Harper Cole had a fun time this Halloween. He was dressed up as a little engineer driving a choo-choo train, his FAVORITE thing in the whole wide world! He had the opportunity to wear his beloved little costumes 4 different times the week of Halloween. He wore it first for Kindermusik dress up day. It was sweet to see his little classmates dressed up…they had fun. He got to wear it for the second time when we went trick-or-treating in downtown Cartersville 2 days before Halloween. Mammy, Granddaddy, Christy, and Carli joined us. Harper Cole has been working on saying “Trick or Treat”…he says “tick teet!”. He was a little confused about the whole putting candy in his pumpkin, though. He wanted to eat whatever was given to him! He really racked up with candy (haha, so did Mommy and Daddy since he only has 9 teeth and can’t eat most of it!). He dressed up for the third time to go the the Fall Festival at church on Halloween morning. It was raining, so several of the outdoor activities were cancelled (like the choochoo), but he still had fun with the indoor games. Finally, we dressed him to trick-or-treat at a few houses around the neighborhood on Halloween evening. He was so funny! He would just help himself to the bowls of candy or he welcomed himself into people’s houses! He has had a really yucky cold, so we only went to a few houses for him to experience Halloween. We had lots of fun since this was our first time as parents taking our little guy out trick-or-treating. Our sweet little Engineer sure is a joy and a precious, amazing, wonderful gift from God!!

We went to the cabin in Ellijay on on Friday night (October16) and stayed there with Mammy and DanDane….we all got up on Saturday morning and headed to Burt’s Pumpkin Farm. It was SO cold (about 45 or 50 degrees and windy). We bundled up big time! We met our friends the Godfrey’s and the Rutledges there. We took lots of pumpkin pictures, went on a hayride, drank hot apple cider (mmmm), and let Harper Cole pick out his very own pumpkin…or as he calls it “pa-puntz”! We had lunch at the lodge at Amicalola Falls. We stayed at the cabin again on Saturday night with the Godfrey’s. Sunday we got up and went into downtown Ellijay for lunch at a cafe called Canterbury’s. It was yummy! After that, we went to the HUGE Apple Festival. They had to bring us in by a bus, which Harper Cole enjoyed on the way back…he was asleep on the way there! We had a bunch of fun in this glorious fall weather God’s given us!

??

Make a Smilebox slideshow

If you are wondering what in the world that means, just ask the little guy. “Baboo Cole Janks” is what he calls himself! It absolutely cracks me up every time I hear him say it, so therefore I just HAD to share that with everyone! We’ve been busy playing, going to story time, playing with friends, going to Kindermusik, and just enjoying the fall weather. We took a trip up to Pigeon Forge last weekend so Mommy and Daddy could go to the TN game. Baboo stayed with his Granna Tana, Mamaw, Papaw, and Great Aunt Lori (aka “oach”). They had fun with him and he enjoys it! Harper Cole also got to spend some time with Mammy’s side of the family a couple of days again. His Aunt Maureen (aka “Reen”), Uncle Tony, Aunt Amber, and cousins Monica and Bryce all came over to Mammy’s for dinner. He had a good time hanging out with everyone. Aunt Reen went with us to Kindermusik and bought a couple of treats for HC….fun times! Will update after this weekend (Carlton Farm on Friday, then Burts Pumpkin Farm on Saturday–spending the weekend in Ellijay with family and friends!)

Harper Cole is 19 months old now and just full of sooooo much energy! He keeps us laughing with all of his funny expressions, sayings, and actions. I am just blown away by how much he learns and soaks in things with each and every day. He will repeat just about anything you ask him to say (sometimes it’s right on target, sometimes it’s sorta close, and sometimes it’s just the way he wants to say it!). It’s funny how I know his little language and can usually figure out what he’s trying to get across! He’s adding more two and three word expressions into his vocabulary also…”there it goes”, “play, trains, fun”, “I’m sweet”, “I’m strong”, “train tracks”, “eat, yum”, and so on…

He’s growing like a weed, looking more like a two-year old than a 19 month old baby. He’s skinny as a rail though, so that makes life very interesting when it comes to getting a good fit with clothing! His hair is very blonde and he’s already had 3 haircuts in the back because it grows slowly on top and quickly in the back which = mullet. Ha! He’s very active…he loves to run, chase, swing, slide, ride toys, and just wiggle all around!

