Birthday and Bounce

This morning, we went to the birthday party that we tried to go to last weekend (see last Saturday post).  Collin LOVED seeing the fish.  I, and everyone else there, heard "there goes another one!" for the first hour of the party.  The room was great because we had our private view of the fish, sharks and sting rays.  I would have said that looking at the fish was his favorite part of the party until we saw the penguins.  I think he could have sat there for more than the 20 minutes that he did.  I was ready to walk around.  Were he sat was great because he could see them dive into the water and then see them swimming really fast in the water...sometimes spinning around in the water. 

Then, it was our turn to have a special visit at the back of the penguin place to see a penguin up close.  Collin was not sure what to think at first because the King Penguin was as tall as he was.  Her name was Lux and she liked people watching her but preferred to have it be a little more quiet than it was with 12 kids in the room with her.  At one point, she yelled out and Collin was a little surprised by that but did not cry. 

After cake, one for each kid (say sugar rush!!!) and opening presents, we all got to turn around the aquarium.  Collin was only interested in looking into all of the tanks.  His favorite this time was the seal and the sharks.  We spent about an hour doing this before we headed to the bike shop. 

We went to the bike shop because the shop was having a a kick-off party for the MS 150 season.  Collin wanted to go because he saw the bounce house I showed him on Facebook (thanks for helping by posting it Daddy!).  He bounced for an hour until it was time to take the bounce house back.  When he finished, he was really sweaty and needed a drink.  I hope it wore him out for Daddy tonight since it's a boys night at the house.  I have a wedding shower to go to with Mimi.

Getting Away With It? Nope!

Collin is a typical 3-year old that pushes the limits to see what he can get away with.  If he knows that got caught at doing something he is not supposed to do or that we just asked him not to do, he turns around and says "Mommy (or Daddy), I love you" and then give the biggest smile.  It's hard not to laugh or grab him up and give him a big hug when he does that but....he will know that he won if we do AND continue to get away with doing something he is not supposed to do. 

Last night after dinner, he went to his room for a little bit and then came back out with his pants off and diaper on.  He was putting on his PJs.  Daddy told him that he needed to take a bath.  Collin stopped what he was doing, looked at both of us and stuck out his lower lip.  I had to turn away because I was laughing inside WAY too hard.  Collin thought that if he put his PJs on that he did not have to take a bath.  Sorry little dude, you have that one wrong.  He did eventually want to take a bath.  Daddy helped with this one while I straighted the house up a little and got my own PJs on.  I came into the bathroom and Collin was playing with his army men in there.  He has been doing this for a few days now...ever since Mimi started it one night when she was over.  Who knew these army men were great bath toys too?

Race Day

While Collin was spending the morning with his friends, I was racing in a duathlon.  This one was a 3 mile run, 15 mile bike and 2 mile run.  This was similar to the one I did in October but this one was a longer distance and MUCH colder.  It was 47 and did not warm up that much.  It was supposed to be 39 when I was looking at the weather earlier in the week so 47 was a "heat wave".  hahaha.  I finished the race with a time of 1:41 which was 10 for the age group they put me in.  I thought I did really well for the amount of training I am able to do.  I look forward to the next race.  Daddy was there too because the bike shop organized the race. He was on the microphone most of the time.  He is entertaining while doing this a such a natural. 

After the race, I was dropped off at the house to get cleaned up (finally!) while Daddy picked Collin up from Saige's house.  I could tell he had fun.  He told me about the donut holes he ate for breakfast and his teacher that morning (he was in Sunday School at church).  All three of us took a much needed nap for almost 2 hours.  We had a quick lunch, and then went to the grocery store.  Collin was a little turd and probably could have used a longer nap.

That night, we went over to a friend's house for dinner.  Each couple was at the race that morning and either ran in the race or supported someone in the race.  You would not have guessed it based on the energy levels though....probably because we all had toddlers there.  Collin had fun playing with his new friends.  All were boys except for the token little girl.  She did really well hanging out with the boys.  There were several fights, lots of tears but mostly lots of fun.  Collin ate salmon tonight and really liked it.

We left before 9pm and Collin was in bed about 30 minutes after that.  What a weekend!  I am ready for work just so I can sit in one place.....but, the weekend really was over WAY too fast.  I had a blast with my family.

Saturday - Not a Great Start but end up a FANTASTIC Day

I knew Saturday was going to be a very busy day.  We had to leave the house before 9am to make it to a birthday party, stay for the party, head to the airport to see a friend during her 6 hour layover and then end up at Saige's house for Collin's first sleepover. 

