16 Months!

Big cheesy smile for Daddy.

Smiley.

I am glad we kept his sweater out for the move because the few Christmas things he had are still in the moving truck and we couldn't get to them if we tried.  Oh well, after the 18th we will be able to get to them again and we will have a week to wear them before Christmas.

Not a big smile, but I like this photo.

Cole is 16 months old today!  It is very hard to believe that he is nearing the year and a half mark already!  He makes a lot of noises, but still no real words.  We have started asking him to say "juice" when he wants his juice and it works a little.  He says "Ju", but it is a start.  He says Da when he sees dogs and instead of "Ruff ruff" he says "Tah Tah".  He recently learned how to stick out his tongue.  He got his 2nd molar Nov 11th and his 3rd Nov 21st.  He is working on his 4th and one of his lowers in front.  We still haven't made a bunch of progress with walking, but we know he could do it if he had a little more confidence in his balance.  He has taken a step if we let go of his hands here or there, but mainly just collapses and cries.  He has learned to scribble with crayons so that will be a fun thing to do when we finally get settled.

Our New House as of Dec 17th.

It's true!  We put a contract in on a house this week and we close on December 17th.  This is the outside of the house.  We absolutely love it.  We saw a bunch of houses in the area, but when we walked in here we knew it was the house for us.

We get to keep the desk in here, which is very nice.  The office is huge.

The big ottoman is a toy box in here.  We also get to keep it:). 

We like the TV nook above the fireplace, too.

Living Room.

 The dining area has a lot of space.

 The kitchen is very nice and all of the appliances will be ours.

Oak Cabinets.

 Master Bedroom.  So glad our bedding matches the curtains.

 Master.

 Master Bath.  Nice to have towel bars on either side of the sink!

Master Bath.

 2nd Bedroom.

 Kids/Guest Bathroom.

 3rd Bedroom.

 Backyard.

Cole at Thanksgiving yesterday.  We had Thanksgiving with Phil and Diana Wood and family.  It was actually at Diana's parents' house and it was a pretty awesome house.  They bought the house specifically to entertain so there was probably at least a 2000 sq. ft. open area as a dining, living, family room.  It was huge.  It was a nice gathering and nice to see everyone.  Cole was very tired, but here he was flirting with Candice Wood by showing off with sun glasses.

New Digs, New Tricks!

Well, we are in Broken Arrow at the moment. Here is a photo of Cole checking out his temporary digs.  We don't have tons of toys, so kleenex packets work wonders.

Cole has learned to stick out his tongue and he also is starting to really get in to snuggling up and reading a book.  Here is a photo of him and Jonathan reading "Night Before Christmas".  Books seem to be his favorite things on top of toys!  It is shocking, but great!

Happy Belated Birthday to You, My Love!

I did not forget Jonathan's birthday.  I did forget to blog about it.  Jonathan turned 30 yesterday.  With all of the move stuff going on we had very little celebration.  We saw that Tulsa has a Ted's Escondido like Oklahoma City and we were going to go there, but Jonathan's boss called and invited us over so we opted to get to know his family instead.  It was very nice.  They got Hideaway pizza (another thing we loved in Oklahoma City) and we got to know his boss, his wife and one of their children.  The boy was 13 and did great with Cole!  It was great because we didn't have to tag team him and could talk more to Mike and Ginger.  Anyway, Happy Birthday, Honey!  I love you so much, I am so blessed to call you my husband and you are the best Daddy in the world!

We Have Arrived

We drove all day Wednesday and yesterday and now we are here.  We got here around 7 last night.  We weren't planning to get here until today, but Cole was a complete trooper for the driving portion!  He did great for everything except winding down at night in the hotel.  So, we decided not to do the hotel thing last night and we came to our new home instead.  It is very big and Cole is going crazy moving all around!  Post more later when we have internet.  We are borrowing a neighbor's connection to post this and find out where a couple places are that we need to go today.

Locked and Loaded

The truck is loaded and we are getting all of those annoying little things organized today.  We are steaming the carpets and touching up and all of that.  Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early.  Cole is taking an extremely long nap now and we are grateful!

Complete Handsomeness!

