3 years have just flown by!

Hard to believe it, but our little baby really can't be considered a baby anymore. Today marked three years that we've been a happy Ambrocente family....Happy 3rd Birthday to Cole!!

Since this year his birthday fell on a Tuesday, we had a low-key birthday party at our house on Sunday - just a few kids from the neighborhood who are really important in Cole's life. It was really a wonderful time!

While the party itself may have been low-key, the cake was not. This year we learned a valuable parenting lesson when we asked Cole what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday when he turned three, and he pondered, then exclaimed, "Strawberry!" When asked whether that meant strawberry flavor or strawberry shape, he settled on flavor. "So what do you want the cake to LOOK like?" we asked. More deep thought, then..."My BIKE!" Meaning his old-school Radio Flyer tricycle. Yeah. Um. Should have been more specific that we were looking for a cake concept that resembled the shape of, well, cake.

But, what the little boy wants, the little boy gets:

Thought the kid was going to pee his pants, he was so thrilled about his "bike cake." (Wait, he's still in diapers, so maybe he did.) The back section and front wheel were cake: poppy seed cake with white chocolate frosting and the very important strawberry layers. The back wheels, bike seat, and pedals were rice crispies treats. The handlebars and frame were PVC pipe, masterfully constructed by Brian before being covered in fondant......and the tassles and wheel decorations were licorice. Big thanks to Uncle Dale for spending the weekend with us, making the cake. It's become a nice tradition now, having him help us make Cole's birthday cake for 3 years running. Next year, we're going to come up with a few feasible options and let Cole pick from them. :)

Since his actual birthday was Tuesday, a preschool day, and Cole knew he would once again get sung Happy Birthday and have a (mini) birthday party, he announced at the end of Sunday's party that "his birthday party wasn't closed....it goes for three days!" So, according to him, Monday was just Day 2 of the major celebration. We had a nice relaxing day on Monday, with him being treated to some more TV than normal, and Brian making us some delicious homemade birthday pizza for dinner.

Today started off with a nice, mellow morning, where Cole declared he wanted "mac & cheese" for breakfast. Hey, it's your birthday, you get to do what you want, right? Then we went to preschool, where he had a great day. The kids made him a birthday book, he got to wear a Happy Birthday Crown, plus they sang to him and he got to blow out yet another candle. And, got the famous ECPC birthday chair raising, 3 times up and one for good luck.

Then after school we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner, to fulfill his proclaimed need for "guaca-lo-le and chips!" Plus we got some Mexican chocolate cake for dessert with...yes, you guessed it, three candles. Blowing out candles has become Cole's latest pasttime.

So all in all, Cole's celebration of three years on earth has gone by with much fanfare. We marked his height on the wall....

Cole gained 3 3/4 inches in the last year, making him 37 1/2 inches tall already. (Since Mom is only 63 1/2 inches, that's kind of mind-blowing. How can he be well past half his mother's adult height by his 3rd birthday???)

And for those of you who like geography, Cole now reaches well into Poland. He was only to France a year ago.

As always, if you want to see earlier pictures of Cole's growth across the planet, you can start the backwards trail here.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

swim your heart out

Well, how embarrassing that the last time we posted on this blog was July. With an almost-3-year-old, 3 months is a long time and a lot has changed! In this rapid-fire world of Facebook, finding time to do longer (and better) updates of life in the Ambrocente household on this blog has become tougher and tougher (by the way, if you are a "Facebooker" and want more brief and timely updates of our crazy lives, friend us - 'Shelley Facente' and 'Brian Scott Ambrosch' - if you haven't already). But here we are, better late than never.

Since last time, one of the big events in our lives has been swim lessons - Cole's first. You may remember than when he was only 4 months old we took a trip to St. John, where he had his first experience with a pool. Of course, back then he was too young to even understand what was happening (plus the pool was refreshing no matter who you were, given the heat and humidity). 2 years later, we decided it was time for Cole to become reacquainted with pool life, to get some familiarity with water bigger than a bathtub (not to mention some survival skills).

Our fine city of Richmond, CA recently reopened the fabulous - and chemical-free! - Richmond Plunge, but our swim lessons came about a month too early. So, we went twice a week to the old city swim center behind John F. Kennedy High School. It was a bit chilly there - ok, downright cold - mostly because it was seasonably cold and foggy during our scheduled days, and they always kept all the windows open for the health benefit of pool staff, who spent their days breathing in pool chemicals. Little blue-lipped Cole was NOT a fan of the cold. In fact, for the first two weeks he cried every time we said it was time to go to the pool, and it took us that long to figure out his objection wasn't too the water, but the cold. A fun Sheriff Woody towel and some warm-parent bear hugs immediately before and after the pool dips helped with that, and then we had a blast.

