"Look how tall I am!"

One of the first things Collin did this morning besides give me a kiss and announce that he did not pee that much in his pull-up (we are working hard on having a dry diaper in the morning because he wants to wear underwear at night in his bed), he showed me how tall he is getting by standing next to the table I was sitting at.  He showed me that his head was above the table and said "Mommy, look how tall I am now".  I guess he noticed that his head is above the table now and was not when we bought it over a year ago.  We then went into the kitchen for him to help me make my smoothie.  He loves to put the protein powder and other ingredients into the blender and then turn it on.  While the blender was mixing he showed us (Daddy was awake by now), Collin stood by the kitchen counter and showed us how tall his was next to the counter.  He smiled and was very proud to be tall.  Daddy and I scooped him up and kissed him because he had no idea how cute he was being showing us how tall he was.

Remote Controlled Fun

Daddy got him and Collin two remote controlled cars.  He thought it would be fun for them to play with.  I was grocery shopping Friday evening when they took the cars out to play with them.  Daddy said that Collin controlled the cars really well.  He had a good time....Daddy did too.  ;)

Happy Easter!

We spent Easter morning having breakfast outside.  Collin told me he wanted Cheerios and then marsh mellows later.  I surprised him by putting some of the marsh mellows with his cereal (hoping that this did not start something new with him).  He liked it at first but then wanted the cereal separate.  He asked and ate an entire second bowl.  Daddy checked the pool out thinking we might go for a morning swim but the water was still too cold.  We rode bikes instead.  If you have not figured it out by now, Collin loves to race whether running or riding his bike.  This morning was no exception.  He and I raced a few times with Collin not being happy when I did beat him once or twice. 

We then rested a little then Collin and I went for a walk/run with him him the jog stroller.  When we do this, we make a list of things we want to see.  I did not even have to ask this time....by the time we got to the end of the driveway, he was already telling me that he thought we would see 5 squirrels and 8 birds.  I thought these sounded like good numbers to me so we headed out.  I walked more than I ran because my tummy was still full from breakfast AND it was already getting hot out.  I could run later this afternoon.  Right away, we see two squirrels.  I love hearing Collin describe what he is seeing, counting and asking all of his questions.  He liked seeing all of the Easter bunnies and eggs people put in their yards.  We had to cut the walk short because he had to go potty...and I needed to get ready to meet the family for lunch.

We met Mimi, Pappy and Grandma F at Black-Eyed Pea for Easter lunch.  The Harrises could not join us because baby Leah was sick.  The doctor told Lisa to keep her in the house and not expose her to too many people.  We missed seeing them but enjoyed the time with the rest of the family.  Collin brought his backpack full of things to play with.  His backpack he got for Christmas turned out to be one of the gifts that gets used all the time.  Whenever we announce we are going somewhere, he announces that he is getting his backpack, packs it with things he wants to play with and then comes back into the living room with the backpack usually already on his back.  This time, he included his new Thomas and James trains in his backpacked and ended up  playing with these the entire time.  He ate all of his corn dog for lunch.  Here he is with Mimi helping her put her leftovers away:

We went to Grandma F's house for a visit.  We spent some time outside and Collin announced he was hungry.  Mimi went inside with him while the rest of us stayed outside.  She found out that he was not really hungry and wanted to stay inside where where the A/C was.  Smart kid! 

We left to take a much needed nap at home.  After Collin slept for over 3 hours, he and Daddy went swimming while I worked on a presentation I am giving Thursday morning.  We then went to the bike shop so I could get some more Yankz for my shoes and then Easter pizza at a local Italian place.  It's 9:45pm and Collin is still awake.  At least he is laying in his bed quietly.  Maybe he is thinking about how much fun he had this weekend.  I know I would be.

Egg Hunt and Birthday Party

This morning, we met Saige, Linden and Ethan for an egg hunt at their church.  After hearing about the story of Easter, the kids were lead out to where the eggs where hidden.  The toddlers were to pick out the yellow eggs and the older kids were to pick the green eggs.  I thought for sure Collin would pick up whatever egg color he could find......but he did not.  He only searched and picked up the hidden yellow eggs which where everywhere. 

