17 months

Cole is getting to be such a big boy!! He is talking all the time. He thinks he is so big. He likes to repeat things. I was just thinking the other day? Wow, I wonder how many words he actually has? 1. Just out of curiosity, but 2. Because I know Dr. Mishu is going to ask us in about 2 weeks at his 18 month well visit. Now that sounds crazy! We will have an 18 month old. What happened to my baby?? There is a commercial out right now for Dreft. It ends with saying, "you only have a baby for a year", that is so sad, yet true! Sniff, sniff :(
I can just soak him up ALL day. It is amazing to just watch him and think how amazing this little guy truly is! He is an amazing miracle from God. We are so blessed that God has blessed us with this little guy. My new favorite, which changes often, because he is learning and growing so fast, but this will never get old... Hugs!!! Yes, Cole gives the best hugs! Those little sweet arms wrapped around my neck is priceless!! Cole has also started running. He loves for you to chase him. He has the best laugh/giggle as he runs. Climbing!! Oh boy! Anything and everything he can climb he is attempting. The other night he had climbed up the back of the chair, standing straight up on the back of the chair. He keeps us on our toes for sure :)
Words and signs Cole does...
Momma, daddy, bear, cow, pig, fish, truck, car, chicken, milk, shoes, hat, more, Cole, cheese, ok, and outside. These are the words you know he is saying. He will attempt and try lots more.
He can point to his head, ears, nose, eyes, mouth, and belly when you ask him where they are.
What does a chicken do? He flaps his arms like a chicken, what does a cow say? Moo. If he sees a bear, lion, tiger and a giraffe he puts his hands up like claws and says roar! Not sure about the giraffe? Haha
Cole wouldn't say daddy for a while ( he does all the time now) and Casey was bound and determined for him to say it. So Casey would point to his chest and say "daddy", well now Cole thinks that when you point to your chest that is the sign for daddy! Not sure how we are going to fix that? It's so funny. Just the other day Cole laid his hand on my chest and said "Momma", then he put his hand on his chest and said "Cole". I got all excited and said good job! Then I pointed to my chest and said who am I? He said "daddy". Silly boy!

He says "cheese" now when you take his picture!

Got scratched at school my a little girl

Driving with Uncle Brad

Halloween PJ's handed down from my buddy Lincoln

Giving daddy love! 

Tubes for our little man

So today was the day. Yes, it was earlier than we had originally planned. We were  scheduled to have it October 8th, over fall break, but after coming back from AL over Labor Day with another ear infection we decided to bump it up. They called us Monday after a lot of phone tag and going back an forth with different days. That's a whole other story and I am just going to forget it :) and be happy that it is done and hopefully this will be just the trick to keep those yucky ear infections away.
Cole's surgery was scheduled for 7:30, but we had to be at the doctor at 5:30 am. I was NOT looking forward to that at all. I was really worried about how my big breakfast eater and milk drinker little man was going to be, but he was AWESOME! Seriously, I could not have asked for him to be any better. We had everything ready to go, I went upstairs, picked him up asleep straight out of his crib and put him in the car. He had woken up, but was very groggy and looking at us like "what are we doing?".  He didn't make a sound the whole way there, which was about 25 mins. We went in and the directions we had were to go to the right to check in and then they will send you to the 2nd floor. No one was there to check in, so we went to the 2nd floor. After waiting about 10 mins they sent us downstairs, where no one was still, so then they sent us to OB check-in. I felt sorry for this lady. She was suppose to get off at 6:00 am and at 5:50 am they sent about 6 people down to her to do something that isn't her job. After waiting for about another 20 mins, they said we were already pre-registered, which I thought we were! Ugh! So they sent us back upstairs. By this time it was a little after 6:30 am. Cole was a trooper and just went with the flow. At 6:40 am we finally went back. Then everything just went fast and great from there. We changed into a gown (kind of, he wasn't a fan so they said he didn't have to wear it while he waited). The doctors, nurses and anesthesiologist all came in and told us what to expect. They gave us some red liquid to make him drowsy. The nurse said a lot of kids have a hard time taking this, and the older kids told her it taste terrible, but Cole took it like a champ. You could tell he didn't like it by his facial expressions, but he took it all. It was quit a bit of liquid too! The nurses were all very impressed, so they gave him a teddy bear. He loved it. He put a band-aide on his bear and put him to sleep a few times with his laughing gas mask. Then it was game time. One of the nurses came in and carried him to the operating room. He went without a whimper or cry (such a big boy). Casey and I stayed in his room. They told us that at Centennial they did things a little different so it would be a little longer before we saw him. Which I am glad they did, because I had a few friends tell me how fast it was. Cole left the room at 7:08 am, Dr. Mantle came in at 7:17 am to tell us everything went great and that they were waking him when he left, then at 7:38 am the nurse was carrying him back in to the room. He was a little disoriented and a little whiny. The nurse said "he said he wanted a drink, but he wouldn't drink it", I said what was it? " "Apple Juice", oh, he doesn't like apple juice. So the asked what would he drink? I said milk so they went and got him some milk and he chugged it. He was crying a little, but mostly because he was so tired and disoriented I think. Once I held him and rocked him a little he fell back to sleep. They let us go around 8:40 am. He ate a little banana bread in the car and once we got home he was acting tired. So I layed him down around 9:40 am and he slept until 1:00 pm. He woke up ready to go. You would not have known that he had done anything out of the ordinary today. Thank you Lord for watching over us and keeping Cole safe today.

