Getting back to nature

I promised everyone that has been asking for some pictures from Portland and the surrounding areas. We have adjusted to life in Portland quite nicely, although the weather has been much more warm than the norm for this time of year. In fact, it got up to 90 degrees yesterday- not used to that for the last few days of September.

We will be keeping up with the blog a bit better now that baby girl is due next week, many pictures to come, we promise! I think we are getting close- many contractions over the past couple days. : )

Until her arrival, here are pictures from our recent drives to Canon Beach (1 hour to the west), Multnomah Falls (30 minutes to the east) and the Columbia River Gorge ( a beautiful drive starting in Portland, headind eastbound along the river. The views are just amazing!

Westward bound

I looked at the blog this morning and saw that we haven't posted since February!

First, our apologies for slacking on Cole updates... much has happened in the past few months.

Just a quick recap:

Cole is now walking and running around the house (and the neighborhood for that matter). He's really fast and I have a hard time keeping up with him.

He also now has a mouth full of teeth... from molars to canines to incisors... he's
fully loaded and eating all sorts of food like a champ. New favorites include pasta with pesto sauce, soft shell tacos, strawberries, blueberries, grapes and for some unknown reason that I won't question... raw cauliflower.

Dinner has become much more of an extravaganza!

Also, the past few months have been busy for our family and we have BIG news to report on many fronts...

First- As of October 9th, Cole will be a big brother to a new little sister! We are so excited and we can't wait to meet her. We are at week 27, and just entered the third trimester. Cole is excited as well and has even gotten in the habbit of hugging and kissing my belly every morning after saying... "hi baby".

It just cracks me up. : )

Second- As of August 1st, we will be heading westward to Portland, Oregon! Mark got a great teaching position at Reed College and I will be finishing the last year of my post-doctoral fellowship at Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland.

We are really excited for our move to the northwest and we extend an open invitation to all of you to come for a visit!

Pictures of Cole will come as soon as I find some extra time... between trying to finish up at work, all the packing, watching Cole sprint around the neighborhood and trying to take care of the new little one inside... life has been hectic!

Much love to all of you...

Rough and Tumble

Lately, Cole has developed some sort of brut baby strength. He is pulling him self up onto all sorts of things and has taken to climbing each of our 20 stairs everyday.

Unfortunately, his brut strength has been causing a few accidents and when we picked him up from daycare yesterday we had to sign yet another incident report (a report saying that Cole has somehow hurt himself). Usually, the injuries are minor, tiny scrapes or bumps from playing too rough. However, yesterday, he managed to pull a metal desk chair onto himself.... he cut his gums and has a swollen lip.

He's not much worse for the ware, though, and is still crawling and climbing around like a little monkey.

I'm thinking he's in for a career in the circus...

Bathtime bonanza

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Apple induced euphoria

Lately, we've been trying to give Cole more, er, freedom when it comes to mealtime to encourage him to feed himself. He has really taken to apples and so we let him gnaw on ours once we've eaten them down to a more manageable size. In the picture below, Cole is really showing his appreciation for the apple he was able to munch on at lunch... and he's also showing off his 7 chompers! The second photo is the extremely messy result of letting Cole try to feed himself prunes with a spoon... yowza!

Double Trouble

This afternoon I was watching our friends' son Jack for a few hours while they enjoyed a movie and, wow, was it tiring to try to monitor TWO little boys at once. I don't know how Mark's parents managed with 3 wiley little boys... bravo!

Jack is 2 months younger than Cole and is already crawling all about-

they play really well together (and also attend the same daycare) and it was a treat to watch them interact with one another all afternoon. Cole is starting to become possessive (of time in his mama's lap, of his own toys, etc) and so it was a good opportunity to teach him about sharing- I can tell you right now he's not to happy with the concept!

Mark was supposed to be home from work by 4:00 to help out but was stuck on 80 for 3 hours due to bad weather and an over-turned semi and so I had to brave it alone...

Here are a few pics of them playing with Cole's new Leap Frog music table...

Note that Cole is looking stunned in most of these pictures (what, I have to share my new Christmas toy?!) :)

Winter break re-cap

Wow... it has been forever since we've posted and so much has happened over the past several weeks!

First... a Christmas re-cap:

We enjoyed a pre-Christmas celebration in Iowa City with Mark's parents, George and Billie and enjoyed a relaxing dinner at the house. Cole was so happy to spend time with his Kansan grandparents.

Then, we celebrated Christmas eve and Christmas morning in Chicago (Libertyville) with my mom and step-dad and Cole sure was the center of attention! As with most 8 month olds, Cole opted to play with the ribbon and tissue paper over his fancy new talking globe and singing puppy (gifts from grandma and grandpa). We had a wonderful time!

Next, we were off to Boyne City to visit with my Dad, step-mom and brother in northern michigan- and once again Cole was spoiled to the nth degree. We enjoyed the winter wonderland and took every oportunity to sit back, eat great food, drink plenty of wine and relax.

Once back in Iowa City, we spent a low key New Years Eve at home with our friends Annie, Rogge, Katie and Doxie... Cole was in bed by 8:00, but I snuck into his room at mindight and gave him a big new year's smooch!

So, let me fill you in on all of Cole's new milestones:

He is now crawling and creeping (walking holding onto the furniture) at a fevered pace- he is really hard to keep up with and he has already acquired several bumps and bruises as he tries to manuver himself about the house.

Several more teeth have come in and now he has 7... starting to look like a little boy!

Also- Cole has begun to breakdance which brings Mark and I endless hours of enjoyment. I'm thinking of getting him his very own piece of cardboard... I will try to post a video of his new moves soon!

Cole has somehow learned to say good-bye when we are leaving or he is going down for a nap... he just smiles a big toothy grin, waves his hand and says (bye-bye)- it kinda melts your heart!

Last, but not least, Cole has become quite the little fish. I have been taking him to the Iowa City recreational center for a little swimming and he has really taken to it. This afternoon, we splashed around, swam a few laps and he had a great time... bobbing in and out of the water, floating on his back and squealing with delight! I think I will get him some floaties so we can play in the deep end next time...