He was finished looking in about 15 minutes which was fine because he basket was really full.  Instead of the eggs having candy in them, Collin turned them in the receive a bag full of goodies.  Here are the kids checking out what was in the bag:

They got candy (of course), gum, stamps, stickers, a small stuffed bunny rabbit, and silly putty.  Collin enjoyed the stamp the most and put one on his arm....then the other arm....then his leg.  Daddy and I ended up with stamps on our thighs (where he could reach).  Here he is showing off the stamps on his arms:

After the egg hunt, we went to get Mommy some new running shoes.  Mine wore out about three months ago with all of the running and training I have been doing but I had not gotten new ones because of the tax busy season.  What a difference new running shoes make!  Collin saw me getting my foot measured and wanted his measured too.  He feet are now a 9 1/2.  We ended up getting him some new "fast" shoes too.  He calls his Toy Story shoes that light up his fast shoes.  He really loves these shoes but they were falling apart.  We did find acceptable new fast shoes....Spiderman shoes that light up. 

We were supposed to attend the neighborhood egg hunt but were so tired from the morning's activities that Collin and I took a much needed nap instead.  After the nap, we went to Charlie's birthday party who turned two.  Charlie is the son of a friend of Daddy's.  When we arrived, Collin played outside a little and then wanted a drink.  We came in for a drink and a snack.  He was delighted to see the cheese and crackers which are one of his favorite things to eat right now.  I added watermelon and strawberries to his plate.  He enjoyed eating these with a toothpick that was meant to be used to pick out the fruit.  He ended up eating three helpings worth of fruit and several cheese and cracker "sandwiches" (cheese between two crackers).  He was then ready to go back outside and try out the "roller coaster".  I would describe it but the pictures are much better.  He did this several times before we had to go.

Check out that smile! 

We came back home and hung out at the house playing with toys, coloring in coloring books and watching TV.  What a great day with the family and our friends.

Good Friday....and Two 3-Year Olds

Collin's school was closed today, so I stayed home to watch him and his friend, Jake.  His mommy will return the favor and watch the boys Monday because school will still be closed.

They started the morning playing dress-up.  Both of them love Toy Story so they took turns playing Woody and Buzz Lightyear.  For some reason, Collin was afraid of Jake "Buzz Lightyear" so he wanted to stop playing.  They then played in his playroom for a little while until it was time for a snack.  They sat on the couch while having a snack and watching, of course, Toy Story 3.  I did not let them watch the entire movie because it was too beautiful outside for them to stay indoors all day.  Yes, it was hot so I did not blame them if they wanted to stay in the A/C.  To get them to want to go outside, I had them help me water some of the plants in our backyard.  They got bored and played in the sandbox for a little bit.  The sand was hot so they wanted to go back inside. 

Instead of TV, it was time for crafts.  I got out a few egg cartons for them to make caterpillars.  First, they painted them.  They both wanted to take their shirts off instead of wearing a craft apron.  I am sure they thought this was a baby bib....and they are not babies.

Don't you just love Collin's blending of colors?  I thought these turned our great so far.

While the "caterpillars" were drying, we went outside in the front to ride bikes.  Collin's bike had pedals and Jake's did not.  I thought it would be fun for the boys the race...they thought otherwise.  At the first attempt, Collin cut Jake off right after the start.  The next time, Jake took off and Collin started to cry....for who knows what reason other than it was probably time for a nap.  Jake pouted and wanted to ride Collin's bike because of the pedals.  I had him sit by my while Collin rode a little while and then they switched.  Here they are talking about their helmets:

We went back inside because it was getting hot and it was also time for lunch.  They both did a great job of eating the sandwich and cut strawberries I served.  Then, it was time to relax and hopefully take a nap.  Here is how they started.......and ended up. 

They both did rest but no napping took place.  They got up and played in the playroom again.  Eventually, they made it back to the couch because Jake said he was sleepy.  Collin was the one that took a nap.  Jake finished his caterpillar.  He put the eyes on and even feathers on the back.  Who knew that caterpillar's had feathers?  I guess they do when a 3-year old makes them.

