Coen is 3.5

Coen is 3.5 and he feels like such a big boy to me now. All of a sudden I can talk to him and he fully understands everything I am saying and can respond appropriately back to me in full sentences (or talk back to me with stank)! It amazes me with every milestone how fast time is flying by and how lucky we are to have such an amazing little boy.

He is obsessed with dinosaurs right now, and recently ninja turtles have become a new favorite, along with spiderman and batman. He loves to play pretend these days, which is so much fun to watch, but he seems to get embarrased now if he knows we are watching him, so we have to do it on the sly. He prefers walking now rather than sitting in the shopping cart, or riding on the side or sitting in the part of the cart where the groceries go.

He loves building with duplo, doing puzzles, playing hungry hippos, coloring, playing playdough, helping me bake, playing with dinosaurs, bouncy castles, going to the library (he always says we have to "caturn the books") going to the park, riding his bike, and walking the dogs.

We put him in gymnastics over the winter and he loved it. It was his first unparented class, and he was nervous on the 1st day, but rocked all the other classes. We will likely start it up again in the fall. He is now back in swimming (paul saddler and kinsmen), which he seems to be warming up to again (didn't enjoy the first class at kinsmen much as he went under the water and wasn't prepared for that. and soccer starts next week, which I am soooo excited about.

He loves eating mac and cheese, hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken cashew, "chicken fish", ravioli, spaghetti/pasta, meatballs, cereal (cheerios/shreddies/cornflakes/rice crisps).

He is still my gentle and sensitive little guy, which I absolutely love about him. The crying tantrums get a little old sometimes, but overall he is a pretty darned good little boy. Recently he seems to have trouble dealing with Griffin taking things away from him, he gets beaten up by his little brother on a regular basis. He knows when to say sorry now and says it in the sweetest voice if he knows he has done something wrong.

He continues to be obsessed with what he wears ... to the point where I just let him pick his clothes now because it's just not worth the hassel.

Sleep is better, he goes to bed no problem at 7pm (on non daycare days because he doesn't nap), closer to 8/9 on daycare days lately. He is up some nights to pee, but he now often says mommy i'm not gonna knock on your door (even though he usually does). Mainly goes on the toilet now, not really using the potty anymore.

Favorite movies/shows now are land before time, the good dinosaur, toy story, cars, ninja turtles, spiderman, blaze and the monster machines, jake and the neverland pirates.

Coen is 3!

Hard to believe that 3 years ago today this little guy shocked us by arriving 4 weeks early. It's been an amazing 3 years and I cannot believe how fast it has gone by.

So here is a little update on our 3 year old.
His vocabulary is expanding by the minute, my favourite words/phrases of his right now are:
Hamaburger
I can't know
Anytime he says thank you, and we say your welcome, he follows it with a no problem!
Yoohoo
heLLo - struggled with L sounds for a long time and now he really emphasizes them, it sounds hilarious and absolutely adorable
don't talk to me like that, don't fight with me
Your my best friend guys (to me and Dad when we do a family hug)

Favorite things to do:
Play duplo
Play with cars on the track or car mat, or anywhere really
Play with dinosaurs
Be tickled
Play dough
Do crafts
Ride his strider bike or trike or scooter
go for walks and tell us "i'm such a good runner"
go to the park, and be pushed on the swing
Bouncy Castles
Watch the Cars Movie, paw patrol, Bo on the Go, Walking with Dinosaurs

- He is so gentle with the dogs (most of the time) and often will pet them and say "Bosco is my best friend"
- He still sleeps with his stuffies Manny and Bobby, but doesn't bring them with him everywhere he goes anymore.
- Sleep became an issue around 2.5, he seemed to need to get up 1-5 times per night. Over the past couple months it has improved to 0-2 times most nights to go to the bathroom, or just be resettled.

We had a halloween themed birthday party for this little guy this year. Since his birthday falls on Oct. 30th, I figured what better theme than Halloween! He has been talking about his halloween birthday party since Griffin's birthday.

Here are some pics from the past year :)

Coen is 2 and half!

