Cousins are so much fun!!!

We had a great day today.  Instead of running around with errands, watching me race, or training for a race, Collin and I stayed home ALL day today.  I would have rather slept in more than 5:45am when Collin woke me up.  We played in his playroom for about an hour and then we ate a small breakfast.  Collin got tired and asked if I wanted to lay down with him.  Oh yes...I sure did.  We took a great nap waiting for Aunt Lisa, Timmy and Leah to come over.  They arrived around 9:30am and stayed until after 5:15pm. 

We had a great time.  Because it was going to be 107 at the heat of the day, we swam in the pool in the morning for about a hour.  Leah had a great time in the water.  Timmy was in and out of the water faster than I could pay attention to him.  Glad there were two of us watching him. 

Ms. Sopapilla after swimming

After coming inside, we had a snack hoping the kids would be ready for a nap after swimming and eating.  The boys were not.  Leah did sleep but for about 20 minutes.  Most of the time, we all hung out in the playroom.  They boys played with Collin's new toys from his birthday and the mommies watched Leah giggle and watch the boys play.  They made a HUGE mess in the playroom....but that means they did have a great time. 

At one point, we stopped to take pictures because Mimi wanted pictures of her grandkids together. I thought I got a few good ones with the moving subject matter I was taking pictures of.  They were on Collin's bed which is where he wanted to take the pictures.  He took a few pictures of me but I will spare you those (remember, up at 5:45am and swam....no shower).

What a great day.  The boys never took a nap.  Collin fell asleep by 7:30pm on the couch after dinner.  Maybe 7:30pm - 8pm is his new bed time.  I can get used to that.  :)

4 Year Check Up

This morning, Daddy and I took Collin to his 4 year doctor appointment.  When Collin woke up early this morning (6:15am), he joined me in the bathroom and I told him that he was not going to school first but to the doctor instead.  He asked "Can Monkey go and not me?"  Smart kid...he knows doctors are not fun a lot of times.  I said that he needs to go because he is 4 years old now.  The doctor wanted to check how tall he has gotten and how much he weighs.  He asked "Am I going to get shots?"  How does he remember this?  Later I found out that his buddy, Jacob, told him about his shots when he went to the doctor.

I went to work that morning and met Collin and Daddy at the doctor's office.  He he was not thinking about getting shots when he saw the new castle in the waiting room for him to play on.  He only got to play for 10 minutes when his name was called to head to the back and wait for the nurse and doctor.

She first asked him his name.  He was being shy and barely said "Collin".  She asked again and he did say "Collin Holmes".  She wanted to find out if he knew his name.  He then had to show dexterity and she walked him through a few exercises.  He then got weighed (36 lbs - 51.3% for his age) and measured (3 feet 3 in (22.12% for his age).  Yep, still dense and short.  She then took him to test his hearing, sight and blood pressure.  He did great on all of these.  His pressure was a little high but she said that was probably because he was moving around when she took it.



Getting his blood pressure taken.  Yes, he is in a Spider Man shirt.



Testing his eye sight.  He did great and listened really well to instructions.

Hearing test.  He had to push the button in his hands when he heard a noise.

Back in the little room, the doctor came in with the stethoscope to listen to his lungs.  Collin laughed and said "that tickles".  He listened really well and did everything else she told him to do.  He was very curious about what she was doing and asked questions as she was examining him.

That's a sticker on his leg he got for being so good in the other room during the tests.

Then, it was time for shoots.  Collin was fine when he had to lay down.  I am so glad Daddy was there to help.  He stood there with Collin and talked to him while he got his first of four shots.  The screaming began - can't really blame the little dude.  He sure can scream loud though.  When it was all over, Daddy sat him up to give him a hug.  Collin did not want any of it and pushed Daddy away hard telling him "she hurt me".  Not something a parent wants to hear.  He did eventually calm down and started licking his sucker again. 

We went to lunch before Daddy took Collin to school.  Not a fun time because Collin wanted to be feed since his arms hurt (no shots there....just wanted attention).  He kept his arms on his legs where he got his shots and complained about everything.  There were moments of no screaming or being rude to us and we eventually finished our meal.