We made it out of the house about 20 minutes later than I wanted to which meant that we were going to be late to the party.  I really don't like being late so I was a little stressed when we arrived.  I went to several different buildings in the complex before I finally found where the birthday parties are held. We went to the party room and looked around.  I did not see anyone I knew...and especially not the birthday girl.  I went back to the front to find out where the other party rooms where.  I was at the one party room they have.  Hmmmmm...what is happening?  Did you guess it yet?  I called the home of the birthday girl and her mom answered.  I asked, "When is Amelia's party?"  She replied.......NEXT Saturday.  OMG!  I arrived to a place an hour away on THE WRONG DATE!  Well, at least I know were we need to go for next Saturday.  I did know that we were not turning around to go home.  Thank goodness I have the Internet on my phone.  I did a few quick searches, told Collin that we would come back next weekend for the party.  He was a little confused but I quickly distracted him from that and he was fine.

Our first stop was the Flight Museum.  He got to see plans in the hanger and then see a B-52 bomber land.  He was fascinated by it and wanted to stay outside to watch more planes.  He did say they were really loud but still did not want to go back inside.  He wanted to get inside the planes really bad but I knew we were not able to do so.  We could if we paid to fly in the plane but Collin was too young for that.  After the passengers got out, we could check out the planes as close as we wanted to.  Fortunately, this was good enough for him.  I picked him up at one point so he could look at the instruments of the yellow plane that was open on top.  Notice is "Montessori school" stance with his hands behind his back. We were there for almost two hours.  To remember this experience, I let him pick out two toy planes which he played with the rest of the day.   

We left the Flight Museum and had planned to visit the Railroad Museum next.  We get there and find out that it is only open during the week.  No matter...he still climbed on a few of the miniature trains outside the museum in the parking lot. 

It was time to eat anyway, so I looked for the closest place to eat.  We happened to be right by the port where the cruise ships board.  Collin was amazed at how big the ship was and pointed out all of the tiny boats (the life boats).  We parked at the Fisherman's Warf and stood on the balcony to watch the people board the ship. He liked looking at the water and watching the seagulls fly around and dive in the water.  They started diving too close and he wanted to go inside because "the birds are going to eat us".  We got a table in the restaurant that overlooked the water.  Collin ate all but 1/3 of the biggest hamburger I have ever seen him eat.  I guess all of this touring made him hungry.  After lunch, we headed to the airport to pick up my friend that was on a 6 hour layover.  The airport was an hour away so I knew this would be a good time for Collin to take a nap...which he did for 45 minutes.  I picked Ms Sara up at the airport and we headed to Market Square at the next town.  We walked around a little and stopped for some ice cream.  Collin ordered "banilla with cranberries in it" which was really vanilla with gummy bears.  I knew he would only eat a few bites because he is not too interested in sweets.  While Ms Sara and I caught up, he walked around the table we were sitting at and sat on Sara's lap.  He REALLY liked her and did miss her when we had to drop her back off at the airport. 

Our last stop was Saige and Linden's house for his first sleepover at a friend's house.  I was racing the next morning at a race the bike shop was putting on so Daddy and I were going to leave the house before 5am.  We had planned for Mimi to spend the night but Ms Kristen offered for Collin to spend the night.  I stayed for over two hours until it was time for everyone to go to bed.  I put his PJs on and crawled in bed next to him.  He was sleeping on a blow up mattress in the Master bedroom in case he got up in the middle of the night like he as been.  I told him that he was spending the night and that I was going home to sleep in my bed.  He started to whimper a little but I could tell he was holding it back.  I told him I loved him and would see him tomorrow.  He was going to have fun with Saige, Linden and Ms Kristen.  I then left the room.  Kristen told me later that he told her that "Mommy could not stay" as if to tell her to not be said.  I love him!

He did great.  He got up once.  Kristen put him back to bed and he slept the rest of the night.  He got up a little earlier than usual and watched cartoons before they headed to church.  He is spending the night with Jake this Saturday.  What a big boy!

Random Collin Comments and Actions

Collin continues to entertain and surprise us with what he says or his actions.  Here are a few things I can think of that he has done in the last few days.  Some of these he has been doing or saying for months now but never made it to a blog entry (hey, this momma is tired during the week).

