MRI Update

Collin's MRI was this afternoon. The doctor ordered this MRI to rule out other reasons that might be the cause of his swollen optic nerve.

Daddy took him and took really good care of him. Since the MRI was to last almost an hour, they needed to sedate him so they had to arrive over an hour before the appointment. Daddy said this was the hardest part. Collin cried and did not want to IV in the back of his hand. I don't blame him. I hate IVs and especially if they are in the back of my hand. Daddy held onto Collin while they were doing this. He said that Collin fell asleep quickly. Here are pictures of him getting his hospital band on and then right after the IV.

After the MRI, Collin woke up easily and told Daddy that he was a big boy and did not cry because of the IV. He was still a little groggy when he said this to him. Here he is just waking up.

As we were told by others, Collin was cranky and not himself on the way home. He was yelling at Daddy that he could buckle himself into his own seat...which he can do but was not doing it quick enough. Once they got home, Collin was acting like he did not just have anesthesia. He was in a great mood and playing hide and seek which he really likes to do these days. He will hide and then tell use to say "Where's Collin?". We then pretend to look for him. He can do this for hours. He was even a little hungry and REALLY thirsty. He was so full of energy that he had a hard time settling down and finally went to sleep a little before 10am.

We should hear the results of the MRI by the end of the week.

Shhh......Mommy was a little crazy tonight

Tonight after dinner, I needed to run an errand. Daddy had to go to the shop so I needed to take Collin with me. When we arrived, he remembered that there were water fountains by the shops and he wanted to look at them. I told him that we could after shopping. I kept my promise and let him check the water out.

At the first fountain, I gave him a few pennies to throw in the fountain. He REALLY loved this...cheap thrill too. We then kept walking to another water area I knew about. For whatever reason, I thought it would be fun to see what he did when he saw the small water pad that was by the grocery store. He stood there for a few minutes and had this HUGE grin on his face. I asked him why he was smiling so much and he asked me if he could get in the water. Not expecting me to say "Yes", I did. He still did not get in the water because he thought he was not supposed to...especially since he had his school clothes on. I did not have a towel or was prepared to get wet. We were just going home to take a bath, so I thought it would be fun for him to run through the water......and he did. He had so much fun. This video is a short version of the full one that shows him checking everything and telling me what he was doing including telling me that "my butt is getting wet Mommy!!!"

Day full of Soccer Tots, Dogs and Friends

Today was Collin's first day at Soccer Tots. On the way to soccer, Collin said he did not want to see the bunny. Daddy quickly figured out that Collin was talking about the Bunny that was a mascot at the professional soccer game that we saw a few weeks ago. We assured him that there would not be bunnies on the field.

Collin did great at soccer. At first, he was shy and did not want to participate. Then, Daddy got involved and helped him out. He had really good foot control, followed directions really well and really tried to do what the Coach (Coach Juan) told him what to do. I think Collin had a lot of fun. At least he ran around a lot, laughed and helped clean up when the lesson was over. Plus, his friend, Melia, is in the class. Let's see how the 10 more lessons go.










Here are two videos of him working on his skills. The hula hoops are to help him with agility (he is supposed to jump backwards into eachof them) and kicking the cones was for aiming. After they kicked them all over, they had to put a foot in the hole of the bottom of the cone and then pick it up with that leg while standing on the other leg.

After soccer, we went to support a friend of ours that is starting a Cocker Spaniel Dog Rescue organization. Today was a fundraiser. I thought I would be holding Collin the entire time because he is typically so scared of dogs. I did have to hold him for the first 15 minutes that we were there. Then, he did get down and started petting the dogs. I could not believe my eyes. He especially liked the dogs that were locked up the in cages. Then, we watched the dogs perform with their owners. He really liked this and clapped when each dog finished their tricks.




