And He Goes to School

Jacob had his first day of preschool.  He was oblivious to the day's events, but everyone else was worried about how it would go. 

Here is the happy little guy in the morning with his lunch box....a dinosaur since he is in the Lambeosaurous class.  For lunch Jacob settled for a selection of crackers and fruit, but his sophisticated palate really wanted a steak and some roasted asparagus tips.  Preschool might be the place where he learns to enjoy more processed foods and juices.  

Babcia took Jacob to school and he knew exactly which room to run to since he had been there on Friday. 

He did not wait around to help Babcia hang his bag and put away his lunch box.  Jacob was far too busy.

At 2 PM Babcia got in the car line and picked up the little man.  She said he looked a little dazed as he walked to the car and was buckled in.  We had no idea if he liked it and there were no notes in his bag. 

The real test came on Thursday.  We were all in suspense......would Jacob want to get out of the car to go to school or would Babcia have her hands full with Jacob screaming "this way"? 

On Thursday, Babcia left Kate with Dziadzia just in case she had to wrestle Jacob out of the car.  They pulled up at school and Jacob popped out of the car and went right to class and knew exactly where to put his bag and lunch box.  Babcia was shocked!  We were all shocked!

We now speculate that on his first day Jacob was not quite ready to leave school.  

We have also been noticing little songs and hand motions and even a turn around with waving arms so Jacob is definitely learning something.  On Friday Babcia told Jacob to get his shoes and he looked at her and said "Go to school". Sounds like school is a SUCCESS since he is ready to go at a moment's notice.

Our happy little scholar!

Summer Fun

Jacob has had a fun summer.  He loves other children and will happily try to make friends and play chase.  He has also enjoyed a few trips to the splash park.

And he loves animals.....on evening walks he will stop to chat up dogs, birds, cats and rabbits, but our neighbor's tiny hyper puppy is a clear favorite.  Jacob even made friends with Ms. Nicole's dog, Knox.......even poor Knox had to take a break from our hyper boy.  Also, Knox may have suffered permanent hearing loss from all the squealing and we may never be invited over to Ms. Nicole's house again. 

This summer Jacob has also become a master at stalling.  As soon as he realizes that the sun is setting, Jacob will run to get his shoes and sweetly ask to water the flowers or take a walk outside.

Several times now, Jacob and Dada have pulled out the stomp rocket and Jacob goes bonkers!  He shrieks at decibels heard only by animals. 

Jacob is more then happy to point out the red tomatoes and even to pick them (along with the slightly orange tomatoes).  He is also very happy to unroll the hose because he knows he will be able to run under the water.  Then we get the clippers and clip off the spent blooms on the rose bushes.

And as a last ditch effort, Jacob will bring out the bubbles.

We really love being outside on the mild summer evenings.  Our neighbors all know Jacob as the kid that has been walking the neighborhood since he could walk!

5 Months

Kate is 5 months old? Yes, yes she is!  We went to see Dr. Perkins for her 4 month check up (almost a month off schedule) on August 4th and Kate is definitely growing!  As soon as Dr. Perkins entered the room, Jacob took one look at him and pointed toward the door.  Jacob politely told Dr. Perkins to go "this way".  Thank goodness Dr. Perkins wasn't there to see Jacob.

Dr. Perkins was most impressed with Kate's strength and head control, but also commented on her dimpled smiles and of course her beautiful eyelashes.  While we waited for the nurse, Jacob was busy reading and eating grapes; however, Katie was growing increasingly concerned about why she wasn't fully dressed.  We used this time to take a few pictures.  Notice how scared Kate looks and how relieved Jacob is that he is still fully clothed!

Katie was chatty until the nurse administered the shots, but no one likes those.  Even the cute band-aids are not comforting enough to make up for all those shots.

Kate weighed in at 12 lbs 12 oz which puts her at 9.15%.  She is also 22.7 inches long and at .35%.  Lastly, Katie's head circumference puts her in the 2nd percentile.  Yay, Katie!

