baby cole : one year

my baby is [almost] a year old! cole’s birthday is really mother’s day this year, and i cannot believe that it’s been a year in some ways, and in others, it’s felt like the longest year. given that the last two months have felt like two years, i’m thankful for the ‘extra’ time with that little dude that this weird, shelter-in-place life has given us. his first birthday is under super weird circumstances, but we have arrived. relatively unscathed, with as much sleep as we could ask for as parents of two young children [so more than some but never enough ;)], and happy to have our formerly chill, now turbo baby here.

when i set out to write this post, i intended to share some of cole’s favorite toys/foods/routine, until i realized that we really don’t have any of that. first child? SURE – new toys for every little stage. i was glued to my wonder-weeks app, making sure i knew of when every leap was going to happen. second kid? go with the flow. so here are some of the interesting things going on in cole’s life:

• cole’s been eating solids now for a while, and loves him some blueberries. he eats meat OK, but seems somewhat partial to ground venison. eggs are pretty good, too.
• cole LOVES logan, and nobody can make cole laugh like logan can. she calls him “little chunky man” and it’s hilarious. if you think a child is a gift, SIBLINGS are just the best. my heart.
• cole loves his bottle, but unless he’s SUPER thirsty/hungry, often gets distracted and will drink a bit, crawl and find something to destruct, and go back to his bottle later. he’s ALL boy.
• speaking of that destruction, once cole hit 8-ish months, he went from the sweetest, chillest little chunk to just a force to be reckoned with. he loves to get into the dogs water dish, the garbage, the bathroom, cabinets, toys, logan’s closet … you name it, cole loves to be in it.
• he also loves to zoom around the kitchen/dining area in his walker like he’s in a racecar. he has been playing bumper cars with every cabinet we own, and the look of PURE JOY on his face when he gets going fast and hits a ‘wall’ is priceless. well, no actually, it’s going to cost us a lot of money to fix all of that someday, so it will have a price 😉
• cole’s a great sleeper. he takes naps like clockwork and sleeps from 7:30p – 5a pretty solidly, waking up for a bottle, and going back down for another hour. it’s all a parent could ask for!

cole is a joy. his smile goes all the way up through his eyes, and he just warms your heart with his mischievous, conspiratorial grin. i absolutely cannot believe that a year ago today, i was taking the day off to run last minute errands and prepare to bring a little human into our lives, and now here we are. cole is the piece of our family we knew we needed, and fits perfectly with our family. i could not love that baby more, but know i will as he continues to grow. oh, and fun fact: he’s been called “baby cole” by many and i think the ‘baby’ is probably going to stick 🙂