School Update

Collin continues to do great in school. Yesterday, I had to drop him off because Daddy had an early morning meeting. We drove up to school, parked and I got Collin out of the car. He wanted to carry his snack bag and he reached up to hold my hand because he knew we would be crossing the street. Usually, he lets go of my hand as soon as we get inside the building. This time, he continued to hold my hand until we got to his class. They were getting ready to go outside. Collin knew to put his snacks away in his cubby (labeled #9) and then sat down with the rest of his "friends" to get ready and go outside. They were sitting in the hall by this time. I got a hug from him and walked away. Turning back around to look at him half-way down the hall, he was still sitting with his friends talking to them. Who knows what he was saying. At the end of the hall, I looked back again and he was looking at me. He waved and then turned back to his friends. What a difference from when he first started school.

Last week, when Mimi picked him up, the teacher told her that Collin had a million dollar smile. She said she did not know what it was but that his smile can melt your heart. I agree!!!

Peaches!!!

This morning, Collin could not make up his mind about what he wanted to eat. He told Daddy that he wanted bread. Daddy got the bread out and Collin put in on the counter because he did not want it. Daddy then got out some yogurt. He did not want that either. Meanwhile, I was at the counter cutting up fresh fruit for him to take to school for his snacks. He walked over to me and asked "whatcha doin"and I told him that I was cutting peaches for snack. He yelled out "peaches, yeah!! peaches!!!". That is what he ended up having for breakfast. By the time I headed back downstairs, he had eaten a peach and plum. Phew.....we got through that breakfast. I did have to get creative and figure out something else to add to his snack bag.

School Picture

Here is Collin's school picture this year. One of his teacher's aides told Mimi when she picked him other the other day that he has a million dollar smile. I have to agree!

Celebrating Fall

Here is Collin's fall art work that he brought home from school today. When I asked him were his name was on the paper, he pointed to the top right of the page at his name. We then started counting the leaves on the paper. He can count to 9 with little assistance.

Collin's Phrases

I know that every toddler learning to talk might not say the word or phrase correctly after several tries. Collin has some really interesting combinations of words that he insists on using even though we respond with the correct phrase or purposely over enunciate the phrase when we use it. Some of his favorites are:

"rightie down there" = Collin uses this when he means "right there", "over there", "there it is" or "there" even though he is not pointing down at something or some one.

"open shut" = means to open.....and don't make the mistake of shutting it after you have opened it for him or he has opened it.....he does not mean shut.

He recently started using "don't". While it's better than "no", it still means that he is not interested in what you are trying to do or get him to do....since HE did not come up with the idea himself.

No Memory Issues Here

There is nothing wrong with Collin's memory. If you read the last entry, you know that he wanted to wear his underwear to bed and fought me when I wanted to put his diaper on. When I woke him up this morning, he did not greet me like he typically does to either daddy or I. Instead, he wiped his eyes, stood up and said "get out". I took him out of his bed, he walked over to his armoire, opened the door and found his underwear. He took them out and said "panties".....well, I guess he DID forget that I said they were underwear and not panties. I did not think to put them in another place since I thought he would forget or be too tired in the morning to think about them. I was wrong......

.......and put all of his underwear in another place tonight before he went into his room. HA!

Panties!

Tonight, after bath and brushing his teeth (naked), Collin wanted to wear his panties. I was not sure what he was saying so I asked him to say it again. He said "panties" and pulled out his underwear from the basket in the armoire. I guess he knows panties from school since most of the girls in the class are potty-trained. I amused him and put on the underwear but was sure to tell him that he was wearing underwear. Panties are for girls. Here he is closing the door after I put the underwear on.