After a nap for Mommy and Collin, Alex, Ellie and their parents came over for dinner and swimming. While I was making dinner, the kids and Daddies went to the front yard to do the Slip N Slide. I think Daddy had the most fun. The kids figured out to slide on their knees or belly. Collin mainly slid on his knees because he was a little scared to slid on his belly. Then, it was time to swim. There was more water gun squirting than swimming though. Collin ended up with two guns which was not good for me. I really did not want to get wet (I did not have my suit on) and ended up getting fairly wet. Then, it was dinner time. We ate outside because the night was really nice. The kids did not eat too much because they really wanted to ride on the toys in the backyard or dig in the dirt.

Collin went to bed before 9pm tonight. That's not really early but maybe he will sleep hard to night.

"Are you feeling better Mommy?"

I was not feeling so good yesterday....actually not feeling good for most of the week but woke up yesterday feeling the worst I had all week. Once Daddy left for work, Mimi came over to the rescue to help with energetic Collin. They sure did have a great time. Throughout the day, I took 4 naps for at least an hour each. When I woke up, Mimi told me what they had done while I was asleep each time:

• Puzzles
• Dig in the dirt in the front yard
• Ride his motorcycle or scooter in the house or in the backyard
• Play in the backyard
• Watch movies such as Dinosaurs and Stuart Little
• Play in his playroom
• Play with his stuffed animal friends and his new dinosaur puppets we got him for his birthday
• Colored in his coloring book
• Played Candy Land, checkers and other games that we have

I am sure I left some things off the list. Collin was not bored and LOVED having Mimi over for the day. He did take a nap himself for about 2 hours which he really did need. Occasionally, he would come over to me and ask "Are you feeling better Mommy?" or "Mommy, are you sick?" to check on me. What a sweet little boy (I did not know that later in the day, he would add being sick to his list of excuses for not being able to do something that he did not want to do at the moment).

Mimi must have worn him out. He went to bed about 20 minutes earlier than usual and slept in over an hour later...not getting up until after 8:20am. Thanks Mimi!!!

.....and what a year it was. Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to the next year in Collin's life. We have had a great time so far and would not change a thing. We love you Collin!!!

Scooter Time!

Collin has been fascinated with scooters since he saw the neighborhood boys riding one. As you might recall from one of the posts, he watched the boys enough, that one day, when the scooter was not being used by anyone, Collin got on it and taught himself how to ride it. At first, it would not go very far but then he figured out how to work it.

So, when Mimi came over to watch him on her usual Thursday night, he was SOOOO happy to see that she brought a scooter over with her. She has had this one at her house and brought it over that night thinking Collin would like to ride it. He LOVED it and has ridden it every day. He now not only pushing off with his foot but will put the push off foot next to his other foot to ride with both feet. I taught him how to steer today and he practiced that for the rest of the day. When Daddy got home, the first thing Collin did was to show Daddy what he learned on his scooter today.

This is a brief video of him in the backyard. Like the no shoes or helmet? Shhhhh....don't tell Daddy! It's brief because he got distracted......just like a 3 year old....no focus....or not very long.

Oh, Collin the Puppy still comes over to play. Today, he waited until the end of the day. Probably to prolong the time to start his bath. Nice try, it did not work.

Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Last night, Collin had his friends, sisters Saige and Linden, come over for pizza, swim and fun. When they got here, Collin and Saige were not too hungry. They would rather play in his playroom instead of eating. I left him so pizza out in case he changed his mind later (which he did not do).

I found out how helpful Collin is. Linden was tyring to figure out the Sit N Spin. He got on and showed her out to do it "See, turn the wheel like this Linden". Then he told her it was here turn. She had a hard time getting on so he tried to help by pushing her on...but that did not work as well as he thought. Then, Saige wanted to ride Collin's new scooter (more on that later) and he showed her how to do it. She did not ever figure it out but did try her best a few times.

The kids were having so much fun playing that we thought they would not be interested in swimming. They ended up in Collin's room because he wanted to show them his "big boy bed". Saige climbed on and started throwing the pillows and blankets off. I knew that she was about to jump because her and Collin do this all the time at her house...but on a couch and not on a bed that is being held up with some plywood. I did tell her that she could not jump on the bed.....and she listened but kept trying a few more times after that. Linden joined in on the action. Instead of just telling them no jumping, their mom and I started to say the "Monkeys jumping on the bed" saying and this worked. They walked on the bed but no more jumping attempts. Then, they started putting puzzles together in his room and Saige finally remembered that it was time to swim.