• Collin will be doing something and then stop to say, "Mommy, I guess I love you" or "Daddy, I guess I love you".  You guess?  Well, we KNOW we love you!
• He frequently says "I said ......."  Not sure why he is saying "I said" before the rest of the sentence because it's the first time he had said whatever he just said.  It's usually announced with an attitude too.  For instance, the other day, we were headed to the bath down the hall.  He stops, turns around and says "I said I don't want to take a bath Mommy!".  Too bad little guy!
• One of my favorites is him giving me or whomever he is talking to do something or not.  He says "You can sit by me to eat if you want.  If you don't, then don't.  OK Mommy?".  So...they typical phrase is "You can xxxx if you want.  If you don't, then don't."  I don't think either Daddy or I use a phrase similar to this so not sure where it came from but it makes me smile every time he does it.  I think it's the way he finishes with "If you don't, the don't" and if to say "do it or not. I don't really care".

Last night, I got Monkey tag instructions.  When Collin was a newborn, we noticed he loved tags.  I had read somewhere that some babies find it comforting to run their fingers on a soft tag.  Monkey, Collin's bed buddy, has a tag and it's been rubbed for 3 years now.  I thought for sure that it would be shredded by now but it's held up really well through all of the rubbing it gets.  I have asked Collin several times why he does it and he does not answer.  I don't think he likes the question or he does not know why he does it so I don't ask often.  Last night, I held Monkey and started to rub his tag like Collin does.  I was not sure if he would notice but he did.  He took Monkey from me and told me that I was doing it wrong and then showed me how to do it.  I thanked him and tried not to laugh.  I will have to remember to do it Collin's way the next time.

He is really loving gymnastics and doing really well.  Last night, Daddy said that he did really good with his tumbling.  He also bravely slide down this 6ft tall slide like thing into a pit of large square sponges.  He was last to do it because he wanted to see his classmates do it first.  When I got home, I asked him how gymnastics was.  Instead of telling me, he started to demonstrate tumbling for me.  We were in my closet which does have carpet but not very padded.  He put his head on the carpet and told me it did not feel good.  Then e climbed on my bed and started to show me how to tumble, giving me step by step instructions.  "First, you have to hold your arms up like this (showing me how) and then you put your head down on the bed" and then he flipped over.  He showed me a few more times.....doing a great job.  We might have found something he really likes.  We'll have to see how the rest of the sessions go.

We are back!

Mommy and Daddy left Friday morning for a long weekend in Vegas.  No, Collin stayed with Mimi while we were gone.  Each time we called to check in with Mimi, he was too busy to talk.  If he did talk, it was brief.  One time, he let Daddy know that he was busy playing with his toys.  His attitude was as if to say "What do you want?" or "Ugh, not you again".  While we were away, Mimi sent us updates through email.  Some of the more memorable comments were (as written by Mimi):

• Collin stopped playing when swimsuit section of Miss America was on TV.  He told me they needed to put some clothes on as they were in black bikinis that looked like underwear to him.
• So hilarious when Collin told me how he can tell the difference between mine or his stuffed monkey.  He showed me that his has one tag and mine has 2 tags. 
• While at dinner Friday night, Collin was exceptionally behaved through the 2 hours and 40 minutes at the restaurant.  He entertained himself going twice to bathroom and tearing wipees into small pieces that he said were Santa's beard, Santa or reindeers and putting them into a Ziploc bag.

Gymnastics Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to start Gymnastics, while he has been taking a developmental gymnastic class at school we started at Biron Gymnastic center. This place is really cool made me wish I was in Gymnastics, but I digress. Collin was a bit shy at first but when the action started he was in full swing. Doing Gorilla crawls and the Smell my knee excercises and then on to the good stuff.
Jumping on the trampoline to a flip on the pad then another flip on another floor pad. Then on the the parallel bars that were about a foot off the floor crawling sideways with his hands on one bar and his feet on the other and butt in the air.
Then on to the Parallel bars about 3 feet off the ground doing a gorilla crawl,one foot and hand on one bar and the other foot and hand on the other and moving forward, really cool. Then on the single bar holding himself up by is waist then on to the rings hanging and lifting his feet forward then behined him.

Last he hang and swinged back and forth on a single bar.

He did FANTASTIC and I was so proud of him, he is excited to go next week. Every Wednesday to the Gym Dandies at Biron Gymnastics.