He’s into Thomas the Train, trains in general, Elmo, Backyardigans, Veggie Tales, Blue’s Clues, and so on….He LOVES books! (Hooray!!!) We read between 5 and 10 books a day and he relates what he learns to everyday life! For example, we’ve been reading a book to him that has a big clock in it and every time he sees a clock (on watches, walls, and even downtown), he says “clock”. His favorite books are: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”, “Go Dogs Go”, “Good Morning Trains”, “Where’s Spot?”, “Goodnight Moon”, and “What Does Baby Say?”. He knows most of his letter sounds and is starting to identify the letters. For example, he saw an “A” on Shane’s shirt the other day, pointed to it, and said the a sound. Counting isn’t going as quickly…he still just says the numbers 2, 6, 9, and 10. I’m sure the others will come with time!

He’s enjoying football season being here already! He says “go vols” (vuvols), “sack-em” (sacks), “football” (fuball), “Tennesse” (Tinsee), and “touchdown”. His playground and play area are finished in the backyard, so he loves to go “awside” and “pay” and have “fun”. We go to Kindermusik once a week and we go to storytime at the library once a week. We usually have at least one playdate a week with a friend. We’ve been really blessed to be surrounded by other awesome mommies and babies! I try to do crafty or hands-on activities with him each day. He loves to build with blocks, put together simple puzzles, color, paint (whew, that’s messy!), and just try to figure things out in general.

He has a pretty good memory when it comes to driving around town…he knows where ALL the train tracks are (imagine that!), where the turn-off is to go to the library (he says “books”), he says “bump” when we hit a bump, he says “clock” when we pass the big ones around town, he says “church” when we get close, and he says “out” when I park in a parking lot…haha! Funny guy!

He’s a very good baby, but he is entering that age where he’s trying us. “No” is a big part of the vocabulary, he does tense up and stomp his feet every once in awhile, he’s even tried to hit a time or two. I’m sure these are all a part of growing up, learning what he can and CAN’T get away with, and figuring things out. We try to discipline him in a Godly way, making each “episode” a learning experience. Whew!

We are so incredibly blessed to spend every moment with our sweet angel! He is SO much fun right now, this is an awesome age, and I thank God every single day for my sweet boy!

It sounds so weird to call him a “toddler”, but it is what it is and it’s wonderful! Harper Cole is learning new things by the minute, it seems! He’s really talking a good bit, trying to repeat just about anything we say. A lot of the time it sounds just like the work and other times it doesn’t. Here’s some of his latest Harper Cole expressions:
truck (cuck)
water (wa-wa)
love you (lu-ya)
horsy (sissy)
Cheerios (cho-chos)
amen (mamen)
Carli (Lou-Lou)
Grandaddy (Dan Dan)
Grammy (Mammy)
spoon (poon)
Patrick (Pa Pa)
Diane (Dane)
Backyardigans (Gin Gins)
Thomas (Don Don)
airplaine (pairpane)
milk (milch)
apple (papple)
popsicle (papoosh)
pizza (puppees)
please (peas)
thank you (tan too)

Woops…I must go, he’s standing on the couch!

We spent last week in PCB with the Godfreys and had a great time! The ride down was the only problem- Harper Cole got carsick all over the place, bless his little heart! He must get that from me, I tend to get carsick pretty easily myself. We arrived to amazing weather and the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen at at Florida beach, it looked like something from the Caribbean! Harper Cole loved the ocean from the very start (especially in Carli’s boat), but he DID NOT like the sand very much. He didn’t want to touch it at all- not even with his feet, with Crocs on! Haha….we eased him into it during the week starting with a blanket that he stayed completely on, then he moved to the edge of the blanket and barely played with it….and by the end of the week, he was walking around in it okay. He napped on the beach, he loved the pool, he really loved the kiddie area at the Splash resort (we went there twice), and he and Carli were a hoot playing together with each other. Harper Cole blew bubbles, flew a Mickey Mouse (a.k.a. “DotDog”) kite with Daddy, rode a choochoo train, watched the grownups about about break their necks on the banana boat, hung out with Carli’s grandparents (he really liked her Poppy!), played with all of his pool and beach toys, went to Gulf World, and more!

