St. Patrick's Weekend Festival

Heath found some information about this event for the weekend. We drove straight out to old Henderson as soon as Heath got off work on Friday in hopes of seeing the Petting Zoo. We thought Cole would enjoy it. We parked on the street and took our time walking around looking at the games and rides. Heath got a funnel cake with powdered sugar (yum!) and I got a "hand-dipped" corn dog. The corn dog was very coated, oily, and crunchy. We walked what we thought was the entire grounds before concluding there must have been a mistake. No petting zoo. We promised to return the next day to find it. We packed up into the truck and started driving home. There it was! Somehow it was hidden, but it was on the other end of our walk. We found it today, Saturday. It was a measly dollar for admission...can't beat that! Heath took Cole into the pen while I watched with the camera. After meeting a few animals, Cole wanted to walk around on his own to say hi! We weren't comfortable with that considering there was a lady in there walking around with a --scooper. Cole was particularly fond of the little black sheep. As I watched him pat its back, I wondered if it would kick him. All the animals were pretty sweet. I tried to get a photo to show what was all there. Enjoy the photos!

Cole's First Birthday

I can't believe Cole is one year old! He was and is such a good baby. He would sleep 10-12 hours a night from the time he was three or four months old. He doesn't fuss about much either. I feel so blessed and lucky. He has been picking up things so quickly the past month or so pointing at everything saying, "dat". I've been telling him what everything is called. Sometimes when he points, it's because he wants "dat". He also has been doing a great job of undoing everything I do; I put away his toys, he gets them out again, I fold things, he throws them on the floor...he's a great help unloading the groceries!! I have to be careful, though, because he'll run off with something that needs to be refrigerated or has a pointy side...

He's a great walker now and sometimes picks up the pace and gets a trot going! He doesn't bend his knee very much when he does this, but I expect he'll get the hang of it. If he gets a booboo, he tells us a long story about what happened, "da da da da da da..." crying through the whole story. He loves his fuzzy stuffed friends and blankets. He takes them for walks up and down the hallway and up to the sliding glass door admiring the view. He still throws balls and pushes cars around. He tries to pick larger things up and carry them. The box Nana sent for his birthday for example. If he can't pick it up or can't carry it very far, then he climbs on it...or at least tries!

His birthday went well, considering. Can I just soapbox this one thing? "RSVP" means to let your host know whether OR NOT you plan to attend. I invited ten people and only three RSVPed! Nine of them showed up. I'm done. Anyway, I didn't have any games planned; the kids played with each other. Everyone ate and then we did cake and ice cream. Then opened presents. Cole had practice unwrapping from Christmas, but he got bored of it after three or four...so I helped him. He got some pretty awesome gifts much more than I expected or could hope for. Thanks to everyone for that! I know he loves each and every one of his toys because when I was straightening up for the party, I put a couple toys away and then a couple more and each time he went looking for them all. He looked a bit anxious after awhile and started following me around whining.

He only took one nap whereas most days since we moved into the new house, he takes three. Kristen and Jimmy stayed later for a little while along with Heath's buddies Rich and his son and then Chris and his son. It was a very interesting evening for Cole and he did very well. He's doing much better socially only crying once, but he was tired and ready for bed. The others stayed for the fight a little while longer.

We considered not doing anything for Cole's first birthday, but didn't want to look back and say "we should have..." like other things we've have missed. More is never enough when it comes to photos. Speaking of which, you all were there in spirit and in our hearts. Here are the photos from the day. Enjoy and love you!

No headband

Cole has completed his requirement for wearing his headband. His head looks great! He is very cute (maybe I'm biased). I think his cuteness was obscured by the headband. He has adjusted well without it by not banging his head on the wall and catching himself when he falls down. It was a long and tedious two months which turned into four of bi-monthly adjustments and daily sanitizing, but it's all over now and we can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we did what we could for him and it was for the best. His head is now a normal round baby head. We will have video upon video to prove it. Keep your eye out for the next one which should be ready shortly after his first birthday which is on Saturday! Thanks for your patience and support.

Run away

Cole is definitely walking now. He is actually trying to run! He putts around with his baseball and will throw it at you and giggle. He pivots on one foot and turns around, picks up his ball, and goes back. When he tries to run, he usually starts at the sofa and walks as fast as he can go toward the T.V. He either trips and falls or the top half of his body gets to the T.V. before his feet! He's been doing a great job of falling on either Heath or me, too! We can also take him by the hand and walk around the house. He only needs one of our fingers to know where to go, but he still prefers to be held. He shows interest in walking on his own, but only if we go with him. He makes the funniest faces, too. We are finishing up the next home video, so keep your eye out for it.

He's Walking!

Cole is officially walking! He's been doing the Frankenstein walk with his arms ahead of him for about a month now attemping two or three steps at a time, but now he walk a good seven or eight feet without falling down! He still uses his arms for balance, only now they are straight up in the air like a little monkey. He likes to practice between mommy and daddy on the floor wherever we are. He has also been pushing objects (boxes, larger toys...) up to furniture in an attempt to get to higher ground! He has made it onto the big chair, according to Heath. He has tried getting over the gate separating the main room from the kitchen area. He still loves to be held and grab whatever is in reach.

First Halloween

This was also written on December 1, 2007. We just got back from our trip to Arkansas where Cole was able to meet the rest of daddy's side of the family. He had a great time! He must have since he would wake up once or twice during the night afraid he was missing something. It was nice but very tiring. We were running around the entire time trying to make sure everyone saw him. He's growing so fast! Jocelyn and Don were here for their anniversary, so we meet up with them as soon as we got back. They had many gifts for Cole which he was able to enjoy after our trek through the mall. It was a madhouse of Trick-or-Treaters, but it was something we couldn't let Cole miss out on. We saw some pretty amazing costumes from adult Superman to SpongeBob to baby Tiggers. Maybe next year, he can collect candy!

First Thanksgiving

This was written on December 1, 2007. Neither Heath nor I had any energy to do much the week of Thanksgiving even though we had extra time off. On Thursday, we slept in as much as we could considering Cole gets up between five and seven thirty. We all got ready and went driving around to see what was open. We both thought everything either opened late or closed early. I guess we got out too late to find out. We had "dinner" at Mimi's Cafe. They were doing a special feast for Thanksgiving with all the fixin's, as Heath would say. Cole preferred to toss Cheerios on the floor and try to pull down the decor. The day flew by, but we got our turkey!