Putting my new bear to sleep

Watching cartoons with daddy, while waiting on the doctor

Labor Day weekend....

 ...yay for  a 3 day weekend!! Casey had planned on going to AL but Cole and I had not. After talking to Whitney and Emily, Cole and I packed up for a day with them. It's hard to believe that Allie is almost 2 months and we still had not seen her and three months since we had seen the Kennedy crew, not to mention there new river house :) We squeezed in a little daddy time, but he was hanging out with Uncle Brad at The Haney's house since it was opening weekend of college football, a VERY big deal. It must be celebrated well. Hehehehe
So Saturday morning we had a little mini photo session with a teacher friend (pics for moms birthday!) and then we were off to AL. We got to Athens around noon and headed over to Emily (aka Auntie Em) and Tyler's house to visit and see there new addition, Miss Allie Montgomery. We ate lunch and just hung out talking and laughing for the afternoon. Such a good time with sweet friends. Cole was a fan of Miss Allie for sure!

Loving on Miss Allie Sandlin

Say cheese Allie and Cole

Then we were off to the River to hang out with the Kennedy's for dinner and to spend the night. Cole and Carley had such a good time playing together. They took on the role of brother and sister. It was a love and fight kind of night :) Cole took on the role of annoying little brother! Ha! They were so funny to watch. Carley and Cole are 9 months apart. I found out I was pregnant with Cole on August 13,2010 and Carley was born August 22, 2010. Carley is so cute and quit the little talker. She kept referring to Cole as "Cole Coggin". "Momma, what's Cole Coggin doing?" So sweet. I know they will grow up to be great friends like there momma's and daddy's.

A little bath time fun!

Giving each other love :)

Being 16 months old is SO much fun! Cole has always had a good personality, but it is coming out more and more. As well as words and expressions. His things right now are holding his hands up when he doesn't know something (like he is saying "I don't know?"), no is still a favorite! we do not hear yeah as much :) he says shoe "shew" and baby "baba" and blowing his nose. He is such a mess. He has definitely started eating more and so far he is a good eater. He LOVES fruits. I will be so sad for all the fruit to go out of season. We have been enjoying our watermelon, blueberries, bananas and cantaloupe. Those are his favorites for sure. He doesn't seem to like strawberries, I guess he got that weird trait from me! Although, Casey is not a big fan of them either, but he will eat them. School is still going well and he seems to really enjoy it. Casey said he is eager to get down and tell him "bye-bye" when he drops him off in the mornings. We are just having such a good time with him. We wonder at times, "what did we do before Cole?" hahaha....Apparently had a lot of free time. He keeps us on our toes but I would not trade it for anything. I truly do realize what a blessing he is and thank God for my little miracle. I am SO blessed to be this little guys mom for sure!

