It's Friday!!!! Lunch with The Dude

Like last year, I am going to try to have lunch with Collin at least once a month, if not more.  I made it a point to have lunch with him today so I could possibly get more information either from him or the other kids about the first week of school.  So far this week, we have not heard much from him about his teacher, what they are learning or any new friends he has met.  He does keep singing a "Hello, How are you?" song that they must sing in the morning when class starts.  Otherwise, we are getting nada from him.

When I showed up, he class was already lined up and getting ready to walk into the cafeteria.  Collin saw me, smiled really big (good sign!) and waved.  I checked in at the front desk and then walked into the cafeteria waiting to see which long table his teacher chose for his class.

Collin sat on the end of the table so I could have room on the outside of him.  Clayton, one of his friends from the neighborhood, sat across from us.  New friends, Davis, Beckett and Jacob, sat on our section of the table.  Collin's first comment to me was, "Why did you wait so long to have lunch with me?"  Excuse me....I am here now, aren't I?  I let him know that I was planning to have lunch with him on Fridays.  He seemed to like that.  Clayton wanted to know where his mother was.  I felt bad about that so I showed him that I was sending her a message to let her know about lunch.  He liked that.

During lunch, I learned:

•  Collin was King for the day already.  Every day, one student is King or Queen for the day.  This means that the other students get to write about the King or Queen in their journal, the lucky student gets to be first in line, and they do not have to follow the rules during lunch....at least this was what the kids were telling me.
• Collin likes tuna but does not want it in his lunch because the crackers will get soggy.  I told him I could pack it separately but he still said he would rather eat tuna at home.
• I did not give him enough Nilla Wafers
• They will have Quiet Literacy Time after lunch.  This is where they all get out their blanket or towel, write in their journal and then rest before the afternoon session starts.  Collin said that he does not fall asleep.  I am fine with that because he has been tired this week which means he has gone to bed at least 30 minutes earlier than usual.

When it was time for me to go, I got a big hug.  He wanted me to walk with him as his class walked out of the cafeteria.  I waved good-bye as I walked down the hall.  He smiled and waved back.  That was worth 30 minutes out of my day.

Clayton and Collin

Now, that's a happy boy!

Letter To Collin's Kindergarten Teacher

So that Collin's teacher could get to know him a little, I wrote the following letter (well, email since who really writes letters these days?):

Ms. Mitchell,

Collin is 6 years old and is our only child.  He is sweet, loving, easy-going and witty.  It's his since of humor and smarty pants-ness (best word to describe him) that puts him at the center of attention regularly.  He loves to laugh and make others laugh.  Because of this, he is very social which can be distracting to others…and you.  Regularly, neighbor friends want to come over and play at our house or swim in our pool. 

When he is not playing with his friends, he loves to play sports…especially soccer and baseball.  He is playing flag football this Fall and started practice after school already.  He did not think he would like it until he saw that there would be lots of running and throwing the ball.  Most of the summer, after he came home from camp, he wanted to swim in our pool…and have his friends join him. 

He is very creative.  When we do sit and draw, color or paint, he not only draws a picture but puts a lot of thought into it.  He then describes in detail what he drew and why he chose the colors he did.  Most of the time, his drawings include Mommy, Daddy and at least one of his grandmothers since they are a big part of his life.  If he is not coloring, drawing or painting, he likes to play card or board games.  He is OK if he loses and understands that both people cannot win.  You have to be careful when you play with him because he will try to cheat if you let him.  J

Collin is sensitive.  He does not like it when he knows that he has disappointed anyone or thinks he is in trouble.  He used to cry easily but has gotten better at this unless he is really tired. 

He is also resilient.  As you have probably guessed by now when you first met me, I have had a challenging year.  However, my family and supportive family and friends helped me get through this year so far.  Collin was great during this time.  At first, he did not understand what was going on.  To help him, I read him a book from the American Cancer Society that explained what would be happening to me and how he could help me.  He especially liked the part in the book where he could guess what color my hair would be when it grew back.  "Green…I want you to have green hair!" and then would laugh…demonstrating once again his sense of humor.  When I was in the hospital recovering from my biggest surgery, he came to the hospital so that he could see I was hurt but going to be fine.  He then realized that his playmate, me, would need some time to recover and could not throw the ball, run or even get on the floor to put puzzles together with him.  He was VERY patient (more than I was) with me allowing me the time I needed to recover.  When he would come to hold my hand, he would check with me to make sure that the hand was not on my "hurt side".  He asked lots of questions about me and how I felt but did not shed a tear.  He was happy because he was getting attention another way with his friends coming over or him getting to spend the night most weekends for several months. 