Ok, so he kind of looks like he came right off the set of grease, but he is so cute in this picture I thought I would share...note the monkey and sippy cup are always in hand.

Another Molar

Cole now has 4 front teeth on top and 3 on the bottom.  He also has his lower right molar and his upper right molar just finished breaking through today.  His lower molars have been horrible to cut and we didn't even know he was cutting and upper molar...just thought he was being fussy because the lower gum as SO swollen.  However, the upper came in and now he's working on the lower left.  It broke through yesterday and is slowly coming out.  We are looking forward to being done cutting the molars.  The other teeth he seems to do much better with!  Here is a photo of him taking things out of his diaper bag yesterday.  note that he is not smiling because he has been grouchy lately!

Our First Date.

Last Friday was our first dinner date since Cole was born.  Here's what he did while we were out!  Our awesome neighbors, the Basilio's, took great care of him while we were out and he played with his best pal, Alexander.  Migdalia told us about them playing together and crackingup.

We went here while he was being babysat.  Great homemade wheat pasta with delicious sauces, mushrooms, and chicken.

Consequently, Jonathan and I also had the 10-year anniversary of our first date on October 14th.  That is crazy.

Circleville Pupmkin Show Last Day!

Cole and I "walking" at Pop-Pop and Grandma's church after eating Pumpkin Pie.

Grandma and Cole.

Everyone walking to see the Pumpkin Show Sites!

Observing the World's Largest Pumpkin Pie.

Cole giving "kissing eyes" to Grandma.

The whole clan minus myself and Jonathan.

Touching Grandma's teeth.  He is fascinated with mouths.

Pumpkin Show from Pop-Pop and Grandma's church.  We went to the church for vittles and their great homemade pie!

"En gourd!"

After the Pie.

Everyone is smiling in this one!  Not too common.  One of the adults is usually making a weird face or Cole is not happy.

Grandma reading to Cole.

Sneak peek at Grandpa and Grandma Salerno's Christmas gift to Cole!  A wagon!

15 Month Check up

At 15 months Cole is weighing at 21 lbs 15 ozs (15th percentile) and is 31.5 inches long (50th percentile).  His weight went up a bit percentile-wise so that was nice to see.

The doctor was impressed by his catching/throwing ability and said his diet is very good.  Cole had a little stranger anxiety at the doctor's office so either he is finally getting it or he knows what the doctor is all about now (we are guessing the latter).

At 15 Months:

Cole points at everything and grunts.

He can point to known objects in books if you say "where are the grapes" etc.
His favorite book is Veggietales and his favorite page is the one with the dog and the vacuum.  He is obsessed with both things and will shout out "AH" if he sees one.

He says Momomomom and Dadadadad but not really to us, so we don't count it.  He does say "I-wha-tat" "I want that" we think, but sometimes he says it when he doesn't really seem to want something so we will wait and see if it becomes a little more regular.  He knows a ton of words, though, if you say them and he understands if you tell him not to do something or wait for you or something of the like.

He is definitely approaching toddlerhood and fits.

He loves his monkey, Morris, and will accept no substitution or even cleaning for Morris (poor Morris does get cleaned, but Cole doesn't like it).

He loves all kind of cars and trucks and balls.  He likes to stack things, too.

Is Neatness Genetic?

Cole's 1st real shoes.  He is now close to walking and it is getting cold.  I mystery shopped Stride Rite and they had 20% off so at least they weren't as pricey as normal.

Such cute shoes.

Cole has been lining up his toys.  We are wondering if he may be as neat as Jonathan.

Caught in the act!

Circleville Pumpkin Show: Day 4

Cole with Jonathan's cousin Jessica who came in for Pumpkin Show with her parents.  Jim is Jonathan's Mother's Brother.

Uncle Jim and Aunt Sue got Cole a Build-A-Bear!  Yay!

Uncle Matthew "walking" Cole. This is now a favorite past time of Cole's.  He cries if you stop when he doesn't want to.

Build-A-Cole.

Jonathan and Cole playing around.

Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim with Cole.

Family Photo.

Another family photo.

Cole back at it with the Build-A-Bear.

Jessica and Granny playing with Cole.