Looking big in his new tennis shoes! :) and trim from Mrs. Whitney

The school year is in full swing

Going to school with daddy

I am ready!

The school started early this year for us. Cole and I started our first full week July 30th. I have to say it has been a smooth start. Cole started his new "school" at Kids Country Club. He is settling in and doing great! One thing that I really like about this school year is that Casey takes Cole to school in the mornings. That has been so nice and wonderful. Although school is going well, Cole has gotten his 7th ear infection, since February
 :( At out last ear infection in June the doctor said if he got another one this summer she may refer us to the ENT. We were referred to Dr. Chris Mantle and met with him last week. Cole is definitely a good candidate for tubes. So it looks like we will be setting that up for sometime in September. I just pray that this does the trick. It is so hard to see him in so much pain and so frequently. I really think they get worse and worse with each one.
Another big thing in daddy's life was ordering Cole's first Arkansas jersey! You could see the pride all over Casey's face when it came in. He instantly put it on Cole and watched as Cole pranced around the house, a happy dad moment for sure.

Here we go! Off to school

Mmm...spaghetti

Long night with ear infections

Sweet boy!

I have heard from many friends that each stage your child is in will be your favorite. I think that is true! Cole is an amazing little boy. He amazes us daily. He makes us laugh everyday. He is such a joy and so much fun! Just looking at him makes you smile. Tonight as Casey and I were talking I said "Cole is so funny", he gets that from me! (somewhat kidding, but kind of serious), Casey starts laughing and says are you trying to be funny? I said what? you don't think he has my personality? He said he has my outgoing personality, but he gets his sense of humor from him. HAHAHA....we went back and forth. It was quite funny I must say. I told Casey we needed to poll a survey. He still thinks he would win. I am not sure about that! hehehe...

Looking cool in my new Arkansas gear

What?

Making daddy proud

15 months

Riding in my wagon looking cute!

Just relaxing :)

Such a big boy and into EVERYTHING!!! Have I mentioned that before? Haha... You cannot take your eyes of this little guy for anything. He is all about climbing! He will try and climb to get to whatever it may be, just to get his hands on it. The big things in his life right now are shaking his head yes and saying "yeah" and then shaking his head no and saying "no". He doesn't always get it right, but it is really funny watching him. His words right now are dog, Bella "bell-ba",momma "mumma", this, dad "da", yeah, bye-bye, and no. We had Cole's 15 month well visit this week and all was good. Cole was 26 pounds 8 ounces- 92% ( he actually lost a few oz, finally slowing down) and he was 33 1/2 inches tall, 97%. Dr. Mishu was very pleased. She said he is the average size of a 2 year old, physically and developmentally. He is in love with me these days :) he is the sweetest thing giving me kisses and hugs. I will miss those sweet open mouth kisses as he kisses me and says "mmm...ah!" and then wraps those sweet little arms around my neck. Love it!!! We also got the confirmation of his egg allergy, "whole egg allergy" :( and got a prescription for an epi pen. Hopefully we will never have to use it. His allergy is called "whole egg". His reactions were to scrambled eggs and meringue. He is fine with egg cooked into things. She also said that egg is the #1 childhood allergy for kids to outgrow and that we would re-introduce egg to him at 3 years old. So hopefully he will out grow it. We have had a wonderful summer and visited with lots of our friends. We have managed to survive the record breaking heat (we made it to 110 and stayed above 100 for about 5 days.) It was rough.

We only have 4 days of summer break left :( we are going to make the best of our 4 days.

He loves driving these days!! Thinks he is SO big :)

Trying to run over Uncle Ben!

Swimming with Mrs. Sandy

Trying to cool off on one of the record breaking heat days

Playdate with Nicholas!! Look at how they have grown in the last year. Sweet boys!

4h of July weekend...redneck style :)

Got caught in a thunderstorm with mommy and no umbrella :(

Almost July? How did that happen?

