Bedtime Update

To say that Collin loves his bunk beds is an understatement.  He LOVES sleeping on the top bunk.  He climbs to the top quickly and with the biggest smile on his face.  So far, he has not wanted to jump from the top...nor have any of his animals done it.  Phew!  I know it's coming at some point but we might get through Week 1 without him trying. 

Instead of wanting me to sleep on the floor, in his mind, I should want to sleep with him now that I "have my own bed down there" (on the bottom bunk).  I still try not to lay with him at night and have narrowed it down to maybe 3 times a week.  MUCH better than every night.

As far as him sleeping through the night, he has only gotten out of bed twice this week.  Once was because he could not find Monkey and the other was because he wanted water.  Before the new bed arrangement, he would get up 5 nights a week....and then have a "dry spell" for a few nights.  Maybe being on the top bunk makes him think about whether he wants to really get out of bed or not.  Whatever the reason, I got some really good sleep this week. 

To help him not lose Monkey during the night, I found a silly band (it's a rubberized skinny bracelet that is VERY popular right now) that glows in the dark.  Before climbing into bed, I "charge" the band in the lamp light and then wrap it around Monkey's wrist.  On the nights I remember (very important to do this), he has either not lost Monkey or not gotten out of bed to ask me to find him. 

I am still telling the guys the rules at night before they all go to bed.  Now that they sleep on the top AND bottom bunk (he has a set of animals that now sleep on the bottom bunk), there are more rules like "no jumping off the bed" or "no moving from one bed to the other in the middle of the night".  I try not to give Collin any ideas in these rules be he insists that there are new ones for his "new bed".

He is still full of excuses about why he cannot get in bed right away.  Last night, he suddenly developed a sniffle and wanted Vics Vapor Rub on his feet with socks (what we do when he really does have a head cold).  When I turned him down on that, his stomach started to hurt so he needed to get himself some water.  Nope.....what's the next excuse?  He wanted to sleep on the bottom bunk but he wanted his sheets on there (I have not made up the bottom bunk yet...on the list for this weekend).  There was no way I was moving his sheets to the bottom to have him change his mind.  He tried a few more things but finally did end up back on the top bed.  Mimi was still there (she still comes over on Thursday nights) so she stayed with him on the bottom bed while he was on the top.  He was satisfied with that and eventually went to sleep.

Top Bunk

We had not planned to do it this weekend, but we put Collin's bunk beds together yesterday.  He has been sleeping on the bottom bunk without the top one since he started sleeping on his big boy bed.  I have mentioned a few times that he did have another bed that will eventually go on top of the one he has.  When he heard Daddy and I talking about putting the beds together on the way home from a furniture store, he told us that his other bed is in the attic when I was asking Daddy if the bed was in the garage or attic.  Guess he really does pay attention to what we say. 

While I was cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, Collin and Daddy where moving his mattress and bedding from the bottom bunk to the top one.  We need to get a piece of plywood cut for the bottom bunk before we put the mattress on it and Collin can start using both. 

He did a fantastic job of climbing up and then showing us how to get down.  Instead of on or next to his bed like I have been for the last year, I got to read books to him and his buddies in the chair again.  I really liked being snuggled up next to him.  After reading books, he went potty one more time before climbing onto the top bed.  I left his Spiderman flash light with him in case he needed it.  I did have to tell the guys the rules which now included not climbing out of the bed.  I did not dare mention jumping out of the bed so I would not give Collin this idea....not that he will not figure it out later.  He stayed in bed and only got out once after I left to let me know the flashlight kept coming back on.  At least I knew he COULD get out without me being in there and in the dark.  He did not get out again after that or during the night.  Hmmmmm.....maybe this is the way to keep him in bed through the night?

I think it's so special that he is sleeping on the same bunk beds that Mimi and Aunt Nancy used when they were kids and that Aunt Lisa and I used when we were kids.  He does know that he is sleeping in my spot and where I slept when I was little.  I think he really liked that.