The problem now was that he did not want to take them off. Boy, I had not really thought that one through when I put them on. We read a few books and even put a PJ shirt on. He would not let me put a diaper on to then put PJ bottoms on. I tried explaining that he needed to wear a diaper to bed but he did not care (I know, trying to reason with a toddler is futile but I did it anyway...probably to make myself feel better since I knew he would be mad when I took the underwear off). I ended up switching the underwear for a diaper in the midst of an angry toddler. He did calm down enough to tell me that he wanted a different blanket than the two he had in his bed...he did pick these out but he must have gotten tired of them after a week. I let him pick a red blanket out, he then laid down, asked me to cover him up, grabbed Monkey and started to play with his tail (Collin's relaxing move). I was glad the angry episode did not last long. He quickly went to sleep.

Melia's House

Today, Daddy, Collin and I went to Melia's house for lunch and to swim in her backyard. It's been two months since the kids have seen each other but you would not have known it. Sometimes it takes Collin a little while to "warm up" to people he has not seen in awhile. Not today. Him and Melia acted as if they were old pals. She was busy showing him her stuffed animals and then the two of them raced around the house on Melia's riding toys.


For lunch, they attempted to each chicken, broccoli, cheese tortellini and grapes. Collin ate everything but the tortellini....yes, event he broccoli. I have tried that one before with the same results. Other mom's of toddlers know that it can be an adventure trying to figure out what to feed your toddler besides pizza, chicken nuggets, fries or fruit.


After lunch, we read a few books. Collin got bored and walked to the back door. He shouted "pool" and "water". We asked if he was ready to get in and he said "yes"....so we did. Both kids had fun jumping in the water and then swimming to the steps, with help, to do it over again...and over, and over again. Collin got out, said "cold" and started to play with the toy lawn mower that makes bubbles. It was then time to go. Before we did, Collin got a kid tattoo on his arm of a skull and fire because Melia had two of them on her arm. Here is so-so picture of him showing it to me. He either starred at it or wanted to show it to someone most of the rest of the day.
Grandma Holmes and the Petersen's, the shirt is for you. Go Horns!!!

Morning Time - Brushing teeth

I finally captured a picture of the morning brushing routine that Daddy and Collin go through. Daddy puts the toothpaste on Collin's brush, they both brush their teeth and then the both brush their teeth. Daddy typically finishes first, rinses and then spits. He then helps Collin get a drink and also "spit"....Collin has not gotten the hang of spitting though.

Busy day

This morning, Collin and I went running around the park loop and then he played on the playground or hit is baseballs with a bat for another 45 minutes. We cam home, took a shower and had a snack before heading to a bridal shower for a coworker.

Collin got to see a 5 week old kitty for the first time. He was not sure about it until I held the kitty and started petting it. He then petting the kitty and said "soft". He must have gotten hungry because he got off the couch and said "eat". He selected some bite sized pizza and some mozzarella sticks. He called those chicken which confused the other guests. He had two cups of punch made with sherbert and then said "don't like it". I doubt that since later he had ANOTHER cup. He was not interested in the cake when it was served. While the rest of the guests ate their cake, he sat on the stairs with the baby kitty and watched it jump from one step to another. It was at this time that he discovered the kitty's tail and yelled "tail" a few times. He was fine with playing with the kitty until it started to follow him around which he did not like.

We left and came home to rest, have dinner and leave AGAIN. We met the Jurek's to watch Ethan's football game. Daddy thought Collin would like this since he is really into all types of balls right now. After correcting him a few times, he finally called the football by it's correct name. Basketball and soccer ball are typically his first and second choices. Besides watching the game, he played in the sand pit with his new front-loading tractor. The tractor attracted the other boys in the pit and he became the center of attention.

Chillax'n & the mornings activities

I am about to start the day with Collin. The mornings are usually mine and the nights are Laura's. I checked him out on the monitor and he is laid back with his hands behined his head. He is sleeping and very peaceful, it is the calm before the storm. Lately he has been fussy in the mornings, at night, in the middle of the day, pretty much whenever you ask him any questions, heck most of the time. I think we are fully ingulfed in the Terrible Two's.

