Cole has begun to understand humor and silliness a little better and he likes to come up with things that don't go together and he'll say, "Mommy, Dogs don't ride in schoolbuses, Noooo!", "Mommy, Birds don't eat dog food, Noooo!" He's very proud of his silliness. *~* He's also getting better at pretending and taking on different characters. Some of his favorites are, "I'm like a baby" as he gets in the fetal position with his bath towel wrapped around him, "I'm a weedeater" as he makes motor sounds with his mouth, and his latest, "I'm like a rhino," but this one applies to a vast array of different things that he does and how they're related to rhinos I'm not sure but he's adamant that he's impersonating a rhino when he does them.
He loves to catch me making our bed and he gleefully yells, "I make a tent! Mommy, make a tent with me!!" I remember my Mom doing the same thing with me, fluffing the sheet up and trapping air (and a child) underneath it in the bubble. *~* Yesterday I wore a pair of sandals I rarely wear and he was sitting on my lap and noticed them. After leaning over looking at them for a minute he says, "I like your shoes." What a gentleman :). *~* The concept of time is beginning to sink in on him and if he asks to go to the zoo (which he does almost every day) and I say, "not today," he says apologetically, "Maybe another day." He doesn't care for any TV except America's Funniest Home Videos which he would watch for hours if allowed to. Almost ever day I hear, "When Daddy comes home we can watch silly videos," or "Mommy, can I watch silly videos on Daddy's 'patooter' (computer)?" I tell him not right now and he follows with, "Maybe later." Hope springs eternal. 
Cole's two obsessions (other than "silly videos") are trains and the zoo. He went to the zoo a few weeks ago with Thomas and relives the visit every day. One of his favorite bedtime activities is to get in his bed, put his monkey beside him, make sure his blanket is covering himself, Monkey John, and a corner on me ("Put the blankie on, Momma, we can share" he says), and then have me tell him stories about his recent life. "I want to read the story about Cole going to the zoo," is what I hear at every nap and every bedtime. So I tell him about Cole and Daddy going to the zoo and each of the animals they saw there. If I pause for a moment he says eagerly, "And what ELSE we saw at the zoo?" If I throw in an animal that's not there he quickly corrects me. He has always had an affinity for off-the-beaten-path animals. Macaws, peacocks, gibbons, orangutans, and ostriches are favorites. I never hear about lions and tigers and bears. He decided on his own that peacocks say "MACAW! MACAW!" He likes to play that he's a peacock. During this bedtime story-time about his life I often give him a run-down of what he did that day. Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum and I was reliving that with him at nap time and if I paused he would say, "And what ELSE I play at the zoomeda (museum)?"
The obsessions with trains has been longstanding but it's not just the train. He's fascinated by the crossing guards too. "Momma, CHOO CHOO TRACKS AND CROSSING GUARDS!!!!!!" I hear from the back seat as we drive to his great-grandma's house. We finally got to see a train on the tracks a few days ago and that was met with great delight. He knows that the train goes close to Daddy's work, so when he hears the far-away whistle at our house he says, "Momma, choo choo...by Daddy's work." In all his books he knows where pages with animals and pages with trains or train signs are and he looks at them often.
Above is Cole waking up from a nap. I smile every day when I see him totter out of his room loaded down with all his nap items. Here he has 2 blankets, 2 burpies, Monkey John, his sippie cup, and a book. At night after I tell him a story I'll say, "Alright, time to pray. Who do you want to pray for tonight?" The answer always goes like this: "We can pray for Mommy and Daddy and Tyson and Cole and Mimi and Grandpa and Jiji and Uncle Andrew and Cole and Tyson (they usually make it in the list several times) and Miss Sheri (our neighbor who broke her back) and Max and Bo (dogs) and Mommy and Daddy, and we can pray all those things." The list varies every evening depending on who he's seen recently. Jackson, Jude, and Freeman are regulars on the list, but it always ends with "and we can pray all those things." One night I prayed through most of the list (I thought) and said Amen. Cole starts crying and says, "I want to pray for Uncle Andrew!" Apparently I had skipped him or hadn't prayed adequately enough for him so we prayed for Uncle Andrew and he was happy. Cole, you are an absolute joy to us. We are so blessed to be your parents and to watch you grow and learn new things and say new things every day. We love you!!
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