Books, books, books

Recently, Cole has become very interested in books. I especially love having Franny and Cole read together, although it can quickly get out of hand and become more about giggling and goofing around than reading. When it's just the two of us, they have become my favorite trick to keep him on his tummy; from what I can tell, his favorite seems to be Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Or, maybe that's just the one that tastes the best...

The world unfolding

Cole's level of awareness is expanding by the day. Practically everything around him needs to be grabbed or touched, while things out of reach are either chattered at or intensely examined. At lunchtime, I now need to sit Franny just slightly farther away than before, as a piece of waffle with cream cheese was recently quickly snatched. While the bite hit the floor almost as quickly as it was stolen, the tell-tale cream cheese was all over his face. I know too well, this is only the beginning...

Oooooh!

Over the last few weeks, Cole's expressions and verbal inflections have greatly expanded. My new favorite: when he sees something that he finds really interesting, his eyes get big and he says oooooh! It's just too cute!

Tough guy

This morning, Cole received the second half of his flu vaccine, and he didn't cry or even wince! Expecting a louder and more vocal response, it definitely made my morning.

A smile of relief

After two weeks of bitter suffering and near sleepless nights, Cole's first tooth finally broke through sometime during the wee hours of the night. Although I absolutely love the big, gummy smile of the little guy, I know we all need a little more sleep than we've been getting as of late. He has one more tooth on the verge of coming through, so I'm not expecting any big changes in the near future, but hopefully soon. Very soon.

The big Christmas wrap-up

The Christmas tree has been an item of intense fascination for Cole. It will be interesting to see his reaction when it comes down.

Not unlike socks

Although very interested in opening his gift, this time, reality did not quite live up to his expectations...