While waiting for Daddy to get home, Collin wanted to practice hunting for eggs in our front yard.  I hid them and he then picked up a third of them before getting bored.  Instead of me picking all of them back up, I turned picking them up into a game.  I threw an egg at the basket to see if I could get it in.  Collin watched me and started to do the same.  This worked great.  We eventually picked up all of the eggs in time for Daddy to come home.





We had dinner with Daddy and he treated us to ice cream at a local ice cream shop.  Collin wanted "banilla", of course, and ate the entire kid's cup.  Most of the time, he eats a few bites and then does not want anymore.  He kept eating his until he was finished.  I was surprised.  He even had a few bites of mine and Daddy's.  The eating spree continues.....

When we got home, it was movie night.  We watched half of "The Incredibles" until it was time for Collin to go to bed.  He is crying right now because he was not being nice to Mommy.  He threw is water at me because he did not want to go to bed.  He was sent to his room...and does not like that.  He is just tired from the long, fun day.

Collin and Mommy Tri Training

My first triathlon is next Saturday.  Until two weeks before the tax deadline, I was doing really good with my training.  I have been running, riding, lifting weights and swimming almost 6 days a week.  Because my first race is coming up, I needed to start riding and running together during one workout session.  This is commonly referred to a "brick".  Not sure why though.  I did a brick last night.

Daddy loaded my bike into his truck yesterday morning so that I would have it that night after work.  Collin asked Daddy why he was taking my bike.  Daddy told him that I was going to ride it.  he then told Daddy that he wanted to ride his bike.  Daddy said that he would get it for him.  Later when Daddy was picking up Collin from school, Collin noticed that his bike was not in the truck.  He apparently demanded for Daddy to get his bike...so they went back home to get it before meeting me at the park. 

I met the "boys" at the park.  Collin showed me that his bike was racked and ready for him to ride it with me.  I wish the little guy could ride with me but I needed to ride much faster than him and could not watch him.  I told him that he could run with me though.  I rode 10 miles first and then planned to run 2 miles.  This first triathlon is a super sprint so these distances were perfect for what I needed to work on.  While I was riding, Collin was also "training" like me while waiting for me to come back for my run.  Here he is riding his bike fast:

Here he is on the side of the running/riding trail stuck but still having a great time "spinning" on his bike.  Look at the smile!

Here he is doing sprints while waiting for me to get back on the bike:

I did finally turn the corner and saw Collin waiting for me to run with him.  He followed behind me for a short period of time and then went back to Daddy.  As I was finishing my second mile, I saw Collin and Daddy waiting for me.  Collin was on his bike waiting for me to run by.  I did and then he followed behind me.  I was the "line leader" so he had to be right behind me.  This helped him understand that he could not ride in the middle of the track because other runners and riders were also using it...and not looking for a handsome 3-year old on his bike.  He made it all the way back with me,wanted to get off his bike and then run with me.  I was pooped....I did not have any more "run" in me.  We hung out a little longer with Daddy to watch the other runners and riders.  We were both getting hungry so we headed home.  Collin ate great for dinner and then it was time for bed because we stayed out late at the park.  It was quick to get him to bed and he fell asleep within 20 minutes of reading books.  I laid in bed with him as he was falling asleep.  He must have been dreaming about riding his bike because his little feet were moving in a cycling motion on my leg.  Maybe we will be watching him soon doing his first kids triathlon.  We would love that.

Busy weekend of tax deadlines, bike ride and friends

This is probably the busy weekend of the year for our family besides the holidays.  This year, the April 15th tax deadline and the MS 150 bike ride fell on the same weekend.  Daddy left the house Saturday morning at 4am to open the shop and get ready for the riders to start their ride.  After the ride started, Collin and I met the shop guys and Daddy for our annual breakfast at Denny's.  He was confused when we arrived saying "this is not Saige's house" because he knew that he was spending the day with Saige and Linden.  I told him we were eating breakfast and then headed to Saige's house.

Collin must be on a growth spurt because ate great for dinner the night before, and had the most for breakfast in a long time.  Not only did he eat most of MY pancakes (see the picture) while he was waiting for his food, he also at his pancake and some of my eggs. 