We swam for about 45 minutes. Collin and Saige practiced putting their face in the water and holding their mouth closed. Saige is a MUCH better swimmer than Collin. He still does not want to put his face in the water but at least he let me take him away from the step area to hold on my arm and kick.

The girls did have to leave because it was there bed time soon. We all had a great time...and the girls mommy, Kristen, loved that they slept in an extra hour the next morning. Hmmm....this might be a weekly event for them. Collin stayed up until almost 10pm and then got up around 7:15am which is his normal time.

Any Excuse

These days, Collin will give any excuse he can think of to get out of doing something. He has come up with some really creative ones. Yesterday, I wanted him to put his shoes on so we could meet some friends for dinner. The conversation went like this:

Mommy: "Collin, put your shoes on"
Collin: "I can't. My legs are broken"

Translation: "I don't want to"

He has used this broken leg excuse before. Lots of times, his back hurts so he cannot climb into his bed by himself, his finger has hurt so he cannot pull up his shorts (see a theme here?) or he has chicken stuck in his teeth so he cannot finish brushing his teeth. What an imagination! I really try hard to not either laugh when he says these things or encourage him to continue with the excuses, but it does not seem to deter him much. Actually, I don't think he gave me any tonight.

New "Puppy"

For the past several days, Collin has crawled around on the floor and barked like a puppy. When I talk to him or ask him questions, he replies with "ruff, ruff". He likes for me to scratch behind his ears or his head when he is in "puppy mode". I am not sure what started all of this because he will not talk during this time. If I ask him when he is Collin again, he will revert back to being a puppy. I guess this is him using his imagination.

Block Party

Collin had two parties today. One was his birthday party (see previous post) and the other was the annual BBQ block party that started 2 1/2 hours after his birthday party ended. This year, it was at the end of our cul-de-sac so it was VERY convenient. There was a fire truck there for the kids to check out, a dunking both, pig races with stuffed animals, LOTS of BBQ and other food and 1000 water balloons....yep, ONE THOUSAND water balloons. Collin mainly wanted to stand and watch the kids play with the dunking booth. If we would have let him, he would have sat over the booth to be dunked himself. He finally started to play with some other boys that were his age. We all participated in the water balloon fight. Collin was really proud of himself when he threw a balloon at me and it hit me.

He did not want to go inside when it was time to go in. He and I put a puzzle together and played with some of his new toys. He also showed Grandma H his train set that Aunt Lisa and Uncle Paul got him for Christmas. After a slight fight to get in the tub, he finally did. He got out and he brushed his teeth really good like he usually does. I read three books to him and then put the CD in for Puff the Magic Dragon. He crawled in bed and was snoring within 3o minutes. Daddy is still hanging out with the neighbors (it's 11pm).

Collin's 3rd Birthday

Collin had a great time at his birthday party this morning. The following friends came to his pool party:

Mimi and Pappy
Grandma Filla
Grandma H
Timmy, Lisa, Paul and Dustin
Matthew, Jacob, Maria and Tony
Isa, John, Jenny and Jay
Jacob and Susan
Saige and Todd
Alex, Ellie, Chad and Diana

We swam first. Collin, Jacob and Alex where swimming in floats and decided to have a race in the pool. Jacob is REALLY competitive and kicked he way to the front each time. Collin still had a good time even though his float was losing air (maybe that is why he was last?). Everyone seemed to have fun in the pool. After about an hour, kids started getting out because they were hungry. Good, because I was ready with hot dogs, peanut butter jelly sandwiches, strawberries and grapes. I could not believe how quite it was when everyone was eating....especially with that many kids under 4 sitting around a table.



