Another fun filled weekend

The weather was fantastic this weekend so we were able to spend a lot of time outside. On Saturday we just did projects around the house and Cole went to his friend Luke's house for a play date. Sunday was a trip to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.

Cole continues to bust out full sentences at random times. At Luke's house someone asked him if he liked ketchup and his reply was "Yes, I like it a lot." Pretty funny to hear because it is so unexpected.

Unfortunately Cole still is getting up super early in the morning. Most days we hear him at 5am and then have to actually get him out of his crib by 5:30. On days when we are just too tired we let him watch a little Curious George or Elmo. Well, we think he has caught on because he will be crying and really grumpy when we get him from his crib. As soon as you ask him if he would like to watch a show he perks up completely and say "elmo". Need to break him of this as we don't want to continue this cycle of waking up sooooo early.

He is such a joy and we enjoy every minute with him. Well, those minutes from 5-6:30 are not quite as enjoyable, but still pretty good!

Here are a couple of photos from the weekend.

The birds are pretty fearless at the park. This one came waltzing right up to us and waited for us to get out of it's way.

There was a baby elephant born on Valentine's Day. Super cute and tiny.

Baby elephant again.

The petting zoo area had deer that would eat food from your hands and were very gentle with the kids.

Large gorilla in the background. Our monkey in the front.

Cole loves the carousel. He gets very excited and shouts hi and waves as he goes around. Love that smile.

This is what we are up against.

I was telling someone recently about Cole's determination and ability to figure out mechanical things. We have to be really careful when we are doing things because he is watching and catches on quickly. Recently he even figure out how to open the car door from his car seat! Thankfully we were in a parking lot and it hasn't happened since.

Anyway, this is video of Cole working with the buckles on the high chair at lunch the other day. Mary and I were both equally impressed and scared.

"What is that?"

Cole said his first sentence the other day. We were out to dinner at our neighborhood diner Coco's (Papa, they miss you there) and during dinner Cole said "What is that?". This caught Mary and myself off guard because it was so clear. Normally you have to really interpret Cole's words, but this made both of pause. It was pretty cool.

Below are a couple of random photos from recent days.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What a stud. Getting ready for swim lessons.

Cracking up watching movies of himself. He will laugh hysterically at himself. Pretty cute.

Getting some energy out.

Tulsa Trip

We started the month of March off with a trip to Tulsa, OK. Mary has an office there so we were able to see John's relatives and allowed her to get some work meetings checked off. Grandma and Grandpa Hobson were able to make the trip down to spend time with all of us. Everyone had a great time. On Friday night we were able to see the Grein family....John's Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and their families. It was a big group and lots of fun. Cole really enjoyed the "big kids" and was able to run around playing with them. On Saturday we hit the Tulsa Zoo. The weather wasn't as nice as we had been having, but the zoo was really nice. You are able to get close to the animals and it was bigger than we expected. Of course they have a train and a carousel, which are two of Cole's favorite things. We heard "choo-choo" a lot that day.

Here are some photos from the trip.

"Mom...don't block my view!"

Watching some videos on the computer. One of Cole's favorite past-times.

Reading Thomas with Grandpa.

"Working" with Grandpa.

Cole's Easter present. He still isn't sure about the duck as it is a little scary. It sings a song and dances...which he thinks is the duck chasing him. Have to admit...the eyes are a little scary.

Hanging.

Hanging with mom.

Absolutely fascinated by this lion fountain. Not as fascinated by the real thing behind him.

On the carousel. He would wave and shout "Hi" to us as he passed.

There is a great playground that has wooden trains and trucks for the kids. At this point we were all cold, but there was no getting Cole away from this truck. He loved it.

Discovered the DVD player in the car. I think he likes it. He was also super tired.

At the playground.

Reading with Grandma.

Ready for bed.