We Moved!!!

Well, we did it.....we moved into our new house today. All but a few pictures on the wall are left at the old house. Collin went to school while most of the moving took place. Mimi came over to help unpack boxes. She then went to pick Collin up from school. On the way back to the new house, she asked Collin where he wanted to go and he said "Collin's house". Good answer since he will not be going to "Mommy's house" anymore (well, we have not sold it yet so there might be a time or two that we have to go by and check on it until it's sold). He arrived while I was unpacking the kitchen boxes and wanted to help. He started by helping me with the pantry box. No matter where I had planned for the item to go, Collin put it where he wanted it to go. He then helped put away the aluminum foil and zip lock boxes. The drawer looked like he threw them in there.....which is probably what he did do.

Then, it was time to eat dinner in the new dining room. He ate really good. So far, he was adjusting well to his new house and hand not asked about the other house or when he was going home.

After dinner, we went to his room to unpack boxes and put things away so he would feel "at home" in his new room. He helped me again by moving empty boxes around. Then, we found the bath stuff so he could take a bath which went really well. Mimi helped with that while I continued to unpack. By the time bath time was over, there were no more boxes in his room and everything was put away. We read some books, gave Mimi and Daddy a kiss good night and then Collin got in his crib. I am SOO glad I found Monkey which was waiting for Collin when he got in bed. He cried for a few minutes after I left the room but is sleeping now. Night #1 seems to be going well.

Turkey Trot - Summary

We did the Turkey Trot 2.8 mile family walk Thanksgiving morning which we plan to do every year. Here we are before the walk. Collin is snug in his stroller because it was cold (about 48 degrees). Before it was time for the family walk, we sat at the finish line to watch the runners to come across the finish line thinking Collin would like this. He was more interested in watching the motorcycle and it's lights or the people sitting in the golf cart. It was time to line up to start the family walk and Collin was ready to go....in his stroller.

Collin rode in the stroller most of the time until the last .5 miles. He wanted to get out and walk....except he ran instead. He does not run very straight either. He ran from one side of the street to the other. I was actually shocked he did not fall since he does most of the time when he runs fast like that. I enjoyed watching him run and laugh. He sure did think he was a big boy running with the rest of us. Here we are at the finish line. I was trying to show him that you have to raise your hands above your head when you finish to show that you are happy you are done. He was too busy checking out the people and the other kids.

We had such a great time. I cannot wait to do it again with the family next year.

One More Day.....

Collin has been hanging out with Mimi for a few days while Mommy paints the new house. By the time we move into the new house Monday, almost every room will have been painted....some more than once because Mommy changed her mind a few times.

Tomorrow, the house will be packed to get ready for the move. I am sure Collin will wonder what's going on....especially when his room is packed. At least the new house will not be a shock for him since he has been going over there for the past 2 months now. His first night there might be difficult. That's why I need to be sure to leave Monkey where we can quickly find him so he can comfort Collin on his first night in his new house.

Playing with Lisa, Timmy, Dustin and Mimi wears a boy out

Collin fell asleep on the way home from Mimi's tonight. I had to carry him upstairs, but when I got to the second floor he woke up and I asked if he wanted to eat or go night night he pointed up the stairs. So we went upstairs, I put him in bed and he rolled over and went to sleep. I peeked in on him a few minutes later and nothing he is O U T!!

He did tell me that he played with Timmy, I think he likes his cousin especially now that he is walking around.
Tomorrow is Turkey Day and we are going to do the Turkey Trot 1 mile walk/Run with Collin. I think he will enjoy running the whole mile but we will see. Then on to the families house for lunch and then over to a friends house that just had surgery so it will be an eventful day. We will probably need to go to Collin's House at some point, Laura has been painting and it is starting to look good.

What Did He Say?!?!?

When little kids start learning how to talk, sometimes how they say it is NOT what they are trying to say.