Then, it was time to sing Happy Birthday and for Collin to blow out his candle. As soon as we finished singing, Collin knew to blow his candle out. He had a cake with Mickey and Minnie Mouse on it plus a Monkey cupcake cake. Collin LOVES Mickey Mouse if you have not already figured that out yet, so the theme of his party was Mickey. Everyone left after eating cake and getting cleaned up. We did not open presents in front of his friends because 3 year olds don't understand that it's a present and not theirs just because they brought it.





Some of the kids hung out and destroyed Collin's play room in a matter of minutes. They were having a great time so why stress over it, right? Collin did help us clean his room up after everyone left.


We did open his present from Mimi and Pappy before they left. They gave him a grocery cart which he loves. He plays with Saige's cart every time he is at her house so now he has one of his own. Later, he opened most of his other presents. Toy Story themed toys were mainly what he got in addition to some puzzles and lots of books from us and Grandma H.

Here is a video of Collin opening some presents from us and Grandma H (that is her voice you hear in the background). He is MUCH better at opening gifts compared to last year. :)

Even after all of that activity, it still took me 30 minutes to get him to take a nap. He slept for less than 2 hours.

Collin's Birthday Celebration at School

This morning, Daddy and I participated in Collin's birthday party celebration at school. What they do for every child in the class for their birthday is sit around in a circle and talk about the birthday boy/girl and the milestones they celebrated at each year. Once a year is discussed, then the child walks around the circle holding a globe to signify that they are a year older. Once the birthday year is met, then the child walks around with a poster that represents the child's favorite food, color, movies, TV shows, things to do, etc. Collin made his own poster after I talked to him about the categories. He glued the items on the poster and did not spare any glue while doing it. Then, after walking around with the poster, the child sits in the center of the circle for the class to sign Happy Birthday and then the child blows out the candle.












Collin was happy to have us there but did sit with his buddies in the circle instead of clinging to us. I was really happy about that and proud of him. However, he did NOT want to walk around with the globe. Daddy did it for him and the other kids thought that was REALLY funny. When it came time to walk around with his poster, he did do this and repeatedly pointed to the strawberries on the poster. He really likes strawberries these days. Daddy had to sit with him in the middle of the circle to listen to the birthday song before Daddy had to blow out the candle.






We also brought cookies for Collin to pass out during lunch. We brought our own lunch and ate with him. He had pizza, yogurt and some of Daddy's Cheetos. He did not eat his carrots. When it was time for him to go outside and play, he was fine to give us a kiss bye and stand in line with his friends. Our boy is growing up.

Swim Lesson Report

Mimi picked up Collin from school yesterday and took him to his swim lessons. He did really well based on her report:

Collin enjoyed his private swim lessons and was adorable. His teacher is very lovable. Collin put his face briefly in the water into rings and kicked on his tummy holding a stick with floats on each end. He jumped from side of pool to his teacher. At the end of 30 minutes, the teacher pushed him around on a huge mat. After the lessons, Collin enjoyed watching teens exercise and noticed the exercise equipment.

Collin is doing well in his Primary class

Here is Collin's first report from his teacher, Ms. Kristine, about how he is doing in class. We were expecting an adjustment period based on what we heard from other parents when their toddler moved up to Primary. It really was not that bad...probably more rough on Collin than us. He was exhausted the first few days and went to bed at least 30 minutes earlier than he normally did. He is back to his regular night time schedule of going to be by 9:30pm. I wish it was earlier but this way, I get to spend more time with him when I get home.

Tomorrow, Daddy and I are going to bring cookies to school for Collin's birthday celebration. I told him about it tonight, and he seemed really excited about it. He is more excited about his pool party Saturday with his friends. He started listing them off.....Phew.....I did invite the 'buddies' he mentioned tonight....and a few others.

"I'm Coughing"

Collin has started to try or say anything to delay going to bed. Tonight, he wanted to play with his kitchen in his playroom because he needed to make me some food. I thought we could spend 10 minutes doing this. He, of course, was not ready to read books because he knew that meant it was time to go to bed.

