 at night. He's leaked through everything, but Target diapers.
*He walks around the house like he is a little monster. He growls, stomps his feet, and throws things...all with a smile on his face.
*He loves his sleep sack and loves carrying it around like a security blanket.
*He still has his 6 teeth. He seems to be working on a couple more.
*He says mama, Dada, ball, wow.
* He loves to throw anything and everything down the cat door.
* He loves to dance...shakes his head, claps, bounces.
* He loves to play with balls, pots and pans, cars and his race track, and anything that he can fit in his hands or mouth.
* He is sleeping better. He takes one afternoon nap, goes to bed around 7:15, wants a drink of milk around 4 and sleeps until 7.
* He will drink from any cup he finds and force you to feed him whatever you are eating.
* he is still a mama's boy and I spend most of my days with him in my arms.
* he butts heads with his sister, Harper. Brett and I agree that they are going to fight constantly until they realize they can team up against us. They are truly two peas in a pod.

January Fun

January was sooo cold and snowy that we found it hard to really get out of the house and have some fun. Besides a couple play dates, trips to the mall, and music class at the library we spent our days at home. We played a lot of Zombie Mommy (where I chase the kids around the house pretending to be a zombie), had dance parties, watched movies, and did a few experiments. Here are some pictures of our fun:

Cousins Sleepover

Over Christmas break we had Kennedy and Addie stay with us for two days and one night. The girls play so well together and they had fun playing with all of their new Christmas presents. We had a lot of fun and even made a trip out to the Science Center!

Winter Sunshine

Its been a few weeks, but there was a break in the freezing cold and we were able to get outside for a few hours. The girls had fun making a snowman, throwing snowballs, riding bikes and scooters, and catching some rays!

Cole Carlson: One Year, One Month

Cole Buddy is another month old.  Although, I just wrote about his first birthday, plenty has changed with little Cole.  Here's what he's been up to the past month:

• He's wearing size 12 month clothes.  Nine month pants still fit him the best.  He's built just like his sisters: long torso, short legs. He's in a size 4 diaper and 2 shoe.
• He has six teeth.  Three on top and three on bottom. All six are on the center and left side of his mouth. 
• He is walking!  Right around the 6th he started walking.  He spent a week taking a few steps and then dropping to crawl.  Then he just decided to walk everywhere.  It's the cutest thing to see him toddle around.  He still likes to lead with one foot, but he's picking up speed!
• He says "OOOOH," "OHHHH," and most recently "uh-oh." He is really pretty vocal and has started jabbering nonstop.
• He loves his Mommy.  I do love this about him, but it makes it hard to get anything done.
• He has the sweetest little cheese grin.
• He has beautiful blue hazel eyes. They are blue with flecks of different colors in them. He also has the longest eye lashes. 
• He is off of his bottle.  Once he was healthy we just quit giving him his bottle and finally found a sippy cup that he would drink from.
• He is sleeping much better now.  He is ready for bed by 7pm.  He will usually sleep until 4. Drink a little milk. Then he's back to bed until 6:30.  He'll usually drink some more milk and sleep until 7:30-8.  He takes one nap from 12:15-2:45. He would sleep longer, but we are on a tight schedule to pick Riley up from school.
• His favorite foods: pasta, yogurt (he will run across the room to get to it!), cheese, corn, peas, watermelon, grapes. We've introduced him to prune (or plum as Harper refers to it) juice. He drinks a cup of watered down prune juice every day and it has cured his constipation.  Thankfully he loves it.
• He loves to play with his spider man ride-on toy, balls, anything he can throw down the cat door, his talking cars.
• He loves his sleep sacks.  He pulls them up to his mouth when he's trying to sleep.  When he's not wearing them he likes to carry them around like a blankie. 
• He still has his paci.  He loves his paci.
• He has a little temper.  He lets you know when he doesn't get what he wants.  He signs more over and over until he gets MORE!
• He loves his bath. He hates getting his diaper changed or clothes on.
• He loves the cat.  He will follow him around the room, pull his hair, and give him a few "high fives" until Sam finally runs away and hides from him.
• He loves his sisters, and they love him.  Riley loves to "watch" him and pick him up and bring him back into the TV room.  Harper loves to feed him, lay on him, hold him, put him in a headlock.  He will have plenty to pay her back for soon!

Cole's First Birthday

We celebrated Cole's first birthday with our immediate family.  It was a snowy day, but thankfully all of our family were able to come and celebrate with us.  We are lucky to have such great family to love our children.  We made our special egg free vanilla cupcakes.  They seem to be our new tradition and are truly great! It's funny how things have changed over the years.  Huge parties with huge store bought cakes.  Now, we celebrate with our closest family and make our favorite cupcakes to share.  Cole loved all of his new toys.  Mommy loved all of his new clothes!

 

Christmas 2013: Recap

Our holiday season was sooo busy this year!  While it was a blessing, the New Year has been a breath of fresh air. We started our Christmas celebrations a few weeks early.  My mom's side of the family had a nice get together with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Even though we all live in the Des Moines area Christmas is the time that we all come together to reconnect.  Unfortunately, Cole and Daddy missed out this year.  Poor Cole was so sick with a bacterial infection and ear infection.  The girls had a blast playing with their cousins and wearing their new jammies.

 The same weekend we welcomed Aunt Libby and Uncle David into our home for a few days.  It's always fun when they come to visit from Texas.  We spend our mornings hushing the girls and keeping them from running down to the basement and waking Libby and David up...at 7am.  We celebrated for three days with lots of food, laughter, catching up, and presents.  Once again, the kids were spoiled this year.

Riley had a Christmas program at preschool this year.  The kids sang songs and wore their costumes to retell the story of Christmas.  Riley was the cutest little angel.  She did a great job.  She was the first in line and led all of the kids onto the stage. 

We visited Santa again this year.  Early in December I tried to get the kids to visit him while we happened to be at the mall playing on a cold day.  Riley decided that she wanted to visit the Santa at "my mall."  So that gave us more time to prepare their lists. The girls each had one thing that asked for consistently.  Riley wanted a fire truck. Harper wanted two oranges.  Only two oranges. We cracked up at that all month.  When we went to the mall to see Santa the line was too long so we rode the train instead.  I took the kids to see Santa during the day.  The line was short, but trying to manage all of them and get a picture was difficult.  Harper told Santa what she wanted and gave him a high five, but refused to stand next to him or sit on his lap. Riley did great and let Santa read her letter and sat next to him.  Cole wanted nothing to do with Santa, but did sit on his lap for a quick (and blurry) picture. 

Christmas Eve, we spent the night at Aunt Marilyn's.  She prepared a great prime rib dinner.  The kids love Aunt Marilyn and running around with the kids.  After Aunt Marilyn's we had a quiet night setting out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.  Riley was super excited for Christmas.  This was the first year that we could really see the excitement and anticipation in her.

Christmas morning came early for us.  Riley was in our bedroom at 4:20 ready to go downstairs to see what Santa brought her.  We have a gate at the top of the stairs so she couldn't just run down their on her own.  We were able to hold her off until 6.  We took the girls downstairs to see what Santa brought and to look in their stockings.  Riley received her fire truck, Harper her two oranges, and Cole some car toys.  Santa also spoiled them with a trampoline and tablet to share.  They couldn't have been any happier.

We couldn't start presents until Cole woke up around 7:30.  The girls had fun playing with their new toys, but Riley had a hard time not waking her brother up to get to her other presents. 

Later in the day we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Burch's house for another Christmas celebration.  We had another great ham lunch and once again we were all spoiled with presents!

Such a great Christmas this year!