So Coen officially became a 2 and a half year old as of Apr. 30th. I figure i'll try to do a semi annual update for now, who knows how long it will last, but I find he has changed so much since he was 2.
So at 2 and a half he
- Has moved to a big boy bed (shortly after his 2nd birthday)
- Has been potty trained since 25 months with the 3 day potty training method, painful 3 days but worth it in the end.
- Has progressed with his words like crazy! Amazing what a difference in communication skills 6 months brings, seems like he has new words everyday, and he understands so much, he repeats everything we say … must be very careful!
- says picky up picky up
- still loves "Manny" and "Bobby" became his 2nd must have stuffy shortly after his 2nd bday
- sleep has become a problem area, tricky to get to bed sometimes, and up multiple times a night for some reason, not sure if he is having nightmares or what, but hopefully this is just a phase. We thought he was done napping, but I don't think he's quite ready to totally drop them yet. He's ok if he misses it once in a while though.
- needs to have a high five, fist bump, hug and kiss before going to bed, and then finish off the routine with "pillow top". For whatever reason he sleeps on his belly with Manny in 1 arm, Bobby in the other and he needs his pillow on top of his head
- has gone from terrified of swimming lessons to LOVING them. He can now doggy paddle without me holding him (with floaties on)
- is obsessed with cars, trains, and balls, he also has recently started playing with duplo
- is the best big brother I ever could have imagined, he always makes Griffin smile or laugh and for the most part is super gentle with him, the best is he has started saying "hi cutie" to him
- if Griffin is upset and I ask Coen to go make him happy he goes over and pets his head or talks to him, which almost always makes Griffin smile
- goes to daycare once a week and kids den for an hour while Griffin and I are at strollersize 3 times a week. Every morning he says mommy play with friends? Play cars? Play thomas?
- Still a pretty good eater most of the time, aba jam is his fav (Peanut butter, he can say it properly but usually says aba jam)
- Loves toopy and beanu, truck town, Harold and the purple crayon
- For some reason constantly says Mommy wake up! or Daddy wake up!
- loves Amma and Abu
- Is so adorable when he pretend plays, he particularly likes to pretend to feed us. I love hearing him playing on his own, he often has high pitched voices for his pretend interactions with his animals/cars I could listen to this all day long.
- is very aware of his clothes, whatever shirt he wears he points out to people if there is a truck on it or motorcyle, or stripes, etc. He also prefers to wear "soft pants" instead of jeans
- hates getting wet or spilling anything on himself, he immediately wants to "change" or gets a towel to wip up his spill (which I LOVE)
- is easily bribed with "gummies" or "bars" to get him to leave something fun

Coen is 2!

Yup it's true … Coen turned 2 on Oct.30th! I can't believe 2 years have flown by already! Seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital! So we had a small, fun little monster themed birthday party for this special boy of ours.

Here's a few fun facts about our 2 year old:

-He loves all his stuffed animals, and in fact sleeps with all of them, but his Manny (stuffed bunny, used to be called Manu) is his best bud.
-He is still sleeping in his crib, and rarely wakes up at night. Our previous early riser has started sleeping until 7/8am, which is glorious (especially with a newborn in the house)
-He loves to color, play with "stickies" (stickers) "bubbies" (bubbles, or bubble guppies), "dungees" (Dinosaurs), cars, choo choo's, boats,
-Loves Manu, which is what he calls Toopie and Beanu, his favorite TV show
-Slightly obsessessed with the moon! He loves to look at the moon, and it's actually the easiest way for us to get him to go to bed (lets go look at the moon!)
-Can identify pretty much every letter of the alphabet. L is the only one he has trouble with
-Recently has developed the skill of being able to jump with both feet
-Loves to "bount" on the bed when he's given a chance
-Gives the best hugs
-Has the cutest pucker, sticking out his bottom lip
-He has a pretty advanced palate, and for the most part eats just about anything, including any ethnic foods (indian, thai, chinese)
-He loves Olives, broccoli, grapes, oranges, cheerios, peanut butter sandwiches, granola bars, and those pureed fruit squeeze packages are still a fav as well.
-He has dealt with the adjustment of becoming a big brother amazingly, we couldn't have asked for it to go much smoother.
-We have been told by numerous people that he is such a good boy, well natured, and a gentle soul.

We love you so much Coen, and can't wait to see what the next year brings ❤
Here are a few photos from the past year.