Academically, Collin likes math and is happy to work with addition and subtraction.  He does not seem interested in learning words or practicing writing.  Ms. Rincon worked with him a few weeks before school started and said that he is very smart but lacks confidence that he knows the correct answer especially when it comes to his ABCs and writing.  Getting him to focus on his work has been a past challenge.  I tried working with him last year and through the summer with his letters which were his least favorite.  He preferred to do matching, sorting, hidden objects, numbers or other puzzle games.  Our goal for him this year is for him to pay attention to you and not be disruptive to the other students especially when he is bored.  I would also like for him to be comfortable with his ABCs (upper and lower case). 

We know that you will enjoy having Collin in your class and getting to know him this year.  We think you will see why we think he is the most awesome little guy you will meet.

Collin's Mommy and Daddy

Football Practice

Collin is enrolled in flag football this Fall.  Practice should have been last night but it was canceled because of the rain.  So it was moved to tonight.  When we told him about practice, he did not want to go and pitched a fit.  We explained how he acted the same way about baseball and soccer and he now LOVES both of these sports.  I reminded him that there would be running and throwing the football which I know he likes to do.  He STILL was not interested in going.  Daddy and I knew that he would like it if we could just get him there.

I did not go to practice because I need to rest for a client dinner tonight.  Daddy said that Collin did really well.  When they lined up to run, Collin was 4th but could have ran faster.  He was interested in looking around and playing with the other boys.

When it came time for the drills, Daddy said that Collin was focused and was naturally really good.  He even fell hard one time but got up and did more drills.  Collin said that he could run better now that his arm was hurt.  It helped him somehow.

Here he is doing some of the drills.  Looks like he is going to have a great football season.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today is Collin's first day of Kindergarten!  He woke up like he usually does....not ready to wake up.  He knew it was school and acted like it was no big deal.  At least I got a hug from him while I was in the kitchen making his lunch before he order what he wanted for breakfast...cereal.

While Daddy was getting their bikes ready to ride to school, I took a few pictures of Collin in the front yard.  At first, he did not know why I asked for him to hold a sign.  "What does it say?  Why do I need to hold it?"  I was not going to take the time to explain to him why but that I wanted him to hold it.  I did notice that he did not brush his hair as usual because it was sticky out all over.  "Boys do not brush their hair."  Fortunately, it was a humid day so the longer we stood out there, it began to fall in place.

Here is what he was doing before I was able to get the really good pictures above

Daddy and Collin rode their bikes to school while I drove because I needed to head to work afterwards.

When we arrived at school, I asked Collin if he knew where the Kindergarten classes where and he did.  He walked to the set of rooms and then started down the hall.  "Where do I need to go?"  I showed him Ms Mitchell's class which is his new teacher.  Outside the classroom, there were names of all the students above hooks for the kids to put their backpacks on.  I asked Coll where his was.  Smartypants pointed to "Carson" knowing that was not his name.  He was either stalling or trying to be funny.  We were not in a hurry so I did not push him along. 

We walked into his class and he just stood there.  Not sure what he was thinking.  Ms. Mitchell came to greet him and said that she hoped he felt better (he had a fever Friday when I came to school to meet her).  We then walked over to his seat where Emily, Davis and Saira where already sitting.  He knows Saira from Pre-K but he had never met the other students.  There was a picture set out for them to color while they waited for the other students to arrive.  No kisses for Mommy and Daddy....don't embarrass him!

Posing with his new teacher, Ms Mitchell

Already hard at work coloring

Cousin Time!!!