Cole learned a lot, including how to kick his legs and arms to stay afloat (and maybe even move forward), and how to go underwater - which usually started like this:

Then went something like this:

And ended up like this:
Not his favorite activity, can you tell? He also quickly got the hang of climbing out of the pool on his own (a skill that made Mom and Dad quite happy):

And enjoyed running (with our pleading, walking very quickly) back along the pool edge to the stairs, where he could repeat the entire procedure:
And then there was his second-favorite activity, the kickboard. Despite the band-aid covering a pretty nasty boo-boo on his chin, Cole was happy (as usual) to pose for a few glamour shots.

All in all, a great time had by everyone - and we're planning on going for lessons Take 2 in just a few weeks, at the new Plunge. Surely more pics to follow then!

Sleeping like a baby

Most of you may already know that a few months ago, Cole gave up naps. Unless he happens to be in his car seat sometime between noon and 4pm with a moderately long drive, he's a 9am to 9pm kid. Or 8am to 10pm, depending on just how much fun he's having in life that day.

Every once in awhile, though, his schedule tuckers him out and he just falls asleep from exhaustion. Today was one of those days.

Around 2:30 today, Cole and I were walking back home from BART. He was trudging along quietly until about 4 blocks from our house, when he suddenly stopped and looked at me. "Mommy, up?" he asked sweetly.

So, despite the fact that I was already carrying leftovers from lunch, my shoulder bag, and his hot pink Dora the Explorer backpack, I couldn't help but oblige. If only I knew that 60 seconds later I'd be carrying dead weight, toddler-style, the whole rest of the way, I might have resisted a bit more.

Once I got home, I gently laid him (with his new exploding ice cream practical joke toy) on our couch. I laid some extra couch cushions on the floor in case he rolled off and went in the other room to get some stuff done in this rare moment of quiet:



About an hour later, I couldn't believe he was still sleeping so I went to check on him. Imagine my surprise when I found this!



ANOTHER hour went by, and I looked again:



Luckily, he woke up shortly before hour three or I think he might have been all the way under the couch!

A record day in the Ambrocente
household - Cole voluntarily took a 3 hour nap. Too bad he's so well rested for our red-eye flight tonight!!

Independence Day!

We had quite a wonderful 3-day weekend this 4th. Grandma is visiting and we've been having lots of fun.

It started with some dinner at the Macaroni Grill...with time for drawing before the food arrived...


Cole had a few calls to make on the way home:

Then on Saturday Cole and Grandma played together all day while we did a bunch of landscaping in the front yard. 8 bushes and a tree all came down in one (looooong) day!

Speaking of trees, after watching an older boy playing, Cole practiced his redwood-climbing skills at daddy's show at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont.


Between shows, we took an old-fashioned train ride and Cole and Daddy made sure to stay hydrated.


After the second show, Cole was a big helper assisting in bringing Daddy's case to the car.


Then we had a great BBQ dinner at our neighbor's house, hanging out on her beautiful new deck and looking down on our new, bush-free front yard.

Later that night, a little quiet reading...


Then Monday we spent the day at Aunt JoJo and Auntie Sandy's house in Elk Grove. It was a blast!

There was homemade ice cream...

And a little fun on the mini slip-and-slide they bought for our visit!

We finished up our celebration with some summer fruit (Cole has a unique method of peeling his own oranges, with his little hamster teeth)...


Delicious food and company. It was an all-around great time!

Happy 4th, everyone!!

A new era

Well, we've officially entered a new era. We just came back from Toy Story 3, which we decided to attempt for Father's Day.

Cole's first feature length film, and he was amazing. Totally impressed us - laughing with everyone, brave during the scary parts, and clapped at the end, asking for more. We were so proud!

A great father's day gift. Can't wait to bring him to more great kid's movies! We'll have to take out a second mortgage to pay for all the popcorn, though......

Half Birthday

Well, it's that time again. Another half birthday. Cole is 2 1/2 today, can't believe it!

We've had a busy time of the last 6 months since we entered the two's, even though the blog hasn't really reflected it. Lots of work, and play, and travel, and time with friends...but mostly, Cole's been growing. And growing. Getting bigger, and older, and more amazing every day.

These days he eats most everything in sight, chatters up a storm, and makes his opinions HEARD! We all know (everyone on the block knows) when he wants to read a book, or draw with sidewalk chalk, or (not) go to sleep, or eat "guaca-lo-le and chips," his favorite. It's really fun watching him learn to communicate and express himself - and his great imagination!

Tonight we made another mark on Cole's wall and were shocked to learn he has grown an entire 2 1/4 inches since his 2nd birthday, making him exactly 36 inches tall today. Wow!!!!!

