Check out this bathing beauty! Cole had a blast at our weekend trip to VA Beach. Who wouldn't with all the fishy crackers, juice and sand you could ever want? He seemed to have no fear when it came to the water however despite the beautiful, warm weather and nice water temp too, Cole couldn't help but shiver.
Cole is a busy toddler these days. Walking, talking and generally getting into everything. He has refined his use of "da..da..da" to "dat..dat..dat", while pointing. His only other words are "ma-ma" and "da-da" but I could have sworn I heard "shoe" yesterday. The doc says 3-5 words at 15 months are typical. I am amazed at how many words he recognizes (but can't speak). Park, outside, food, upstairs, and night-night all send him into a frenzy. 
We spent a relaxing weekend in PA this past weekend with Craig's family. On Saturday we went to Uncle LJ's graduation party where Cole enjoyed watching the volleyball games. On Sunday, Pap and Grandma had a BBQ for the family. Cole entertained us all with his amazing ability to hang! Everyone thought it the was the funniest sight. He just loves to do it, pointing back up to the hanging devise with this standard "da....da....da" of late. 
The hazy, hot summers typical of DC have set in and in many cases have left us searching out cool (that is as far as temps go!) places to hang out. We found ourselves along Alexandria's waterfront under the shade of a big tree and in the company of this cannon last weekend. Cole rushed to the water at every chance, freaking me out at the 6' drop to its surface. I was not about to jump into the Potomac to rescue him (well okay so I would but I certainly wouldn't like it!). Take care and keep cool.
Happy 4th all! We celebrated America's birthday in our usual fashion with the 12th Annual Keota Street Parade. Cole and Emory headed up the kids group in their red, white and blue attire along with festive tattoos, do-rag, and tiara. This year's Grand Marshall, Max Fix--my granddad, was quite surprised at his appointment to the most prestigious position of the parade. Friends and family gathered to watch the parade, join in the after parade ice cream, water battle and of course the cook-out. By 7:30, our little one was wiped out and so buzzed from sugar it took him an hour to babble his way to sleep in the crib at home!
Well we survived our 3 day adventure in camping with the little guy. In fact, it wasn't the lack of sleep, the park ranger's eviction of the 2nd half of our group or the clingy toddler that proved to be the downfall of the trip, but the COLD! It was a generous 50 degrees at night and I nearly froze to death, despite 2 sleeping bags and the body warmth of Cole and Craig. 
..a set of wheels! Cole's Pap purchased this snazzy ride for him for his first birthday and although it doesn't look like it in this picture, he is totally in love with it. It has become the 'cool' way to ride around old town and is definately saving my back from some heavy lifting!
Happy Father's Day to all the male figures in Cole's life. As you can see from this photo, Cole was not so happy at my encouragement to take a photo of him in Dad's shoes and tie. I think the scowl only makes the picture better!
Regardless of what common sense told us, we had put off baby proofing (and even denied that it had to happen) for a long time. A few bruises and a couple occasions of blood coming from somewhere (in some cases, never to be determined), we have the baby gates in place and padding around the edge of the coffee table. Cole has now officially taken over the house, if the toys hadn't before.
After 3 exhausting weekends we finally had a weekend at home for some good ole down time. We spent 3 glorious days doing just about nothing and it was great! Don't get me wrong, the little one keeps us running (literally these days!) but after continuous weekends of being away, it was just good to spend some time at home. Craig and I did get to scoot off to a movie for our anniversary, thanks to the Reed Family for keeping Cole occupied for an evening. We also took Cole to the pool. He was a little timid of so much water but I think he'll warm up to it after a few tries. Otherwise it was just time at home...blowing bubbles, reading with Cole and running after our new walker :)
It's hard to believe that it has been an entire year since Cole's Gram, Nancy, left us. Their spirits passed each other as Gram was on her way to heaven and Cole came into our lives. 
Our little man hit a HUGE milestone today...one! We celebrated this weekend with a big party and lotsa cake. I think Cole had fun?
and the Little one is loving the outdoors. For the past two weekends, we've had glorious weather in DC and we've taken full advantage of it by spending the majority of our days outside. Last weekend Cole assisted in remulching the planting beds by plopping himself right in the middle of them and eating the mulch. Then he helped to wash the car and ensured a full supply of soapy bubbles by playing in the water while mom and dad did all the work!
So after much debate and turmoil, we finally decided that it was time to take the plunge and cut off those curls. Who knew it would be such a hard decision? If it were Cole's to make, I'm sure he would have trimmed his hair long ago. All the hair tucking behind the ears, the neck hair tickling him and the bangs hanging in his face. As cute as he was with the little angel wings, he's even cuter with his little boy trim. More pics to come soon...
"...he brings some good stuff. Just look at this shiny thing i have here. I chewed on it, because it is so neat looking, and this good tasting stuff starting coming out. Then Mom came and took it away from me...I guess I wasn't supposed to do that! Oh well, It sure was good while it lasted. Back to the Easter Bunny...he also brought me these odd shaped balls that were filled with things that made noise when I shook them. They're fun! Later on we went and searched for those same things out in the yard. My pap helped me. We found 12 of them, and every one had something inside that made it rattle. Oh what a good time."
Cole was a little skeptical at first about being dragged up and down a mountain on dad's back but he eventually grew comfortable enough with the whole experience to take a nap in the pack. 
... I'm Irish! Actually, I'm not sure whether Cole has any Irish blood but you would think given his fair skin and my reddish hair, there is likely some in our lineage somewhere!