Friday afternoon, I picked Timmy up from daycare to spend the night with us. Timmy was really excited to see Collin and I when we showed up at his day care.  He wanted to show us his classroom which he was not in when we arrived because they were celebrating a birthday party for one of the kids.  While in the car, Timmy wanted to show Collin the birthday party "thank you" gift while Collin wanted to watch a movie.  Timmy finally gave up because Collin was not paying attention to him.  He had no idea that getting Collin to quit watching a movie is nearly impossible.  He did stop to comment twice saying that "Timmy talks really loud".  Yes, Timmy is very animated and has a lot to talk about. 

When we got to the house, the boys started playing in Collin's room really well together.  That did not last long because Collin was irritated with Timmy for not playing what Collin wanted to play.  So...they played separately for about 30 minutes until Timmy came out of Collin's room to play. They continued to play great together until it was time for a bath before going to bed. 

Collin thought both of them would want to sleep in his old room where the bunk beds were still set up.  I found Timmy sad behind the bedroom door because he wanted his mommy.  I told him that I was here and would make sure that he was safe. He was still upset until I distracted him with asking where he wanted to sleep with his nap mat.  He decided he wanted to sleep in the middle of Collin's current room....even though Collin did not plan to sleep there.  They both stayed asleep until the next morning after 8am.  Yeah!!!

The next morning, we went to the bagel place before I planned to take the boys to the park.  Timmy selected a chocolate chip muffin and Collin wanted a chocolate chip coffee cake.  Lots of chocolate around the table.  Both of them ate really well.  We then went to the park to wear them out a little.  The boys had fun sliding down the rolling slide and playing with some of the balls we brought until they wanted to swing.  That, of course, involved me.  I was really enjoying being able to read a magazine.  Oh well.

I pushed the boys for about 30 minutes.  They had a blast!  There was a lot of laughing, talking....and giving me directions about how high and when to push again.  Collin is still scared when he goes too high. 

Timmy's face shows just how much fun he was having.

We left the one playground to play on the other one.  We were only there for 10 minutes before Timmy had to potty.  There is not one at this playground so we had to go home.

Once home, we went swimming for over a hour.  We had fun using water guns, hitting balls and playing shark.  Timmy uses floaties but was really brave in the water compared to last time.  After the park and swimming, the boys were not tired at all.  Mommy needed to rest though so we got out.  They boys played in the playroom while I rested on the couch. 

Since Mimi was coming over later to watch Collin while we attended a wedding shower, Timmy stayed with us longer than we expected him to.  Aunt Lisa came to pick him up Timmy about the time we were leaving.  She had Leah with her.  Too bad we had to leave because I would have liked to have stayed to play with her a little.  We got home 3 hours later to learn that Aunt Lisa stayed most of the time we were gone.  Hearing this, I looked around the house which did not look like it had three kids playing in it for that time. 

 

Mimi did her usual Saturday and stopped by garage sales before heading to our house.  She found a pink car for Leah....however, it looks like she either made the boys or the boys wanted to drive the car and pose for pictures.  Collin looks huge in the car!

Collin "The Dude"

Timmy

Leah

I love that we live in the same city to be able to see each other often....or at least when we make the time in our busy schedules to do so. 

6 Years - What a Difference

I remember this day 6 years ago like it was yesterday.  What a great day that was.  Daddy and I had waited a LONG time to have a baby and he was finally here.  Those doctor appointments, multiple shots and failures along the way were all worth it when we both looked at our little baby Collin.

Now, six years have passed.  That little baby is not so little anymore.  That little baby has grown into a loving, sweet, thoughtful....and smart aleck little boy.  He sure does take after his Mommy in MANY ways.  However, he is definitely his own little person.  We love his since of humor and his creative ways to get out of doing something he does not want to do.  No matter the challenges we have faced in our lives since Collin was born, he is such a joy and provides us strength each and every day.  We love you Collin!

Happy Birthday - Starbucks Style

Last night, we told Collin that tomorrow was his birthday and we were taking him out to breakfast in the morning.  It was his choice about where were would go.  Daddy listed out a few places and Collin responded with Starbucks because he wanted the marble pound cake.  This has been his favorite for a long time now (at least 2 years that I can think of) so neither of us were shocked that he would pick this.  I was hoping for somewhere else were I could get a decent breakfast and not be hungry at 10am.  Maybe he would change his mind in the morning.