Or, for those of you who are more visually inclined, Cole has officially reached Italy:

This marks the first photo shoot of the growth map where Cole understood what we were asking him to do ("lie down here, put your head here, stretch your legs out straight"), smiled for the camera, and thought it was fun! A much more pleasurable experience than all those that came before - which were mostly the product of luck and about 15 tries.

Speaking of previous growth pics, looking back at the blog, it is bizarre but it looks like we never did a post for his 2nd birthday. How can that be? I guess we were just having such a fun time with the festivities that we didn't think of it. Happy Belated Birthday, then, Cole!

Here's the pic from 2 years old - barely reaching France. And not too sure about the whole thing.

And for those of you who wish to take a real stroll down memory lane, other earlier pics mapping Cole's growth can be found here.

Happy soon-to-be summer, everyone!

Florida 2010 The Preview

Yet again, your fearless scribe has been slacking on the job. So as I sift through the countless number of photos for your next photo essay on our recent trip to Florida I provide you with the teaser video that gives you a slight taste of the trip. The second video is actually an extended version of one of the brief scenes in the first one which I just got a kick out of...enjoy!

(For some reason the formatting is off from YouTube...for best viewing go to YouTube to watch by clicking on the exposed Y at the lower right hand corner of each video)

Big Boy Bed

Well, this is it. Cole has been fighting us going to bed (naps or nighttime) in a serious way for almost a week now. Every time we even hint at the crib, he starts crying hysterically and sobbing, "No, Cole happy!" We still haven't determined whether he thinks happy actually means "not tired" or whether he thinks only sad people need to sleep.

Regardless, yesterday we noticed the pattern that he would happily go to sleep on the couch or in our bed, just not his own bed. (Too bad that's terribly inconvenient!) Last night, when attempting to put him to bed, in between cries of "Cole happy!" he added in "Cole sleep couch!!" So, we hesitantly asked whether Cole would like to have a big boy bed, like a couch in his room - no more crib. And he immediately responded with a tearful "Yeah..."

Today, then, we retrieved the toddler bed bar for his convertible crib/bed set and made the conversion.

Before:



After:



He immediately squealed with delight and climbed into his bed, putting his head on his pillow (in mock nap - not real one - make no mistake).

Will this be our much-awaited sleep solution? I'm not holding my breath. Whether he'll stay put during bedtime is surely still TBD. But it's worth a shot...and we can always tun it back into a crib if need be.

Stay tuned for a progress report in a few days!!

Santa Cruz!!

This weekend was a great one for the Ambrocente fam!

Brian had a big show for Kaiser Permanente at the Seascape Beach Resort in Santa Cruz on Saturday night, so we decided to make a weekend of it. Even better, our good friend Maria is from Santa Cruz, so we went with Maria, her husband Scott, and their daughter Sagan (featured before on this blog....Cole's girl-friend-next-door) for two days to stay with Maria's brother and mom.

We had a blast! Some glimpses of the fun we all had:

First, some piano playing...

Then some reading...

Then off to the park....look how big and smart Cole's getting! Wow.

As the sun started to go down it got a bit cold...

Back to the house for some drawing...

Then jumping on the bed. Or should I say "off" the bed.

Then some more piano and singing. Never can get enough!

You have to explore the full range, you know!

Later it was off to the Boardwalk for some rides!

Can you believe Cole's old enough to go on rides ALONE? (I can't).

Then some driving....such happy kids!

They're not messing around....watch this steering wheel action!





More driving, this time of boats (have to diversify).

Now driving a mac truck. Are you noticing a theme?

Yup, "more drive! Cole more drive car!!"

Finally, a trip flying on a dragon.

The crew...
Marsha, Scott, Maria, Sagan, Cole, Brian, and Shelley!

Thanks guys, for an awesome weekend!

Lawrence Hall of Science

Well, we had a great day today. Cole and his friends Jack-Jack and Liam all have birthdays very close together, and their parents also happen to be good friends. So, it's a perfect excuse to get together and have some joint birthday fun each year!

Thanks to Deb for suggesting the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley. We went today and had such a good time, we decided to purchase a family membership. Whoo-hoo!

Just a glimpse of all the cool things Cole did today:

Experimented with momentum and orbits

Rearranged boards to form ramps and get ping pong balls to the bottom

Learned about hills and valleys

Checked out the effects of a concave mirror

Practiced counting and basic math

Created water currents and lock systems

Got read to by a beautiful older woman (aka Jack-Jack's sister Gracie)

Ate birthday cupcakes - yum!!!

Made body part imprints in the two-sided pin wall

Counted clone Coles in the mirrored triangle tunnel

(Coolest picture EVER! Can you even figure out which one is the real Cole??)

What a cool place! Hey, we have guest passes...... ;)

Have a great weekend!