Cole is 2!

Our baby boy turned 2!!  How in the world is that possible?!?

Sydney helped us decorate after he went to bed so he woke up to a surprise!

On Monday, the day before his birthday, he helped me make his birthday cupcakes. 

He chose purple cupcake liners and put each on in the cupcake holder!!

Getting ready to crack an egg

We went back and forth on what to do on his birthday and after asking him and him telling us he wanted to see the ducks, we went with it!  Dave and I kept saying how this is/was the easiest and least expensive birthday for him we'll ever have.  

It was extra special because he got an entire loaf of bread - not just 1 or 2 pieces!

Syd Syd was happy with his choice as well!

The ducks loved us that morning. 

We walked out to the end of the dock to see the ducks/fish.  

Nani was off from school and got to spend the day with us!! 

After our bread was gone these two did some tree climbing/playing...

And raising our heart rate by going too close to the edge...

And then it was snack time :) 

After naps, Nani and Poppa came over to join us for Cole's birthday dinner. 

Poppa walks in and 2 seconds later he's throwing the kids up in the air!  No wonder I don't get the same reaction as he does when I walk in the door!

Cole was loving it!

And Sydney's turn

We hadn't even finished dinner when Cole was asking for his cupcake.  We all quickly cleaned our plates and sang happy birthday to him. 

He sang too :)  And was SO excited it was HIS birthday!

He requested a blue cupcake for Cole and a pink one for Sydney!  Such a sweet brother.  

Happy Birthday, sweet boy.  We love you!

February

Some phone pics from the end of January - middle of February

We had a chilly few days in SD (I'm serious!).  Syd was cold on her walk home from the playground. 

Playground fun

Cole used to not go down any slides and then all of a sudden, he loves them!

Fun morning at the Safari Park

After Poppa was in Arizona for a month, we headed to the Safari Park with him and Nani one morning 

Cole and Poppa walking to the lions

Ride from Poppa!

Another day, another slide

He has to swing on the bar above the slide every.single.time before going down

School was at our house the Monday before Valentines day so our math station was sorting colors and counting candy hearts!

Cole saw this blanket that Daddy got while on deployment 7 years ago from Ms. Pamela and insisted he slept on it for nap.

Sydney reading to Cole after bathtime

Riding her balance bike 

Feeding the ducks , which they both LOVE.  They are taking a music class Thursday mornings right by the lake so we try to leave early so we can feed the ducks and get some energy out before class. 

She was talking to them - so sweet. 

All out of bread!

I turned my back for 3 seconds to look for Sydney and he was 1/2 way up the ladder.  ahhhh.  Turns out he can do it all by himself!

Such a handsome boy!  The kids said Cole's shirt looked like Uncle Mark's shirt!

Sydney would hold Cole's hand all day if he let her.  He usually says no but this afternoon they held hands like this for quite some time.  So sweet. 

And then she helped him down a little hill.  

Well...we were going to the playground but they spotted this huge puddle from the sprinkler.  Their eyes lit up and asked if they could jump in it.  I said YES!

And they were SO happy!

I wish this picture had audio.  He was so happy. 

And... this is when we went home :) 

Another morning at the lake

Sydney found this ariel swimsuit that our friend Lisa gave to her when she was a newborn...and it finally fits.  She LOVES it. 

We went to Costco one morning and they were selling chocolate strawberries and the kids wanted them.  I told them I would buy the strawberries and we would make them at home. 

She did such an amazing job.  

And, well... he liked the chocolate :) 

In all fairness, he did put several strawberries 'in' the chocolate... just needed some extra help. 

Big boy pooped in the potty for the first time on Feb 13th!  Probably won't happen again for another year but we were so excited!!

Heart pizza for Valentines Day

It was so nice here last weekend that we headed to Del Mar beach on Valentines Day morning.  Played at the playground first and then hit the beach

Climbed trees... 

He got up there all by himself. 

But needed some help getting down!  Dad to the rescue

He filled this purple bucket with rocks about 5 times.  And would belly laugh when we dumped them out.