Now that our house is on the market, Daddy wound the grandfather clock up again. It chimes every half hour. Collin is intrigued by it and wants to know why it makes noises. When it goes off, Collin stops what he is doing, points at the clock and says "there's the cock". I am terrible but it's so hard not to laugh. I let him know that it's CLOCK and he repeats with "cock". I guess it could be worse.

A Big Helper

Today, Collin was a big hep running errands with Daddy and helping Mommy get ready to paint. After breakfast and grocery shopping, we headed to Collin's house (what Collin calls the new house) so Mommy could paint. Collin has watched me a few times before get ready to paint so he knew that taping was first. He found the blue tape and wanted to help me tape his room to get ready for a second coat of paint. Here he is taping...and then getting really frustrated that the longer piece of tape started sticking to itself. He got made, shook his hand and made it even worse.

He and Daddy left to run some errands. They came back to pick me up and show me some ceiling fans they found and Daddy really liked. We did not initially get a cart thinking it might be a quick trip. Collin took advantage of this by running up and down the isles. There was a purpose to this running. He was trying to hide from me. Remember, he really likes to hide and have one of us come find him. Home Depot is a HUGE place to play hide-and-seek. Some of the employees got into it and started laughing at how hard Collin would laugh when I found him. Sometimes, he was not paying attention, so it really scared him at first. Well, we did find some ceiling fans during this time. Here is Collin helping Daddy push the cart. He used to like pushing his stroller when he first learned to walk. He has now graduated to carts.

Here Collin is instructing Daddy where to drive the cart after we got out of the store.

Update on the move: We should be moving in a week from tomorrow. The movers come Sunday to pack and then Monday to the new house to unpack. Most of the remodeling should be done. The painting is another story.....most of the rooms should be done which is better than trying to paint with furniture in the way.

Collin's Song

To help Collin go to sleep, we have been singing his song to him at night when we know it will help calm him down and get him in the "sleepy mode". It's a song that his Mimi wrote especially for him. As I sing this song to him, I see how it really calms him down and makes him automatically tired and want to go to sleep.

I love you Collin,

Oh, yes I do,

I love you Collin,

through and through.

When I'm not with you, I'm blue,

Oh, Collin, I love you

Singing this song during the day really makes him made because he DOES associate it with sleeping. Since his is not really interested in naps, the idea of sleeping during the day is not at the top of his list....so he tells us "no sing the song" or "no singing" whe we start the first verse.

I'm Hiding

Collin LOVES to hide. His favorite spot is behind the drapes in our bedroom or bedroom closet when Daddy gets home. He does hide where you cannot see him...that part he has down....however, he is not very quite. When he hears the person looking for him, he yells out "I'm hiding!" which makes us laugh. At night recently, he wants to hide in one of his closets now that it's cleaned out for the upcoming move. Here is a video of him swinging on the clothes rod before bed and then remembering that he likes to hide in there. He stopped swing to including
me in the hiding from Daddy.


Sorry the video is sideways. I actually am smiling thinking of you sitting there turning your head to the side to watch it. :)

Still Washing the Clothes?

Several people have asked if Collin still wants to help wash the clothes. The short answer is "always!". I think he dreams about it at night and cannot wait to get up and do it. Tonight, I casually mentioned it was time to wash the clothes. He immediately stopped what he was doing, hoped up and ran to the laundry room to start putting clothes in the wash. In the video above, he has already been putting the clothes in the washer for a few minutes. At the end, he is not finished wanting to put things in the washer so he wants to open the dryer and throw those clothes in also.

Here he is taking out the toys he threw in the dryer while he impatiently waited for the clothes in the wash to be ready for him to put in the dryer (actually, the video did not turn out...will try again another time). This happens 90% of the time we wash the clothes together.....and when we don't. That's why, I always have to check what's in the washer or dryer before I throw clothes in or start either of them because I could be washing something I did not want to or that should not be in there. One time, he threw his shoes in. That fortunately worked out OK.

