Thanksgiving Weekend

Hello everyone! I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and had some yummy food. Aunt Heather was with us for Thanksgiving and left this morning. We had so much fun. I was so excited that I was waking up at 4AM everyday. Not sure if Aunt Heather or my parents were as excited as I was.

We had fantastic weather and spent time outside enjoying the sites. On Friday we went to the San Diego Zoo as Heather had never been before. This was the first time that I was out of my stroller and able to pet the animals. It was lots of fun. What was even more fascinating was the buses that drove around. We actually took a tour on one and it was loads of fun. I even learned how to say bus.

On Saturday I had my regular swim class. This week I was in a really good mood and surprised everyone at how much I enjoyed the class. The instructor even commented on how well I did and gave me a special participation ribbon. Mom and dad were equally as shocked and told Heather she had to come back each week for class.

On Sunday we took it easy and just hung around home. We even went out to the pier for lunch and to watch the waves. I am getting so big and I like to walk everywhere now. We even flipped my car seat around so I face forward. There is so much to see in the car! I point out all of the trucks, buses and cars. One of my favorite sayings is "Oh Wow!" People say it is pretty cute. I am just really excited.

Hopefully we will post some videos later today. Take care!

Cole Helps Himself to Food

As if anyone was worried about Cole starving, he is quite capable of taking care of himself for snacks. I just foresee a future of him sitting with a bag of chips. Pretty funny how he tries to hide his snacks a bit. After I stopped filming he proceeded to dump the whole container on the ground, so we played pick up.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Some recent videos

Cole is becoming quite active. He watches us closely and then mimics. The other day he really wanted the house keys after our walk. He took them and went right up to the door outside and put the key in the door lock. The video shows him trying to do it again from the inside.

We have also had to proof the kitchen as much as possible. We have left a few drawers unlocked so Cole can go crazy. Cole loves to organize things. He takes items out of drawers, but will also put them back in. Yesterday he was rearranging his food cupboard. I was quite impressed....he really is my son. So proud of his organization and cleaning skills!

Updates Galore

Hi everyone. Sorry we haven't updated in a while, but things have been busy in California. We are all doing well, just have had a busy couple of weeks lately. Where to begin?

Well, we had a slight scare with Cole one night when we tried him on peanut butter. He broke out in hives, but he wasn't really bothered by them and they went away on their own. We went to Urgent Care to have him checked out, but the hives had already gone away so that wasn't much help. Still not sure if it is a peanut allergy or something else, but for now we are just avoiding peanuts. But we did learn one good lesson....don't try him on new foods at dinner time. Do that during the day so you can avoid Urgent Care late at night.

Halloween was a great success! We have an area called Balboa Island where people really get into the spirit with decorations and even the store owners encourage visitors. There is a really nice boardwalk around the island that is perfect for little ones to stroll. We went early with Cole's friend Sofia for their first Trick-or-Treat experience. By the end Cole was catching on and would hold out his plastic pumpkin. It was pretty cute.

Recently we switched nannies so we are in mid transition. Cole really enjoys Barbara, but he is also at the age where he is pretty shy around new people. We are just working through the morning transitions as he gets comfortable. He warms up quickly, but he gets a little worked up if he sees either mom or dad leave. We are fortunate to have Barbara a few days each week to allow dad to get work done.

The other big news is that Mary started a new job this week. It is a great position and she really enjoys the team she is working with. That also means that it is Daddy Daycare time. Cole and I have been having a great time and are getting use to our new schedule. Some fantastic adventures are planned.

We wanted to say congratulations to Meg, Tom and Michael as they welcome Molly to the family! Can't wait to meet her and see everyone.

Hope everyone is doing well. We will try to post more soon.

View of Big Corona Beach on Nov. 12th.

Cole loves hanging by the beach. This wall is just his size.

He is very curious about all things mechanical.

Why invest in toys when you can just give him the wipes!?!?

Cole got sooooo excited when he saw these trees. He loves the really tall palm trees, but when he saw these mini ones he squealed. They are just his size.

Still using his one finger to explore.

Checking out the fence. There are big sandstone rocks behind this that he really wants to go climb.

Halloween photo.