"Which one do you want to be?"

I regularly hear this question now and not just when we are reading books or watching a movie.  Collin asks this question whenever faced with more than one item.  Tonight, he asked this question:

• As soon as I walked in the door when I got home from work.  He was watching Happy Feet with Daddy and he wanted to know which penguin I wanted to be.  He was the snake.
• Saige and Linden came over briefly to play.  I heard him asking the girls which they wanted to be when he wanted to play "family".  He was the Mommy.
• When he was taking a bath and about to race the scuba diver with the boat.  He was the scuba diver...so I guess I was the boat.
• When looking at his toothbrushes before brushing his teeth.  I wanted to be whichever one did not slow the process down of getting into bed

Dancing Little Boy

I wanted to load this image after our trip to Florida but it would not load for some reason.  Well, it's working now.  This is just one example of how Collin LOVES to dance and listen to music in the car.  As soon as he gets in Daddy's car, he wants to music on and requests for it to be louder.  Mommy and Daddy listen to different types of music but that does not bother Collin.  He will dance and sing to any song.  Here he is dancing to Frank Sinatra with Daddy singing in the background.  Now, that puts a smile on my face every time. 

He sure does not look sick

Remember at least two years ago when Collin would shake his bottom all the time to get a good laugh?  We called it "shaking his bon bon".  He has not done it in a long time but did recently start doing it again. 

Today, we are home because he has a slight fever, cough and runny nose.  He has been lying low for about 3 hours this morning watching movies, Robots and Cars while I attended several calls and answered some emails.  He has stopped in my office occasionally to ask for something to drink or "check on me".  Here he is showing me that he feels much better than this morning.  What do you think?

Art, Baseball and Flowers, Huh?

Today was a gorgeous day to be outside.  Glad I had several things planned that involved the outdoors. 

For years, I have enjoyed going to the local annual art festival where local, small artists display their art for sale.  There is jewelry, purses, sculpture, kitchenware and lots and lots of art.  Collin likes to go because there is a children's section where they get to work on art.  He remembers from year to year this part of the festival and announced when we arrived that he wanted to color.  Speaking of arriving, we had to take a tour bus to get to the festival because there is no public parking next to the park where the festival is located.  As we were walking up to the buses, Collin pointed to the red and yellow bus telling me that he wanted to ride that bus.  He was not scared to walk on the bus and quickly picked a seat next to the window "so I can see the road and the cars go by".  He was so attentive to where the bus was going and waved to the cars as we passed them up. 

When we arrived at the festival, he wanted to head straight for the kid's section because "I want to color Mommy.  Walk faster!"  I was able to distract him looking at a few of the large, outside sculptures like this one headed to the kid's section:

The metal pieces were moving around and around.  The artist told him that the wind was doing it.  Collin then told everyone else that walked by that "the wind is doing it!".  I did manage to stop at a few of the booths because they had pieces of art that both of us liked.  Collin LOVED this picture so much that I could not get him to leave the booth. 

He stood in front of the large one that hard little vintage army men enclosed in small shadow boxes under the larger picture.  "Mommy, can we have this one?"  I asked him why he liked it and he told me he really liked both the flag and the guys.  I said that we needed to leave so he could color and he did not want to go.  There was no way we were buying the bigger picture because it was $2,800.  I needed to distract him and was able to get him to keep on moving.

Before heading around the corner to the kid's section, he had to stop at another outdoor sculpture section that had animals made out of metal.  One of them really intrigued him.  It was one of a dog "peeing" water into a can beneath him.  Collin crouched down and was mesmerized by the water coming out of the dog.  I would have taken a picture but the artist would not let me.  It was too funny.  Several people stopped and smiled at Collin more so than the funny dog.

We did make it to the kid's section.  First, Collin painted a rock.  He painted it black, then put multicolored sparkles on it before gluing three fuzzy balls on top of the rock.  While that was drying, he made an art car that had felt dinosaurs and a plastic spider glued on it. 

He then wanted to go back to the "army men picture" so we did.  Sucker! because I did buy it for him.  If he was that intrigued with it, I thought he might enjoy it hanging in his room or playroom. 

While we were walking around, he was singing most of the time.  The song he sang the most went like this, or at least his version of it:

Two little elephants balancing

Step by step on a piece of string
They had such enormous fun
They called for another elephant to join the fun

Each verse added another elephant.  I had not heard him sing this before.  Must be a new song at school.