We thought for sure the teacher would call us to come get him from school but she did not.  I think it was good that he did go to school and get his mind of the shots.  He was a little groggy that evening but he made it through an fun evening out getting ice cream with friends.  He was out when we got home at 9:30am....but got up at 5:33am.  Thanks Collin!

"Don't Eat Salad"

I have really been trying not to sleep on the floor next to Collin at bed time so that he gets used to going to sleep by himself.  It's worked out well for the most part lately...but not without some "negotiating" on his part.  When it's time for me to leave and him to go to sleep, he will ask "Are you going to the living room?"  I will say "Yes, because either I need to work or I need to eat dinner".  He then usually tells me to not go for another 5 minutes or for 3 songs (music is already playing in the background by this point).  Sometimes I will stay for 5 minutes but then he will ask for 5 more...and I know where this is going. 

Last night, I rode my bike and ran before coming home.  By this time, Daddy already had Collin in bed and was reading him books.  I got cleaned up and came in to read one more but and then put Collin to bed.  I read that book, turned the CD on, turned the lights off and started the "good nights" to his buddies in bed with him (Monkey and Clifford this time) and then told him good night.  He asked if I was leaving and I told him that I needed to eat dinner because I had not eaten yet.  This is what happened next:

Collin:  "Don't eat salad then for dinner"
Mommy:  "Why not?"
Collin:  "Salad takes too long"
Mommy:  "What do you mean?"
Collin:  "You can have carrots after you cut them up.  Those are fast"

....meaning "hurry up and eat so you can get back in here with me".  Fortunately, he was so tired from the day that he was already snoring by the time I had dinner made and was sitting down with it.  Just thinking about this conversation as I write this puts a huge smile on my face. 

Collin's a Tired Boy

Now that Collin is not taking naps at school during the day, he is one tired little boy.  So far, he has not gone to bed much earlier (maybe 20 minutes) now that he is not taking a nap during the day.  That's probably because he passes out in Daddy's car on the way home.  He tries to wake him up but Collin does not respond at all.  This afternoon, he did not make it far into the house before he laid down and sleep on the floor for over an hour...until I got home and woke him up. 

When he woke up, he looked like he had been asleep for hours.  He was not very hungry and wanted to take a bath and have Daddy read him books.

This afternoon, the teacher said he looked really tired.  She asked him if he wanted to lay his head down on the table to rest which is what he did.  I don't know how long he did it for.  We knew that it would be hard adjusting to not taking a nap.  I am sure Collin did not realize it.  Tonight, he was in bed by 8:30pm which was an hour earlier.  It's really nice to have this extra time to spend with Daddy.

Presents!

When you have 16+ friends invited to your birthday party, there are a few presents that need to be open.  We did not open the gifts at Monkey Joe's but waited to open them when we got home.  As with when he turned 3, he opened the gifts throughout the weekend.  So, when we got home, he opened 4 gifts (wonder how we arrived at that number) so he could enjoy those presents before opening more.  It works out really well, because he does get involved with the new toy and is not interested in opening the rest of the gifts.  Sunday, he opened another 4 more and then the rest of the gifts later in the afternoon.  He got a lot of cars which he really liked.  He also got some different building type toys which I know I look forward to building with him.  We and Grandma H gave him some books.  He also got a lot of Spider Man themed toys because that was the theme of his party this year:  motorcycle, night light, flash light with changeable lenses, towel, pillow case and bubbles.  I like the A, B, Cs and drawing pad that Alex and Ellie gave him because he really needs to work on these this year.  His big present from us was a play table we put in the playroom.  We will enjoy it too because it will be MUCH easier on us to play with him at the table instead of on the floor.  I know he will like that. 

He had his friends Alex and Ellie come over to play with his new toys...which did cause a few arguments because Alex wanted to take home one of his new toys and Collin was upset because he had not even had a chance to play with it.  Glad I am good at distracting and redirecting their attention.  Ryan and Yoko came over later to bring a gift and show how big baby Aka has gotten.  He is already two months old.  They gave Collin a Cars themed chair which he really likes and even fell asleep in later that evening.  Must have been really comfortable. 

I think Collin had a fantastic birthday and weekend.  Hope he is ready for school this week and no naps.  I hope we are too.....for at least the no nap part.  :)

Check out all of these presents and the happy birthday boy waiting to open them

Great that there was a lot of tissue paper because it was faster for him to open and get to the "prize".  He actually needed help opening a wrapped present.  My things have changed!

