2 1/2 Years {a little late}

On May 9th {Mother's Day} my sweet baby boy turned 2 1/2 years old! How does this happen?!?! Where does the time go?!?! I have such conflicting feelings about Cole getting older. I love how independent he is becoming and the funny things he says and does. I love how his little personality shows more and more every day. I miss a lot of things too. I miss his baby sounds, rocking him to sleep at night, feeding him his bottle and watching him bounce in his jumperoo. I know he has to grow up. It's part of life. I need to go ahead and come to terms with it but it is so hard!

I am happy to say Cole is getting a tiny bit better about trying new foods. And when I say tiny I mean it is hit or miss when it comes to trying something new but that is better than not trying anything new at all so I feel like we are making some progress. Your new favorite foods are clementines and chicken from Rudy's. You still love all carbs, "wilk" {milk}, cheese, yogurt, applesauce and your favorite candy is Junior Mints! This kid L.O.V.E.S planes and buses. He can spot planes like nobodies business. He sees them when they are close and so far away that they look like little black dots in the sky. It's amazing. He also loves to find school buses. He likes all kinds of buses but school buses are definitely his favorite. He'll say "oooo mommy! Bus!", "More Bus!" and "Where da bus go?" Cole has been day and night potty trained for well over a month now and we could not be more proud of him! Potty training was something I was totally dreading and it turns out that Cole is some kind of pro at it and it ended up being super easy! I should also say that my husband was a huge help and deserves most of the credit for how well potty training went! Thanks Babe! Cole loves to dance.

He is saying more and more every day. He has started speaking in sentences and will pretty much repeat every word we say now. Here are some of my favorite things he says:

"I lub or lubs or lub-a Cole, mommy, dad, dot {dog}" etc...

"Panpakes" or "Canpakes" = Pancakes

"Ahhh Nuts!"

"Mom, wooky!" = Mom look! also "momma, wook at dis!"

"Mush dis" = Move this or push this. He uses "mush" for move, push and sometimes scoot.

"Peeesss" = Please

"kank ku" = Thank you

"Wipee hi-hi" = Wipe my hiney

" Dot, no Bark!" = Dog, no barking {said in a very deep and stern voice}

Cole is still a big boy for his age. On our scale at home he weighs 36 lbs!!! He wears size 4T in shirts and pants and wears a size 8 shoe. I keep thinking he is going to have a huge growth spurt and thin out a little but it hasn't happened yet and I'm ok with that! How could you not love those thighs and that belly hanging over his undies?!?!

He is an OK sleeper. He is usually in bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and wakes up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. He still wakes up a couple of times during the night but usually falls right back to sleep once I go into his room to check on him. Naps are hit or miss. He will take no nap or a 2-3 hour nap and nap time is random. He is either ready for a nap between 12 and 3 or he won't take one at all. We took his paci away cold turkey when he turned one and I am so glad we did! We just took it away one day and never gave it back, not even for nap or bedtime. Kind of mean really, but I think the longer we let him have it the more attached he was going to get and the harder it was going to be to break the habit. He actually started sleeping better when he didn't have it because it wasn't contantly falling out of his mouth and waking him up!

He loves hanging out with daddy! It's the little things like getting the mail, pulling weeds, taking out the trash and playing soccer outside that Cole loves to do with his dad! He likes to help daddy fix things and they run around the house having tool wars with Cole's play tool set. He loves it when RT chases him around the house and then tickles him to death. He wants to do that over and over again! I love watching them play together. It melts my heart and makes me fall in love with my husband even more!Even though he loves his daddy, Cole is still a mommas boy. He wants to do everything with me all the time. He likes me to put him to bed every night, cuddle in the mornings and help around the house during the days. He would rather help me dust than play with his toys. I love it most days and wouldn't trade it for the world but every once in a while it would be nice to use the restroom alone. I love him more than words! I don't know how Cole is my child because he HATES peanut butter. Hates, loathes and detests it! He isn't allergic but if there is a hint of peanut butter on or in something he makes a face like I just made him eat dirt or something. It is the craziest thing to me because I cannot get enough peanut butter!

He still LOVES sports. I feel like a broken record when I say this in every update but he really does love sports. He plays basketball, baseball, golf and soccer every single day. When he is not hitting a ball he will play with woody and buzz or his cars but bats, balls and clubs are his favorite things on earth.

His favorite shows are:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Dinosaur Train

Handy Manny

Jungle Junction
Imagination Movers

and he has just discovered Clifford the Big Red Dog

Cole is very neat and tidy. He doesn't like it when he has something "yuck" on his hands and immediately needs his hands cleaned. If he spills something on the table while he is eating he wipes it up with his napkin. He doesn't like to get marker on his hands when he is coloring and he is pretty good about cleaning up his toys at the end of the day. He puts his dirty clothes in the hamper and has started helping me put his clean clothes away.

He still has the BEST hair! I cannot even begin to tell you how many times a day we get stopped because people want to ooooo and aaahhh over him and his hair! It gets a little out of control sometimes but I love that it will not lay down for anything!

Cole has several nicknames:

Cole-eee-OOOHHH!!
Cole-slaw

Cole-bear

Barty - RT's friends call him Arty. Cole became Baby Arty and that turned into Barty.

Chicken Nugget which also becomes just Nugget

Chicken Little

For the most part Cole is a happy guy except for when he can't get a toy to work or when it won't do what he wants it to do. I will have to admit that he is starting to get a little attitude and might be a little spoiled so we have a few things we are working on. This is mostly my fault!

I still cannot believe how amazing it is to be Cole's mommy. He is such a joy and I cannot imagine my life with out him. He makes our lives better and he makes me melt every time I look at him. We love you sweet boy!...more than you could ever imagine!