Love Daddy

Saturday with Girlfriends

This morning, one of Collin's good buddies, Ella, came over to play with him.  We thought about going to see the turtles and frogs across the street but the kids wanted to play in the backyard.  They rode on the many riding toys Collin has in the back.  Ella really liked the car and Collin favored his scooter.  He even told Ella "my Mimi got me this scooter."  He showed her how to throw things on the roof but she was not interested.  He did this a few more times but moved on to something else.  He wanted me to throw the ball to him and Ella wanted to join in.  They both had gloves on and we threw the ball for just a few minutes.

They then wanted to play in his playroom inside.  The mommies were enjoying the nice weather outside but did go in with the kids.  I did not take took long for two toddlers to destroy the playroom....but that's what the room is for.  Collin showed Ella his skeleton costume and she wore his Thomas the Tank Engine cap that Mimi got him.  Eventually, we DID go for a walk in the bird sanctuary to look for frogs and turtles.  We did see two turtles sunbathing and walked around after that.  The kids sat and finished the rest of the snack that I brought (and hoped to eat more of but they were more hungry than I thought).  Collin leaned over to give Ella and hug and a kiss.  That made Daddy proud when he heard about it later. 

I would say that the kids had a great time.  We hope to make this a regular play "date" on the weekends now that Ella lives closer.

Collin Feels Better

Collin feels MUCH better.  After going to bed Wednesday night, he did not throw up anymore.  He and I stayed home the next day because he was still a little warm and incase he did start getting sick again.  He laid around most of the day and took a 3+ hour nap.  That's how I knew that it was good that he did not go to school.  He felt better later in the day and started to play in his playroom.  He was not warm anymore and never got sick that day.  We found out later that 7 kids from his class were sick on the same night with the stomach flu.  Some of the families ended up getting sick the rest of the week.  We are feeling mainly good.  Daddy's nose is runny and he feels a little achy.  Hopefully he does not get sick.

When Mimi came over on her usual Thursday night, he told her that he had choked on the sofa, in a bowl, and in his room in the bowl.  He meant he had thrown up from his tummy tummy hurting.  Collin told her "Mommy was proud that I choked in the bowl".  Daddy and I WERE really proud of him for throwing up in the bowl and even more happy we did not have to clean up a mess.  YUCK!!

"My tummy hurts"

The last time Collin said this, he threw up all over the front of Daddy while they were both sitting on the couch.  When I came home last night, Collin was laying on the couch and watching Stuart Little 3 (I did not even know there was such a movie).  I went over to him to give him a kiss and he told me his tummy hurt.  Sometimes, something hurting is used as an excuse not to do something else.  To be certain his tummy did really hurt, I asked him to show me where it was hurting and he patted his tummy.  He did look a little pale so I believed him.  In about 10 minutes, I REALLY believed him because I saw him sit slightly up and throw up everywhere around him.  We got him off the couch and onto the hardwood floor.  He threw up a little more there.  We stripped him and put on underwear, put him on the dry part of the couch and gave him some water.  He was REALLY white-looking now. 

He laid there and watched the rest of the movie.  He felt better so we gave him some crackers to eat really slowly.  I put a large bowl next to him and told him he could throw up in there if he started to feel bad again.  He looked at me as if he understood.  About 30 minutes later, he was eating a cracker and starting to whine a little.  He then ran to the couch.  I followed him to see what was the matter.  I turned the corner of the couch and saw him throwing up in the bowl that I had placed on the couch.  WOW!!!  I was so proud of him for making it to the bowl.  For such a little guy being sick, I thought I would try the bowl but expected that we would be cleaning up other spots where he threw up.  Not this night.  He did it two more times into the bowl.  One time was when he was in his room and about to go to bed.  Daddy had made an area next to Collin's bed with the bowl, a towel and and wet rag.  It was needed and much appreciated by all of us when Collin got sick again.

I slept with Collin last night in case he got sick again...which he did not.  He slept lightly most of the night...which means I did too.  He is staying home from school today because he feels hot and to rest from the evening before.  He seems to feel better though.

"Collin, Who Are You Today?"

I have posted many times before that Collin loves to pretend that he is someone or something besides Collin. You'll remember that he was Puppy for almost two weeks.  I love that he has such an imagination and to participate with him.  Sometimes I do "get in trouble" by Collin because I will forget that he is not Collin, but that he is pretending to be someone or something else.  It really gets hard to keep track of who's who when I am also supposed to be someone else.  His favorite right now is that I am Collin and he is The Mommy. 