Well, as always the summer is going very fast. It is also a little shorter this summer since we are going to an abbreviated calendar. I really do not see any benefit in it at all, but I guess we will see. That means I will be starting school Friday, July 27th-Ugh! and Cole will be starting his new daycare on Monday, the 30th. This will be something new in many ways. So it is a new school for Cole, but daddy will be taking Cole to school every morning. That will be SO nice to be able to share that duty. Last year I was the lone ranger dropping off and picking up. Cole's new school is only about 2 miles from Casey's work. I am also thinking that will be good after 8 weeks at home with mommy :) I am thinking he may have a little bit of a hard time with that, but hopefully not. So we have not had any "real" schedule this summer and it has been nice. I had to work 3 days in June and I have to work 2 days in July. So that is not bad. KK kept Cole while I was at work. We have had a standing "date" on Wednesdays to go swimming at Mrs. Sandy's. That is always fun! Cole really like the water, but he also very content just walking ALL OVER THE PLACE and checking things out. He loves his independence these days :) He is such a ham! and he LOVES people. He loves to wave. He hasn't figured out that you have to be looking at him yet though. He also likes to blow kisses. It is the sweetest thing. If you are lucky he will give you a kiss! the good open mouth kind :) It doesn't get much sweeter. He is a very charming little guy. We have been able to see a few special friends this summer and I am sure we will have a few more play-dates before the end of summer. We are relaxing and enjoying all of our time together.

Playdate with Ella, Haven, and Cove

Hanging with my buds Mason and Lincoln

Wednesday swim day at Mrs. Sandy's

Chillin with my girl Ella

First week of vacation...kind of

Cole and his cousins

Well, it is officially summer in the Coggin household. We started it off with our first "real" haircut. I had it trimmed up a little by the girl who cuts my hair, but this time it was for real at the barber shop. He looks so grown-sniff, sniff, but oh so handsome :)

Looking cool in mommy's shades going to Linden

 It has been a busy week. Lots of unexpected trips. It started out with us going to Perry, Co. (AKA "The Gateway to Fun" hahahaha) to see Cole's great grandmother, great aunt and great uncle. I thought he was going to meet his second cousins but they had gone out on the river and we didn't get to see them :( hopefully soon though. They live is St. Louis so we do not get to see them often. Cole did good on the ride there and back. He is not known for his car riding and just the thought of driving farther than Franklin gives me an anxiety attach almost, but he did well. Daddy was in AL at the river with Uncle Brad and some friends. Monday night Cole was really tugging at his ears. He was up ALL night, which meant so was mommy. So Tuesday morning we were at the doctors office, which took forever. We found out he still had the double ear infections from a month a go. They decided to go with a 3 shot antibiotic regimen. If this doesn't work then we are headed to the ENT for tubes. I really hope this works! That afternoon we got a very sad call that Casey's dad had passed away. They think it was instant and a heart attack. That is a call that you are never prepared for, but like Casey and his siblings mentioned while talking before the memorial, that is what he would have wanted, quick and sudden. He always worried about being a burden to his children. He was 77 years old. So that meant another trip, this time to Arkansas, 5 hours away. I could feel the anxiety coming on, but again Cole proved to be a champ. Going there the last hour was a little rough, but coming home he did so well. I think actually being off schedule helped because he was so tired he slept pretty good, about 2 1/2 hrs both ways. We drove back from Arkansas Friday night to get back in the car Saturday afternoon to go to AL for our annual cookout, plus we added a little shower for Emily and Tyler. We debated not going, but Casey thought it would be nice to be around his close friends. We had a really nice time. Hopefully we will be home for a while. I feel like this will actually be my first week of vacation. Ahhhh....time to relax, I hope!

Making a mess at KK's and loving it!

First swim of the summer at Mrs. Sandy's

Snoozin with cousin Seth on the way home

Snoozin with Uncle Ben on the way to Arkansas

Taking in a little lite reading for the long trip.

with a few of his cousins after the memorial for Papa Wilb

Taking a little snooze on the way to Linden