During the day, if Cole hears my office door open, his ears perk up. He hops to his feet and comes running down the hallway. Today, I went out of the office to get a bottle of water and when I came back Cole was sitting at my desk, “working like dad.”

Every night, he’ll sit on my lap as we watch the Red Sox games. When I do a home run dance, he does a home run dance.

On Saturdays, when we are doing our outside work, Cole insists on having his own tools and shovels. I love to have the little helper, even when he gets in the way. Last Saturday, we were fixing our sprinkler piping and each time the water would bubble up the PVC , Cole would be there to clear it away.

Of course, the benefit of of a Cole shadow is it reminds me that I’m an example to Cole and Will. What dad does, so also does these boys. So in addition to WWJD, my conscious recites WWCC. (What Would Cole Copy)

Candace, in her usual party planning style, has a fun day planned for our family. The theme is a “Monkey Luau.” I’m sure we’ll have plenty of pictures and videos afterward. But in the mean time, we have been polishing up his luau dance skills. Cole will dance for 45 minutes straight as long as I keep drumming. And I love how he cocks his right elbow back and then let’s his left arm just groove.

Here’s a short video (click the image below):

Funny…I am in my room and Madison just came running in. “Hurry, turn on 110.3 FM. Cousin Brian’s song is on!!!” I turn it on and start laughing, because of course it is James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”. She would not believe me that it wasn’t you. She said it sounded EXACTLY like you.
There you go!

First, you can probably imagine that Cousin Madison just made my list of favorite people.

But more importantly, I love the role that my aunt took here. I call it the “Compliment Middleman.” They take note of when a friend or family member is complimented and then go out of their way to let that person know about it. It’s a talent that some people have and that more people should find. Some of my favorite people do this well and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I try to do it as often as opportunity allows.

For me personally, I’ve never been able to take a compliment real well directly from the giver. However, I think that everyone enjoys knowing that they were spoken well of when not around.

So next time you hear a friend or family member be complimented, send that person an email or a phone call and let them know. I think you’ll enjoy it as much as they do.

Cole has four things that fill up most of his day:

1. Jumping Around: A few weeks ago we bought a jumper for Cole and he loves it. Prior to it arriving, Cole would sleep about 9 hours at night. But immediately since the first day of jumping, he’s now pushing about 11 hours. He definitely wears himself out in this chair.
2. Shoulder Crawling: Cole is just on the verge of crawling. He’s at the stage of getting on hands and knees and just bouncing back and forth. But, when he needs to get somewhere he finds a way. Right now, it mostly consists of balancing on his left shoulder and pushing with his right big toe. It’s strange, but it works for him.
3. Assisted Walking: His absolute favorite activity is to grab two fingers of whomever is around and just start walking. He is so proud of himself when he does it. When I’m sitting at my desk, he’ll come walking around the corner with a huge smile on his face so excited to show off for me. It’s great.
4. Beat Box: Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved teaching little boys how to beat box. Maybe it’s my way of bonding. I’ve had a lot of good students thru the years, and Cole jumps right up there on the list. He’ll drop a beat anytime and anywhere and it makes me laugh.

Since all of these activities give me such joy, I thought I’d share them with everyone else. I’ve put together a ninety second video of Cole doing his thing. You can see it here.

I was only in charge of the photos.

The Stucki Pirates

My Mommy Poppins and Stan The Chimney Sweep

Little Red Riding Grandma and The Big Bad Wolf Grandpa

The Harris Hefners

Augustus Kyle and Amberpatra