Christmas List

So this morning I helped Cohen write a letter to Santa. I've been trying to teach him who Santa is lately. I don't think he is really getting the concept, although I do think he is catching on to the idea that he is going to get new toys. I asked Cohen what toys he wanted Santa to bring. Usually Cohen doesn't respond and I have to coach him to get him to say what toys he wants. Today he responded qucikly to the question. "I want a green motorsicone(thats how he says motorcycle), formers movie(transformers movie) and um a red truck." Then I asked him if he wanted an airplane too, "no i already have one mom!" So it looks like I'm not going to have to spend much money to make him happy. I hope Santa can find a green motorcycle! :)

Lincoln's Home Coming

So Cohen's best friend in the whole world, his cousin Lincoln, went to Washington for two weeks. I thought for sure after the first week that Cohen would forget and stop asking about Lincoln. Nope, he was still asking about Lincoln up to the day he finally came home. One day while Lincoln was gone we were at Grandma's house. Grandma asked Cohen who he loved(she was hoping he would say her) and he thought for a minute and said I love Lincoln. On Sunday Cohen finally got to see Lincoln. They both were thrilled to see each other and quickly began chasing each other around Grandma's house. Cohen usually enjoys teasing Lincoln, but on Sunday he was extra nice and protective of his friend. If Lincoln wanted something Cohen saw to it that he got. He scolded Lincoln's mom at one point for not giving Lincoln a drink fast enough. At the end of the night when it was time to go home Grandma asked for a kiss good night. Cohen quickly ran to Lincoln instead and gave him a dozen kisses. Then Grandma got a hold of Cohen and kissed him. Cohen responded to her kiss by saying eeewww gross! Sorry Grandma you just can't compete with Lincoln.

Tent

When you're little there is nothing cooler than a tent or a fort made out of blankets. I recently made Cohen a tent out of blankets and he thought it was the best thing ever. Now I have to make him a tent everyday and its worth seeing his cute smile.

HALLOWEEN 2011

Every year we try and do a few fun things for Halloween. Some of things we did this year was go to the straw maze, frost Halloween cookies, make a haunted ginger bread house, carve pumpkins, go to BOO at the ZOO, and of course trick - or - treatingFor some reason this past year Cohen has started to really love sharks. So when we saw this shark costume we knew it was the perfect costume for him. He thought he was pretty cool stuff too.

After Trick or Treating we took all the kids to Grandma Jones' house. They all looked so cute!

Potty Training

Last week I finally decided to get serious about potty training. I want him completely trained before the new baby comes. I don't want to be buying two sets of diapers it would just be a waste of money. Potty training has been something that I have been putting off for as long as possible. I honestly think Cohen has been ready for a while, me not so much. Potty training is a commitment. He has tried to go to the potty quite a few times since before he was two. He also has been able to control his pee in the bathtub since he was about 18 months old. If he started to pee a little I'd say no Cohen we don't pee in the tub and he'd stop himself and then I'd put him on the potty and he'd finish peeing. I know what you must be thinking wow he must be easy to potty train. Truthfully he really has been pretty easy. From day one he has only had about 1 accident a day 2 tops. These accidents usually occur when he is outside playing and too busy to go potty. He hasn't had a poopy accident because he waits until night time when I put a diaper on him for bed or he just holds his poop for two days. I have found that he isn't motivated by treats or stickers. Sometimes I go to give him candy and he says no. He thinks me allowing him to wash his hands in the sink after going potty is reward enough. I have found that the key to potty training Cohen falls on me. I have to make sure to remind him to go potty. I can tell when he needs to go now he tends to play with himself if he needs to go. If I slack on keeping on top of reminding him then he ends up wetting his pants. Last night and today he finally decided to poop in the toilet. I am hoping by the end of the month he will be completely day time potty trained and I'm pretty sure he will be . After he has day time training down I'll try and tackle night time training.