Poor kid did not even have a chance to turn off his new flashlight before he passed out in his new chair on his new pillow case.

Chuck E Cheese and Family

Remember that Collin wanted to have his birthday party at Monkey Joe's, Chuck E Cheese, Gymnastics and then school?  He did have a party at school Friday and we went to Monkey Joe's yesterday for the big party.  Because Grandma H was in town, we thought it would be fun to have a very small family party at Chuck E Cheese.  Not bad for a birthday weekend to get 3 out of 4 requests PLUS have a block party.

Mimi, Pappy, and Grandma H joined us at Chuck E Cheese.  All of us had a great time playing with the games.  He did fantastic with the basketball but did not want to play it much because it did not give many tickets.  He quickly found out which games gave the most tickets and played those.  I was not sure at this point if he remembered that the tickets could be turned in for a prize but he was having fun doing it no matter the reason.  He did win the most tickets at one time (41).  Daddy did great at the basketball game. 

Grandma H and Collin playing the water game.  Grandma H won.

Mimi checking out where the ball went that she just threw

Daddy and Pappy playing basketball

Big boy feeding coins to the machine.  He was a big winner on this one.

We stopped long enough to eat pizza, sing Happy Birthday to him and then eat some cake.

We played a few more games before turning in the combined tickets.  The 258 tickets got him a "monster truck"...and a big smile. 

Daddy took Grandma H to the airport after dropping Collin and I off at the house.  Later, Alex and Ellie came over to play with his new toys, play outside and color.  What a great weekend.

Happy Birthday to my four-year-old!!!

Annual Block Party

Like last year on Collin's birthday, there was a block party for the entire neighborhood at the end of our street.  There was a dunking booth, games for the kids to play, LOTS of food and then a water balloon fight. 

Unlike last year, Collin was glued to the water balloon tank AND participated.  He spent 1 1/2 hours at the tank throwing balls and trying to dunk the person in the water.  He aim was awesome with at least 80% accuracy.  The parents and even the other kids were amazed and commented on his accuracy for such a small kid (he was the youngest at first by at least 3 years). 

He then found the kid games which gave candy as the prize.  That was MUCH better than no prize with the dunking both.  He was not interested in EATING the candy.  He just wanted to win it and then give it to one of us.  While there, he ate almost an entire hot dog.  He just had a full Luchable 2 hours before that and did have a big lunch.  The kid was H-U-N-G-R-Y. 

Towards the end of the party, it was time to throw 2,000 water balloons.  The kids AND the adults had a blast.  I am glad that Collin remembered my rule from the last time he had water balloons....throw below Mommy's knees....and he did....about 15 of them.  He got Daddy good a few times.  Once, someone pelted him in the neck really hard and he started to cry....and then he got over it quickly when he saw an unbroken water balloon roll in front of him.  He scooped it up and threw it at me....the feet.  :)

With the fun from the birthday party and the block party, he did not take a nap and still stayed up until after 10pm.  Glad he did sleep in some this morning.

Monkey Joe's Birthday Party

Saturday, we celebrated Collin's 4th birthday at Monkey Joe's.  Yes, Collin was successful at convincing us that his party should be there.  Despite my reservations about having it there, we all had a great time and it was a great party.  He and 16 of his friends (including their siblings) jump, slid and played on the indoor equipment for over an hour before it was time for cup cakes and singing.  The parents sat at a few of the tables and watched the kids occasionally do "drive bys" (run by and check in or ask where a friend was).  As the hour went by, Collin and some of the other boy's hair grew more sweaty because they were getting hot with all of the running and playing they were doing.  There were some crys because bumping heads or getting hurt is inevitable at places like this.  Collin did get a tiny bloody bottom lip which caused him to sit out for about 5 minutes and then he started to play again. 

Then, it was time to gather in the Blue room to get a personal visit from Monkey Joe, sing Happy Birthday and eat ice cream and cup cakes.  Collin was still not afraid of Monkey Joe and loved the personal birthday greeting he gave him.  Plus, Monkey Joe gave him a Monkey Joe shirt which Collin held onto the rest of the time he was in the room.  Some of the other kids were not as fond of Monkey Joe so he did not stay long.  The kids sure were hungry after all of the playing and VERY thirsty.  After eating and singing, some of the kids joined Collin on the King Chair for silly faces and fun. 