 The next morning, he was not in any hurry to get up.  Daddy and I sang Happy Birthday to him twice and gave him hugs and kisses.  He did eventually get out of bed.  We confirmed that Starbucks was where he wanted to go and he said “Yes.”  He still did not know why we were excited about going out for breakfast.  “We already did my birthday AND I opened presents”.  I said that he had more presents from us (he did not open any from us on Saturday) and he still let me know that his birthday already happened.  We went anyway.

 While we were waiting for our drinks and food, Collin opened the bag of presents from us.  We gave him a UofH baseball cap, three Learn to Read books (he was not thrilled with these when I explained what they were), a painting pad, and a volcano that explodes to then reveal a dinosaur.  He liked this the best and wanted to do it while we were there.  We distracted him enough that he did forget about it.  When our drinks came, we continued to talk about the presents and his last week of camp before school starts.  We kept referring to him as the Birthday Boy.  He eventually got irritated with that reference and told me, “I am not Birthday Boy.  You already know my name is Collin!”  Well, OK then little one….

All set with Apple Juice and marble pound cake

This is what three bites of marble pound cake in his mouth looks like

Opening and telling us about the volcano and how it works

Hunging the volcano box.  Can you tell that this one is his favorite?

Awww....Mommy and Collin time.  Looks really cute and sweet...but I am actually tickling him.

 

After breakfast, Daddy and Collin left for gymnastics camp and I headed to work.  Collin was going to an indoor jumping place today with his camp.  He reminded me of this when he was getting dressed because “I need socks today so I can jump inside”.  Thanks for the reminder. 

Summer is Almost Over

I cannot believe that summer is almost over.  Collin is spending his last week of summer at gymnastics camp.  This is his third time this summer there.  During the summer, he attended the following week long camps:

• Zoo
• Science Museum
• Athletic Club
• Tae Kwan Do
• Gymnastics

He attended these camps and not some of the other ones available mainly because these camps where from 9am until at least 3:30pm or later.  The Club was until 5pm which worked with our schedule better than camps ending at noon or starting at noon until 3pm.

Tonight, I asked him to list his top three camps.  He first said "Booty Camp".  Notice that he did not attend a camp by this name.  Even at 9:15pm, he is a smarty pants like his mom.  Once he quit being silly, he said that the top three camps were gymnastics, the club and museum.  I told Daddy this list later  and he disagreed with the listing.  We both think based on Collin's enthusiasm about going to camp and how much he talked about it in the evening, his favorite camps were the club, Tae Kwan Do and the museum.

We have talked about school starting but I don't think he realizes what that means.  I am sure he does not know this means he will have to get up at least 30 minutes early in the mornings.  My guess is that this will be harder for Daddy than Collin.  I cannot tell if he is excited to see his friends again because he has not talked about most of them over the summer.  We have made a point to get together with some of his Pre-K friends like Brody.  Otherwise, everyone was busy with their camps and summer schedule.

"Bye Mommy. Have a Good Day."

During the summer, the boys did not have to get up early because Collin's summer camps did not start until 9am.  Therefore, I leave the house most of the time before anyone else is up.   Before I leave, I do give both of my boys kisses.  Collin stirs a little but does not usually wake up.  There are times that he does like today.

I was standing in the hall gathering my purse and laptop bag when Collin walked around the corner rubbing his eyes.  He said, "Don't leave yet Mommy".  I was not sure if  a breakfast request would follow like it usually does.  Not this morning.  He asked me to kneel down which I did so that he could give me a huge hug.  He was squeezing and releasing the hug while making cute little noises...until he farted.  That woke both of us up out of the moment.  He let go of me and then said the following as he was walking back to his room, "I am going back to bed to wait for Daddy to wake me up."  Guess he was tired from the weekend activities and just wanted to give me a hug.  Even though he is about to be 6 tomorrow, it's great to see that he is still a sweet little boy.

Collin's 6th Birthday Party

Fourteen of Collin's friends joined him at Sky High (indoor trampoline place) to celebrate his 6th birthday.  So that we could find all of the kids easily amongst everyone else there, I made shirts for the kids to wear.  The boys had green and the girls had pink.  The kids LOVED having shirts with their name on them.  I liked it because I could spot a group of them together by looking for the shirts.