After riding back on the bus to our car, we went to see his "baby house" as he calls it to make sure that the renter cleaned out all of his stuff.  Collin wanted to show me where the bug was in the house.  I guess the last time he was in there, there was a bug on the second story stairs leading to the thirds story.  When we finished looking at all of the rooms in the house and then came all the way back downstairs, he said "this house is not very good, right Mommy?"  It WAS a little dirty in places so Collin must have picked up on that. 

It was then time to eat lunch before getting some flowers to plant in pots for the backyard.  He liked picking out his plants that he wanted to water.  "I want ones with lots of flowers on them" so he picked some purple and pink ones out.  Figures...he does still like purple and pink.  We headed home so he could rest before Tball practice that he did not want to go to.

Once we were at practice, he was glad he was there.  Not once did he run over to me except to get a drink of water.  I don't blame him either because it was really hot out.  He did great at bat and fielding the ball.  His throws to 1st base were very accurate.  When it came time for him to run the bases after hitting, he was slower than I expected him to be.  Then I figured out it was because the helmet was so big on him and really slowed him down.  I remember Daddy telling me that was happening when Collin was running the bases during the game yesterday. 

After practice, I thought for sure Collin would want to take a nap.  I know I was tired from all of the running around so he had to be.  Nope...he never took a nap.  We did end up at the Jurek's house for about 30 minutes before we headed back to our house to plant the flowers we bought earlier.  He liked helping me dig out the dirt in the pots to then put in the plants and cover them with dirt.  He got bored with that for a little bit and wanted to use the water to clean Daddy's shoes that were outside and a few of his toys.  He has seen Daddy use the water this way to clean the concrete so he was doing the same.  I was surprised that he did not get very wet doing this.  Once all of the flowers were planted, he helped me figure out where they should be placed in the backyard before we watered them.  He still does not understand that he cannot water the plants "hard" but had not pour water easily on the plants.  Sorry...no pictures.  There was a lot of water a dirt flying around everywhere so I did not want to lose the camera in all of it.

He was hungry when we finished and ate a large sandwich that included two pieces of sliced cheese and the 10 slices of smoked ham that he insisted for me to put in it. He also ate two strawberries and fortunately forgot about the Oreo cookies that he wanted after dinner. He was still going hard at 8:45pm so we did some "work" using the Brain Quest questions and answers he is fond of doing lately.  It's a little flip-card question and answer small booklet that we have been doing 3 - 5 questions a night.

He is finally in his bed snoring...loudly.  I don't think he will be getting up in the middle of the night tonight. 

First Tball Game

This afternoon was Collin's first Tball game for his team, the Lions.  They have only had one practice before this game so I had no idea what to expect.  As you've read, Collin has been practicing.  He does have his favorite parts of baseball - throwing and hitting the ball - but then he does not like to run the bases or catch. 

Our team had the field first.  Collin was on Second base.  Daddy was out in the field too to help the team.  They do allow one adult in the field and one at bat to help the kids bat.  There were a few balls hit to Collin which he was able to stop or at least run to.  He did not understand the running of the bases so he did not know to stand at the base to get a runner out.  When he was up at bat, he hit the ball at his first swing.  He hesitated after that not remembering he had to run.  He was tagged out running to first.  With this Tball league, he still got to run the rest of the bases.  Next time on the field, he played first base..just like his Mommy did when she played.  He did REALLY good at stopping the ball when it was thrown to him by his team members.  He stood a little close to the base and on the baseline so the runners had to run around him.  Next at bat, he hit the ball again but was out at first. 

I was proud of him for playing the entire hour and not wanting to get off the field like some of his team mates. 



His serious baseball player pose.  He laughed after this.

First run to home plate

Lefty at bat

Playing first base

Team meeting after the game

Loving Tball Practice

Since Tball practice Sunday, Collin has wanted to practice batting and throwing the ball every day after school.  Notice I did not say catching the ball.  He does not like to try to catch the ball because "I am afraid it will hit me in the face".  Well, it might...but he has to practice. 

He is a lefty throwing and at bat.  Once I taught him where to stand and how to hold the bat, he hits the ball really well.  Getting him to run to a base after hitting the ball is a challenge.  He just wants to continue to hit the ball.  When he is "out in the field" catching the ball, he wants to put his glove on the ground like Coach taught him and then wait for the ball to come to a stop before going after it.  At least he does go after the ball and then accurately throws the ball back.

His first game is this Saturday at 1pm.  Yes, it's already time for a game.  This should be entertaining.  For the game, he has to wear baseball pants.  The team's colors are read and white so Coach really wants the boys to wear white pants.  I did get him some white pants but also got a pair of gray pants for him to wear during practice to get used to the pants. 

