Favorite reads

This week Cole has one new favorite book. He is loving "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf. He likes to make the sniffing sound when it talks about Ferdinand smelling the flowers and also likes the part when he sits on the bee. I love the simple yet beautiful black & white illustrations and the sweet story.

Garage basketball

Cory moved the basketball hoop into the garage (its been outside since summer) and I'm not sure why we didn't do it sooner! Cole loves it. Every night he wants to go play basketball with Daddy. Not Mommy. When I ask if I can come, he gives me "the look." He's gotten pretty good at the brow furrow these days. In this case "the look" means plain and simple - no. It's a Daddy + Cole activity. Which I love. Here's a little footage from today's game. BTW - he went and picked out his basketball shoes and hat all by himself. Love the high top converse.

Two year old boy

For those of you who have ever spent time with a two year old boy, this will look very familiar. If you've never had the pleasure, here's a little sneak peek into life with a two year old close to bed time. Seriously entertaining! To translate the conversation - Cole is singing his rendition of Jingle Bells ... Jingle Poop. Don't ask me where he came up with that, but he still sings it almost every day. And then he's talking about going to look for bald eagles, which he did with Cory, and going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Badger.

Favorite reads

This book was actually one that Mercedes gave Cory when he moved into his townhouse, kind of as a joke, but we held onto it, and now its one of Cole's favorites.


I love the illustration style of this book. I got it at a garage sale last summer. It's very simple, but very sweet. And Cole has always giggled throughout this whole book.



TOBY! We love Toby.

Video message for the Badgers

Yesterday in the mail Cole got the coolest gift - a new guitar from his Uncle Brad and Aunt Mercedes. He LOVES it! When I got home from work he was snuggling with it on the couch and quickly exclaimed as soon as I walked in the door -- "Mommy, look, I got a guitar. I LOVE it. Do you love it?" This is the thank you video we sent to them.

Working

Cole is getting more and more into imagination play, which is fun to watch. Recently he has been going to a lot of meetings and going to work. I guess it only makes sense since that's what we are usually doing when we're not with him. The other morning he told me he was leaving to go to a meeting with Quincy. Tonight he informed us that he was going to work, at which point he promptly when and got his tool bench and stool, sat down and began to hammer. "I'm working," he said. And then began explaining the steps to whatever he was making. "First you ...," he rattled off. I often can't quite follow his conversations with himself, but love to listen nonetheless.


And, related to work, here's one I took a while back of Cole actually at work with me. He loves spending time at Madison Ave - lots of fun stuff to play with and always sweet treats.

A couple more Christmas photos

Snuggling with Grandma in his new very hungry caterpillar blanket from Grandma and Grandpa Badger.

Showing off his new big boy underpants, which he is wearing over his diapers. We're not quite ready to take that leap yet, although he has started using the potty at daycare. So maybe it's us that's not ready?

Playing with his new toys - garbage truck from Auntie Sarah, train from Santa, and Matchbox cars from Daddy.

Play-doh

One of Cole's new favorite activities - Play-doh! He can entertain himself for a long time in his high chair with a couple containers of Play-doh, a play rolling pin and a couple cookie cutters. Yay for creative play! This is the first Play-doh mask I've ever seen, courtesy of Cory.

Favorite reads

This week's favorites include:

"If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" by Laura Numeroff. We have a couple others in the series, but this one is new. Cute.


"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems. This is one that we used to read all the time but its been out of the rotation for quite a while. It's one of my favorites, so I'm glad to see it back!


"Do Your ABCs, Little Brown Bear" by Jonathan London. Cory and Cole discovered this one on the bookshelf the other night. Not sure how this one managed to stay hidden for so long! It's very sweet.

Mr. Potato Head family

Recently Caden passed down a bunch of Mr. Potato Heads to Cole. We've been having fun dressing them up and making various families. Not sure who has more fun, me and Cory or Cole. The latest is Mr. Potato Head bowling, where we get them all dressed and then Cole rolls a ball and tries to knock them over. Oh, and he likes to wear their glasses too, which makes me laugh.

Video?

You may remember a while back we got a Flip video camera. And you might wonder why, if we have this great little camera that's so super easy to use, we never seem to post videos. Well ... the answer is because Cole is possibly the hardest kid ever to video tape. As soon as he sees it, he just wants to watch the video. Here's proof from tonight. He was cooking mac & cheese for Cory in his kitchen and describing the steps as to how to make it (I guess we eat a lot of mac & cheese because he was spot on!). I thought, I have to get this on camera! But, nope. I have many 30 sec videos like this.