I think the pictures speak for themselves!!!! Cole has gotten to where he will eat just about anything and one of his new favorites are black beans! Boy do they make a HUGE mess but hey, if he loves them that is all that matters!
We got to have a wonderful catered lunch at Rhonald's clinic today to help celebrate his birthday (which is Monday). I dressed Cole up in his Halloween costume and everyone thought he was adorable! We ate a great lunch and had a yummy piece of birthday cake. Cole was passed from person to person and did very well. He loved the banner that said "happy birthday" because the girls would make it wiggle around. He would laugh and laugh! When we were about to leave everyone started waving saying "bye bye" to us. Cole has never waved in his life but today he said "bye bye" plain as day twice! We were all freaking out. I thought it might just be a fluke since he is only 9 1/2 months old but after the party we went to Old Navy and he said "bye" to the cashier! I cannot believe it! He may just not be a waver...but he sure is a talker!!!
As I mentioned before Cole has started to pull up on anything and everything! He loves doing it and he really loves all of the new things he can find and see once he stands up! We bought him this new toy to pull up on and eventually he will be able to push it around. He really likes pushing all of the buttons and turning all of the nobs! This thing keeps him busy let me tell you. He also enjoys the coffee table and loves looking for things to play with up there. We have started putting some toys up there for him to find and he gets so excited when he sees them. He has been eating a lot better lately too which is fun and makes us feel better. However, now that Cole is pulling up and eating finger foods he is worse than Mason about begging. Last night Rhonald was eating a cookie and Cole was pulling up on his pants and throwing a fit wanting a bite! And once I sat down with my dinner it dinner it did not take him 5 seconds to get to the table and pull up and beg for more to eat! What a little piggy he has become!!! This stage is so much fun. Every time he changes we say, "this is my favorite stage" but honestly it is...he gets more and more fun all of the time!
Cole can finally sit in his rocking chair for a few seconds without tumbling out. This chair used to be Rhonald's and we have many, many pictures of Rhonald rocking away in it. I was so happy to finally get one of Cole. I must confess, right after I snapped the photo he slipped out...but laughed when he hit the floor!
We have these neat shelves under our coffee table and end table. We use them to store baskets of Cole's toys and recently Cole has figured out how to pull the baskets off and get his own toys. Today he figured out how to crawl up on to the shelf and sit there for a few minutes. The only problem is that he is not quite sure how to get down ... but I am sure he will learn that very soon!
Cole had his 9 month check up today. Dr. Thomas said that everything looks wonderful! She is so funny...she even told me that Cole has a beautiful and straight back! As soon as she walked in to the room he started smiling and charming her once again. She loved his teeth and watched him crawl some and listened to him talk. Poor Dr. Thomas ... I always have a bunch of questions but she made sure to answer all of them. We even got to see nurse Susan, the lactation consultant, who praised me for still nursing Cole and loved seeing how much he had grown. Speaking of...Cole weighs 20 lbs 6 oz and is 29.25 inches long! Some things that he loves are....feeding himself, reading books, playing with Mason, going outside. He loves "the itsy bitsy spider" and "this little piggy." He likes when we build a tower with blocks and he gets to knock it down. He loves crawling over obstacles. He likes looking for toys after we have hidden them. Cole loves to see himself in the mirror. He loves taking a bath. He is starting to pull up on things. He has 8 teeth. A neat thing he started doing a couple of days ago is that when we read a "touch and feel" book he can figure out where to feel without us showing him. Cole is pulling up on the furniture and can roll a ball back and forth with us. Cole laughs at anything and everything and because of that he never meets a stranger. Everyday brings something new and different. Our little boy is so much fun to play with and cuddle with...he is so full of love and has made our life absolutely wonderful!
I love Halloween...have I mentioned that before? I have had to work on the past 8 Halloweens and I was so excited about this one...because of Cole and because I would be able to enjoy the holiday too. We started off by taking Cole to Rhonald's clinic to show him off. Everyone loved his monkey costume and squeezed on him like crazy. Then we headed down to the Fayetteville Square where they had Trick or Treating and costume contests. We were shocked at how many people were there. It was so much fun to show Cole off and see the other kids all dressed up. We even ran in to the Burrow family and got some cute pictures with Ben. Tonight I was so happy to pass out candy to all of the kids in our neighborhood. Cole helped me answer the door and laughed at all of the costumes that he saw. If I counted right we had about 35 kids come by and it was awesome! Before bed Rhonald read Cole his Halloween books (thank you Aunt Laura). We are already excited about celebrating again next year!