Here he is tonight trying them on.  Having a shirt tucked in was really driving him nuts so I did really good to get these pictures.  He looks so grown up!  The shirt is one he had.  He will get his jersey on game day Saturday.

Tball Time

Today, Collin had his first Tball practice.  Instead of clinging to one of us, he got out there in the field to catch balls, run the bases, and practice hitting.  I was very proud of him that he stuck it out for the entire hour of practice.  Daddy was out there too in the field helping Coach Mark out.  Collin did great throwing and hitting the ball.  He does need to practice catching the ball.

When we got in the car, he asked, "Can we do more of that when we get home?"  I guess he really liked Tball today.  We did go to the store so he could pick out his own bat so we can practice at home.  We did also get some soft Tballs and a backpack for him to use.  I also liked the backpack idea so that we can keep everything together and not have to hunt for it before practice and games every time.

We all cannot wait for him to have practice again. 

Watching Mommy Race

This morning, we woke up Collin to watch me race in my first triathlon of the season.  We left the house just before 6am.  As we were pulling out of the neighborhood, Collin announced, "I did not get enough rest to run fast this morning" as he was rubbing his eyes.  That was his way of saying "Why, oh why, are we up so early?"

I loved having Collin...and Mimi showed up later, to watch me race.  Daddy has seen me many times before but it was Mimi's first and Collin's second time.  They were right there cheering me on when I got out of the water, heading out and coming in on the bike and then heading out and crossing the finish line.  Collin ran up and gave me a huge hug which I really loved...and then immediately asked me, "Will you play with me Mommy?"  Guess he did not understand that I just fully exerted myself for 1:24 hours. 

Waiting for me at the swim finish

Patiently waiting for me to get out of the water.  I was one of the last ladies to get out.

Here I am FINALLY out of the water getting out of my wet suit

Here I am getting on my bike to start the 12 miles

Turning around for a second loop on the bike

After the race and while we were still there, Collin and I did play together with his cars and other toys he brought.  We were waiting for the awards.  I did not win one this time, I got 4th in my age group, but we wanted to be there when other Tri Club members received their award.  Collin got hungry and was not interested in the snacks we packed.  He found the food section for the racers and must have eaten at least an orange and a half of orange slices.  Later that day when we went to the grocery store, he wanted me to get some oranges.  He was also too funny when he saw that several people were walking around with an award.  He asked me where mine was.  I said that I was not fast enough to get one.  Later, I introduced him to someone I knew that did get an award.  He told her "My mommy did not get one of those because she was not fast enough".  Thanks Collin!

Rodeo Time!

We did not get a chance to go to the rodeo last year so I wanted to make sure that Collin got to go this year.  Daddy had to work so we went with a friend, Kyle, and his Aunt Kelly.  I know her from work. 

We met Kyle at his house and then all rode together in the car.  The boys did not talk to each other at first but then started talking about the movie they were watching on the way to the rodeo.  We parked near the carnival and Collin saw the Farris wheel.  The first thing he said was "I don't want to ride that one.  It's WAY high up there.  I don't want to be stuck up there if it stops".  I thought that was a really good reason, don't you?  He was mesmerized by the mini-roller coaster and wanted to ride it.  Thank goodness the carnival was not open yet.  I told him at the roller coaster was being tested and he was fine with that explanation.

When we arrived at the livestock section of the rodeo, the kids wanted to "farm" first.  This is where they planted fake seeds, milked a fake cow, feed fake chickens, planted vegetables all to turn in the goods they collected for fake money.  They then used the money to buy a snack.  They then wanted to go to the petting zoo.  Collin refused to go in the last time so I thought he would not be interested this time.  He did want to go in because Kyle wanted to go in to pet the animals.  Collin stuck close to me, did go in and then actually stayed in a little while.  He only pet a tiny pig and a goat.  He did not dart to the Exit but he did stay close by me.  After the petting zoo, the boys wanted to ride the ponies.  They first watch a round to make sure they wanted to go.  Collin asked me what a particular pony's name was, I said Tex and he said he wanted to ride that one.....and he did.  He smiled the entire time.  I was shocked because he is skittish around animals. 

