playing

We've been hanging around the house a lot these past couple of days, relaxing and playing, which has been so nice. Cole is such a happy little guy these days. Literally squealing and laughing almost every minute that he is awake! I love how much joy he gets out of the littlest things. Here are a few photos of him playing with some of his new toys. And a cute one of him playing with daddy (which is one of his new favorite words, usually pronounced "addy").

he's a climber

One of Cole's favorite new activities is climbing, and he likes to climb up on just about anything. We're amazed at how strong he is, one solid muscle it seems like. He recently discovered that the window ledge in our family room is the perfect height for him. He likes to climb up there and watch Farley, who is usually meowing for someone (anyone!) to give him some attention, or some food. Anyway, here he is in action.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas, filled with family & friends, fun, and food. The morning started with stockings here at our house. Cole loved unpacking his, which was full of wooden food (for his kitchen drawer), toys, musical instruments, and books.

Maracas, a fast favorite.

A kazoo (which I think Cory may have bought as much for himself as for Cole).

Bongos from Brad, Mercedes & the girls.

OSU Beaver football

A wooden truck that I found at the Arts Center, made by a local woodworker. And a few books and CDs.


Then we headed back over to Lebanon for breakfast with the Badgers, where Cole opened a few more presents, including an awesome basketball hoop from Grandma and Grandpa.







Back in Corvallis, we enjoyed a late lunch with the Klinkhammers. Delicious potato chowder, freshly baked bread, and another round of opening gifts. I didn't take any photos, for some reason, but here are a couple post-Christmas day shots of Cole enjoying a couple of the gifts -- a BOB stroller (LOVE it) and this fun OSU Beaver tackling guy.


We ended our day at the Sahnows house, for dinner and drinks with good friends. The perfect Christmas celebration!

Christmas Eve festivities

On Christmas Eve we headed over to Lebanon in the early afternoon to celebrate with the Badgers. Lots of fun visiting, eating, and opening a few gifts. Cole was pretty into the gift opening, more so than I thought he would be. He especially liked the curly ribbon!

Malia got him an OSU Beaver that sings the fight song and an OSU Mr. Potato Head.

A cute snail from Keala, Tim and Devon.

PJs from Aunt Laurie. Much needed!

When he wasn't eating or opening gifts, he was exploring. Yvonne loves Christmas so the house was full of decorations, many of which are antiques, like this cupboard full of vintage santas. He actually was really good, but he was curious and liked to get up as close as possible to see what was going on. I don't blame him! There was a lot to look at.


After a few hours in Lebanon, we got back in the car and headed to Corvallis for a Christmas Eve party at Nathan and Kristas. We had a blast! The kids played, played, played while we ate and drank delicious martinis.

Opening gifts from Nathan and Krista.

Playing with his new barn, that he LOVES!

The boys playing with their trucks from the Colliers.

We tried to get a good photo of the cousins, but as always, it wasn't an easy task. First on the couch, and then on the stairs after we got them changed into the Christmas jammies.

visiting with Macadam and his parents

Keli, Rob and Macadam made a stop in Corvallis on their Christmas road trip for a wonderful two day visit. It was so fun to get to see and hold Macadam, who has changed so much since we saw him last back in October. Such a sweet baby! Cole was definitely very interested in him. A typical interaction went something like this.

Oh, hey Macadam. I'm going to be really sweet and gentle with you. Lets hold hands.

I'm just going to get a little bit closer to really check out your face.

Eyes! (which is where one of us would interrupt the play date to save Macadam from getting hurt)

And here are a few other photos of the boys in action.

more snow

We definitely haven't gotten as much snow as the rest of the state (which I am personally very thankful for), but we did get a bit more snow this week. Cory got Cole some new boots and gloves so he was able to stay a bit warmer and dryer while playing outside.

snow day!

"The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful." That's our soundtrack these days. While the weather hasn't been as bad as they were predicting, it has been enough to put a crinkle in some of our holiday errand-running, oh and getting to work and such as well! Priorities. It's just so much more difficult to get around with all of the ice and then never knowing when the real storm is going to hit. Our neighborhood always gets it the worst, it seems, and our street in particular. Even when the rest of town is clear, we will undoubtedly still have something left. The snow is pretty and fun, though, as long as I don't have to drive anywhere. I stayed home from work on Monday and Cole and I went out to play a bit in this new fluffy white stuff. Since he doesn't have gloves (hopefully Santa will bring him some of those!) or snow pants, or snow boots, we didn't stay out too long.

lights out

Last night we lost our power for a couple of hours, so out came the candles and the flashlight, and we had a good time in the dark. Cole thought the flashlight was especially cool.
(no camera flash)

(with camera flash)