Loverboy

Every mom longs for the day that her own child learns how to give kisses. Those sweet, little baby lips just loving on you- it’s the best. I don’t remember exactly how old Cole was when he learned to give kisses, but I remember being very excited and asking for them over and over. Then, one day as we were leaving day care, his “girlfriend” blew a kiss to him, and he sent one back her way. Soon he was a kissing machine. And now he’ll give kisses to just about anybody. And hugs, too. He leans in and puts his head on your shoulder as his way of giving a hug.

Now, as much as I love that Cole is so affectionate, it does get in the way of everyday life sometimes. When I pick him up from day care at the end of the day, every single person there gets a hug and a kiss- twice. He does one round and then goes back for another before he will leave with me. Even the cat gets a kiss if he will sit still long enough. As sweet as it is to see my son being so loving, I kind of like the days when he is the last kid to be picked up, because with less people to kiss goodbye, we can get out of there faster. And it’s not just people he knows. We had a hard time getting out of the dollar store one day because he was blowing so many kisses to the cashier.

But I will try my best not to complain. I’m sure when the teenage years come around, I’ll be missing these days of kisses. And so will the cashier at Family Dollar.

Cole giving his new friend Logan a kiss. Logan wasn't so sure about it.

Whose Birthday is it?

I often think about how we really know we are parents. Do you find yourself doing or saying things that you wouldn’t have dreamed of before you had a baby? Do you go to bed earlier and get up earlier? Have you broken down and bought a minivan? Whatever has changed about you, every parent knows that your life is never the same once you have a child. A great example of this is how we celebrated my husband’s 32^nd birthday- at Sesame Place.

With Cole’s aforementioned recent obsession with Elmo, Kevin thought that his birthday would be the perfect day to take our little Sesame Streeter to the ultimate place to see Elmo- Sesame Place, conveniently located just an hour away in Langhorne, PA. (I did find myself thinking that day that I wonder whose idea it was to choose this town out of all the places in the country.)

We had a blast with Cole, riding the rides, playing in the water, watching the parade. The large, furry characters did prove to be a little scary, but it was all worth it. In fact, we had such a good time that we bought season passes for the rest of this year and next year.

My birthday is coming up soon. I wonder what we’ll do. The zoo? Dutch Wonderland? You have to love being a parent.

On our way there, wearing his new Elmo shirt.