Anyone is welcome to come over and take my place when it's time to wash his clothes again next weekend.

Flu Shot and the Band Aid

Since there are a few kids at Collin's school that ended up getting the flu, I decided to get him the regular flu shot. As you can guess, he did yell when he got the shot but quick crying before we left the room. When we got out to the waiting area part, he pulled back his shorts and was showing people his band aid while saying "band aid". How's that for inspiration for the other little kids waiting for the same shot.

We left the doctor's office and then went to get bagels since Collin was asking for Pappy bread (any bread is Pappy bread since Pappy was eating bread many months ago. Collin has associated bread with Pappy ever since). While in line to order bagels, Collin was showing his new band aid to the people behind us. They thought it was funny which made him do it more. We ate there and then left to see Mimi so she could watch Collin for the day while I painted at the new house.

Big Boy on the Potty

Collin has been wearing underwear during the day at school. Most days, he comes home with several bags of wet clothes because pee accidents during the day and he is wearing something different than what he left to school in. He does go in the potty but does not make it every time. He has also been sitting down to pee and not standing up like the big boys do.

Yesterday, when I picked him up, I noticed that he was wearing the clothes he left the house that morning in. I just thought that he must have worn diapers all day for whatever reason. I asked if he had a diaper on and she said "no". I must have had a shocked look on my face because she began to explain that he peed in the potty all day long. She taught him to stand up. I had to see it for myself. I asked Collin if he had to go potty before we got in the car. He said "yes" and then head to the bathroom. I peeked around the corner to see him pulling down his pants and then his underwear. He stood in front of the toilet, peed, flushed, pulled his underwear then pants up, left the restroom, washed his hands, dried them off and threw the paper towel in the trash car. I could NOT believe what I just saw. I told him that he was such a big boy and that I was really proud of him. He smiled and really like hearing that.

I left his underwear on knowing that we were going down the street to Matthew's for a quick visit. After playing together for about 30 minutes, it was time to go since Matthew's parents and he had to leave for church. I asked Collin if he had to potty and he said "yes". I took him to Matthew's bathroom and Collin proceeded to do the same thing he did at school just an hour before. Again, I told him he was a big boy.

I had to call and tell Grandma H, Daddy and Mimi what Collin just did. Now, we know he can do it consistently. Weekends are hard especially with all of the errands and going between both houses right now until we move but he seems to be catching on to this potty thing.

Tattoo Buddies

Tatto Buddies and High Fives all around what a night. It all started with Collin challenging me tequila shots. He held tough but started to stumble after 8 shots. Then we went into some seedy clubs on the strip and ended up in the Tatto parlor daring each other to get one. So as father and son we had tattoos put on our arm. I have to admit Collin was a bit tougher than I was. Although I did hear him let out a yelp when the needle first hit his arm while I just wimpered the whole time. But it was all worth it in the end because now I have something forever that I can share with my son.

Another Big Truck, Where did the bus go

On the way to school in the morning we are now counting big trucks in an effort to get him to learn his numbers 1 through 10. He still wants to skip number 3 but we keep trying. It is my lifes goal to make sure he knows that 3 comes after 2 not 4. Sp for those of you who were wondering the order of importance it goes like this:
1. Tractor
2.Bus
3. Big Truck
but if a motorcycle is in the area it always trumps everything especially if the person is wearing a helmet, then I get to hear about the helmet. but then he asked where did the tractor go. He did not forget the tractor he just got sidetracked by the motorcycle.

He now knows his teachers names:
Ms. Eva and Ms Maria and he knows most of his classmates names as well.

Mockingbird

Collin is in the mockingbird stage. He loves to repeat words or phrases we say. If Daddy and I are talking to each other, Collin is right there to repeat words he we cannot hear each other the first time. He knows he is doing this and smiles every time he finishes repeating the words.

Sorry not much posting lately. We are busy trying to sell our house and remodel our new one....in our spare time after work and on the weekends.

