Cole Giggling

We've been trying to do a better job of using the video camera that was lent to us (thanks Grandpa Reed!) and capturing some of Cole's younger days.  Obviously the cameraman could use some lessons in how to properly frame a shot, but the audio is what's most important.  Cole always seems to be happiest after a big bottle, so here's a shot of that happening.

Smith Family Visit

This past weekend we had some guests in from out of town.  My mom's brother Norm, his daughter Kelsey, our cousin Lori and my sister all flew in for the weekend.  We rented a beautiful home 1/2 a block up from Greenlake. It was a wonderful weekend with family that we love and don't see nearly enough.  Overall we didn't do much - we relaxed, reflected on memories from our childhood, and thoroughly enjoyed an evening of sharing memories of our grandma.  I truly wish the weekend could have been longer - Cole adored everyone that came to meet him.  After a couple hours of "being shy" he broke out of his shell and started talking and smiling at everyone.

We wish the rest of our family could have come for the visit as well, but we completely understand that life can be quite hectic sometimes and getting away is just not a possibility.  I'm hoping to make a trip to CA to introduce Cole to the rest of his extended family some time this summer.  

Here are a few photos we took from our weekend.  My cousin Lori took tons of great photos - I'm hoping we'll be able to get a couple to post on the blog...

Cole's first cousin once removed, Lori - yeah ,we had to look that up online ; )

Cole with his other first cousin once removed, Kelsey

The whole gang

Great uncle Norm and Kelsey

5 Months!

Today was a big day for the little man as he passed 5 months in our world.  Can't say we did a lot to mark the day, but looking back, it is all quite surreal.  Cole is definitely growing fast, physically and mentally.  Some times it feels like forever since he was born, others, its hard to believe we're already 5 months in.  Either way we are definitely loving time with Cole and enjoying watching him grow up.

Happy 5 month birthday Cole!  We love you very much!

New Cole Pictures

Here's some of the latest photos from around the house.  We've had a lot of happenings that we haven't been good about keeping up on, but we're trying to catch up.  We're also really looking forward to seeing Cole's visiting aunt and cousins.  Unfortunately Jack has been sick so that's been keeping us from seeing them, but hopefully it happens soon! 

The first few pictures here are a great pictorial of the range of emotions Cole can run through in a short time.

Happy!

Content 

 Furious

 Sleepy

This great knit hat is from our family friend, Leslie Dahl.  I would say it fits perfect, except for the blatant choice of purple for the yarn.  I would've prefered crimson Leslie, but Cole loves it despite its shortcomings. Thanks for making that especially for him!  It is great.

Cole is starting to grab quite a bit and hold on to things.  Its fun to watch him develop.

 And here he is showing off his neck strength

More grabbing.  Thanks to Emily's Aunt Kathy and Uncle David, Cole has a new favorite toy.  The zebra is a big hit and keeps him quite entertained.  That is until it is time to eat!

Grandma Smith

On March, 6 2012 my grandma, Gail Smith, passed away.  Grandma Smith was a phenomenal woman who always put her family first - her husband, her 4 children, her 7 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren all knew they were well loved and always had someone they could turn to.  Roughly 8 years ago grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.  While the disease may have taken away her memory, we will always cherish the wonderful memories we have of her.  We will love her and keep her in our thoughts forever.

Growing Boy!

As Drew mentioned in yesterday's post, today was my first day back at work.  I am extremely grateful to say the fear/anticipation of going back was much worse than the actual reality of it.  I slept maybe 3 hours total last night worrying about how I was possibly going to say goodbye to him this morning.  Fortunately my day at work flew by thanks to my wonderful bosses and coworkers!  My bosses treated our office to our go-to favorite thai food as a belated birthday celebration.  While being back at work and having an adult conversation mid-afternoon was definitely nice, I must say the highlight of my day was walking in the door and Cole giving me a huge smile...

And of course, my first day at work meant Nana's first day at home with Cole.  Mom was fabulous!  I can definitely rest easy knowing that Cole is in the very best of hands with Mom - she even delayed her first cup of coffee for the day until around noon...when Cole finally decided he would take a nap so she could have breakfast/lunch and slam a cup of cold coffee I made her at 4:45am : (  Both Drew and I agree, we're not sure what we would have done if Mom hadn't been willing to move in with us for the next couple months.  We will forever be indebted to her! 

After work Cole had his 4 month well-baby checkup as well as his 4th synagis shot (long story short, and as no surprise, Cole expressed his hatred of the shots by sobbing on the exam table - definitely does not get any easier for me or Cole as each month passes).  On the bright side though, Cole got another rave review from his pediatrician.  He continues to grow like a weed and is progressing wonderfully in so far as smiling, cooing, reaching for toys, etc.  As always, we are going to sleep tonight unbelievably proud of him.

Here are the numbers from today's appointment:

Height: 23 1/4 inches (< 2nd percentile)

Weight: 12 pounds 9 ounces (5th percentile)

Head circumference: 41 1/4 centimeters (50th percentile) [for those of you keeping track, back on Cole's 2 month well-baby appointment, he was in the 10th percentile in this category - Drew made the nurse remeasure just to be sure!  Sure enough, he has got a huge noggin ; )]

Here's Cole sleeping after his appointment - apparently his monkey is better able to console him than we are!

Long overdue!

I'm sure our faithful followers (all 3 of you) have been severely disappointed over the last two weeks with our hiatus from posting, but not to worry, the blog is alive.  We were busy with house projects, getting our new nanny (Cindy) moved in and who knows what else.

We did go up to Suncadia for 6 nights last week while our floors were getting refinished at home.  They look great and I'll post some pictures later (yes, exciting stuff).  So we have a few photos from our trip to the cabin below.

Also, Emily goes back to work tomorrow, so there's going to be a sad mom and son here tomorrow morning.  But the good news is Nanny Nana is here to help out for the next few months, so Cole's in good hands!

Hanging out at the tubing hill

Morning as the sun was coming up

Some friendly deer.  I don't think they'd fare too well if a hunter stumbled upon them.

Cole was showing off his milk belly.  I was doing the same, but he was hiding mine.

Side profile gives you the full effect.