Happy First Birthday, Cole!

“You are a dream that the world once dreamt and now you are part of its song. That’s why you are here, in the place where you’re meant, for this is right where you belong.”- M.H. Clark

Our sweet Cole, we can hardly believe you are one! How is that possible? This past year has felt like both the longest and shortest of our lives, but we sure are glad you are here and part of our family. We love you so much, baby bear!

It is so exciting to see your spunky personality develop more as you grow, learn, and explore the world around you. You have a wonderfully quirky sense of humor and we love your playful sideways glances. We think you might be the smiliest baby on the planet, and we are so grateful for your joyful spirit and adorable belly laughs. You have a strong sense of curiosity and you are incredibly observant. Mechanics fascinate you, and you spend a lot of time investigating how parts work together- we can see the little wheels in your mind turning! You have a twinkle in your eye, loads of determination, and you are a boundary-pusher already- especially when it comes to touching electrical outlets and putting everything you find in your mouth.

Your favorite person in the world is Isla. You absolutely light up whenever you see her! She can make you laugh harder than anyone else. Watching the two of you playing together, and hearing your shared giggles, fills our hearts to overflowing. We are just thrilled to see the bond you have formed already, and cannot wait to see the love and friendship you two will develop over the years.

You adore our kitties too. You used to snuggle your head on Miller every time you saw him. He was so very patient with you, and we think he felt all the love you were giving him. Now that our precious Miller is gone, you give Safa all of that affection. He is slowly getting used to it, and we think he might actually be enjoying your snuggles now… a little bit. Often times I will pet him and feel wet patches on his back. After a while I realized they are from your sweet kisses! We bet it won’t be too long until you win Safa over.

You have one volume: loud. We are choosing to be grateful for your yelling, as it is a sign that your lungs, which were not working so well at your birth, are now strong and healthy. Most of your vocabulary consists of baby babble, but you have a few words that you like to say regularly; “I-ya!” (Isla) being your favorite. You start calling for your sister the minute you wake up. You also occasionally call, “I-zih!” (Isaac) for your Daddo. You put your hand or toy phone up to your ear and say “Huh-wo?” You love, love, love when we cheer for you. You bob your head to the beat as we say, “Go, Cole, go!” and then you repeat the words after us. Once when we were driving to the beach you started shouting, “Bear!” from your car seat. We thought it was especially sweet that bear was one of your first words, since we have called you our baby bear from the start. You say, “Nana, no, no” and that makes Nana laugh. Technically, your first word was “Mama.” You said it regularly for several months and then stopped. Now when we try and get you to say Mama, you grin and respond, “Cole.” We think this is because I will point to myself and say “Mama,” and then point to you and say, “Cole.” How funny of you to have turned that identification lesson into a little game. Your mama is eagerly awaiting for “Mama” to return to your vocabulary. You also like to say, “Goo, goo… ga, ga!” using a very rhythmic beat.

Speaking of rhythm, Cole, you already have it! Music is so clearly ingrained in you. You love to listen to music, dance, drum on everything, and even sing. Whenever you hear a good, solid beat you grin and begin to bob your head and bounce your body. Nana brought out her keyboard for you to play with a few months ago, and you have spent many happy hours playing on it- literally, you sit on top of it, and plink away on the keys. You love to play with Daddo’s guitar and Isla’s ukuleles. When you strum the strings and hear the sounds they make, the biggest smile spreads across your face. Just about any surface becomes a drum for you, and we are truly impressed with how long you can keep a beat going. Perhaps you will be a drummer like your Daddo? Your favorite song is “If you’re happy and you know it.” (The Itsy Bitsy spider and Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink are close seconds). Around 11 months you started really clapping your hands, and you get such a kick out of giving us high-fives.

When we take walks around the neighborhood, you sit straight up in your stroller, hands gripping the tray, and your eyes intently scanning everything around us. Your posture and the back of your little head looks so darn cute we can hardly stand it! We know it won’t be long until you are walking along beside us on these outings, so we will enjoy watching you perched in your stroller as much as we can in the meantime! You aren’t showing a ton of interest in walking yet, but you love to move and can crawl all over at lightning-speed. The past few months you’ve been pulling yourself up on everything and furniture surfing. You’ve stood up on your own a few times. The first time you did, you threw your hands up in the air, and yelled, “I-ya!” It was amazing. We have no doubt you will be up and running before too long.

Food is a pretty big source of joy in your life and you are an excellent eater. You love milk, and totally crack us up when you lean way back in your highchair and hold your bottle with one hand. You eat just about everything, but recent favorites have included grilled zucchini, cheese, peach, turkey, bananas, and cheerios.

You are still figuring out how to sleep through the night. We’ll be honest, we’ve never been more tired than we have this past year- but, sweet Cole, you are completely worth it! When you wake up in the wee hours of the morning, you let us know, by angrily yelling at the top of your lungs until we come to you with a bottle. We’ve gone through one round of sleep training with you, and had some excellent results for a few months. Then teething started, you needed some extra comforting, and all our hard work went out the window. Round two of sleep training will be starting soon, and we are confident you will put up a spirited fight. We are determined, however, because we keep imagining how wonderful it will be when you can sleep through the night again- when we all can sleep through the night again.

Teething has been a fairly rough experience for you. You have 8 teeth already (4 on top, 4 on bottom) and you are a drool machine. Your poor little chin is so red and irritated all the time, but it doesn’t damper your happy spirit at all.

The cottage is such a special place to our family, and we love bringing you there. You watch the ocean intently, eat sand like it’s your life’s calling, and are rocked to sleep in your hiking pack every time we take a long walk along the shore. You happily splash in the tide pools and squeal when we dip your toes in the waves. You are definitely a water baby! Bath time is your favorite, and you always reach your little bear paw under the stream of water from the faucet. You don’t mind getting splashed, and you try and sneak drinks of the bath water.

Cole, you give the tightest hugs, the most heartfelt slobbery kisses, and when you snuggle into us and lay your head on our shoulders, we just about melt. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the joy you have brought into our lives this past year. You are such a special little soul and we absolutely love you with all of our hearts!

September 8, 2017. Welcome to the world, Cole LaRocca Marshall! 8 lbs, 5 oz. They said you were 22 inches, but at later check ups you weren’t that long, so we’re not really sure now!

Your third day of life and first snuggle with Daddo. This was an amazing moment!

Eight days later, we’re finally home from the hospital! Isla had been waiting SO patiently to hold you. She was in heaven!

First morning at home, snuggling with Safa.

So sweet and clean after your first bath at home.

Taking your first walk around the neighborhood!

I made this onesie for you before you were born, and could not wait to see you in it!

Brother snuggles.

First attempt at sibling portraits.

First vacation. We spent a wonderful week in Maui with Nana and Papa. You handled all the traveling like a champ. No surprise there though!

Morning conversations with sister.

First trip to the pumpkin patch, and showing your excitement for trick-or-treating on your first Halloween!

First trip to the beach cottage!

Getting into the Christmas spirit.

The best morning snuggles.

First visit with Santa!

First Christmas!

New Years at the cottage. Welcome, 2018!

Oh, baby bear, we love you!

Celery was one of your favorite teethers.

First time trying out your new activity chair.

First trip to Disneyland! It was a great success!

Exploring the natural history museum in Los Angeles.

Your first snow day. One of the best days ever!

First taste of rice cereal.

First time in the high chair.

6 months old!

You started sitting up on your own! Your first attempts at crawling, where you’d lay on your tummy and flail your limbs as fast as you could. So cute!