Questions and More Questions

We are right in the middle of the question period of a toddler's life. Collin will ask "whatcha doin'?", wait for the answer, then ask "whatcha doin'?" again. This can go on for 20 minutes if you don't distract him and have him focus on something else. If he does not ask "whatcha doin'?", he is asking "what's that?" He will ask that question over and over again. I knew this period of his life would happen and think it's a lot of fun to hear Collin asking the questions knowing that he wants to know what's going on around him and what we are doing. I know this is part of learning for him and being a parent for us. I love it.

I Got Carded!!!

I have been using flash cards to teach Collin colors, animals, and other objects since he was about 9 months old. The last few evenings, Collin has wanted to get his cards and go through them with either Daddy or I. To go through them, he usually dumps the cards out of the box, stacks them in a pile, tells me what the object is on the card on top, moves the card over to the right (yes, always to the right) and then says what's on the next card. We he finishes, the pile, he puts the cards back in the box, dumps them out and does it all over again.

This is the way he has done it until this weekend. Instead of leaving the card on the pile, he stood up, picking the card up off the pile, held it in front of his chest with the picture facing me and then told me what is was. He knew he was right, so he started to shake his he up and down as if he were saying to himself, "yep, you are right".

Today while at the new house, he found his cards on his desk in the play room. He opened the box and dumped the cards out. I was in the room cleaning it and thought to myself that he was going to go through his cards again. Instead of his usual way to go through them, he held the first card up in front of his chest as I described above, then asked me "what is it?". At first , I thought he did not know and was really asking me, so I told him "egg" because that is what it was. He shook his head "yes", put the card down, picked up another card and asked me again "what is it?" Little Turkey was "carding me" and giving me a taste of my own medicine. I thought it was hilarious and played along with him....building wonderful memories.

SHH! You have to whisper Daddy's Asleep

Laura asked Collin to be quite this morning as I work a late night ride last night and did not get in until 5:30am and needed to sleep in a bit. About 8:30am Collin comes in the room after escaping from Laura (Because he is fast and sneaky, I will tell you more about that later) he climbs into bed gets under the covers and whispers "HI DADDY ARE YOU SLEEPING" and continued asking until I acknowledged him. I did and then pull the covers up over him and he pretended to sleep for about 2 seconds and then decided to leave. Of course, I could not go back to sleep so it was up and going.

Now on to the sneaky and fast part. Later in the day we were at the new house and I fell asleep with the windows open. They had a screen on them so no worries. Laura was working in the kitchen and Collin was running around the house. Laura said it got real quiet and got concerned came into the room. I was in and there was no Collin, she found him outside near the garage looking through the fence of the neighbors yard looking at their pool. When she brought him back in the house she asked him how he got out and he pointed to the window where he knocked out the window screen. So first lesson with the new house.

Halloween 2009

For this Halloween, we attended a Halloween parade and party in our new neighborhood. We did not make the parade because Collin did not want to get dressed. I did come prepared with two costumes in case he did not want to wear one of them. Well, he did not want to wear either of them. One was a skeleton which he called Bones and the other was a Longhorn football player. I almost had Bones on and decided he needed a shirt on underneath since it was getting cooler outside and his back was exposed. That started a Collin fit that lasted about 20 minutes. I finally go him to wear at least his Longhorn shirt but nothing else of that costume. We headed outside to find where the parade was and ended up meeting it from the opposite direction. The crowd headed our way was ENORMOUS. We underestimated what the parade and party would be like. There must have been at least 500 people there. They all ended up at a house that was ready with all sorts of food...hot dog, chips, and other snacks. Collin enjoyed some goldfish and watching the kids run by all dressed up. Eventually, the kids started to trick or treat down the street so we headed back to our new house. Collin did knock on our neighbor's door and got a big back of chocolate candy. Mommy and Daddy were happy to have that.....ate a few pieces while walking back to our house.