That was just Night 1.  Let's see how the rest of them go.

Typical Saturday = Birthday Parties and Friends

Today, we had two birthday parties to attend for three of Collin's friends.  What was great about these parties was that Daddy was able to join us today. 

The first one was for Ella, who was turning 3.  She had a Princess and Prince party.  We were one of the first people to arrive.  When we got there, Collin could see the large jumping castle out the window and immediately wanted to start jumping.  Ella and him and the castle to themselves for about 20 minutes and jumped the entire time.  He was really sweaty when he came out wanting a drink and then went back inside to jump some more.  By then, the other party guest had arrived.  Collin was one of the oldest there.  I could tell that he liked being the older kid and "not the baby anymore".  After jumping and having a small snack plus three drinks, he wanted to swing and climb on the playground equipment Ella had in her backyard.  He really had a great time. 

After 1 1/2 hours, we left for the next birthday party which was for Valerie and Santiago.  She was turning 4 and he was turning 3.  The party was at Pump It Up which is an indoor inflatable playground.  This one allowed adults to play so Daddy joined in on the fun with Collin.  They first played in the bouncing basketball court.  Collin wanted to "play fight" instead of bounce.  They did for a little bit before going to the next inflatable slide.  I think Collin enjoyed that even more because he and Daddy would race down to the bottom.  In the next round inflatable, they found over sized boxing mitts and pushed each other around.  Daddy needed a break from the bouncing and played air hockey with one of the other Dads.  Collin and the other boys played after Daddy lost the first round.  Even though the boys could barely see over the top of the hockey game, they had a blast.

When it was time for cake and snacks, Collin was HUNGRY.  He ate two slices of pizza, a plate full of chips and the entire 3-layer slice of birthday cake.  He was stuffing his cheeks full as fast as he could.  Daddy and I were hoping no one would comment about how we should feed him more often.  He was the last kid out of at least 15 of them to finish eating that his how much he ate.  I could not believe it. 

Look at all that food he shoved in there.  See the large 3-layer cake?

He did not take a nap on the way home but, fortunately for me, did go to sleep before 8:20pm.  Yeah!

"Let's go get her!"

I had to leave for work really early Thursday morning.  I thought my boys were still sleeping and did not hear me leave.  I did, as I usually do, kiss Daddy bye but did not wake him.  That early in the morning, I did not dare wake up Collin so he....and Daddy....could get some sleep.  Well, after I left, I did not know what a scene I caused until later in the day.  Collin woke up, went into our room, woke Daddy up by pushing on him and saying "Mommy left without giving me a kiss.  Get UP!  Get up so we can go get her!"  Daddy was in a deep sleep before this and was shocked by Collin's demand to get up, get in the car and find me.  Daddy told me later that he thought for a brief second that maybe they could catch me but decided against it.  The rest of the morning was a little stressful for both of my guys. 

I called Daddy when I got to the office Friday morning, and he said Collin did not wake up immediately after I left.  In fact, he slept in until almost 8am when Daddy went to wake him up.  Collin told him that was OK because he was going to sleep on the floor in class when the nappers go to sleep in their beds while Ms. Kristine reads books to the non-nappers.  WAY too cute!!

The Adventures of Flat Stanley

One of Collin's cousins, Will, sent him a paper doll he made called Flat Stanley as part of a school project. The project was for Collin to take Flat Stanley around with him, take pictures and tell of his adventures with Flat Stanley for about a week and then send Flat Stanley back to Will to discuss the adventures in class.

Stanley arrived during one of our busiest weeks of the year. I was working an average of 17 hours a day for the Sept 15th tax deadline. Daddy was out of town on a business trip during this same time. Therefore, when Flat Stanley arrived, he got to see a lot of the kitchen counter he laid on.  For his first few days at the house, he got to listen to us get ready for work and school and then again when we came home to eat a quick dinner. We made it up to him starting Friday. I bet he is ready to lay on that counter again!

