Sweet Potatoes and Blankies

A little bit about Cole...last week Cole started eating sweet potatoes. I first gave them to him at grandma Helen's Christmas and he really didn't like them. In fact it made him not eat anything that night, so I just backed off and haven't given them to him since then. Well, last week I decided to try them again, and I mixed them with his cereal and pears, he loved it! Gobbled it up so fast. We also tried carrots and those went well too. He loves eating his baby food. He starts making his cute cooing sound when he is really content once I start feeding him.

The other thing I wanted to say so that I would remember it, is that when Cole starts getting a little fussy, we put him in his swing and I give him his blankie and he immediately nuzzles his head in it and closes his eyes. He absolutely loves his blankies. Thank goodness he has a bunch and it's not just one in particular.

Influences

Jack has been saying random things lately, and we usually wonder he gets those sayings. His newest one is 'nebermind'. Jack will be in the middle of asking for something and they just say 'oh, nebermind'! Well, while he was watching Toy Story the other day, the little neighbor girl shouts nevermind to her mom while asking for something cause she found something else to play with. The light came on. The other thing that has been said a lot lately is, "ahhh, it's a scary monster!" I really had no idea where he picked this up. I figured it was from a cartoon, but couldn't place which one. It was really starting to aggravate me, because he would say he saw a scary monster all the time. One night while playing with his word whammer on the fridge, he hit the letter A several times, and all of the sudden I hear "Aaahhhhh, it's a scary monster!" My mom, sister and I all looked at each other. Seriously, that's on an alphabet teaching game.
Another funny incident....while in Missouri for my niece's birthday, we were at the house waiting for the other grandparents to arrive, and when the doorbell rang Jack shouted out, "We have a customer." That would be from the Imagination Movers.

So after seeing how fast he was picking up on those sayings...we have started trying to get him to memorize Bible verse. Last week was Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He did pretty good getting it down. The biggest hassle is trying to get him to actually say it for me, but a couple times I caught him saying, then when he realized I was listening, he would say "nebermind". (and that is with a b not a v)

Exhausted!

Rarely has it happened that my children will choose to fall asleep. Bedtime isn't a battle by any means, but it does take a little coaxing most nights. At 5am this morning, both my kids were up. Cole crying, and Jack hollering from his room "let me out, someone please open my door." And by 5:30am we were on the road headed to Rolla, MO to celebrate Karissa's birthday. Jack gearing up to hang out with his cousins this weekend, was so excited and started out the trip by asking 'are we there yet?' more times then I cared to hear. Cole slept off and on most of the trip with 2 diaper changes that were performed in my lap, one of them being poopy (only a loving mother would attempt would that!) After about 4 1/2 hours into the trip, Jack is restless and wanting to exercise and stretch, he hasn't napped yet, and we are begging him too. (Side note....when I first had Jack I didn't believe in DVD players in the car, except for long trips. Jack however is the kind of kid that will crash if we are driving around past 10am so I bit my words and started putting the dvd player on to keep him awake so that he would still take a good nap at home on days when we have to be out and about. Keeping him awake until we get home could be a full time job in and of itself) That being said, of all days he decides he doesn't need to fall asleep in the car. Finally, with about 45 min left of our trip he crashes. In my mind at least he is getting a little nap before the festivities begin. Our afternoon was filled with jumping on their indoor trampoline (which is awesome! and I wish I would have known about these things before Christmas, because we would have gotten one), riding the smart cycle, running up and down the basement stairs too many times to count, swimming at the pool, having a birthday party, getting sugar-ed up on cake and ice cream, then at 7pm heading to the skating rink, cause that is what Karissa wanted for a birthday party! (all she has talked about is having a skating party) It was so much fun. Cole was a real trooper in the midst of it all. So home we are at 9:30 trying to get air mattresses blown up, and Jack just sits on the couch not moving and inch. I sit down by him and he tells me he is sleepy. I think had I left him there 2 more minutes, he would have passed out cold. This was the easiest night of putting my babies to bed, and what is more exciting is that maybe they will sleep in until 6am tomorrow instead of 5! Good night!!!!

Cole Rolls Over!

Cole rolled over for the first tme yesterday. He went from belly to back. I am so proud of him. He is getting close to going the other way too. I just hope he doesn't rolling over in bed now :) Sorry it's a little unsteady, I was recording with my phone.

A little laughing

Sleepy head

Cole was up unusually early this morning. When he woke up to eat at 6 and messed his diaper instead of falling back to sleep, so I had to change him. He played for a while and then went in the jumparoo. I looked over a bit later at him and here is what I found.

Happy Golden 3rd Birthday Jack!

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jackson, happy birthday to you! Buddy, I can't believe that you are 3 years old today. You have been such a blessing to
your daddy and I over the last 3 years. We can't even imagine what one day would be like without you. You bring such joy to our family. When you smile it goes from ear to ear, you have a curiosity that never ends, and you love to be involved and learn new things. This past year has been a year of major changes in your little life. The year started off with the news that you would be a big brother. That brought about a series of events that we felt needed to happen before the baby came in the fall. First we got rid of the pacifier. You loved, loved, LOVED your pacifier but when we took it away, it only took a couple of days and you were done with it (that is until you would find a lost one under the couch or something and run away smiling with it in your mouth). Next was transitioning into a big boy bed. That seemed like it was a good idea at the time, and for the first 2 days it went well. Then it turned into a disaster. You wouldn't fall asleep at nap time, and I would sit at your door for hours trying to keep you in your room. Night time would be countless trips back and forth to your room putting you back in your bed...so after a week of this and you pulling your dresser over on yourself you went back into your crib. And sleep time was good again. The end of April brought about the biggest change...we moved! Our townhouse in Springbrook finally sold after 6 months and we moved in with Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Vicki. They had a room just for you, so we put some books, toys, and your bed up there and made it home for you. The summer was filled with digging dirt, riding the John Deere, running your little legs off, and countless trips up the gas station for a treat (which was usually Cheetos). You loved having a huge backyard to play in. You got your first power wheels this summer and drove it like a pro from the beginning. You would help grandpa and daddy work in the yard with your little John Deere and wagon. And grandma would always push you in the swing, and play in the sandbox with you. Not to forget all the rides to the creek to throw rocks!
Your language, reasoning, and problem solving just exploded this year. Sentences became longer, words pronounced better, and you loved to trying to say whatever we would. You really started to pretend play more and develop your imagination.
May brought a new cousin Tessa into the picture, and you loved to hold her. In July you started sleeping in your big boy bed at nighttime and did awesome. August brought a new baby brother for you. You really seemed to like having a baby around, and are so good with your brother. Sometimes you have a hard time sharing daddy's time though. Tractors keep you completely fascinated, and grandpa is sucker to take you to Big R or the John Deere dealer to get a new one quite often. Campfires and watching the moon became your favorites this fall, and then all of the sudden we were stuck inside cause it got cold out.
You are a ball of energy, and keep us on our toes especially when you get up at 5am. I love you so much and hope that being 3 brings just as many new challenges and times of growth for you. I pray that this year you would continue to grow, be healthy, teach your brother new things, teach us to have that child-like faith, explore the world around you, and most of all comprehend that Jesus loves you.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!