Feeding the chickens on the farm so they will lay an egg for the boys to sell

Planting tomatoes to later sell

Two silly little boys having fun

Checking out the sheep at the farm

Riding Tex

Having fun riding Tex

We then went inside to see the other animals.  Collin wanted to see the baby animals first.  He remember them from the last time.  We stopped to see the baby pigs and cows nursing.  He enjoyed watching the pigs.  We then saw baby chicks hatching.  He could have stayed there longer but Kyle was ready to move on.  Actually, Kyle's attention span WAS much shorter than Collin's.  We saw the baby rabbits and then looked at the other rabbits.  The boys really liked the milking the cow demonstration and wanted to drink some milk after that.  We then spent the rest of the time playing on the tractors.  They loved pretending to drive.

For lunch, they split a corn dog and fries while Kelly and I had a slice of pizza.  We then went back outside to possible ride the ponies again.  Collin had to potty so we went back inside.  We rode the elevator to the second floor to find a shorter line.  We we finished, the boys wanted ride up and down the elevator.  We were here to see the animals and the boys were having fun riding an elevator...hahaha.

The boys met a friend friend to set with them while watching a cow milking demo

About to bed the bunnies

Now, that's a tire!

"Is this the pedal that makes the tractor go?"

That is one happy little boy

After 5 hours, we left to head home.  I had to pick up my race packet for my first triathlon race the next morning and the boys were getting tired.  Collin was out about 10 minutes after we left and did not wake up after being transferred to the Jeep and then to the packet pick up location.  He ended up sleeping for over 2 hours.  I knew he was worn out from having so much fun.

"When I Get Bigger...."

Lots of questions tonight after reading books and getting ready for bed tonight about what Collin wants to be able to do when he gets bigger.  He might have been thinking about his friends that were over tonight, Jimmy, 14, Lizzie, 11 and Rosie, 8, that were in town for the day and stopped by for dinner.

Here is how the conversation went:

Collin:  "When I get bigger, can I sleep in your bed Mommy?"
Mommy:  "No Collin.  You need to sleep in your bed"  He did not like this answer

Collin: "What about when I get really bigger?"...I refrained from correcting him
Mommy: "When you get older you will probably live in your own house"  Oh....REALLY not the right answer!

Collin: "No!  I don't want to live in my own house.  Who will drive me to school?"
Mommy:  "Well, you will because you will be driving and have your own car"  I can see that this is not going to end soon and he did not like the idea of not living with us.
Collin:  "I don't know how to drive.  You or Daddy will have to drive me."

Mommy:  "Collin, when you say bigger, what do you mean?  How old will you be?"
Collin:  "How was the girl in the purple shirt (he means Lizzie from tonight)?"
Mommy:  "She is 8"
Collin: "When I am 8, where will I be living?"
Mommy:  "You will be living here and sleeping in your room like you are right now"

Ok...I loved having this conversation but I really needed to shut it down because it was after 9pm and the tired little boy that I was laying next to needed to get some sleep.

Doing the Dishes....and Singing

Collin still LOVES to help me in the kitchen whether it's cooking, especially making banana bread, or if it's cleaning/rinsing the dishes afterwards.  It was a rainy day so I let him "help" me clean some of the dishes while I got some work done in the office...it's tax time and the upcoming deadline is next week.  I knew he would be occupied for at least 15 - 20 minutes which would be great.  I could hear him in the kitchen using the water and moving the dishes around.  I assumed he was making a little mess with the water but it was worth it.  Ten minutes into washing the dishes, he started singing.  At first, I did not recognize the song because I could barely hear him over the water splashing.  I left the office, and stood at the edge of the kitchen.  Yes, I did know the song.  He was singing the entire Star Spangled Banner....and knew all of the words.  Singing and washing the dishes...I knew he was a really happy little boy at that moment.  He had also taken his shirt off so it would not get wet.  Guess he knew from other dish washing moments that he might get a little....or a lot...wet.  Yes, he got a big hug after he finished.

"Let's do my work"

In the last two weeks, a switch has been flipped. Collin is now VERY interested in learning his numbers and letters and working in his "school" books that Grandma H bought him for Christmas.  These books also include identifying rhyming and opposite activities.  After dinner, instead of playing in his playroom or wanting (really begging to watch a movie), we now head to the dinning room table to work on several pages out of his books.  He does still get a little frustrated with tracing the numbers and letters but does not give up like he used to.  I don't even have to encourage him too much to complete a page.  He does not want to write his name on the top of each page but that will come with time. 

Here is the scene last night after he woke up from a 3 hour nap.  He came home from school with at 102.6 fever.  You would not have guessed that based on how he was acting and pushing through on his work.

"When Can I Start Driving?"

