Catching up with Coleden

 
Josh made some oobleck a few weeks ago. As you can see, Cole was a little hesitant at first, but once Dad showed him how to play with it, he really got into it! Josh always comes up with the best stuff to do. Dads are the coolest.

Now that my house is empty, I'm hoping I'll have a little more time to spend on the blog. I realized it's been a while since I did any sort of update on Cole, so I thought it'd be fun to share a little list of his favorite things at the moment:

• Airplanes. Everything flies around our house, even cars. Sometimes he puts his planes inside bigger planes, after all, even planes get tired of flying.
• Holding hands. Even if we're just sitting next to each other, he loves holding hands. Every once in a while, he'll come up to me, grab my hand, and give it a kiss. We're going to have to keep an eye on him around the ladies!
• Beauty and the Beast. His favorite part is when Mrs. Potts sings "Tale as Old as Time."
• Throwing things away. It's funny because he almost waits for me to ask him to help me. He's so good at it, we have to keep an eye on him, he gets a little carried away, and then we find remotes, toys, and the like in our wastebasket.
• Juice. He doesn't get it very often, but he has certainly learned that using his words to ask for it (in his super cute way, of course), almost always promises a tiny cup of "choose." He also knows to ask Dad first, Josh waters it down less-smart kid.
• Nessa Rose. She pretends to hate when he hugs her, but I know she loves his attention, even if she's a little afraid he's going to pull her tail (which he does from time-to-time).
• Books. We've finally reached a point where Cole will let us read books to him. For the longest time, his only interest was in the thick, cardboard books because he likes chewing on them. While we still catch him munching on the corners of a few books, he will actually settle down enough to listen and help turn the pages to a story. 

As for what my favorites are with Cole right now, they pretty much go right along with his favorites:

• His imagination. Watching him play independently makes me both proud and a little sad that he's growing up so fast.
• When we watch Beauty and the Beast, and his favorite part comes on, he always grabs my hand and wants to me to pick him up to dance like Belle and Beast. I will cherish that for the rest of my life. 
• That he loves helping me. He may not do it as efficiently as I might on my own, but the fact that when he does help me, he does so with his whole heart. I couldn't ask for a sweeter little boy.
• He really is trying to use his words. Cole had a slower start than some when it comes to language development. His language has improved quite a bit since Josh got back from his deployment. It's not so much that he's speaking more, he's always talked a lot. Really, it's more like we're finally able to understand what he's been trying to tell us. 
• When he bribes Nessa to love him. He wants her attention just as much as she wants his, but she's better at playing hard to get. Cole has no problem using treats to win her affections.