My little farmer...

Dave and I have said many times, that Cole has much of his great-grandfather Roger in him. Much like Roger's schedule, Cole has operated on farmer's hours since day one. Three years into his life, he is still an early riser, ready and wanting to play literally from the moment he lifts his head. To see him is like watching someone turn on the switch from a battery-run toy. There is no gradual wake up period, no ease from warm covers or a groggy morning mood, he is up like a shot. He comes bounding into our room every morning and despite our futile attempts to get him to snuggle down for just 30 more minutes, he gives us about 10 minutes to catch up with his chipper morning state. "Come on MOMMY, open your eyes", "Come on Daddy, wake up". He turns on the lights and races around in a frenzy until we finally give in (or give up)!

With his internal clock rising between 5-5:30 am, it is plenty dark this time of year. He recently asked on a cold dark November morning "where is the sun". I replied "the sun is still sleeping, it is not ready to wake up yet, it is too early". With a hearty laugh, Cole says "no its not".

...get up and try again...

Cole has entered the stage of pretend play and it such a joy to listen in and watch from afar. He animatedly talks to his trains as he strings them along on his track, through his set's tunnels and over its bridges. He loves to attempt to put them all together in one long unit and take the tight turns without having them fall over. He knows to slow down but often they still teeter and totter and derail nonetheless. Eight times out of ten he says "Oh NO, they crashed", the other two out of ten times and typically late in the day when his mood is less willing to accept frustrations, he'll scatter the trains in a fit (which I totally feel like doing myself some days when things don't go my way).

Anyway, this morning as he played within earshot of my desk, I heard the trains fall over and him exclaim "Oh no, Thomas you fell...are you okay...get up and try again"...I just about fell off my chair, as those are the exact words (insert Cole for Thomas) that I have used for a long time now when Cole has fallen (at the playground, in the house, in the yard...) I inched my way to his playroom door as he righted his trains and took another go at that tricky curve. He maneuvered them adeptly this time and let them coast down the hill, a huge smile erupting on his face. He then said "see Thomas we did it", he was so proud of himself and so was I.

Ole King Cole...

Ole King Cole (aka The little Prince) was not quite a very merry soul...just shy of three, he didn't enjoy much getting into some get up with a shiny hat...only because I coaxed him with PEZ candy was I able to get him to keep the crown on for pictures...then he forgot about it for a time, only to throw it off once he remembered it again...trying to reason with a pre-schooler about anything out of the norm is an exercise in futility...trying to explain that he must ring the doorbells of strangers, smile, say Trick or Treat, get candy from said strangers, say thank you and venture on happily to the next strange house isn't exactly a task any parent should find a breeze to do just way too many things to ask of a little guy...Cole has had stranger anxiety since birth and here we are as parents asking him to be cute and polite while staring at people he has never seen before...oh well, there is always next year...