We headed to Saige's house after breakfast.  I was dropping him off for the day and to spend the night because 1) Daddy and I had to work most of the day and 2) the neighbors were having a party that night with more than 30 couples and a live band.  We wanted Collin to be able to sleep that night.  While I was at work, Collin and the girls (Saige and Linden) hunted for Easter eggs in the backyard to practice for next weekend.  After the hunt, they each got to eat a chocolate bunny.  Ms. Kristen was great and sent me pictures throughout the day so I would not miss Collin too much.  Here they are eating the chocolate:

I met the Collin and the Jurek family at their gym.  While Ms. Kristen and I swam laps (300 meters is all I could eek out), the kids played in the kid zone.  We then all swam in the family pool for over an hour.  Collin did not want to swim or jump in the water.  He did like walking from the shallow end to the deeper end until he could barely keep his head out of water....and then turned around to go it again.  We cleaned up, left there and met at Luby's for dinner.  Collin shares some of Saige's "oprah" (okra) and had most of his chicken and some fries. 

After dinner, I ran some errands Collin-free and then met Daddy at the house.  The party next door was in full swing and really loud.  We thought we would go over there, but ended up having date night at the house watching a rented movie.  We slept in the spare bedroom because of the live music next door and moved to our room about 3am.

Sunday morning, we picked Collin up by 7:45am because we really missed him.  The house was WAY too quiet without him there.  We went to breakfast and he ate his entire bagel and strawberry cream cheese.  He has NEVER had more than 3 bites of his bagel when we have gone before.  The eating streak continues.  We came home and hung out outside because the weather was so nice.  Collin played in the sandbox while I read my magazines I was WAY behind on.  We also rode our bikes.  Collin is so fast now and does a great job at turning while maintaining his speed.  He wanted to go back inside because he was cold.  The weather was colder for this time of year.  We left for the club shortly after that for me to swim (made it 600 meters)  while he watched Dora the Explorer in the kid's area.  We got groceries after that and then had lunch.  Collin had several crackers, cheese slices, circle meat, three plums and most of his yogurt drink.  I am not sure where he is putting it.  HE and Daddy then took a nap to get ready for the Jureks to come over and swim.

The daddies and kids swam while the mommies sat in the shade catching up.  Collin did actually put his face in the water a few times while he does not normally do.  Maybe he is ready for swim lessons again.  They swam for over an hour until it was time for dinner.  After dinner, we at the cupcakes that Collin picked out.  He has been asking about his birthday party for the last two weeks even though it's over 4 months away.  He does not understand time and thinks it's the next day after asking just the day before.  He saw cupcakes at the grocery store and said "I want to bring these so my friends can have them when they come over for my party".  They were bunny cupcakes so we did end up getting them.  The kids....and adults....enjoyed them.  They played outside after dinner for another 30 minutes before it was time for them to leave. 

The "kids" all enjoying the weather and the heated pool.

After the Jureks left, Collin dyed some eggs to get ready for the week...and for him to do something that would calm him down from the busy weekend and day.  I was so proud of him handling the eggs, moving them from one container of dye to another as he wished, and putting stickers on the eggs.  He had a great time.....and it did work to calm him down.  Didn't he do a great job?

Nastiks

Collin is doing great with his gymnastics.  He is now signed up for Wednesday and Thursday.  When he arrived to his Thursday class for the first time last week (not sure if I have posted about this....tax brain....if I have...you get to read about it again...;)  ), he told Mimi that this was not his class.  She said it was his new class which did not appease him until he saw another girl from school was in his class.  That helped him focus and he did not ask about the class anymore.

Last night was obstacle course night.  All of the students went through the course...even the little ones.  Collin did great and Daddy did even better with the number of videos he took.  Mommy sure was proud of BOTH of her guys when I saw these.

Here he is tumbling on the high balance beam:

You gotta love the way he is tumbling in this one.



How about this one where he is Monkey crawling on the balance beam?

The Racing "Bug"?