He has just now started to also dress up as the character he is playing.  Since he started watching Toy Story, he has run around the house, jumped from or onto things saying "Buzz Lightyear....to infinity and beyond!"  We played at Jacob's house one day and he got to use Jacob's Buzz Lightyear wings to fly around.  He LOVED that and did not want to give them back. Jacob was not happy about sharing them either.  At that point, we knew that we needed to find him some wings too.  I did find them while we were on our "cousins trip" last week.  The set included Woody and Buzz Lightyear items he could wear.  I knew he would like Buzz but was not sure if the Woody stuff would get used or not.  He surprised us by wanting to dress up as both of them about the same.  Here he is as Woody Sunday afternoon.  Fortunately, he does not know that the holster is for a gun.  We don't have one of these yet.  I wonder how long that will take until he either figures it out or ask what the holster is for.

Sleeping Routine Update

Tonight, I talked to him again about being a big boy and staying in his room.  After reading him some books and singing a few songs, I left his light on but dimmed slightly that is by his bed.  I put a few books on his bed for him to look through if he wanted to.  He asked me several times to stay in his room and lay on the floor.  I told him that I was leaving after I gave him a kiss.  He, of course, did not like to hear that and started to cry.  I told him that I was leaving but that I would be back in 10 minutes to check on him.  He did not like this. 

He got out of bed several times as I headed to the door to leave.  He eventually did stay in his room but cried on his bed.  I heard this from outside the door and it was SOOO hard to hear this.  I did want to scoop him up and give him a big hug but knew that this was best for both of us.  He stopped crying after about a minute, crawled over to the books on his bed and looked through one of them.  He held the book and laid there a little while.  He then pulled the covers over him and fell asleep within 10 minutes of me leaving his room.  This was MUCH better than last night.  It took MANY times of him getting up from his bed to eventually stay in his room.  Maybe we are making progress.  Let's hope so....because I really hate doing this.

New Year, New Sleeping Routine?

This is a new year and I am looking forward to it.  Last year was a great one which included many changes for our family.  We love our new house and I am adjusting to my new job.  One change I would like to have happen this year is for Collin to learn to go to sleep without either one of us laying in his bed or on the floor until he goes to sleep.  Yes, we know that this was not a good habit to start and it will be a difficult one to break.  It kills me to have to be so "mean" and follow suggestions of how to leave his room, put him back to bed over and over again until he falls asleep.  It really is easier to lay on his floor...and less crying.  But...I know this is best for both of us.  I need "mommy time" after he goes to bed and he needs to learn how to go to sleep on his own.

I know he is listening to me because of what he tells me.  Last night, he was playing me and I was playing Collin.  He likes to pretend to be other people and someone else to be him.  He walked over to his bed and told me,

Collin:  "We are only reading 3 books.  Ok, Collin?" 

Me:  "I want to read 5 books Mommy"

Collin:  "No, we are reading 3 books.  I am going to read them and then leave the room.  I am going to the living room"  I wanted to laugh at this one because that is somewhat what I tell him.  When I tuck him in bed, kiss him good night, I then tell him that I am going to the living room or to my room.

Me:  "I want you to stay in my room".  This is what he typically tells me.

Collin:  "I won't be proud of you".  Ouch!  I thought I could use this one on him this past weekend to see if that would keep him from getting out of bed.  It has not worked yet.

He did eventually go to sleep but I did have to stay in his room.  He got up about an hour later and wanted to sleep in my bed.  I got up and put him back in bed.  He slept there until about 5:45am when he wanted to sleep in our bed.  We let him because we were getting up in 30 minutes anyway.  I was going for a 20 mile ride and the "boys" were going with me to wait at the park.

"God Bless America"

As I have posted before, Collin LOVES to sing.  He started singing a lot more in the last month because his class was learning Christmas songs.  He can be playing, riding in the car or eating and start singing a song.  His favorite lately is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  He will start singing a few verses and say, "Mommy, help me out" and I will sing with him.  While we were visiting our cousins, he started to sing God Bless America.  I was shocked!  First, I had no idea he knew this song and second, that he knew so many verses of it.  I am embarrassed to say that I could not join in with him because I had forgotten a verse or two of the song.  He sang and sang it.  Every time he did, I had a larger grin on my face because I was so proud of his ability to remember the song.  What is funny though is that he does not know when to stop the song.  He will sing it over and over again.  I don't think he realizes that the song does stop. 

Saturday night when we were on our way to see a hockey game, he started to sing God Bless America in the car.  Daddy had the same reaction I did when I first heard Collin sing this song.  He was so proud of him too.....and learned a few verses himself.  ;)