Once I finally got him into the bed, he did lay down and started to arrange his buddies in his bed around him and then put one of the pillows between his legs (a new thing he started doing a few weeks ago). Then, he sat up and said he wanted some water. I told him that he could not have any because he was already in bed. He started to fake cough and then said "I am sick. Did you hear me cough? I need some water Mommy". Ugh!!! He did not need water and he was not really coughing. I continued to tell him that he could not have water tonight and would have to wait to drink some in the morning.

What will he try tomorrow night?

"Mommy, this is ......"

Collin has had a really good appetite at dinner since he was moved to Primary class at school. He is either not eating lunch during the day so he is hungry at night or he is working up an appetite because he is learning and playing so hard during the day. Typically at night, it can be a fight to get him to eat something else besides cereal. Like yesterday, he ate a variety of food and in large quantities, for him. He ate two small pieces of cheese, about 20 purple grapes, one tortilla rolled up and a medium serving of meat lasagna (I was most impressed with this especially since he did not want to eat it at first). He also did not drink all of his drink either. I have been working on him to not drink all of his drink first which makes him too full to eat much of his meal. Tonight, there was half of his drink left when said he was full. Making progress......

After dinner, instead of watching TV or a movie, we went to his playroom. He really did not want to be in there and wanted to watch TV instead. I pulled out a few games which did not peak his interest....until the Memory Game. This is the game where you match two like cards together. He did really well at this game. After he matched 3 sets of cards together, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I don't want to play this anymore." I asked him why and he told me "this game is boring". What!! I had not heard him use "boring" before so I asked where he learned that word. He said that Jacob, a friend from school, used it today when he was playing a game. My son, the sponge.

Looking for Bugs

This morning, Collin, Daddy and I hunted for bugs in the backyard. He brought home a bug bag that had a magnifying glass, a bug scoop and bug container. We decided to use it this morning in the back yard. I see bugs out there all the time so I just KNEW we would find some today. We did but only the really fast ones. We tried to catch a few of them but they all got away from us. I think Collin had fun anyway.

After hunting bugs, we did chores in the backyard which consisted of pulling weeds, cleaning out the pool skimmers and then watering the plants at the side of the yard. While I was doing this, Collin was riding his motorcycle underneath the water arch. We were not in a hurry this morning so I decided to have some fun with him. When he was riding through one time, I moved the water down just enough to graze his hair and get it wet. He laughed really hard at this and then wanted to do it again. We did that over and over until he was soaked! Hmmmmm.....we had no other choice but to go swimming......which we did for about 30 minutes.

Movie Night at Jacob's House

Last night, Collin went to movie night at his buddy, Jacob's, house. Jacob had a friend, Emily, that was over and spending the night because her parents were out on a date last night. The kids played for a little while in Jacob's playroom waiting for the pizza to arrive. Then, they ate pizza before it was bath time. The idea was to take a bath before the movie so they would be ready for bed after the movie...or if any one of them did not make it through the movie. ;)

All three of them took a bath together and did great. Emily was the only one that did not mind water in her face and started to pour water on Jacob's head. Neither he nor Collin like water on their head or eyes. Jacob quickly let her know that he did not like that. Otherwise, the bath was uneventful. Then, PJ dressing time was interesting. They all tried to put their PJs on. Jacob did OK except putting his underwear on backwards. Collin is still in a pull-up diaper at night, so I had to help him with this.

Each kid settled onto the couch with their favorite items. Monkey stayed home, so Collin borrowed a blanket and Mickey Mouse from Jacob. This worked fine for him. I noticed later that he snuck three little cars under the blanket with him. They settled down to watch Ice Age 3. Jacob made it through the entire movie without getting up. Emily was the first to abandon the couch and start playing with the train set that was set up right in front of the couch. Then, Colin was next. They played fairly quiet and watched the movie at the same time.

All of them were exhausted after the movie. We went home so Collin would be in his own bed for the night. It took another hour to get him to finally go to sleep. He probably dreamt of the fun he had that night over at his buddies.