This morning, after two waffles, Collin wanted me to hide eggs for him to "hunt".  I got them out yesterday so that he could practice before the big hunt with Saige and Linden.  In prior years, he did not really know what to do with the eggs so I wanted him to know what to expect.  I thought we could practice a few times and figured he would have fun with it.  I did have fun hiding them because I caught Collin peeking a few times.  I remember when I was young and the anticipation of hunting eggs.  I think this year is going to be different because Collin knows exactly what egg hunting is about.  He did a great job finding most of the eggs.  He had trouble finding the eggs in the higher spots or really well hidden which I expected he would.  I hide them one more time before Daddy came up to pick us up to head to the race this morning.

We were headed to watch bike shop customers and friends race in a half ironman. Collin really enjoyed watching the bicycles go by and clap with me. We moved near the shop tent to watch the runners and the volunteers pass out Gatorade, water and other beverages. Here are Daddy and Collin watching the runners go by.

He played with the toys in his backpack when he was not watching the race. At one point, his cars were racing and the elephant was giving the cars Gatorade. Hmmm….I wonder where he to that idea from.



We were there for over 3 hours. Guess who took a nap on the way home? When we got home, Daddy and Collin took a nap (Collin did not sleep much longer). I left for a swim (600 meters….which were tough since it had been a week) and then to the grocery store. After dinner, Collin played outside in the sandbox and then wanted to ride his bike. Daddy and I watched him ride up and down the driveway. At one point, he told me I was handing out water and Daddy was handing out Gatorade. Our drink “duties” did change but Collin continued to ride up and down the driveway. He was picking up speed toward the end of riding. He had to get off his bike to turn it around but did a great job getting the bike moving again. Did he get the race “bug” today? I sure hope he did. I think he would really enjoy it. He must have been excited from the day because he did not go to bed until after 9:30pm tonight. Ugh!

What a Surprise!!!

Collin and I had been up for about 30 minutes this morning when Aunt Lisa called.  She said she was in the car and headed our way to bring breakfast and hang out with us for the morning.  I was so excited to hear that she was getting out of the house with the kids and headed to see us.  She brought over McDonald's pancakes and eggs.  Collin and Timmy split the pancakes, I made an egg muffin out of the eggs and Lisa had and egg taquito. 

After breakfast, the boys wanted to play outside in the sandbox.  They had fun doing that while the girls stayed inside where it was cool.  When it got quite, we looked outside to see the boys throwing all of the balls into the pool.  This happens almost every time one of Collin's friends (or cousin in this case) come over.  Of course, because we did not want them to do it, they thought it was funny and kept doing it.  They did eventually stop and started riding in the play car, the scooter and the tricycle.  We didn't care what they did as long as they were wearing themselves out enough to take a long nap. 

I enjoyed holding Leah, watching her smile and having her hold my fingers.  Collin came inside to see what I was doing and was interested in sitting by me and watching Leah.  I showed him how she could hold his finger and he really liked that.  He left the room and came back with Monkey and gave him to Leah.  He turned Monkey so that Leah could see Monkey's tag.  Lisa and I saw this and thought it was SOOO cute that Collin would share his precious Monkey with Leah.  He was fine that she and Monkey until she started to suck on Monkey's ear.  That really bothered him and he took Monkey back. 

Leah napped for about 30 minutes in Collin's crib that we have set up in the spare bedroom.  I was glad that she did that so Lisa could sit outside and enjoy the weather without having to worry about Leah.  I stayed inside so I could hear her and worked.  It's tax season so it was good that I did get to work a little while they were there and Collin was otherwise occupied.  Leah did wake up and eventually made it into her car seat to watch me work.  Collin came in and wanted to see what she was doing.  He shook the toys hanging from her car seat and she really liked that.

I hated to see them go but it was nap time for all of the kids...and probably Lisa too.  Daddy was home by now and they both took a nap while I continued to work.  This was not the way I thought the day was going to go but it did turn out to be a great day.