Birthday Boy and Monkey Joe's

Lots of friends in the party room

Singing Happy Birthday

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Collin and Mimi

Silly friends

Hiding under his new shirt

After awhile, the kids wanted to play more so we went back out of the room to play for at least another hour.  We did not open presents until we got home later because we wanted him to enjoy the time with his friends.

Birthday Celebration at School

Collin did not wake up any more excited today than any other morning.  He lazily walked over to the couch and laid down on it waiting for breakfast.  Once we finally got him dressed and out the door, he was then excited.  On the way there, he looked at all of the pictures on the posters I put together for this morning's celebration.  I did one for each year that has passed.  The pictures or words were to represent the milestones or events that had happened to him that year.  He was really interested in the picture where he had his cast on his leg. He even commented on his red eyes in the picture (the "red eye" on the camera I had before did not work at all).  He was excited about showing these to his friends at school.

We arrive and find out that his teacher is sick.  At first, we did not think he was going to have a celebration.  He knew this and looked a little sad about it.  Ms Arlena put his birthday crown on his head to distract him from Daddy trying to find another teacher that could do the celebration for us.  He found someone.  Thanks Daddy!!!  You are awesome!! 

The celebration started with the teacher talking about each year of his life and what he did during that year.  She used a cheat sheet I made but did great at improvising since she did not know Collin that well.  After she talked about each year, Collin walked around the circle with a globe in his hands to represent that a year had gone by.  After doing this two more times, it was time to sing Happy Birthday to him.  Unlike last year, he was not shy when the class started to sing.  He stood there and listened.  Then he blew his candle out.  Next, he got to pick friends to sit with him to have a birthday snack.  He is supposed to eventually pick everyone in the class.  However, he only picked two people...and girls.  He picked Ellie first and then Mila.  We brought his some of his favorite snacks to share which are Nilla wafers and gummy candy.  The kids seemed to really like the snack and most acted like they had not had these before.

Walking the globe around the room

Smart boy sitting with Mila and Ellie

After snack was over, the kids gathered around the posters to look at them more.  This was hilarious listening to them make comments about the pictures:

• "Why do you have red eyes in that picture?"
• "What is that on your leg?"
• "You have make up on in this picture"  It was the one when he was first born.  They put some shiny stuff around his eyes.  Someone else commented that "babies don't wear make up"
• "Look, you are in the pool"
• "Spiderman!"
• "I like Mickey Mouse too"

The kids were so excited about the poster that they were pushing to get closer and closer which pushed Collin over into the posters a few times.  I could tell on his face that he was done and wanted to get out of the crowd.

Daddy had lunch with him later that day.  Collin was excited about not napping after lunch like he usually does.  Right now, he is not acting as tired as I thought he might be after not taking a nap all day.  Let's see how tonight goes.

Birthday Plan

Let the birthday festivities begin!!!

We were talking tonight about his birthday celebration at school tomorrow.  I asked if he was excited about not being a "Napper" anymore.  It's a HUGE deal to be a napper in his class.  If you recall, that is the same thing as being called a baby.....not good.  He cannot wait to not be a napper.  He has no idea though that he will miss those naps....and we will probably pay for it too.  :) 

I left his bedroom to start working on his posters for each year of his life that he has to bring to school.  Mimi took over because she was still here.  They continued to talk about his birthday plans.  After school, he wants to go to gymnastics for his party with his friends, then Monkey Joe's and then Chuck E Cheese.  He has not wavered from this request for a few weeks now since he started talking about his plans.  We ARE going to Monkey Joe's Saturday for his birthday with his friends and we will try to go to Chuck E Cheese on Sunday with just family.  He will have to wait on gymnastics though.  He has classes still but they don't have birthday party rooms there....or that would have been a good idea.

I am already tired thinking about all of the errands and planning still involved for the fun weekend plans ahead.  I guess I better get to bed.

"Stretch and then Get Up Mommy!"