Harper Cole turned 18 months old at the beach! Hard to believe it’s already been a year since he turned 6 months old at the beach! Time flies by with a little one, doesn’t it? He also finally started cutting another tooth! He now has one complete tooth on the bottom, one half of another one next to that, and now a little slit on the top! Maybe some different food in in store for him soon! He’s at such an awesome age right now, though. I enjoy every single minute. He’s repeating so much, he’s so curious about so many things, and he’s just all boy! He’s a loving little boy giving hugs and kisses out left and right. He’s got some spunk too, buddy! He also likes to test us to see what he can get away with. He’s such a joy, such a blessing, and I thank God for him every day!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We are really enjoying our sweet little Harper Cole…he is at such a fun age- just soaking in everything around him. Watching him with new experiences is just awesome, so we’ve been doing a lot with him lately!

Dollywood- Granna Tana got us into Dollywood a couple of weekends ago and we had a great time! Harper Cole drove the little cars, rode the flying elephants, went round and round in the piggies and the ducks, watched Llama Llama Red Pajama and The Little Engine that Could, and just had a blast!! We enjoyed spending that time with our little guy!

Thomas the Train- We took Harper Cole to the Fox Theater to see “Thomas the Train- A Circus Comes to Town”. The show lasted for an hour an a half…Harper Cole was absolutely glued! He was fascinated by the “choo-choos” and the songs and the background and the characters and the $15 spinning light up souvenier, and so on!!! What fun!

The Atlanta Zoo- We had the most perfect weather for Harper Cole’s first trip to the zoo! He really seemed to enjoy seeing all the animals (monkeys, turtles, flamingos, lions, gorillas, parakeets, lemurs, kangaroos, giraffes, hippos, and more!) I think he really enjoyed the parakeet exhibit…we had a little stick that had birdseed stuck to the end of it. We held it out and the little birdies just came and landed right on the stick to eat a snack! HC was pointing left and right, saying “teet, teet…teet, teet!” He loves reading about elephants and making the elephant sound, but as soon as he saw a real one, he said, “meow”. Haha, a bit confused there, buddy! We all enjoyed a nice lunch (along with the Godfrey’s and the Bush’s). It was a great day!

Harper Cole is just blooming by the day! He’s such a little sponge right now, soaking in this great big world of sights and sounds around him! He loves to swim and swing (“whim” and “whing”) while we are at the pool. So many mornings, when he wakes up…his first word is “pool”! He’s so comical, keeping us in stitches so much of the time!

He went to Vacation Bible School (nursery) this week while Mommy taught the 5-year olds…he enjoyed himself so much! The ladies said he was a hoot, and when they would ask him who he is, he would reply, “I dude”. He had the most precious little crafts each day…they brought tears to my eyes, because these were his first bring-home crafts! I’m keeping them ALL!!!

He loves to sing and dance…our latest thing we do is when I sing, “Praise ye the Lord…”, he raises his sweet little hands in the air and says “luu-ah” (hallelujah)…It’s just awesome! (Video below) He also loves the “Hot Dog!” song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse…so much that now he doesn’t ever refer to Mickey as Mickey, he actually calls him “Dot-Dog”! It’s so funny!

The word “no” has officially entered his vocabulary (yippee), and is used on a regular basis. I know this is incredibly typical of a child his age, and it doesn’t really bother me until he attempts to tell ME no…when he points to things that he knows are “no-nos” and he says “no”, I like that! Ha! He’s understanding!

This morning, we were all outside and a cat jumped out of the bushes and he pointed to it and said, “Mow (meow), GO!” in a very stern manner….ahhhhahahaha!!! He meant business, I tell ya!

“Whoa” and “Wheeee” are used often to and in the correct context…going over a bump, railroad tracks, and so on…and whee when he’s having fun. Those little expressions are just too sweet. I could just eat him up, sometimes.

Just so I can share some things that Harper is saying (and get a list going for those of you who aren’t able to see him as much as others), I’m making a little list of things he’s saying a doing. Enjoy!

