coledykes.com

Grace and Cole are definitely opposites when it comes to machinery and loud noises.  When Grace was Cole’s age she was terrified of the vacuum and lawn mower.  Cole on the other hand loves loud machines.

Every time Daddy starts to mow the lawn, Cole must be there by his side.  He begs to be held by Dan as he is mowing the lawn.  We could really use one of those hard frame backpacks right now.

But mowing our jungle of a back yard is a two handed job so Daddy can’t hold Cole for too long.  And he cries when I take him away.

The funny thing is that he is deathly afraid of the trash truck.  Once he hears the weekly trash truck come by he runs into my arms.  Silly rabbit.

Hey there!  Please don’t stop reading my blog.  I’m still here.  My mom is just really busy right now and hardly has time to sit down and relax to blog.  But don’t fret, she’ll get back on the computer real soon and tell you all about my adventures.  Stay tuned!

Cole loves his hats.  Which is a good thing because he’s still pretty bald so he needs hats when we go outdoors.  Throughout the day he’ll wear many different types of hats.

A baby hat that fits a little snug.

Grace’s pink hat that fits just right.

Grace’s tiara that he loves.  I think it’s time that Mommy buys him a real boy hat that actually fits.

But his favorite is his Cookie Monster hoodie.  He even makes a monster sound when he wears it.

Hear ye! Hear ye!  Cole Sebastian turned 14 months on Sept. 19th!

We spent the last few weeks hanging out with family and friends.  One weekend, Cole got to play with our friends Sal and Cynthia’s son, Diego.  Diego is actually closer in age to Grace but he was kind enough to sit down and play with Cole at the beach park.

That night we went over our friend Rodrigo’s place for some BBQ and Cole spent the entire time walking back and forth up and down the walkway.

For Labor Day we spent some time at a park in Ventura.  It happens to be the same park we spent the last Labor Day.  We even brought Grace’s pop up playhouse.  Cole is doing his Luke Skywalker impression.

One of Cole’s favorite things to do right now is play “chuck-it” with Molly.

Grace recently started a new session of swim classes and now that Cole is more mobile it’s harder for me to keep him entertained while we watch Grace.  Luckily there are some crazy noodles for him to swing around.

The following weekend we visited the grandparents in Fullerton.  Cole got to see his monkey blanket for the first time.  This blanket was specially made by Yaya’s friend, Janice, using the fabric from Cole’s first birthday party.  He loves it!

Whenever we spend time in Fullerton, the kids get to see great-grandmas Dorothy and Esther.  The grandmas are so delighted and entertained by Grace and Cole’s silliness.

Before we left for home we went over to Cousin Emily and Madeline’s house for a playdate.  Cole and Madeline look like they are up to no good.  Sneaky little devils.

At the cousins’ house, Cole got to play with all the toys in their new playroom.

Well, it’s been an exhausting few weeks.  Cole is ready for bedtime stories.  See ya!

Cole is getting really good at holding a crayon or paint brush.  I decided to let him have a go at watercolor painting.  The mess is totally washable and cleaned up so easily.  Of course I did all the paint brush prep for him.  He doesn’t understand yet how to dip and dab the  brush into the paint.

First he had to figure out what he was going to paint.  Chewing on the brush helps him think.

Don’t bother me Mom!  I’m in a zone!

Head painting is a new technique only done by Cole.

It’s a messy job but he’ll do anything for his art.

Cole is 13 months! Actually he turned 13 months like 3 weeks ago but I haven’t blogged about his changes yet.  Now that he’s turned 1, Cole has been growing and learning so fast.  Sometimes I can’t believe how fast he learns how to do things.

Recently, he wants more and more to use utensils and to feed himself.  He feeds himself fine with his fingers but a spoon already?  It took me a while to let Grace feed herself with a spoon and I have a lovely video of her chowing down on yogurt (without a bib mind you!).  It still makes me cringe but she had a great time doing it.  So I let Cole do the same.  He picked up pretty fast how to use the spoon.  (Don’t mind the pink bowl and spoon)

Most of the yogurt ended up on his face.

Day 2 attempt at yogurt eating.  Pretty good Cole.

He’s really happy with himself.  Oh yeah, this is his “cheese” face.  When I take a picture and tell him to say cheese this is what I get.

Another big boy thing Cole loves is to do is drink juice from a juice pouch.  He amazingly doesn’t squeeze the heck out of the thing like Grace would.  He’s more interested in drinking the sweet juice. As you can see he is very focused on his mission.

He also loves pushing baby strollers around.  Not with babies in them.  Just an empty stroller.  He was pushing this stroller at Ava’s house while Grace and Ava had a playdate.

Now that I stay at home with the kids, I do alot more cooking.  And let’s just say it’s not easy to cook with two kids wondering about and tugging on my leg every 5 minutes.  So how do I occupy Cole?  Giving him pots and pans will help.  But a corn on the cob will do the trick too.  He loves to suck on them.

When Cole’s not eating or drinking, he’s got his binkie in his mouth.  Oh no, not another binkie baby.  I was doing so well by not giving it to him but lately since he’s been getting his back molars, I’ve caved in and give it to him.  It really helps with the teething.  Cole loves to lounge on the Elmo chair while double fisting binkies.

