one of cole's many talents

These pictures are a little bit old, but I wanted to share them so the whole world can see what a very talented baby we have. Yes, he is balancing that spoon on his nose. We're so proud.

Easter Sunday

We had a nice and relaxing Easter. Both sets of grandparents came over for brunch and got lots of time with Cole. He entertained the group with his new love of the ExerSaucer. We lowered it a little bit so that he is able to really push off and move around.



Grandma brought this dancing chicken back from Arizona. Cole thought it was pretty interesting, and then wanted to chew on its beak.

growing and changing

Everytime I look at Cole these days, I think "wow, you are getting so big!" He is really growing up right before my very eyes. It especially hits me on days like today when I work a full day and only see him for just a little bit before he goes to bed. I hug and squeeze him and just can't get enough. Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple random photos that make me smile.

introducing solids

We've started giving Cole solid food, and so far, so good. He's definitely interested in eating and also likes chewing on the spoon. The food, actually, doesn't really seem to phase him. When we first gave him rice cereal, I thought he'd have more of a reaction. But, eh, no big deal. He just ate it up. So after rice cereal, we tried peas, bananas, sweet potatoes, and most recently some avocado when we were out to dinner at a mexican restaurant. For the most part he seems to like everything. And it may or may not be a coincidence, but he's been sleeping better these past couple of nights, waking up just once around 1am to eat and then sleeping until around 6:30am. Fingers crossed that this is a trend that lasts a while!

aloha

Last week we had a party at Edge for Jan, our accountant who recently celebrated her 20 year anniversary with the company. It was a Hawaii-themed party, complete with leis, mai tais, and some delish food from Local Boyz (our favorite Hawaiian restaurant).

Cole is turning into quite the little partier! Here he is with his lei, which he mostly just wanted to eat. Yummy green plastic!

And here we are with our good friend, Jeff.

a wee little irish baby

My dad is 75% Irish and my mom is maybe 10%, which we figure makes Cole about 25%, or somewhere around there.

To celebrate our Irish heritage, as well as my dad's birthday, my parents throw quite the shindig on St. Patricks Day. And this year was no exception. Lots of drinking, eating, and more and more little kidlets every year. It's a great time and a day that we look forward to all year.

There are several traditions that have developed over the years, but probably the most anticipated event of the evening is my dad's speech. Adults and kids alike gather around the dining room table to hear him tell a tale of St. Patrick. While telling the tale he holds the statue of St. Patrick up and it ends with St. Patrick flying into the cake. Pretty funny. Here we are with the St. Patrick and the cake beforehand.

Cole didn't know quite what to think about this funny little dancing, singing leprechaun guy.

I know, we're so mean. But we just had to put this hat on him. It's just his size!

going, going, almost gone

When Cole was born he had a head full of thick, almost black hair. In looking back through his newborn photos, I can hardly believe that he had that much!

Slowly, but surely, it has evolved into what today is a much different style -- it's a lot thinner, for sure, and quite a bit lighter. And recently it's been a bit mohawkish, which I personally think is pretty darn cute, but admit that he looks a little wild sometimes. I just love this recent picture of him. Not only does it capture his hawk in the sunlight, it also captures his oh-so-curious eyes. He is one observant boy these days!

Ladies and babies weekend

Two weeks ago my dear friends Keli, Kathleen, Kelly with her new little man Sam (who is 2 weeks older than Cole), Maya and Olivia came to Corvallis for a visit. What a wonderful time. I feel so, so blessed to have such amazing friends. I wish that we all lived closer, but am so thankful that we make the effort to stay in touch and to schedule these regular girls weekends.

There are lots of good pictures from the weekend. Here are just a couple of my favorites.