Monkey

You have read about Monkey many, many times. This is Collin's bud and has been since he was around 3 months old. Grandma H bought Monkey during one of our many shopping trips getting ready for Collin's arrival. Who knew out of all of the stuffed animals, small blankets and other "lovies" that Collin would chose Monkey to be "the one". This little guy really started to be his buddy when he broke his leg in Arizona in December 2008. Monkey was there to comfort him after we got back from the emergency room and when he had to take his pain medicine. Monkey was really important to him when we went to the doctor to talk about and get his leg case on. Talk about a TON of noise and commotion for a 15 month old. Monkey did great soothing Collin on the way home...and they have been best buds ever since. When Collin has a tough time going to sleep, give him Monkey and he calms down quicker and then rolls over to fall asleep.

Monkey does not leave the house though so he does not get too dirty or.....more importantly, left somewhere or lost. Mimi has a spare Monkey at her house for when Collin is there and if Monkey were ever to disappear or otherwise need replacing.

This is a picture of Monkey Collin took with my phone. I think he did a great job. Can't you see the love in just the focus of this picture on Monkey? haha

Potty Training Update

Collin is still doing great with going in the potty when he is awake. He now does not need the incentives of "cranberries" (gummy candy) if he goes poop in the potty. I really like that because I would rather not have to give him anything.

He is still wetting every other day or so during nap time at school and almost every night. We are working on not giving him drinks after dinner and too close to bed time. I also try to get him to go potty after we read books or at least before he goes to bed. I am not sure where he keeps it but his pull-up diaper is SOAKED in the mornings when he gets up. Still making progress though...................

"Jacob Did It"

The "stories" have started with Collin. Tonight, I saw that he had a scratch on the side of his cheek and asked him how he got it. The conversation went like this:

Mommy: Collin, how did you get that scratch on your cheek?
Collin: Jacob did it (Jacob is a boy in his new class)
Mommy: Oh, really? What happened?
Collin: He pushed me. Charlotte did too. (She used to be in his other class but he might have seen her on the playground. Maybe he is not stretching the truth....yet)
Mommy: Did the teacher do something about it?
Collin: She pushed me too (wow, we are really not getting anywhere). I didn't cry Mommy. I am a really big boy now.
....few minutes later.....
Collin: I need to sit down because my cheek hurts. Put my pillow over here because my feet hurt too. Mommy, now my throat hurts. (ugh!)

OK, that's it. He liked the attention he was getting. Of course he did. This not the first "stretched truth" he has given before. I can tell it's going to be fun trying to figure out when he is telling the truth or not.

"Good Night....Sleep Tight"

In the mornings before we leave the house (whether it be for school or on the weekends), Collin will sometimes gently tuck his buddies back into his bed. As he is doing this, he covers at least Monkey up with Monkey's blanket, kisses each of them and tells them "good night and sleep tight". What a sweet little boy.

Later tonight, I heard him through the monitor talking to his buddies in his regular voice and then he started whispering to them. Not sure what he said but it was probably about going to sleep.

Night Time Singing

The last two nights, instead of me singing songs to Collin. he starts the song and wants me to sing with him. He knows most, if not all, of the words to the following songs or nursery rhymes we song tonight:

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Bingo including the "Collin" verse of "There was a little boy on the farm and Collin was his name-0, C-O-L-L-I-N....
Itsy, Bitsy Spider
Hickory Dickory Dock
Mary had a Little Lamb
Ring Around the Rosie
Baa Baa Black Sheep which he calls this song "Three Bags Full"
Pop Goes the Weasel
Muffin Man
1, 2, Buckle My Shoe

Lots of songs, I know....but, at the end of singing, he is really tired and ready to fall asleep. I enjoy singing iwht me and listening to him sing all of the words to the songs. My little boy is growing up.

Bike Ride to School

Instead of riding in the car to school yesterday, Daddy rode his bike pulling Collin along in the trailer. It took about an hour to get there and Collin had a blast.....and Daddy had a workout!

Here is a summary of what Collin said along the ride:

• "Go faster" or "faster, faster!!!"