Mommy's Office

Daddy dropped Collin off at my office tonight because Daddy had a meeting to attend.  I was not ready to leave yet, so Collin joined me in my office.  He had a blast!  He found my markers (highlighters) and colored some rainbows for me on paper.  One of the partners had some cars in his office and brought them over for Collin to play with.  He drove these around on the floor and on his paper.  He then found my stress ball and threw that against the wall to watch it bounce.  This really kept his attention.  He wanted to sit on my lap and play games on my phone.  He concentrated and kept still so this worked for me too.  He then got bored with that and started opening the drawers of my desk.  He found my chocolate stash!  Yikes! How was I going to tell him that he could not have any of these.  I did let him have one.  Wow, sugar works fast!

In between all of this, he wanted to go to the bathroom.  We attempted to go six times with only one success.  Ugh!  This did delay me finishing what I was reviewing so we could go home.  Each time we left my room (how he referred to my office), he met new friends.  He was so talkative to one of the partners.  He told her:

• His fast shoes were dirty so he had to wear the ones he had one
• He had spaghetti for dinner
• Mommy has a car in her purse
• He went to "nastiks" and his teach said he smelled like sticky shoes.  This lead him to say she smelled like stinky socks.  Thank goodness she laughed....which made him say it again.

He stopped talking when he saw that she had candy at her desk and asked if he could have one.  He grabbed three of them and did say thank you.  He looked at me and said "Mommy, I love you!"  That was perfect timing.  I could hear the ladies that sat outside her office talking and laughing at the comments Collin was making.  Apparently, seeing him made not just me happy but the others too.  The partner said he should come back next week so we could have races with him around the floor.  This would be great for them to laugh during the tax busy season.

When we got home, it took less than 35 minutes to get him in bed and fall asleep.  Maybe going to the office was good for all of us...including Collin.

Move over Christina Aguilera

Tonight while Collin was putting on his favorite PJs, I could hear him singing.  I snuck up behind him so I could hear better and so he would not stop if he saw me.  The little stinker was singing the Star-Spangled Banner.  Daddy and I heard him singing it only once before when we were on our way to a hockey game and were shocked to hear him sing this almost perfectly.  Apparently, they sing this at school.  I am not sure how many times but it must be enough for him to know most of the words without assistance from us.

He did see me behind him and stopped singing.  I asked if I could video him singing again so I could send it to Grandma H and he said "yes".  That could mean so many things right now but I thought I would give it a shot.  Here is the best of the videos.  Monkey had to help him every time.  At least in this one, Monkey was not covering his mouth like he was in some of of the other ones.  I was a proud mommy listening to him sing.  Enjoy!

Dane's Birthday Party

This morning, I tried wearing Collin out so that he would take a nap with Daddy when Daddy got home.  I knew that Collin needed some energy to attend Dane' birthday party around the time Collin gets tired at sometimes naps (3:30pm).  It worked because Collin did take over an hour nap before it was time to go.

Collin has known Dane since Collin was born.  His parents are customers of the bike shop and have become good friends especially now that we both have kids.  Dane's party was at his house outside like it has been the last 3 years.  The kids all played with toys outside before it was time to have dinner.  Collin rode the "motorcycles" (pedal dirt bikes), pushed big trucks around, dug in the dirt with Dane, played mini-golf with Finn (Dane's brother) and Dane and jumped on a mini-trampoline.  He did stop long enough to each several bites of lasagna before he wanted to play some more.  He wore his monkey shirt from the zoo (it has a monkey chest on the front and an tail on the back).  I guess he really likes the shirt because he told every parent that walked by where he got his monkey shirt.  He was also telling them that he is three and his birthday party will be at Monkey Joe's.  Ok, that's news to me.  First, his birthday is in August.  Second, we have not talked about his party AT ALL.  Where is he coming up with this?  He only recently liked Monkey Joe's  (an indoor bounce and jump place) because he was scared of the character Monkey Joe.  It's a good idea to have his party there because it's indoors in A/C during August.  I will have to remember that.  Thanks for the suggestion Collin!

After dinner, the kids each took a turn to hit the pinata that was full of candy.  Since kids of all ages were there, they had to line up by height.  Collin was the third one to hit the pinata and the only one to hit one-handed with his left hand.  Several parents noticed and made comments about it.  The very last kid did finally bust the pinata open and they all swarmed around the candy.  The little guys, including Collin, stood around and did not know what was going on.  I told him to get in close to get some candy and he did.  He ended up getting 7 pieces of candy which he counted for me and was very proud to get. 

