Sunday funny

One thing that I love about Cole is that he makes me laugh more than I've probably ever laughed in my life. He's a silly and fun-loving little boy. I just wanted to share the latest.

Yesterday when we were driving he kept saying "Shhhh" and putting his finger up to his lip. "Shhhh" and then a few seconds later he'd say "babies". That has got to be from day care.

Okay, that's all! Happy Sunday.

Saturday adventures

We headed out to a couple of garage sales this morning, although only one was worth stopping at. We scored this Radio Flyer trike for $5! Pretty good deal.

Then we headed down to the library to see the model train show. We have a train that goes by our house several times a day, so we talk about trains all the time, but Cole hasn't really seen one in person yet. This was a nice mini introduction.

After Cole's nap we spent time exploring the great outdoors behind our fence. I was actually surprised by how much wildlife we saw -- squirrels, birds, a family of deer, and a salamander. Oh, and of course a crazy cat, who is actually probably more "wild"life than any of the others! We were trying to let Cole explore, while being concious that the woods are full of poison oak. That's going to be an ongoing battle in the future, I'm sure.





And then we spent some time out front, practicing riding the trike and looking for Farley. This is Cole's "where'd he go?" look.

Finished the night off with a nice family dinner and now I've retreated upstairs to work while Cory listens to the OSU Beaver baseball game on the radio. A mellow evening after a busy day is nice.

weekly update

Happy Friday! Just wanted to share a few new Cole things from the week and another yummy Cory dinner.

First, Cole.

1. He has a couple of new favorite songs -- Row Row Row Your Boat (which he likes to sit on the floor, hold hands, and rock back and forth) and Itsy Bitsy Spider (he actually does the hand motions to this one pretty well)
2. He's getting better at using silverware, I think in part because they encourage it at day care. This morning he ate a whole yogurt with his spoon and only got a little bit on his bib. Pretty good!
3. He had his first bad fall. It was at day care and he fell of the stairs coming out of the sand box. He's got quite the bump on his forehead, but he's tough!
4. He has his first chore, although we didn't give it to him. He loves feeding Farley, our cat. Actually, its on the verge of being an obsession. Which is great because the poor cat gets basically no attention and we have been known to forget to feed him, but not now! Cole's on it.
   
5. Lots of new words these days and he's starting to string some together. My mom was chasing him around saying "I'm going to get you" so now he says "get you" and he says "hi daddy" and things like that.
6. I'm happy to report that day care is getting better and better, which is a huge relief. And Cole has been sleeping like a champ. Yay!

And now for Cory's meal of the week. Sesame chicken and rice, we got the recipe from our new favorite gluten-free site. Yumm.

Cory the chef

As most of you know, Cory has become quite the chef over the past couple of years, consistently creating delicious dishes. I feel so lucky! If it were left to me it'd be crackers, cheese, apples and peanut butter most nights, which would definitely get old. I told him that he should start a blog to capture and share all of the yumminess. He didn't jump on that idea, so I thought I'd start sharing them here. At least photos for now, maybe recipes to come later.

Here was our dinner tonight. Tacos with homemade corn tortillas (seriously can't go back to store bought once you've had homemade, there's no comparison!), black beans, ground beef, queso fresca, homemade salsa, sour cream, and avocados. Deliciousness.

Spring Break

Today was the first day of Spring Break, so Cole got to spend the day with Grandma! As you can tell from the photos, he had a great time playing with Playdoh. Lucky little boy!

Thankful

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday and one of the things I enjoy the most is taking time to reflect upon all of the things that we have to be thankful for. It's not Thanksgiving, far from it, but I feel the need today to give thanks. I'm thinking this should be a more regular post on the blog, maybe every Friday? We'll see.

Today I am thankful for:

1. A good week at day care! As I shared in the previous post, the first couple of weeks were tough for Cole at his new day care, but every day this week was a good one. He seemed much happier, although he still cries in the morning, but by the time I get around the corner he stops.
2. Clients like Antigone, who surprised me with a hanging basket as a thank you for all of my work in helping her launch her new business. It's amazing how far those types of simple gestures go!
3. Cory, who is not only a wonderful husband, but an amazing dad. My schedule has been nutty these days with lots of meetings early in the morning and into the evenings, and Cory is so great about doing whatever needs to be done.
4. Fridays (and soon to be Mondays) with Cole. No explanation needed there, really. It is a blessing to be able to combine work and family life in a balanced way.
   
5. The Little Gym. Cole and I had our first class this morning and it is AWESOME! He loved it and it was fun for me, too.
6. The sun! We've had some beautiful afternoons this week, which has allowed us to get outside and play. Our neighborhood is full of kids, so when the sun is out, so are all of the kids and their parents. It's a great opportunity for me to catch up with some of the other moms, too.
   

March madness

These last couple of weeks have been busy, busy, busy for the Badger household. I have found myself replying "tired" regularly when people ask me how I'm doing. It has been a transitional time for Cole with the move into day care, getting sick right off the bat, and welcoming at least 4 new teeth at the same time. Which has resulted in him being out of sorts much of the time and not sleeping well, which equals no one sleeping well. But I think we're pulling out of it -- please, god! I'm hopeful that the rest of March will be a bit calmer.

In addition to Cole starting day care, we've had lots of celebrations this month (birthdays, engagement parties, St. Patricks Day). And to add to all of the activity, I have decided to take the leap to start my own business as a freelance marketing communications partner (Rebecca Badger Marketing) so I've been spending every spare moment (which it doesn't seem like are many) getting things going for that. I will be at Edge through the end of May and then I'll be out on my own. Exiting and a little bit scary at the same time!

Okay, so not knowing a better way to update you all on the last month, I've chosen a few photos from key events in some what chronological order below. Enjoy!

Visiting the sheep barns, a favorite Corvallis spring activity.


Family time.



First day of "school".


Sporting his new Kate Quinn Organics outfit, a fast favorite (thanks, Keli!).


Building and reading, two of Cole's favorite activities.



Cole's new Boon potty bench (its never to early to start talking about potty training in my opinion!) allows him to wash his hands himself, which he loves.


Bumper car!


St. Patricks Day (a little early)


Owens 4th birthday party.


Kate and Macadam at Olivia and Ryans engagement party.


Other Cole-related updates that we don't have documentation on:

• His favorite words these days include keys (he loves the car), stuck (pronounced "uck"), Daddy (or Daddy-uh), no (which he uses liberally), Elmo (what is it with that little red monster? kids love him)
• Favorite activities: anything outside, reading, building towers with his blocks, playing with his barn & barn animals, running, basketball, throwing things away in the trash can (including my wallet), playing with his cousin Alex