Collin took Stanley to school Friday morning. One of Collin's favorite stops is the fish tank just inside the front door of school. Here are Stanley and Collin at the tank. He pointed out the fish to Stanley and then had to go to he class.  Daddy took Stanley so he would be in the car when he picked Collin up later that afternoon.

That evening, we went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant we really like.  Collin showed Stanley how to color while we were waiting for our food to arrive.  He also played with his cars like he usually does when we are eating out.

The next day, we met the Harris cousins at The Stomping Grounds. This is an indoor playground. Collin and Timmy had a great time running, sliding and jumping around. Stanley was too scared to join in so he sat with mommies and Leah. Every 20 min or so, the boys would come out to see us, give us a kiss or come out to get a drink. We were there almost 2 1/2 hours including the time they took a break to share lunch of a PBJ sandwich, goldfish crackers and apple sauce.  I was hoping that they (Collin and Stanley) would take a nap on the way home.  I ran two errands and Collin was still await.  I was shocked!  They finally took a nap after I ran one errand on the way home. Stanley was tired too. I was able to transfer Collin to his bed when I got home (yep, Transfer Queen!!).

The next morning, Daddy and the boys went to the donut shop before heading out for the morning. Collin likes the plain, glazed donut holes and Stanley loved the cinnamon twists.

After eating, they headed North to a supported rest stop for the Tour de Pink annual bike ride. This ride raises money to support breast cancer and the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Collin told Stanley about what the riders were doing and how the people at the stop were giving the riders food and drink.  Collin and Stanley road a bike around on the grass while waiting for riders to stop by.

Later that morning, we went to a friend's for brunch and to watch football. Collin played with Korbin and other new friends, Rowan, Will and Greg. Stanley watched football and listened to the conversation.  I think he was tired from the weekend activities already...and it was only noon on Sunday.

After a 2 hour nap, we had dinner and then went for a family bike ride around the neighborhood. Other than the July 4th parade, this was the first time Collin had ridden his bike off our street.  He did great by staying to the right of the road especially after turning right or left on the next street.  He wanted to race the entire time either with me or Daddy.  It's always about racing with him.  I wonder where he gets that from.  :)

I think Flat Stanley had a great time with us during his short time.  He does have to go back to Will...and it will be sad to see him leave.  I cannot wait for Will to hear about Stanley's adventures with us.

Negotiator

I am afraid for anyone to go against Collin and his negotiation skills. He is especially brings his A game when it's time to eat, take a bath and get dressed. I know he is about to start in with his skills when he starts with "Mommy, how about I...."

This morning, he really wanted to eat marshmallows for breakfast. I don't think so. I asked if he wanted eggs,"no", cereal, "no" or waffles.....yep, "no". He got a chair from the table and moved it to the food cabinet. He pulled out a bag of marshmallows and sat down at the table then looked over at me with that look that said "I know you don't want me to do this but I really do". He then said, "how about I have 4 marshmallows for dinner (he calls anytime he eats "dinner")?". I then told him he needed to eat breakfast first. He started pulling out a marshmallow and then looked at me. "How about I eat one of these and then I eat my eggs?". I made the mistake thinking he would only have one and then eat his breakfast. He did have one and then snuck in three more before I could put breakfast in front of him. Knowing he did not know what he wanted to eat, I made something for him and something different for me. He did take a few bites of the pastry I made for him and then he pulled put another marshmallow. He ate that and then a few more bites of his pastry. "mommy, how about I have a bite of your eggs?". Here we go again......

Cousins and Birthday Weekend

Even though Daddy and I had to work a lot this weekend, I know that Collin had a good time with cousins and friends.  Daddy dropped Collin off at Mimi's house for the day Saturday.  They played at her house for less than two hours before they went to Aunt Lisa's house for the rest of the day.  He had a great time playing with his cousins, Timmy and Leah.  He apparently worked up an appetite too because he at a lot for lunch.  I came over around 7:30pm and hung out at the house a bit...even thought Aunt Lisa and family had just left to have dinner.  Mimi and I enjoyed watching a movie while Collin played.  When we finally left, Collin feel asleep within 5 minutes and stayed asleep once we got home.

