18 months

Cole's latest milestone snuck up on us so suddenly that I didn't even make his check up appointment until 4 days after he turned 18 months old. I used to have his doctor appointments planned out well in advance, and that was when they were only a month apart.

Cole's new statistics are: 33" tall (75%), 24 lbs. (30%), and 19 1/2" head (90%). He is still built like Charlie Brown. He's tall and lean, and I hope he enjoys it while it lasts, because eventually he will resemble his not-tall, and not-so-lean parents.

I had taken the first available appointment which was at 9:40 in the morning, and I had to wake Cole about 2 hours earlier than his usually start to the day. He likes to sleep in which is something Tony and I fully support and encourage. However, I didn't know he would have a "test" at this appointment otherwise I would have scheduled it for a time when Cole is more alert. The doctor had a little kit ready for us with blocks and a doll. I realized that Cole was supposed to show that he can stack blocks, which he can do easily, but instead he arranged them in a neat row and picked them up one-by-one to study them. Next he was presented with a tiny 4" baby doll and miniature bottle. I know he was supposed to try to feed the baby, but he doesn't know what a bottle is, and instead he poked the baby in the head repeatedly. I have no idea what kind of notes the doctor wrote, but I found Cole's response to the test to be hysterical. I know he has the skills the test requires even if he didn't perform on cue.

The only part of the appointment that did worry me was Cole's reaction when the nurse returned. He knew! He knew immediately that he was going to get shots and he had a full blown panic attack. He shook and began to cry so hard that he held his breath and began to turn bluish. The nurse waited until he let out the big cry and took an even bigger breath before she gave him the shots, and she worked so fast she put the bandaids in the wrong places. Afterwards I scooped him up and he was quickly consoled and began picking at his looney tunes bandaids while I pulled on his pants. The whole ordeal went very quickly and he walked out of the doctor's office with dry eyes, but I'll never forget that look of panic and how I felt during that moment.

It's been a year and half of moments--happy and sad, fun and challenging, exhilirating and exhausting--moments with Cole that I have treasured.

vocabulary

Cole's vocabulary is growing, but his choice of words continues to surprise me.

He is fascinated by dogs and is quick to point and announce "da" everytime he sees or hears a canine. It's a curious new word because we have a cat, and he has shown no sign of saying c-a-t.

But then on Sunday, after returning from our trip to Wisconsin and finding our attention-starved Kittenhead meowing throughout the apartment, Cole began his own "meow" which sounds more like Mao (as in Chairman). Now whenever he sees her he starts to Mao, Mao, Mao, and when he approaches her he Maos as if he's talking to her in her language.

Cole is also trying to say "bird" and "balloon." Ballon is shortened to "boon," and bird is just "buh."

at the park

Here's a pic from last week's trip to the park. Elaine, Mark, and Nina are on their way to Florida this morning. They are planning to move there this year and they'll be house hunting during this trip. It's hard to know they are leaving, but at least it will be a nice place to visit. Nina is Cole's first friend, and Elaine is my number one friend. It's making me sad just thinking about it.

spring slides and whee

Warm weather arrived this week, and Cole and I ventured out to the playground on Tuesday. Initially it was overrun by older kids and I was afraid he would run in front of the swings and get clocked, so I pushed him around in his car until the scene was quieter. The sunshine felt good and the forsythia was in full bloom...perfect for some snapshots.

Cole amazed me by how well he could balance himself on the slide. He doesn't need a spotter behind him anymore to keep him from falling backwards. We still have to put him at the top because our local tot lot doesn't have stairs for him to climb, but once he's there he's ready and eager to push himself down. I still wait for him at the bottom in case he comes down faster than expected. Tony got home in time to join us, and it was great to be outside together. We had so much fun that we hopped in the car and drove over to a nearby playground so Cole could go on the swings. He didn't seem very comfortable though and instead he went on more slides and played in the mulch.

Yesterday we went to Burke Lake Park with Elaine and Nina, and the kids were fearless on the double slide there...not so much on the big covered twisty slide. In their defense, it wasn't slick enough and Tony almost got stuck in it. Nina's so agile she can run up the stairs and then sit down and slide all by herself. Cole still needs some help so he doesn't try to just walk down the slide. He needs the reminder to sit first, but I'm sure he picked up some pointers from Nina. Her word for slide is "whee," and she said it a lot!