Life Lesson from Corbin

Celebrate the little things!

Corbin literally broke into a victory dance today when he discovered that all the tags on his clothes were in the back like they are supposed to be. 

Life is good. 

Corbin sayings

Two quick Corbin stories - one cute and one funny. 

Funny first - tonight as I am putting him to bed, I said, "Good night, my big boy."  He replied, "Good night, my big mama."  Funny, right? Right?!

Then cute--

As we were getting ready to head out recently, Tom and I were debating taking the big stroller or the little one. "I don't know if we need the big one."  "Maybe just the little one tonight." Etc etc. 

I happened to glance back at Corbin who was already in the car. His bottom lip was trembling and tears were filling his eyes. "Mom, you are going to leave me here?!" 

Poor baby. He thought we were debating which child to take - the big one or the little one. I quickly reassured my sweetheart that BOTH boys were coming with us but only one stroller. 

I also got to listen in on his chuch class today during their short lesson. That kid has a pretty dang good memory - he made his parents look good. :) Next week he starts primary as a Sunbeam meaning he will no longer be in the room with all the toys but will go to a class instead. They will still color and have fun and probably still get snacks but it will be a bit more formal. I can't believe he's that big! I will probably get a bit misty about it. 

Apples

We have shared with you before that Corbin loves apples. He probably eats at least one a day. Sometimes it's a snack before dinner. Sometimes it's the last thing before bed. (Meaning it's the last great stall as we are ready to say good night and turn off the lights) 

The other night Cole was up after Corbin enjoying free reign over the living room when he found an apple hidden away. Maybe Corbin was saving this one for later. We saw him grab it and begin to gnaw on it. Maybe we were too tired to get up and take it away. We figured it was clean (enough) and weren't too worried. I mean - the kid only has two teeth. How much damage could he really do to a whole apple?

His answer --

Wow!!

Here he is hard at work - 

And then he must have needed something to wash it down with because he crawled over to my glass. 

Another lesson in not underestimating the little one. :)

Christmas!

Santa?

Corbin and Cole have now met two Santas. Although Corbin was willing to accept a present from the first and a candy cane from the second, he has been less than impressed with both. 

Here's the first at an extended family party - 

On the way home Corbin shared that the Santa didn't say Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas quite right. He was pretty sure this wasn't the guy coming on Secember 25th. (Cole seemed fairly content - maybe a little intrigued - maybe by the beard but maybe the hat.) 

Here's the second one -- this one was at the grocery store --

Better beard in my opinion, but Corbin actually gave this one a lesson on proper Ho Ho Ho usage. Santa had said Merry Christmas without the Ho Ho Ho intro and Corbin instructed him on his error. But again he took the candy cane. (And I was secretly pleased that Santa gave Cole one because I love candy canes! And Cole didn't care much when I stole it.)

So maybe we are still on the hunt for the real Santa. We did get letters in the mail from Santa at the North Pole so Corbin does seem to believe he's out there! (Thanks Grandma Sowers!)

Here he comes!

Corbin has been enjoying taking lots of photos with my phone. We have had several successive shots of the carpet or the back of toms head in the car. But I especially enjoyed the following collection of Cole. 

Pretty cool, huh?

11 months

Cole turned 11 months this week. Wow - time really does fly. 

It's been a rough week for him (and his parents) as he hadn't been sleeping very well at night. He is drooling a ton (more teeth?) and he has a horribly stuffed nose. So he has even waking up every hour or two demanding to be held and rocked and loved some more. I usually take first shift and then wake up Tom at some point to take over so I can see straight. Luckily, Cole has continued to be sweet and fun during the daytime hours. 

Quick update - he currently still has just two teeth. He has discovered a love for marionberry yogurt from Tillamook. He actually licked the highchair tray! He loves to laugh at he does this thing where he gets his arms moving from side to side so fast when he gets excited. He often "talks" to me all the way home from daycare but Corbin tries to talk over him. He has a great smile but people have to earn it. No freebies here! He currently hates his car seat and he seems to be preferring the bottle to mom at this point. Hmmm?? He is making more daring transfers from one piece of furniture or the next, but really isn't walking yet. He is kind of stuck on one syllable sounds. He also loves to pull hair which is actually very painful. He's got a crazy grip. His hair is actually coming in a lot lately. It is fun to rub my face in it. 