Kate is in size 1 diapers.  She loves to drink milk multiple times per day.  Overall we have a very happy baby.  And no, Katie is not sucking her thumb....she is self soothing.   

And our precious girl has experienced rolling over.  She gets a little frustrated at pulling her arm out and isn't always in love with the idea of tummy time. 

Kate is also comfortably out of newborn clothes and well into 3 month outfits.  Luckily her friend Kate is a snappy dresser so our Katie has inherited some very cute outfits!

Kate is such a sweet and happy baby.  Even Jacob loves to hear her laugh!

Jacob Goes to Preschool

Jacob went to visit his preschool classroom and to meet his teachers on Friday!  Ms. Jacki and Ms. Jennifer will have their hands full with 16 three year olds! 

Jacob will be in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 AM until 2 PM.  We got the schedule of topics he will study and we are pleased to see lots of letters, numbers, shapes, and colors on the agenda.  All things Jacob is very interested in.  According to the schedule, Jacob will play, nap, eat snacks, do projects, and visit the restroom (frequently).

Here we have the young scholar examining the adequacy of the wheels on the wooden car.  He is very concerned about conservation of natural resources or maybe about what he should snack on before his nap.  Tough life. 

During visit the classroom day, Babcia said all the little girls went to the kitchen and baby doll corner.  Jacob ran over to them, pointed out all the colors of various food products, completely ignored the multi-ethnic baby dolls, and left.

Jacob loved the classroom and did not want to leave.  We aren't very concerned with how he will do at drop off, but we are not sure he will want to get in the car at pick up.  We are looking forward to a wonderful and productive school year for our amazing 3 year old!

July Picture Catch-Up

July was a busy month and definitely a month of pictures for the Cole family! 

Jacob loves his Katie-bug.  He talks to her, touches her and finds it hilarious when she touches him or squeals at him.  Hopefully these feelings will continue for the next 15 years.

Uncle Manoj, Aunt Elizabeth, Alex, and Dylan came to visit for a weekend.  Jacob loved having new people to discuss letters, numbers, shapes, and colors with.  I am sure everyone needed a nap once they left TN.

Aunt Denise also came to visit in July.  She brought Jacob a 2 sided letter/number elephant puzzle from Croatia.  Once we got it back together the first time, we had to take a picture to make things easier in future assemblies.  We had to prove to Jacob that his parents really can put together a puzzle in under an hour.  Don't be fooled by the pleasant colored preschool puzzle.  That innocent elephant was NOT easy to put together without a reference picture.

July was busy, but lots of fun!

Dada's Shadow

Jacob loves his Dada and they definitely resemble one another.  Brandon is the little guy at the bottom left and of course looks a little younger in this picture, but the hair and the expressions are identical.

You would be hard pressed to say these two hams aren't father and son.  They even have the same smile!

Grammy must have flashbacks to Brandon's shenanigans when she sees Jacob!

Katie's Baptism

We celebrated Katie's Baptism with our family on Saturday, July 19th.  After a night of very heavy rain, it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We were excited to see everyone and to show off how much our Katie has grown! 

We celebrated before church with our favorite foods and Babcia's carrot cake.  Kate was such a good girl and was happy to be held by everyone.  She is so blessed to have such a large and loving family to hold her, pray for her, and love her in general.

Kate is especially lucky to have Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Manoj as Godparents!  Coincidentally Kate has gained 2 very handsome and athletic Godbrothers....in addition to the current photo-bombing brother!

Kate is also very lucky to have such loving grandparents.

After the 5:30 Mass, Father Mark began the Baptism.  Kate was at eye level with him so she cooed and "talked" with him the entire time.  His smiles showed that he seemed to enjoy it!

Of course we took lots of pictures.

 We LOVE our family!

Kate is such a wonderful girl and we are so blessed!