Family

Three new things

Eva's had a big week! She is now scooting around on the floor going after the toys she can't reach. She's not exactly crawling yet, but she's been getting up on her hands and knees and swaying back and forth, trying to figure out what to do next. She can really get around the room now, so it's probably time for us to put up the gate for the stairs.

She's also pulling herself into the sitting position frequently after i lay her down on her belly to take a nap. She won't just go to sleep- she has to sit up, and then she gets stuck! haha, it's hilarious! Sometimes when i come in to help her out, she'll be sitting there, leaning forward as far as she can, trying to get her face to rest on the bed while she's still sitting. Too funny.

She's pulled herself up once from sitting to standing, and we looked over proudly to see her standing up holding onto one of her toys. (see the picture below). The last picture is Eva with the wet wipes. Twice now i've looked over to see her having a hay day pulling them all out. Why are kids always more interested in the "non toy" toys rather than the real toys?

A couple more...

Kids in Laos

We've been going through lots of Lao pictures recently, and I'm finding myself missing different things. So i decided i want to start posting a few pictures regularly. The kids especially caught my eye this time as i was looking at pictures again. Maybe it's because i'm a mom now, and i'm trying to imagine what it'll be like over there with Eva- who she'll play with, how she'll spend her time, what she'll wear. Aren't the kids adorable??

She makes us smile :)

Nate & Jan

Almost a year and a half of marriage!

Lesson learned

Eva is extremely attached to her pacifier. During a few crazy moments last week, i decided that the time had come to take away the pacifier for good. I'd say that it lasted all of three hours before i decided it was entirely more than i bargained for and postponing that event would be the best thing for the peace of the family. And really, it makes sense to deal with it later on. During this phase of her life, we are always on the move, meeting with people and keeping her up 'til the late hours of the night with our crazy schedules, and so to take away her source of comfort during this time just means added stress for us all. So for the time being, Eva gets to keep her pacifier and we all continue our busy, yet happy, lives. As Nathan likes to say, "If jan's happy, I'm happy. And if Eva's happy, Jan's happy!"

They love to sing...

The Cole family love to sing, anywhere, anytime, any song. This is a frequent occurence and happened yesterday while Steve, Beth, Josh (Nathan's brother), Nathan and I were visiting the Rose Garden here in Portland. We were on the search for the cutting from a 1,000 year old rose bush, when out of nowhere, someone began singing the state song of Texas. I turned around to see all four of them standing in a row singing their hearts out. (see picture below).

Play time

Eva's at a great age now. She loves to hang out on the floor with her toys and play BY HERSELF! As long as there are toys nearby, she'll spend all kinds of time playing, exploring, and trying to reach the toys that she accidentally pushes away. She talks up a storm, either to herself or to her toys, and it's cutest thing ever.