Saturday, June 2, 2007

Jayden's Birthday

If you can believe it, our baby Jayden just turned 3!! Where did all the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were emailing everyone announcing he had arrived, and now we are celebrating his third birthday. Gone are those endless days of snuggles and coos. Now it's "I do it all by myself" and tantrums. The best are those in public, "when we get home you are going to get it" tantrums. Yeah, how long until we grow out of this stage.

He walks, talks and does just about anything else you can think of (except jump with two feet, I think he get his coordination, or lack of, from his daddy). He's all about trains, planes, and any other mode of transporation. Like I said before, he wants to do everything all by himself and if you try to offer a little assistance, he pulls his arms done and very sternly says "no". He scolds the cat, no touching his trains, no getting out of the house, no sniffing his food and definately no coming in his room. We got him a teepee for his birthday. Now that he will gladly share with the cat, but only so he can close the little cloth doors and tie them shut to lock her in. (And the cat thought the tail pulling stage was the worst.) Yep, he's definately a little person with his own words, likes, dislikes, rules, ideas and ways. Before he was born I was aked what I wanted for him and I answered, "I want him to be stubborn and independent." well, God gave it to me.

He may be growing up faster than we can believe but there are days when he's still my baby. Those days when instead of napping in his room, he would rather "nuggle mommy" on the couch. He walks outside and lets out an "ooohhh noooo" because some of my flowers fell off the plant and onto the ground. When he gets scared and comes up to be held close just long enough to forget what scared him in the first place...and then it's off again, growing up. Three years down, fifteen to go...but, he'll always be my baby.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Birthday Celebrations

April/May is birthday central in the Coles' house.

We celebrated Michelle's 30th birthday in Cannon Beach, Oregon. The three of us spent the day exploring the quaint shops and trying out various restuarants. We stayed one night at a hotel just South of Haystack Rock (Goonies fans will know the rock). We headed back home after enjoying a late breakfast near the beach and one last walk along the water so Jayden could help mommy find sand dollars.

Today is Cinco de Mayo and Tiger Kitty's 14th Birthday! She has decided to celebrate her birthday with a long spring nap in the sun. She is requesting a very special birthday dinner, Tuna. I think we can make that happen, afterall, she does put up with a very energetic little boy that likes to wake her up each morning by jumping on the bed.

Now we're gearing up for a Happy 3rd Birthday celebration for Jayden at the end of the month. This usually includes us trying to figure out how to work even more toys into this house without the house looking like we're running an in-home daycare. We'll let you know how that goes. Does anyone have any ideas for the best placement of an indoor teepee?

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Happy Easter

While our friends and family back east have been digging out of the snow, spring has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. Michelle and Jayden took advantage of the warmer weather to go to the zoo, where Jayden got to see his favorite thing - trains. The weather also gave J a chance to break in the sandbox for the first time this year, and Tony got to make sure the grill still works. (It does....mmmmmmm, carne asada...)

The Easter Bunny arrived early and Jayden was ready for him. We spent part of the day with our friends Laurie and Michael, and their daughter Kara (aka: Jayden's girlfriend), and Laurie's parents. We probably should have taken more pictures, but you can tell from the shots we did manage to take that it was a great weekend.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Jayden Shakes His Booty

We're not exactly sure how or when it happened, but Jayden has found a new favorite phrase...."Shake a Booty." Not only does he love to say this over and over, he loves to do a little dance at the same time. Last night we had a chance to catch the last few seconds of a Shake A Booty performance on video. Enjoy...

Saturday, March 24, 2007

It is so hard to believe how quickly Jayden is growing up. Every day he becomes more and more independent. Last weekend we took him out to fly kites for the very first time. He has a great time. We had an even better time watching him.