This morning, I road my bike for the first time in about 5 weeks.  The 26 mi felt great.  Daddy and Collin spent the morning at a local park after having donuts.  I joined them at the house to clean up and get ready to celebrate Matthew's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  Collin had a blast inserting coins in all of the games he wanted to play....Daddy did too.  They both did great, had a good time and won almost 500 tickets.  Collin picked out a monster truck and two jelly lizards in exchange for his tickets. 

He was hungry when it was time for the kids to eat and sing the birthday song.  He had 3 slices of pizza, ice cream and most of the birthday cake.  At one point, he stopped eating and told me the cake was really yummy.  The kid is on a roll with eating a lot of food.  I guess he is making up for how much he didn't eat at dinner all those times.

He was in a fantastic mood at the party. Here he is  being the jokester he is and having fun with his ice cream and spoon.  I love this kid.  He sure does know how to make you laugh.

"Why does he have fire?"

After all of us are home for the day, Daddy and I typically discuss how our day was.  Collin is usually right there and either part of the conversation or at least playing nearby.  Last night was no different.  I just got home after a very long day at work.  Daddy asked me first how my day was.  I told him, "Well, we did fire someone today.  It was the guy I was telling you about the other day."  Collin was definitely listening because he asked me, "Why does he have fire?"  I explained that he did not have fire but that I told him he did not have to come to work anymore.  Then Collin asked, "What was his name?"  I told him and then he asked "Does he have fire anymore?"  I actually was enjoying the conversation we were having and him trying to figure out what I was talking to Daddy about.  He never did after a few different attempts to explain that the guy did not come to work when he was supposed to and did not do a good job.  Fortunately Collin did not associate this with school and ask if he will be fired from school.  That's probably next week's question.  :)

Roller Skating

Daddy had the best idea EVER for Labor Day.  He invited more than 10 of Collin's friends to a local roller skating rink for the kids to roller skate.  I had to go to work but stopped by for almost an hour because I could not miss his first time to roller skate.  I am SO glad I was there.  He did fantastic on the skates.  Even if he fell, he quickly got right back up and started skating again.  I think he enjoyed having his friends there to skate with or race (of course, he had to race).  My cheeks were hurting so hard from smiling so much while I was there. 

All of the kids were doing sooooo good and looked cute using their "roller crutch" to skate with.  Where were these when I learned to skate?  Towards the end, Collin started using the crutch under his armpit and scooted it around that way.  Not really the way it works or helping him out much but he was getting really tired.

Look at those TINY little skates

Even Daddy joined in and looked like he was having a good time

After skating, most of the kids and parents met for lunch at a new local restaurant.  The kids had a blast all sitting in one booth by themselves with the parents at the next table over.  Daddy had to go to work after that so Mimi came over to the house to watch Collin while his parents labored on Labor Day. 

After we got home from work, we met Pappi at Luby's to celebrate Mimi's 60th birthday (sorry Mimi...just had to post your age).  Collin wanted to sit by Mimi and not me.  I guess he did not miss me too much when I was at work.  He ate really well for dinner....fish, macs and cheese and a few bites of fried okra (he likes this and picked it again tonight).  He really liked his green jello that he had to have.

When we got home, he packed his own clothes to sleep over at Mimi's for the night because school is closed tomorrow and Mommy and Daddy have to work.  Mimi and I enjoyed watching him make his selections of clothes, count what he picked out and then put the items in his bag.  He looked around his room to see if he needed anything else and then walked out.  He kissed Daddy goodnight and then headed to the front door calling for Mimi to follow him.  I guess he was OK with spending the night away from us.  What a big boy he is getting to be.