This is how I am greeted in the mornings if I happen to still be in bed when Collin wakes up.  Most of the time, this is on the weekends because I am up and even out of the house before he wakes up.  If I happen to sleep in and he catches me still in bed, he gently pats me on the arm or closest body part to the side of the bed and quietly says "wake up Mommy.  Stretch first and then let's go to the living room."  If I tell him I need 5 more minutes, he replies with "No, let's go to the living room".  I think it's funny that he knows I need to stretch first and will at least allow me to do that before I get out of bed.  I'm no dummy, I at least drag out the stretching part so I can have a few more minutes in bed".

He is doing MUCH better at night and rarely wakes up in the middle of the night to get me to tuck him back in bed.  What a relief!!!  I have even heard him get up close to the time he needs to get up to go to the bathroom and then get back in bed. 

The Wolf and Lincoln Logs

I mentioned to Mimi the other day what I thought would be good gifts for Collin for his birthday coming up.  I thought of Lincoln logs because I LOVED to play with these when I was little.  That and Tinker Toys.  I thought it might be fun for us to build with these.....and I knew that Mimi either had some or could find them from previous garage sales hunts. 

When Mimi came over Thursday to pick Collin up from school and watch him, she brought two sets of Lincoln logs.  Collin helped build with the logs and first but then became a "wolf" and started tearing down the roofs from the houses.  He said he was a "wolfess" blowing down the "roofess".  We continued to build and he continued to be a wolf.  Last night, the army men guarded the houses tried to protect them from the wolf but the wolf was too strong and still tore either the roof off or "blew" the entire house down.  Since he was not building the houses but tearing them down MUCH faster than I could build them, I told the wolf that the "construction worker" needed a rest.  It was not as much fun as I remembered to build and then have it demolished right in front of you.  Boys play differently than girls.......which I already knew.

Swim Lessons

Collin has been taking swim lessons again this summer hoping that he will start putting his head under water and then start swimming at some point. We asked for a more strict instructor that will not easily fall under Collin's charming spell of negotiations (we have all fell victim to this at least once...it's easy to do).  After the first two week session, he has made a lot of progress.  He is still not putting his head under water but he is sinking in the water enough to have his mouth in.  He also puts his nose in the water (picture him looking face-down at the water and only putting his nose in).  He his proud of himself for going that far and wants me to watch him when he does it.

He is doing FANTASTIC at not being as afraid of being in the water.  Instead of only wanting to hang on the side of the pool, he will get in the water and kick around while hanging on a pool "noodle".  This is great for us too because it's more fun to be in the pool.  We can play with him instead of him wanting to hang at the edge all the time.  He likes to race from one side of the pool to the other and can do this time and time again. 

Mocking Bird

Collin is officially in the mocking bird stage of his life....and he knows when it will annoy me.....or at least has perfect timing for it.

Tonight, it went something like this:

Me:  "Collin, it's time to take a bath"
Collin:  "Collin, it's time to take a bath"
Me:  "Collin, stop copying me"
Collin: "Collin, stop copying me"

Me:  "OK, time to take a bath"
Collin:  "Take a bath"

I just stopped talking....and it worked.  He did eventually get in the bath.  When it was time to put his PJs on, it started again.  Ugh!  After a long day at work, it's hard to find patience for this BUT it's also really cute because I remember doing this when I was a kid.  What I don't remember is how long I did it for.  The answer is probably over a year...or even more.  Great......it's Collin's turn.  Sorry Mom!  I know how you felt now.

Chore Chart - Week 1

Last week, we started a Chore Chart for Collin.  On the chart were the following chores based on what Collin needs to work on for the week:

• No hitting - he is better at this but needs to work on the random hitting he does to me.  Plus, the teacher says that he still hits at school when he is mad.
• Put clothes away - he needs to start learning to put his dirty clothes n the hamper in his bathroom
• Brush teeth - he is lazy about this.  He will let me brush his teeth but hurriedly does it when I make him do it on his own.
• No whining at bed time - ahhhh...I would love this it he would stop whining and crying at bed time.
• Put clothes on by himself
• Put shoes on by himself

If he completed a chore successfully, then he got to put a magnetic star next to the chore he accomplished.  There were several different colors of the stars.  Instead of choosing the next star in the bag to put the star next to the chore, he made sure that the stars for the day where the same color.  Way too cute!  The incentive at the end of the week was that he got 5 coins for 20 stars on the chart.  Gotta start small, right?