• "I like the bumps daddy" and if there were not bumps soon enough, he said "are there anymore bumps? I like the bumps Daddy."



• Going down the hill...."wheeee!!!"



• "I'm sweaty" and then wiped his forehead with a sweat rag (all Holmes have these).



• As they were going up the hill..."this is too slow"



• "Where are you going now Daddy?"

Daddy said that the entire ride was this way. Collin had some much fun that he asked to ride his bike to school this morning....but they did not. They are both looking forward to riding to school again Thursday.

"Pants on the Ground" or "Shake Your Bon-Bon"

For those of you that have been following this blog for months know, you might recall that Collin shook his bottom back and forth and said "shake your bon-bon". I laughed so hard when I first saw him do it. Since then, he does this regularly and it's always entertaining....especially when others are in the room that have not seen him do this before. I have been wanting to capture this on video but he finishes as soon as he starts.

Well.....this weekend, Matthew's parents were able to get Collin's booty shake on video. He usually shakes his "bon bon" more but I think he was shy because everyone else was watching him. That's Daddy in the background singing "pants on the ground" which started with American Idol. I am sure most of you know the obnoxious song. To see more pictures and video's, check out Matthew's blog (see the blog list on the right).

Eye Doctor - All Day

Today, we went to the local children's hospital to have Collin's eyes checked. This was a follow up visit from a few months ago to see if his swollen optic nerve on the right eye had changed. Collin did FANTASTIC while we were there almost 4 hours. He sat still when the technician checked his eyes and asked him to tell her the name of the object projected on the wall. She was amazed when he said "telescope" for a pair of binoculars (why would a almost-3-year-old know this anyway?). She then had to take pictures of his eyes. He was a little fidgety for this but it had already been three hours and past lunch time (I brought plenty of snacks and drink for him fortunately). I could not believe that he did not pull the patch off of his eye when she was testing each eye separately. Here are pictures of him having a snack, watching the TV in the exam room and the "patch" test.

The results of today's visit are that the optic nerve is still swollen and has not changed. She wants him to get a MRI for her to see behind the eye to make sure she is not missing anything. That appointment is at the end of the month.

Collin's Abstract Paintings

Collin saw me painting the pictures for his room and wanted to paint too. I was prepared for this when I bought the supplies and made sure I bought two smaller canvases for him to paint on....which is what we did this morning. He painted with brushes, round and square sponges and his hands (towards the end). I was surprised at how long he lasted painting which was more than he has EVER sat while coloring or anything else involving crafts. While painting, he made sure to tell me that the paint was wet and don't touch it. He learned to say this when I was painting the pictures for his room. He also told me what he was painting which was a boat and lots of water.....so he called his painting Boat in the Water.

Art and Collin's Big Boy Bed

Collin is now is his big boy bed. This is the bed I mentioned I painted the other weekend. I had to paint the bed because it has been in storage at grandma's house since it was last used years ago. Mimi and Aunt Nancy used the bunk beds when they were little and then Aunt Lisa and I did when we were growing up. Lisa slept on the bottom bunk and I was on the top. The plan is for Collin to have only one of the beds in his room until he is much older to have both beds in there as bunk beds. That will be fun though because his cousins and friends can spend the night with him in his room....probably no sleeping will happen but I bet they will have fun.

We picked it up Friday and Collin's first night in it was Friday night. He did great! I think having his twin mattress on the floor for a few months first to get used to it helped him transition to his bed. I do have a rail on the side of the bed to keep him from falling out which he has already used a few times. As part of moving into his big boy bed, I painted some starts around his windows (he LOVES stars) and painted four pictures to go above his bed. I thought at first that I could buy these pictures but then thought I would enjoy it more, and maybe he would too, if I painted them. I was not sure how they would look but I had to try....and it was less expensive this way too which was great. Here is how his room turned out. I think he likes it because he has talked about the stars and his bed since I finished it.

He gets to paint his own art to hang on the wall today. That should be interesting for both of us.