We sure do love him and are glad he's part of our family!

Here he is resisting the car seat. But happily. :)

Grabbing the phone away from Corbin. 

Forts and More

This has been the Thanksgiving break of fort building. Corbin (with some help from mom and lots of help from dad) has built forts out of cushions, forts out of blankets, forts out of chairs and forts out of boxes. He has built big ones, little ones, and in between ones. He has eaten popcorn in his forts (that was a surprisingly huge hit) and he has hid in them sucking on his brothers binky. It has been a ton of fun! And Cole thinks they are super great, too! 

So some photos-

As you can tell, Cole still needs some directions on the windows vs door thing. 

Also, you probably noticed that Corbin's sporting a new look. He got his haircut last Wednesday. I really like it but I did get a little misty when they cut it. It was a good 4-5 inches in the back - all those curls! But it's already easier to take care of. He says he likes it - "I sure do!" is what he told his grandma. 

Some of those photos --

And a couple cute Cole photos just to keep things a bit more even --

Checking himself out in the reflection. 

Newest skill - cleaning out drawers. 

Reaching for the phone when I was trying to take pictures. 

Celebrating that he had finished his third bowl of pasta! Yum!

Back to work tomorrow. Bummed. It's been a nice break. 

Fun facts

Just some important (well, kinda) tidbits about us --

Corbin currently loves apples. He can eat 3 or more a day at times. He eats them all the way to the core - sometimes beyond if we aren't watching. 

Cole is currently walking with the use of the fire truck riding toy. Just a couple weeks ago he would push it and then fall because he couldn't catch up to it. Now he can walk all the way across the room with it. 

I went to the eye doctor today. First time since high school but I have been getting these headaches and decided to rule out my eyes. Well, that didn't work. So I will be sporting a new look - glasses! - soon. (So what shape of face do you think I have?)

Tom bought a new GoPro camera this past weekend. I am sure he is itching to use it. If you have any ideas, let him know!

Corbin is really into superheroes and ninja turtles lately. In fact, when asked at school about what he is thankful for right now he said "superheroes and soldiers."  I think that second part is from my talking about Veterans Day with him. 

In Costco on Saturday cole and I were stopped twice by people telling me how beautiful he is. They seem disappointed that he doesn't smile at them much though. He is definitely slower to smile than Corbin was, but he will stare anyone down. He also tried to grab one woman's earrings - they were big and pink and sparkly. Perfect temptation for him. 

Corbin does not like to be a little boy. If being compared to bigger kids, he prefers to be called "medium."

Cole loves to shake the maracas that I got for Corbin when he was about Coles age. That makes him grin! He tried to replicate the sound with his Cheerios container in church on Sunday. I enjoyed it, but Tom shut down his musical venture. 

Tomorrow is my last day before thanksgiving break. It is nice to have a 2 day week and a 5 day weekend.  :)

Tom is so great at playing with the boys. They wrestle, play superheroes (or ninja turtles) or build forts. Or a million other things that make them all laugh and laugh. (He says he wears them out for bed - sometimes I think it's the opposite!)

And here are some recent pics-

This last one was 15 minutes after my alarm had gone off.  How could I possibly tear myself away?

Trick or Treat

Halloween is definitely Corbin's kind of holiday. He got to dress up, interact with a lot of people, eat more candy than he should, and it lasted a few days. Awesome!

First there was a day at the pumpkin patch for school. (2 weeks after we did the same one) it was a fantastic muddy day that somehow didn't rain for them while we were there. Tom got to go with the boys. 

 Here's Corbin enjoying it fully. 

See photo in last post for results. Thank goodness for the extra change of clothes the teacher knew to have us pack. 

 That night we went trick or treating with cousins. Corbin can't believe the good fortune of having a day where you just knock on someone's door and they give you candy. It is almost too good to be true!

Sorry this post took so long. I have had it mostly done for weeks. Ugh.