Words Harper Cole will *attempt* to repeat just about anything you ask him to, but these are words that are at least somewhat close to the real thing. Some sound just like they are supposed to, while others are his version of that word! Haha! These are just the ones I can think of right now…

Mama or Ma, Dada, Jesus (Jeesi), Cole, me, Mammy, Granddaddy (Gadada), Patrick (Pappy or Dude), Papaw, Gigi, Ganna, yes, yesmam (yimam), yeah, no-no, amen (mamen!), up, down, love you (la-yoo), please (peas), thank you (sort of…), more (and signs it), all done (and signs it), choochoo, car, eat, boodin-boodin, tractor (titor), cookie, yum, Elmo (melmo), ball, dog, tree, pool, teeth, hello, hey, hi, byebye, pretty (prewy), bath, boat, play, fan, book, toe, eye (and pokes it), baby, blue, cheese, swing, peepee and poopoo, Mickey, Pooh, go

Skills
-He loves to dance and shake his booty!
-Helps to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”
-Can repeat over 1/2 of the letter sounds in the alphabet (Yeah, Letter Factory!)
-Knows the animals sounds of cow, lion, monkey, dog, cat, birdie, and elephant
-Cleans up with a wet wipe
-Throws things away in the trashcan when asked to
-Has mimic “conversations: on the phone
-Gives great “kisses and love”
-Loves to push or ride things
-Enjoys going for walks with Mommy
-Will jump (fall) right into the pool- and let’s me dunk him (I blow on his face first)
-Plays really well independently- very curious and inquisitive
-Makes the funniest faces and expressions
-Eats beautifully…he loves avacados, tomatoes, cottage cheese, yogurt, ham, cheese, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, mangos, watermelon, popsicles, Goldfish, oatmeal, cream of wheat, grits, pancakes, muffins, pasta pick-ups, baby food, bread, green beans, sweet potatoes, chicken nuggets, french fries, fish, cabbage, some soups, spaghetto o’s, carrots, and soooo much more!
-He really loves books (hooray!!!). He will get a book and back his hiney right up to you to read it to him.
-His favorite shows are Backyardigans, Elmo’s World, Blue’s Clues, Pooh and Friends, Handy Manny, Curious George, Letter Factory, Finding Nemo, and Cars.
-Outside is his most favorite, favorite place to be- no matter what!
-He loves to play chase and rough house with his Daddy.
-He sleeps 12 hours at night and still takes one long nap and sometimes another short nap during the day.

🙂 Thank you GOD for this amazing,loving, wonderful, smart little boy!!!

Our little boy is just that- all boy. He’s loving playing and just being outdoors- whether its just being in the new backyard area or getting together for playdates. We’ve met a couple of new buddies and Harper Cole seems to enjoy hangin’ out with some dudes! Haha…no offense ladies- he thoroughly enjoys your presence too! Thank you God for great friends and wonderful memories!

Harper Cole is really starting to repeat- he’ll give just about anything a try, and is developing a little vocabulary. It happened so quickly, too…it’s almost like he woke up one morning and thought to himself, “Hmmm, hello world, I think I’ll starting talking now!”

He’s also at that age where he’s starting to “test” us a little bit and if things don’t immediately go his way…uh,oh- he let’s you know really quickly that he’s upset. Soooo, Mommy is very, very interested in reading a book a friend recommend called “Raising Godly Tomatoes”. (Thank you Kelly’s friend, Bridget!) I’m ordering it TODAY and hopefully it will be beneficial for my little pickle (but still a sweet gherkin-hehe…), but soon to hopefully be a tomato!~HAHA! Never thought I’d be referring to my little angel using vegetables. Oh well.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Enjoy the Smilebox below…

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Harper Cole LOVES being outside. He would stay morning until night and until you could only see the blues of his eyes for all the dirt that would cover him. We’ve been working on our backyard to get it into good shape for Harper Cole to play. For the ones of you that have seen our house, the massive hill in the front yard is not at all acceptable for playing, so we need to make good use of the backyard for the little guy. The sod has been layed, Daddy’s working on the deck, and Granddaddy’s helped out a ton by putting up the picket fence for “Harper Cole’s Hilltop Hangout”. Harper Cole “helped” Granddaddy out when he was digging. He had his own little shovel and wheelbarrow and was just on cloud nine!