He did GREAT with putting his clothes and shoes on.  He did better about brushing his teeth and really needs to work on hitting and whining at bed time BUT he did do MUCH better about crying at bed time.  I could tell him about the stars on his chart and could see him think about what he was doing and either stop or do the chore so that he could get a star. 

We are starting Week 2 and off to a great start.  He got a star for everything today.  Yeah Collin!

Lazy Day .... After a Race

This morning at 5:15am, Collin got up with us to watch me race.  He knew from the night before that he was going to get up early.  He was great at letting me get him dressed and then walked to the car when it was time to leave.  He did request to watch a movie (Gnomeo and Juliet) on the way to the race while eating mini-doughnuts Daddy brought from the house.  When we got there, I could tell he was excited and interested in the race by the amount of questions he was asking.  There were a TON of people there when we arrived.  There should have been because there were over 1,500 people in the race this morning.  I was on a team this time and the swimmer.  I could not believe it.  Just last year, I was the person that would have been looking for a swimmer.  There was no way anyone could have convinced me that I would be racing triathlons AND swimming for other people.  I told my teammate that I was not a fast swimmer.  He was fine with it and just wanted to be out there to ride and run.  I swam with the male 40+ age group plus the other relay swimmers.  The guys were brutal in the beginning but I did finally make it through the swim....2 minutes faster than the last swim at the same distance (500 meters) so I was really happy with that.

While I was swimming, Daddy and Collin were playing.  There was a playground nearby that Collin played on.  Apparently, there were some difficult parts on the equipment.  Daddy showed Collin how to do it and he eventually mastered it by the time I was finished racing and saw him do it.  Also, Collin got to sit inside the helicopter ambulance that was on site in case anyone was hurt.  He really liked that and told me about it when I saw him.  Not only did he have a great time on the playground, he also really liked sharing the post-race food with me.  He ate my second slice of pizza and a snow cone that Daddy bought him.  He was ready to go within 30 minutes of me finishing the race.  I don't blame him.  We had already been up almost 5 hours and it was not even 10am yet. 

We left and got groceries on the way home because, somehow I knew it was going to be a lazy day.  Daddy drove separately because he needed to stay a little longer.  We got home, I unloaded the groceries and then took a shower.  I told Collin we needed to rest before the baseball game (we had tickets).  He said he was not tired. I asked him to just lay next to me which he said he would "for just one minute".  In 5 seconds he said it was one minute and that he was going to get up to play.  I told him he could play without me in the playroom because I was too tired.  At one point, I turned over in the bed and saw a little boy laying next to me, asleep.  He went to get Monkey at some point and crawled in bed.  He was REALLY tired because he slept close to 4 hours! 

We did miss the baseball game and ended up staying home for the rest of the day.  We all needed it and it turned out to be a great, lazy day....for most of us.  I still cooked, cleaned and "fiddle farted" (as Daddy calls it) in the afternoon and evening.  The boys did not mind though because some of the fiddle farting involved making chocolate pie topped with whipped cream and Reese's Buttercups plus baked cheese raviolis. 

Water Balloons and New Friends

Saturday, we went to a friend's house that was hosting a party for friends in town from Atlanta. It was so far away that Collin was able to see almost an entire movie in the car on the way there. When we got there, it took him several minutes to check out the people in the house and backyard. There were several kids there but he did not know any of them. They were all around his age so he was interested in what they were doing but wanted to watch before joining in. We brought a bathing suit because we knew there would be a kiddie pool. He wanted his suit on but did not get in the water because "it's dirty Mommy. Look at all of the leaves in there". He fished in the pond instead that was full of magnetic plastic fish. He had a great time doing that until he saw that there were water balloons being made. He is VERY familiar with these because he has participated in at least two balloon fights this summer already.

He could not wait to get the balloon fight started. It was for through kids only but the parents taking pictures close by became fair game. I was surprised that they listened and only threw the balloons at out feet. Can't you tell from this picture that Collin was about to involve me in the fight? Why not, he was having a blast going it ..... and the water felt great.