Then, it was time to sing Dane Happy Birthday and blow out the candles. Collin two bites of his piece of cake (not a shock to me) and wanted to play more instead of eating the rest of the cake before we had to leave....which he did not want to do.

Counting his candy loot

Not bad holding the plate and eating some of his cake

Saturday with Daddy

Collin and Daddy spent the entire day together.  The main purpose was to see a kid's bike race to get Collin excited about riding his bicycle.  They did watch the race, but Collin also:

• Played in the dirt lots....and Collin got REALLY dirty
• Pee peed in the woods....twice
• Caught a caterpillar and put in in the jar.  They watched it cocoon itself throughout the day.  They also caught a dragonfly and a beetle.
• Went on a nature hike around the lake.  They saw wildlife and plants.  Collin ran most of the way.
• Collin made new friends with McKenna and Jessica

Daddy said that Collin asked a 1000 questions on the road trip to the race non-stop the entire way.  However, on the way home, he was asleep within 4 minutes leaving.  It would have been sooner than that but he was eating..with his eyes shut.  The boys had a great day.

Taking a break during the nature hike

Collin's new friend, Jessica

Stripped down to his skibbies getting a wash before getting in the car

"Eeny, meeny, miny moe". Where's the Tiger?

Collin continued tonight to use his new way to select what he wants.  After a great afternoon TKD class, he was tired and hungry.  We came home to eat and for him to rest and watch a movie before getting ready for bed.  He could not just pick a movie.  Here he is selecting two that he wanted to watch:

Notice that the part about the tiger is a little different tonight.  He included it last night but did not even think about it tonight.  Probably because he was more interested in the movies he picked out:  Christmas Story and Toy Story 2.  I tried to persuade him to watch another movie besides the Christmas one but he insisted...and even sang along to some of the carols when they sang on the movie.

"Catch a Tiger On His Toe"

Last night when I came home, Mimi and Collin where already in his room reading a book.  I knew that Collin would likely want me to leave because he prefers Mimi to read and put him to bed over me most of the time.  Last night was no exception....except the way I was asked to leave.  I stayed in his room longer than I am usually "allowed" to hear what he learned at TKD that afternoon.  He showed me two new moves and then I eventually got him to get back in bed and lie down.  I gave him a kiss and then he looked at me and said "Eeny, meeny, miny moe, catch a tiger on the...hmmm....toe [pause as if he were thinking of what the next line of the rhyme was] .... you leave.  I sat there when he said to leave and waited to see what he would say.  Mimi and I started to say the rest of the rhyme, he listened and then repeated the first two phrases of the rhyme again with a new variation and then asked me to leave again.  I gave him a kiss...and then went to the living room.  I had to work anyway so I did not mind too much (April 15th deadline is just two weeks away....ugh!).

Living Room Clothes

I think I have mentioned before that Collin calls our PJs "living room" clothes.  I guess that's because when we get home, we change from our work clothes to more comfortable clothes and then go to the living room or kitchen....hence the reason he calls them living room clothes.  He has now started going straight to his room to change into his PJs when he gets home.  Yes, this is before a bath, having dinner or even a snack.  Not only does he select PJs, he insists on wearing his flannel, soft, long-sleeved winter PJs because he says they are soft.  I guess he does not care that he later is sweating in them....not too bad though.

This morning, I was running a little behind leaving for work and was still in my bathroom getting ready when Collin woke up.  I heard him leave his room via his bathroom (he does not normally use his bedroom door for some reason) and then walk into my room.  He asks me before he even sees me, "Mommy, do you have your work clothes on?  Put your living room clothes on and come to the kitchen".  I knew from that statement that he was hungry and wanted me to get him some breakfast.  I told him that Daddy was already in the living room and he could get you some breakfast.  To that, Collin replied, "still put your living room clothes on".  I guess he did not want me to go to work....I did not want to either.  I'll pick him up early today and go to TKD.  He was showing me some new moves last night when I got home.  I cannot watit to see how much progress he has made.