4 to 11 (+)

Cole has gone from having a mere skimpy 4 teeth to a mouth full of 11+ in the last 2 months. It has been hard work. He has been cranky, sore, tired, snotty and much more but his chompers have finally arrived and everyone is delighted in his growth and development. Speaking of growth and development Cole's speech is finally beginning to bloom.  As a mother I can distinguish several words. He loves to say: no and go. He also says mama, dada, more, some form of please and thanks, cat, dog and door. I think his hearing really held him back but now that he is in good working condition he is moving forward. Cole can also follow most any command we give like: put it on the table, in the trash, get your baby, find a cup, etc. He can also identify some body parts like: nose, mouth, eyes, head, etc.  Here is a pic of some of his new teeth.  I think they make him look so much older. 



Cole still loves to cook and spends lots of time in the play kitchen.  Yesterday he had an unexpected dinner guest, Elizabeth. Cole was delighted and she was privy to his big smile.    He loves the cat and flashes his pearly whites at her whenever possible.

Soggy Bottom Boys

Today after round two at Springs Spree we spent the afternoon playing in the front yard in the water.  Case actually tried out and enjoyed the sprinkler for the 1^st time. 

And Cole, our little soggy bottom boy happily sloshed it up with the hose and a bucket of water the whole time. I love that Cole has finally learned how to cheese for the camera. Honestly, how can you resist that smile? Insert melting heart sound here.    
 

Spring Spree

Cody is in Canada over Father’s Day weekend.  Typically I get along okay when he is gone during the week, but the weekends are always harder to be alone, holiday weekends even more so.  Therefore in an effort to keep busy and distracted over this holiday weekend the family started Saturday off with a donut breakfast and then an action packed afternoon at Springs Spree, which is one of Colorado’s oldest community celebrations held in Memorial Park.  We were able to enjoy local vendors, musicians, fair rides, tons of delic food, and kid friendly fun galore.  The boys had a great time trying out ALL 6 of the bouncy houses.  Cole even had one house to himself at one time.  And the grand finale of fun was Case’s time in the water balls.  Omg, they looked fun!  In fact, I was a little sad I couldn’t run in one as well.  If you can’t tell by the pictures he had a blast.  We ended the afternoon in the only piece of shade we could find under a tree sitting on a trailer bumper enjoying a super slushy slushy.  We had so much fun, we are going back again tomorrow!  I wish Cody were here, but am glad we have been able to keep busy with some good fun while he is gone. 



Night, Night

Case has a new bed.  I have snuck into his room several nights this week and found him tucked away in a corner snoozing soundly.  He moves all his pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, water, snacks, etc to make his corner more cozy.  Then he pulls his giant stuffed monkey up close to make a wall fourth wall and he beds down for the evening. Night, night sweetie.     

Duck Pond

Why do I love the duck pond so much?  Because I am always surprised how much fun a loaf of bread can buy.  At the duck pond the boys get to play with sticks, throw things in the water, chase birds, feed ducks, find fish, poke things, run around and just be silly.  Even though there were no hungry ducks on the water today, everyone still had a great time. 

Here fishy, fishy, fishy.

 Good thing the duck bread doubles as a tasty snack. 

This is Cole's naughty look. He is trying to decide how to carry out his next devious plan of attack.

And...Attack!

In 10 Years

In about 10 years we are going to have the most manicured and well mowed lawn in all of Colorado.  All our little men are currently in training.  We start em young in this family.  :)

Cheers

During an impromptu Mexican fiesta with a neighbor over the week we concluded a salty drink was needed to accompany our shrimp tacos.  Before we could even pour a drink, Cole decided our empty glasses looked super fun.  He distributed his juice box into both of our glasses, started cheers’ing everyone in the room and guzzling juice.  Maybe I shouldn’t laugh, but the sight of him sipping juice out of a margarita glass was too funny.  I am surprised I could even take a picture due to the fact that I was laughing so hard.  Cheers, down the hatch and more please. 

Serenity Springs

Last weekend the family trekked to Serenity Spring Wildlife Preserve.  They are a facility dedicated to providing a permanent sanctuary for displaced big cats.  The Springs has lions, tigers, leopards, bobcats, cougars, baby bear cubs and other exotic animals.  The animals came from private homes that were abandoned after they became too big, Hollywood animals (we saw one of the lions from Second Hand Lions) or black market animals.  Serenity Springs was impressive.  We saw at least 30 (+) tigers and there were more on the facility.  The tour was interesting and terrifying all at the same time.  Although the cats were all caged, there was nothing between you and the cage.  I’m saying, you were close enough to the cage that you could take 2 steps forward and touch the chain link.  In fact, they warned visitors to watch out because there was a possibility of being sprayed!  Yikes!  As if that were not enough, ALL the big cats were VERY interested in both of the boys.  In fact, one of the black leopards lunged at the cage walls!  Ack!  Needless to say, I was super vigilant of the boys and oh so glad Cody went on the tour with us to help with child control.  Both of the boys did a great job on the 2 hour tour.  Cole had a great eye and could spot the tigers hiding far off.  Family time and new experiences are priceless.  I love my family!    

Crocodile Hunter

Case has been religiously watching Crocodile Hunter with host Steve Irwin.  This is fine by me because I don't have to pretend hunt as much anymore; instead we search, find, capture and rescue crocodiles and snakes.  Here he is finding a wild rattle snake in our yard!  Good thing I have a an expert snake charmer in the house.  I like how he uses a stick to help with the snake just like Steve Irrr (as Case calls him).      

Looking Tough

Cole has a shiner and it is a good one. Cody thinks it makes him look tough but I just feel bad for him. Apparently the other day during coloring time Cole felt a little self conscious about his appearance and decided to use a black marker as cover up.  All the black under his eye is NOT marker.  Then the next day he fell down two stairs and landed right on his head.  Viola, pop knot.  Needless to say we are staying in the house and out of public eye for a few days so no one will call DHS on me.  Poor baby.