And Then There Was Cole - 13 months old

Dear Cole,



You're walking... but only part time. You'll only do about 6 steps before you get so excited you fall. Your preferred mode of transport is still the bear crawl (no knees, just hands and feet, bum in the air).



You're a picky eater. You'll eat a healthy breakfast, and then pretty much just a couple bites of this and that for the rest of the day. It was actually starting to stress me out. But, it seems to come and go in waves, and the past few days you've actually been eating quite well.



You started daycare. You've had one day, and I thought you were going to scream the joint down since that's what you do at creches. But, you seemed to have had a lovely day! You go once per week, and let's hope that you enjoy it that much each time!



You give hugs. Great. Big. Baby squeeze hugs. There's not too many things in the world that compare with those Great. Big. Baby squeeze hugs. I love them.



You love giving kisses but they're always with a wide open mouth and lots of slobber. I think I'll stick with the Great. Big. Baby squeeze hugs. And bypass the whole Niagara Falls smooches.



A few nights ago, you were in the empty bathtub just after your bath. I got your daddy to help me with a duvet cover, and as we were fussing with it (just in front of the bathroom) I looked over and shouted to your father "OMIGOD, GET HIM!!". You had climbed up from within the oversized soaker tub and were balancing on all fours on the edge of the tub. Can you say "heart attack"? (ok, I actually know that you can't say "heart attack" I mean, you're only 13 months old)



You have already climbed up the slide backwards. Zoe was two when she did that for the first time. You were 12 months.



Lucky 13 my love, they've been fun!



Love

Mommy and Daddy

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The Zoe Chronicles - 3 years old continued

Dear Zoe,

You're practically a lady. You are always gracious in your movements, and every word and action is purposeful. You're a real sweet girl... and you are becoming more beautiful every day! You like to model, but since you are a shy girl, it is only ever for us. You'll do the "walk walk turn pose" as you strut across the room, do a 180, put your hands on your hips and flash those captivating eyes! It's ironic because you are at that age when you bolt when I try to take a picture of you. So, it's been hard getting family photos...

Your favourite toy is Cole Polar Bear. You lug him everywhere. And, you even drew him once. I was flabbergasted, as it actually looked like something that resembled a polar bear!

You're still a great eater, but there are two foods you don't like. Eggs. Sweet potato. That's the list. That's it. But, for some strange reason, your daddy keeps trying to get you to eat eggs and I keep trying to get you to swallow sweet potato. Really, we need to move past this and stop trying to force you into it. I mean, out of the 4000 foods that you love and eat happily, why do we care about eggs and sweet potato? Maybe your daddy and I need to delve more deeply into this and seek some help. It's not your fault darling, you're allowed to not like them.

This is the self portrait that you drew today. You're gifted... you take after your dad's artistic abilities, that's for sure. I have no doubt you will be an amazing artist like him.

You love arts and crafts. You help me make every birthday card (and do most of the stamping!!!) and love gluing things, and drawing. LOTS and LOTS of drawing. And you love playing with playdough. You even try to write notes to daddy (Dear Daddy, how's work? Nice day. I love you.) and the scribles actually resemble words. It's the same note each time though. Dear Daddy. How's work? Nice day. I love you.

You love singing the Happy Birthday song. I think it's because I actually told you that if you sing Happy Birthday at Cole's party, you'll get cake. Since then, you sing Happy Birthday to everyone. And every day. Cole. Ruby. Daddy. Mommy. Zoe. Mikayla. Even Pasha. But, we only actually give you cake AT their birthday party. And, at Mikayla's you had an ice cream cake for the first time. It was actually your first taste of ICE CREAM. The moms there thought I should be reported for child abuse. Especially since they saw me gobble up half the ice cream cake slice before it was placed in front of you.

Love you,

Mommy and Daddy

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The Zoe Chronicles - 3 whole years old

Well Zoe, there's only been a handful of times that I've wanted to feed you to wild dogs, sell you on ebay, or strap you to the roof rack and go through a carwash.

For 36 months, I think that's pretty good!

This morning was one of such times, too bad, since it is your actual 3rd birthday. But, man, we had a rough day. ARE. OH. YOU. GEE. AYTSH. You were cranky. CRANKY in all caps ma dear. Which in turn makes me cranky (just lowercase cranky though). You were upset about everything. And even upset about things you didn't know about yet. You kept tripping and bumping and falling and having bingles. It didn't help the situation... I think you woke up with two banana peels for feet.

But, also this morning, you needed 3 spoons with breakfast. The big one. The green one (to match your green bowl). And one of Cole's spoons. Just so he DOESN'T get it I guess. It was nonetheless cute. I mean, 3 spoons? Who needs that much cutlery to eat Rice Bubbles? I'm surprised you didn't grab a knife. You love cutting things.

I'll write a proper letter to you in a bit, I'm typing this in haste, literally as I have two kids tugging at my sleeves.

I guess it's true what they say... It's your party and you'll cry if you want to.

Love you and love to hug you!
Mommy and Daddy
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And Then There Was Cole - One Year Old

Dear Cole,

Well, baby, what can I say about the year that will do it justice? We had a very smiley year. Lots of laughs. You are so delightful and full of curiosity and fun. You are well loved, my boy, well loved by everyone that catches those happy eyes!

So, sleep was our biggest challenge. You were a good sleeper and slept a lot, but they were just in small chunks and you would feed often. Around the clock. 24 x 7. This made getting anything done very difficult and mommy getting sleep longer than 2 or 3 hours didn't really happen. You were "sleeping through the night" at about 5 months, from 6.30 at night until 5.30 in the morning. This is where we still are to this day. It's not so bad though, I just nurse you and put you back in bed until 7.30am. Your two naps are finally longer and regular. From 9am to 11am. And, 1pm to 3pm.

You've been an active guy from the start. Crawling at 8months. Pulling yourself up at 9 months. Walking at... well, soon I'm sure. You're very social and love the hustle and bustle of friends and family. As long as mommy is around. Yes, you are a momma's boy. AND HOW. Your favourite place in the world is in my arms, sucking your two favourite fingers. Luckily I like cuddling you too. But, sometimes, Cole, mommy needs to leave you for a split second. It will be ok. I will come back.

Again we lucked out with a baby that is content with the world and doesn't get upset much. I know that toddlerhood and tantrums are a couple months away, but until then, I'm enjoying having a happy baby.

You're perfect, Cole, what can I say? Daddy and I make gooooood babies! (eh hem, but there will not be any more...)

We heart you,
Mommy and Daddy
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