Cohen and his Bike

A few weeks ago Cohen finally learned how to petal his bike. I didn't realize what a big step this is for a little two year old. Its hard for them to be able to petal. It takes strength and coordination. Once he got it down there was no stopping him. His favorite thing to do is to"turn" and go "real fast". Before the weather got too cold I took him to the park a couple of times and let him ride around the walking track that is around the park. He did great! At first I could just walk beside him but now I have to run to keep up with him. He thinks it is hilarious to go fast and watch me desperately running to catch up to him. Its a good work out for his pregnant mom.

Cohen also has been doing something else new the past few weeks he has been taking his socks off and putting them on his feet. I guess he does't like wearing his socks on his feet he prefers them on his hands.

I came outside one day and he was on his bike in his underwear (we are currently potty training Cohen)with his socks on his hands. I thought it was a pretty funny sight. Cohen is definitely his own little person with his own little ideas. It is so much fun to watch him grow and try and see the world through his eyes.

Summer 2011 Recap

Summer 2011 was a pretty laid back summer for us. We didn't do a whole lot because I was too tired to move most of the time. Gotta love the first trimester of pregnancy.

One thing that we did get to do was take a 10 day family vacation to the Washington Coast. Jared's extended family, the Iverson's, was having a big family reunion. This was a much needed vacation. Between work and school schedules it has felt like we are never able to take vacations together. I saved up all my work vacation for the year and didn't take a single day off so that we would be able to go.

I have never been to the Washington or Oregon Coast. It is beautiful! And kind of cold for summer time. The temperature for the week was in the low 60's most of the time. But we did get a couple of sunny days. We stayed in really nice condos right by the beach. It was nice to be able to walk down to the beach when ever we wanted.

The view from our condo window.

Long Beach Washington is known for its kite flying. There was lots of cool kite shops that we were able to go in. The pictures are of Cohen and Jared flying kites on the beach. Cohen thought kite flying was great. Jared and I really enjoyed it too.

One day that we were in Long Beach Washington we rented mopeds and road them on the beach it was really fun.

This was Cohen's first time seeing the ocean. The water made him nervous and he would only get in it if I was holding him. He loved playing in the sand it was his favorite part of the trip.

Although it was only in the 60's outside and swimming in the water was not suggested because of the under tows and rip tides we all got in anyways. There is just something about the ocean that makes you want to go swimming in it. We all had a blast playing in the waves. The water wasn't bad either once you got use to the cold.
Jared's immediate family that was able to go on the trip to the coast.

The last few days of our trip we spent in Selah, Jared's hometown in Washington. Grandpa Iverson took Cohen for his first ride on the Harley and Cohen was thrilled.

Aside from our family vacation we did a few other fun little things for Cohen during the summer. One of those things that we did was take Cohen to the Drive in Theater. Jared and I were excited to bundle Cohen and put in the back of the truck with us. But our plan was ruined because we made the mistake of inviting Grandpa and Grandma Jones to come with us. Cohen wanted nothing to do with mom and dad he only wanted to sit with his Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa and Grandma Jones are two of Cohen's favorite people in the whole world. They love spoiling Cohen rotten.

For those of you that don't know I manage a Men's Student Housing complex. We throw an event every semester for all of our residents. We had a rock climbing wall at the summer event. Cohen watched all the students climbing the wall. To my surprise he walked up to the guy running the wall and said "Cohen's turn." He didn't get too far but did pretty good for a little two year old.

We spent a weekend in Bear Lake Utah and Jared's dad rented Jet Skis. It turned out to be a cold day and Cohen didn't care for the cold water spraying in his face. But Jared had a lot of fun!

Jared bought a dirt bike this summer and Cohen instantly fell in love. He is now obsessed with dirt biking. Jared took Cohen on a few dirt biking trips over the summer. Cohen loves wearing his helmet. You can tell that he thinks he is pretty big stuff in his little dirt biking helmet.

Cohen and Jared Dirt Biking.