Either way I still really look forward to waking him up in the mornings. He usually wants to bring one or 4 of the stuffed animals in his room down to the breakfast table. As soon as he gets down here he forgets them and starts to play with one of his toys until I put food on the table. This is my chance to throw them back upstairs and out of his view. I really did not want him to carry his stuffed animals around all day.
Breakfast is a discussion in futility. But when he wants to move on he proclaims "I'm Finished" and moves along. After cleaning up we migrate downstairs and brush our teeth and put on deodorant, he puts on his own, Then we put on our clothes and thta is getting funning as watching him try to put his shirt on is hilarious. He usually gets frustrated and yells at it and then as me to do it.
Then we are off to school and his friends. We run threw the list of names of all of his school friends. Then walking in to school where he has to carry his lunch bag and fully understands thta he has to hold my hand when crossing the street. But as soon as we cross he drops my hand and moves on.

I like how he is growing up confident and independant. Except I still want my hug before he goes into class, sometimes I have to steel it but I always get it.

Big Boy Swing, Go Faster Daddy

Collin is a swinging fool. It seems that my threshhold for his safety stops way to soon for him. He only wants to go faster.

We went to the park tonight and he loves the swing, slide and playing with the ball. But what he really wishes he could do is RUN with the adults on the runnign track at Memorial Park. He wanted to cross the street with all the passing cars to go "RUNNING". I had to pull him away kicking and screaming from the running and the swinging.

He is starting to make is own decisions now as well. Tonight he wore his PJ pants with his shorts on top of it. Then he wanted both blankets covering him. I decided to turn the fan on since I can only imagine how hot he will be. He sweats when he sleeps anyways I can't wait until the morning to see how much he sweated tonight.

"No Bath!" or "No Bed!"

Collin really does not like bed time right now. Forget asking him if he wants a bath because this will start the crying fit. He refuses to go upstairs when it's time to start getting ready for bed. He will eventually make it to his room or the bath area but he is not too happy about it. Saturday night, after I took his day clothes off, he dug them out of the dirty clothes area, grabbed his shoes he wore that day, walked over to his door and wanted out of his room. He was crying the entire time he did this and saying "no bed!!!". We eventually were able to get him to crawl into bed but he was still not happy about it.

Last night, he threw a similar fit but did not even want to take a bath. Daddy put Collin's PJs on him (Collin did not help with this process like he usually does) and THEN decided he wanted a bath. Before this, he was telling me "no bath" and "no teeth" (because he did not want to brush his teeth). He cried until we finally got him in bed and I calmly read 3 books to him. He wanted more but we all knew that this was just to delay going to sleep. We stayed in the room while his music played. Daddy rubbed Collin's hair when Collin calmed down and relaxed.

I guess he thinks if he does any of these bed time activities, then he is helping himself get to bed. If he does not, then he does not have to get in bed. It does not work that way and ends up wearing all of us out.

Bouncing, Climbing,Sliding Morning

Collin and I joined hundreds of other kids and parents for a family walk to support the Family Allergy & Anaphylactic Network. After the 2 1/2 mile walk, Collin continued to get a workout by climbing, sliding and bouncing his way through the blow up gyms they had a the park. There were four that were his favorites. He did them all at least 5 times in a row. I knew he was having a good time and thought he would have slept well when we got home. Nope!!! It took him another 4 hours until he was ready for a nap.


Here is one that he had to climb first, slide down the middle, walk to the next set of "stairs" and then slide again. This was his favorite one because big kids were not allowed to be in this one knocking him down.

This is one that big kids were allowed to use and he DID get mad at them when the got too close or made the floor bounce too much. That did not stop him...he continued to go back for more. When he would get to the end of this one, he would clap his hand and say "yeah" like he was cheering for himself. Other people watching him thought it was really funny....which made him do it more.

Here he is giving me orders and letting me know that he is not ready to go.

Balls!!!