 

The boys and a few of the girls (Ella, Ellie and Caroline) hung out together while the littler ones jumped into the foam pit or jumped with a parent.  Here are several of the kids playing dodge ball.  Collin lasted a long time before he got hit with a ball.

 

Alex, Collin, Jacob S and Jackson in the dodge ball pit

 

Most of the time, the kids jumped or played in the main area.  Collin loved being the center of attention which I think he would have been anyway with this crowd of his "bestties".  For instance, he started to run and jump into the center of each of the trampolines.  The other kids started to do the same. 

 

Here he is running to the next trampoline

After an hour, they took a break to eat pizza, sing Happy Birthday, and eat cake.  Ella was not too happy to not be able to sit by Collin. He sat down at the table and Jacob and Alex immediately sat on each side of him.  I had Ella sit across from Collin and she seemed to be OK with this.  Most of the girls sat on one side and the boys on the other side of the table.  I was shocked at how quiet it was while they were eating.  Jumping and running around makes them hungry.

Jacob B, Jacob S and Collin

 

Jacob S, Collin and Alex

A VERY happy birthday boy

Boys being boys

Linden, Bella and Saige

The crew happily eating pizza

When it was time for cake, Collin had a sad face for whatever reason.  We could not get him to smile during the song...but he perked up when it was time to blow out the candles.

Mimi arrived just in time for him to blow out the candles

Got him to smile in this one

After pizza and cake, the kids jumped again.  This time, some of the parents joined in.  Alex's daddy might have regretted jumping because the kids started to pile up on him. 

Taking a break before jumping again

It was Customer Appreciate Day so there was a person there making balloon figures and face painting.  I was wondering where all of the kids went when I found most of them waiting in line.

 

Collin, Clayton, Alex, Elli, Jackson, Jacob B and Linden

Collin, Clayton, Alex, Jackson and Bella

When we got home, Collin opened all of his presents and enjoyed the Lego gifts the most.  What a great birthday.  No, he was not tired.  He went over to Jacob S's house to swim for an hour before coming home to build (or have me build) one of his Lego presents before we made flubber.

Tutor Update

Mrs Rincon says that Collin is doing really well.  He tested well yesterday with his reading skills/words.  The only one that he struggled with was a skill that will be learned towards the end of Kindergarten.  The test was if he could understand what part of the word is left if a section was removed....such as Cat and then remove the C.  What's left?  Mrs Rincon was not surprised he did not know this. 

She said that he mainly lacks confidence in himself that he knows the right answer.  She said that this is not something we have or have not been teaching him but comes with his age and experience.  You know me, I had to research her conclusion to see if I agreed.  :) 

He has two more weeks of tutoring.  Daddy and I think this is worth it and enjoy getting daily, personal updates from a teacher.  This has at least put me at ease wondering if he was on track or not for his age.  I only have his friends to compare to that are all over the board but mainly seem to be ahead of where he is as far as Reading and Sight Words.

"Who Tooted?"

To prepare Collin for Kindergarten and help him with his letters, we hired one of the Kindergarten teachers to work with him the next three weeks for 45 minutes every day.  Her plan is to work for 30 minutes and then play a game for the last 15 minutes to keep him interested.

Daddy said that Collin started to tear up when he picked him up from camp and explained that he was going to see a tutor.  Collin was not interested in doing any work.  I am not too surprised by his reaction. 

When it was time to pick him up, Daddy and I road our bikes over to get him.  They were just wrapping up his first session.  The teacher, Ms Rincon, explained that Collin is really smart but lacks confidence.  She plans to help him work through this over the next several sessions.  He knew 75% of his letters.  She was not surprised because she expected him to not recall some of his letters since it was the summer. 

When we were ready to leave, Daddy asked, "Did you like your tutor, Ms Rincon?"  Collin said, "Who tooted?"....and he was serious.  We tried to explain what a tutor was but he was stuck on Tooted.  At least he did not know that "tooted" was another word for farted.  He would not have been able to control himself.