Cole wanted to show me how big his molars are getting.

Well, it’s bathtime!  Rub a dub dub!  Two goofy kids in a tub!  Bye!

This year we decided to go camping in San Diego at the KOA campgrounds.  They have KOA campsites all over the country and have heard good things about them from our friends Dan and Marlene, the avid campers.  The campsite includes a swimming pool and two playgrounds for kids.  You can rent a 4 person bike to cruise around the campsite as well.  This particular location is located dead smack in the middle of a residential area.  It was kind of weird at first but once you settled into camp, you couldn’t tell you were in downtown San Diego.

After our last tent camping trip, I made up my mind that we would not be doing tents for a while.  Luckily, KOA offers “kabins” for those who want a more luxurious experience.  He he.

Here’s the outside of our kabin.

All the kabins faced eachother so that there was a common grass area.

This was a two room kabin and had two bunk beds in the front.  Can you tell that Grace was sooooo excited about the bunk beds?

In the back was a double bed for Mommy and Daddy.  Cole stayed in the front room with Grace in his pack n play.

The best part was the porch swing.  I could spend all night there just swinging.

As soon as we got unpacked we headed to the pool.  Of course Mommy forgot the camera.  After some swimming we headed to the grocery store and bought some dinner supplies.  While I was cooking dinner, Dan took the kids to the playground.  Cole is loving this dune buggy.

Grace surprised us with how coordinated she is by climbing this rock wall.  What a daredevil.

Our spaghetti dinner was finally ready and Cole had some real fun with his.  Yum.

Daddy didn’t mind it either.

Even though we were staying in a kabin the kids managed to get dirty.  That’s what camping is about right?  We all know Cole is a dirt magnet and he spent almost the entire time that we were there playing in it.  This one is right after a bath of course.

Grace followed suit.

We spent the time there in San Diego visiting the zoo and Balboa Park but that fun is posted in Grace’s blog. Overall our experience there was really good.  I hope we can visit another KOA in the near future.  Hasta la vista San Diego!

Before our camping trip we went to Bolsa Chica State Beach for a good old fashioned weenie roast.  Yaya, Papa, great-grandmas, Esther and Dorothy joined us as well.  Cara and Shane also came over from Playa del Rey for a day full of dogs and s’mores.  It was a beautiful day.  Not too hot, not too windy either.    It took us some time to find a free fire ring but we finally found one and quickly set up camp.

Because we set up near a fire ring, that meant soot, soot and more soot.  Kids seem to attract soot where ever they go.  Cole is enjoying one of the many treasures the beach has to offer.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t a seashell.  It was trash.

Grace had a great time playing smashball with Aunt Cara.

After smashball, Grace and Cole couldn’t wait to put on their swimsuits to dip their feet into the water.  Cara and Papa volunteered to take Grace while I took Cole.  Sadly, Grace is in a weird phase where she is afraid of the beach and doesn’t like to go in anymore.  She didn’t actually make it into the water this time.

Cole really isn’t interested in going into the water either.  He just loves digging in the sand near the water.

Finally, it was weenie roasting time.  Daddy did a great job making sure every hot dog was roasted to perfection.

Cole wanted to play smashball too.  But we were all too busy eating our hotdogs.  Sorry buddy.

After hotdogs, you have to make s’mores of course.  Here is Papa keeping a watchful eye out for those melting marshmellows.

Do you think Grace liked her s’more?  I think so.

Yaya graciously shared her s’more with Cole.

Weiners and s’mores.  Life is not only good, it’s great.

I took both kids to the dog park for the first time a few weeks ago.  When we first got Molly we would go often but that changed as soon as we had Grace and Cole.  I think I was a little hesitant because I didn’t want the kids to get jumped on by dogs.  But we were tired of the same old park so I decided to take them to the dog park.  It was a nice treat for Molly.

Grace was ready to play chuck-it with Molly.  It’s Molly’s favorite.

Cole really liked the open space.

We played chuck-it for a while before Grace got freaked out by a rambunctious dog.  Was it that huge great dane you ask?

Nope.  It was a little pug (sorry no photo).  He just wanted to say hello and jumped on Grace but she freaked and started running full speed.  The little guy followed of course and that just added fuel to Grace’s fear.  After that we left to another park.  A kid park.  Much better.

Look at me Mom!

Before our trip to San Diego we gave Molly a nice bath.  We usually take her to the local pet store that has a tall tub for dogs but I ran out of time so we washed her out back.  Grace and Cole were my assistants and they were ready to help in their bathing suits.  First step get a hold of Molly before she catches on that’s she getting a bath and runs off. 

Next, rinse and lather shampoo. 

Rinse out shampoo and add conditioner.

Finally a towel dry.

All clean Molly!  It takes her all day to air dry but at least she smells great.

We’re still going gaga for monkeys these days even though it’s been two weeks since Cole’s monkey party.  This time we were playing Simon says.  Grace is still learning the concept and will do anything I say whether or not I say Simon says.  And Cole will do anything Grace does.  Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Simon says…find your belly button.

Simon says…pat your head.

Smell your feet!  I didn’t say Simon says.  You’re both out.

Hope you all have a great weekend!  This next picture should keep you smiling the whole time.