Now that Collin is not focused on washing clothes or putting things into the dryer (hallelujah!!), he is back to playing with balls. He wants to read books that he knows has pictures of them and he digs through his toy box to find all of them. He can even carry several at once by using his chin to hold one or two underneath it. While at Target yesterday, I found a box of 4 that had his favorite ones: soccer ball, basketball, baseball and football. Here he is in the car on the way home. He could NOT wait to get home to open the box.

Mr. Manners

Daddy and I have been teaching Collin manners since before he could talk. We wanted to make sure that he had manners and was a polite little boy when he was around others. Some examples are:

The other day when I sneezed, he said "bless you, Mommy". We have not been actively teaching him that phrase but he apparently had been listening.

Whenever we give him something, especially food or drink when he asks, he says "thank you, Daddy" or "thank you, Mommy". Now, he might mix us the reference to Daddy or Mommy but at least he tried and did say thank you.

He does say he is sorry when appropriate and not typically prompted to do so. It's really cute when he does and it really does help when you hear him say this.

Multiple Roundy Rounds

Today, we ran a few errands after relaxing at the house. Collin had no idea that he was going to hit the "roundy round" jackpot today. We were walking down an isle, turned the corner and there they were....millions of roundy rounds!!!! Collin had a hat on and immediately took it off and put it in the first dryer he saw. Since Daddy said it did not work (not plugged in), Collin took his hat out and moved on to the next roundy round until he did this to most of them at the store. We did distract Collin temporarily but he did find his way back to the roundy round section. He must have thought he was in Heaven.

Two Birthday Parties

Collin had two birthday parties to attend today. We first went to Courtney's party and learned to do some gymnastics. The kids started by stretching and then learning the rules of using the equipment. Collin liked jumping on the trampoline and then found a huge ball. The rest of the time, he bounced the ball on the tumbling mat because that make the ball bounce even higher. It was then time for sing a few songs like "Row, row, row your boat" which made him smile and start to sing.










It was then time to eat pizza and then have cake. Collin had his first Caprisun drink. I thought for sure he would get his drink all over him since it's easier to squeeze out than other drinks. He did pretty good though. He was not interested in the cake but he did sing "Happy Birthday" to Courtney. She turned 4 today.

Tonight was Mimi's 58th birthday dinner. We met at a hamburger place. Collin had a hot dog but only ate half of it. He ate a few fries and he was ready to get down and see what Timmy was eating. He wanted to eat Timmy's baby food instead of the rest of his food. It was then time to sing again. Collin helped out since we did practice on the way there. This time, he at TWO pieces of cake. Here is Mimi with her grandsons, Collin, Timmy and Dustin.

Roundy Round - Part 45

Collin continues to wear us out with his obsession to put EVERYTHING in the dryer and want to "wash clothes". My attempts to wear him out or distract him so he will not think about it have failed so far. This afternoon after the birthday party we went to (see the next post), he proceeded to put everything on the second floor into the dryer. Here is a list of what I pulled out when he finally took a nap later this afternoon:

• toilet tissue he unwound
• picture frame from the bathroom
• two large couch pillows
• one small couch pillow
• two bed pillows
• two couch throw blankets
• his stool
• toy tractor
• baby blanket he uses at school
• crib sheet
• his shoes he wore today
• four plastic grocery bags
• paper towel roll
• his medal he got from gymnastics class today
• two balls
• two stuffed animals - piglet and monkey
• wrapping paper - yes, you read that correctly!
• 21 toy cars
• sticker from going to Kroger this am
• a balloon
• telephone from the kitchen

While he napped, I cleared everything out and installed a toddler gate at the entry to the laundry room (no, we cannot shut the door because the laundry equipment is too big. That would be an easy fix until he figured out how to open the door.


Let's see how he reacts when he wakes up.....

It's was a Zoo afternoon

After picking Collin up at school this afternoon, I thought it would be fun to go to the zoo for a few hours. This trip would be different than the others because I cam prepared with Collin's swim gear in case he wanted to play in the water park in the Children's museum. We stopped and looked at the birds and then zebra's on the way to the children's section. Collin liked watching the zebra eat the hay. He kept putting his hand near his mouth and said "zebra eat".