Collin was not feeling well last night when he got home.  He said his tummy hurt and he might "choke" so Daddy laid him on the couch.  Collin fell asleep and was still asleep when I got home.  He did not have a fever so we thought he would be OK enough to transfer him to his bed.  He did not wake up during the transfer so we knew he was a tired little boy.

Around 1am, I was woken up by a little boy tapping on my arm.  "Mommy, can you sleep with me?"  I got out of bed, put him in his bed and then crawled onto the bottom bunk.  For the next 30 minutes:

Collin:  "Mommy, are you still there?"
Mommy: "Yes"
Collin: "I need the covers pulled over me"
Mommy:  "Please try it yourself"
Collin:  "I can't".....well, duh, he wanted me to get back up.

Collin:  "Mommy, are you still there?"
Mommy: "Yes.  Please go to sleep."
Collin: "Mommy....Mommy...Mommy"
Mommy:  "Collin, I am here and trying to sleep"

Collin:  "Mommy?"
Mommy:  ....really tired and realizing he is not going to quickly fall asleep "Yes?"
Collin:  "When can I start driving a car?  I am four now and you are fourty-two"  Thank for reminding me of my age at 1:30am kiddo.
Mommy: ...trying not to laugh "Well, not tonight.....or tomorrow so please go to sleep"

He was snoring 5 minutes later.  I crawled back into my bed 45 minutes later and was not woken up again until the alarm went off at 5am (it was a swim morning).  Collin woke up 5 min later and wanted to watch TV.  I had him crawl in my bed on my side and he was asleep when I got back an hour later. 

I am tired today but, every time I yawn, I think of Collin asking if he can drive and it makes me smile.  :)

"Mommy has a picture of me"

Collin came with me to work Saturday morning to drop off some tax returns.  He had a blast visiting with my co-workers, playing with the desk toys and even getting snacks/candy from people.  When he was in my office, he immediately saw the large picture I have of him when he was two.  He asked me why I have it on my desk and I told him that I love to look at his picture.  After hearing my response, he changed subjects and started playing with the squeeze ball I had on my desk.

Well...I guess he liked that I have a picture of him in my office.  This morning when Daddy was driving him to school, Collin told Daddy, "Mommy has a picture of me in her office".  Daddy told him that he did too and Collin wanted to know why.  Daddy explained that Collin told him to put a picture in his office so Daddy could remember him.  Daddy explained that we love him and like looking at his picture.

Love the New Neighbors

Other than running a few errands this weekend, Collin was over at the Jurek's house playing with the girls.  They jumped on the trampoline, played in the sandbox outside (there is a permanent one in the backyard that Collin is very familiar with), played in the playroom and rode their bikes in the front yard.  While the kids where playing, the mommies unpacked in the house.  When the kids where in front, we took a break to watch them play.  They had fun going around in circles either racing or following the leader.  The "leader" always rode right through the puddle of water...of course!

The new neighbors came over to our house for dinner because they still had a lot of unpacking in the kitchen to do.  The kids played in the playroom before and after the meal while the parents talked.  Is this how it's going to be every weekend?  I hope so!  I am sure Collin does too.

Saige and Linden, so close now!

Saige and Linden are neighbors now!  They moved it to the house at the end of our street where Luke, Max and JP lived.  Collin really liked playing with the boys so I thought he would be said when he realized that they would not be coming out to play anymore.  NOPE!  He kept asking me yesterday when Saige was going to move in.

The girls spent the night with a friend so that they would not have to be at the house when the moving truck arrived.  Collin and I came over to help unpack some...and at least set up the playroom so that it would be ready when the girls arrived.  When they did, Collin stood at their front door and watched them get out of the car.  Their Mommy was there too.  They got out of the car, ran straight past their Mommy and gave Collin a hug.  They immediately wanted to play together, laughing the entire time.  I guess they do not miss their old house.  Not long after they arrived, the discovered that the boys left their trampoline in the backyard.  Saige, Linden and Collin had a great time on it jumping, doing cartwheels and forward rolls.  For some reason, I got caught yelling out "red", "green" or "yellow" for them to stop, go or slow down when they were jumping.  We all eventually got hungry and went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant.  Collin almost fell asleep in his chair but picked up some energy again somehow and woke back up.  Dinner was great.  When we were leaving, Collin announced that it was a race.  He loves to race at whatever he does.  We DID beat the Jureks home.  I am glad he did not ask to go over to their house.  It was time for bed and Mommy was tired from her ride this morning and unpacking a lot today.

I wonder when he wakes up tomorrow how many minutes it will take him to ask, "Can I go over to Saige's house and play?"