We then headed to the children's section of the zoo. He wanted to walk instead of sitting in his stroller....which is normal for him these days. As soon as he rounded the corner, he saw the water park, yelled "water" and started running towards the gate. I quickly changed him, he went inside and started running threw the water. He found a frog that spit water out periodically. At first, he could not figure out when the water would come out and he would get caught with is face or body right in the middle of it. He met a few buddies while he was there and tried to get them to run through the water. He had a blast and I let him play around in the water until he got tired.....which he did eventually did. I dried him off and we went to play on the playground equipment next to the water park.

After leaving the zoo, he wanted to ride the train just outside the zoo.....so we did. He had a great time watching the cars go by, pointing out the swings and water. Every once in awhile, he could see the front of the train and he said "toot toot" or "choo choo". We checked out the gift shop after the ride but did not find anything that I thought we needed.

After the train ride, we met Ashley and Ella for dinner at Luby's. He tried jello for the first time and did not like it. I tried to get him to eat it again and he was not even interested....even when he saw Ella eat it.

Singing Vidoes

As promised, here are two videos of Collin signing after school last night (which is why he is in his uniform still).

Baby Bumble Bee Song - Collin loves this song because there is a part at the end where we sing that the bee stung us. He likes that part so much that he tends to skip to that part of the song as you will see.

Wheels on the Bus - Since the song can be really long, I shortened for the video it by asking him what to the parts on the bus and the people do. You can see his obsession with the laundry equipment in the video because when we talk about the wheels going round and the doors opening and shutting, he immediately thinks of the laundry room and wants to head that way....which he eventually does.

ABC Song - Here is somewhat sings the ABC song. He usually sings more but you can see that he is busy burning off some energy. He does help me with the end and asking for you to join him next time. Near the end, you see him gathering up the remote controls and walking away. I will give you only one guess were he is headed with them. They must be dirty. ;)

Roundy Round - Part 2

Ok, the Roundy Round is really getting out of hand now. Collin is obsessed with putting things in the washer or dryer and wanting to to it on. He likes to watch the clothes go "roundy round". However, these days, ANYTHING goes in. As soon as he gets home, he says "wash clothes", "roundy round" or something similar to indicate that he wants to wash. If I am really washing clothes and he hears the beep, he stops what he is doing, says "wash" and gets this excited look on his face while running to the laundry room.

Last night, I noticed there was a lot of activity in the living room. Collin was running back and forth from the room to the laundry room while I was cooking. During dinner, I saw that all of the pillows were missing from the couch and that the floor was missing a lot of toys. I found out that the little stinker was able to shove one huge couch pillow, two bed pillows, three blankets and his cars in the dryer (big dryer, huh?) . Here is what the dry looked like after I took the pillows and blankets out.

We are seriously considering putting the gate back up because we cannot do this EVERY night. Plus, he is going to wear the doors out on the equipment before the end of the year.

That's Using His Head

When I am in the kitchen trying to either make a meal or clean up after one, Collin is usually right there wanting to help. He grabs his stool and stands on it near me to be in the action whether that is washing dishes, cutting up fruit or making a meal. If he does not want to help but does want my attention, he has learned to stand between me and the cabinets and then push my legs backwards so I will move away from the counter. I am glad I am flexible because I can still finish doing what I was doing when he starts pushing me. If I still don't budge (nothing I can say will make him stop...he's 2 remember....it's his way or no way at all), he will put his head on my legs, lean into me and push with his head which does finally get me away from the counter. Now, that's using his head!

Also while I am in the kitchen, he likes to bring his bouncing balls in there to play with them. I will tell him "not in the kitchen" and he takes them back out. The other day, the little stinker tested me by driving one of his small cars with his hand over the threshold of the living area and the kitchen. He stopped, looked up at me to see if I was looking and said "not in the kitchen" and then smiled. What a turkey! I, of course, had to suppress a laugh or smile because I did not want this to turn into a game.