Parent Teacher Night

I went to parent teacher night while Daddy was out of town and learned that Collin is a sweet boy but he does like to talk during class.  I was wondering if he was being better in class in Kindergarten than in Pre-K because he was getting positive stickers coming home on his daily report card.  I found out that Ms Mitchell was being linent on him and given the kids time to get adjusted to the class.  So, he IS interrupting class as times.  I talked to him about that after I got home to let him know that I am aware of him and how he is behaving in class.  He knew exactly what I was talking about too.  Since then, she said that he is listening and not being as disruptive in class.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Collin started playing flag football two weeks ago.  His favorite part is getting the flag and running.  He is the third fastest runner on the team even though he is one of the shortest.  I thought he did not realize how much shorter he was until he mentioned it the other day to me.  He said that he could get to the guy with the ball faster but he cannot see him over the other boy's heads.  I told him to look around them instead of trying to look over them.  That seemed to work because he got two flags during the game.  Here are some pictures which are a little hard to find Collin.  He is #4.

Zoombie Boy

Daddy says its because they watched a show once.  I am not sure if that's it our if he talks about it with his buddies at school.  Whatever the reason, Collin loves to act like a zoombie.  He walks around with his arms stretch out front, eyes closed, tongue out and making a groaning sound.  We act like we are scared and run slowly away which he loves....

One of his birthday presents was a box full of Special Effects Makeup.  Last night, Collin wanted to make blisters and dried blood.  I had not wanted to open the box before scared of the mess it was going to make.  Turns out that it was not too bad.  I read the directions to him and asked him to find the supplies we needed.  He helped measure the ingredients and mixed the stuff together.  As I was applying the blister stuff, I asked him how it felt (cold), what color was it (clear) and if it has a smell (no).  Hey, I had to make it a lesson too...without him knowing.  While that was setting, we mixed the blood using glue and food coloring.  I applied it to the blisters but that was not enough.  He wanted it all over his arm and for it to drip some.

Here is the end result.  When he saw me taking the picture, he immediately put on his zoombie face (notice the tongue).  After a few pictures, he was ready to take it off.  I was shocked that he did not want to wear it to school..which the response was going to be a "no".  Yeah, I did not have to get into that argument.

Love the tongue in this one.  See the blood dripping on the paper towel?  Sure glad I thought of that so it did not get on the granite.

This is a zoombie look too.  He loved that the blood was dripping between his fingers.

He wanted to show that the blood had dripped to his leg. 

Modeling Clothes

I had a sweet friend give us a HUGE plastic bin full of clothes for Collin.  When I first saw it, I thought maybe I would end up pulling out a few shirts, shorts or pants.  I was in for a surprise.  Most of the clothes were from Gymboree or another name brand and looked like they were barely worn.  While Collin was watching a cartoon in the same room, I started making piles of long sleeved shirts, short sleeved shirts, jackets, pants, etc. based on size too.  At one point, I needed a break and sat on the couch with Collin.  He got us to use the bathroom and then started to look at the piles.  He looked up at me and smiled and then said, "Turn around Mommy."  I waited a minute and then asked if I could look back around.  He had pick out a pair of shorts and a shirt and changed into these pulling off the clothes he had on.  "Ta da!" With a huge grin, he showed me what he picked out.  "Can I keep these?"  I said he could and he jumped up and down with excitement.  He changed clothes three more times before settling with a cool, black shark shirt and the shorts he started with and then came and snuggled with me on the couch. 

I enjoyed this moment because my little boy was so happy to be "nice and cozy" with me watching a cartoon.  I was happy to be with him and resting from my bike ride this morning.  I had just ridden the most miles I had ever ridden (81 miles) in a bike ride that supports breast cancer.  Yes, I had surgery 6 months ago and NEVER would have thought I could ride 81 miles in the 90 degree heat.  I was determined and had the support from my team members....and my awesome, very supportive husband.  Breast cancer was not going to stop me.  :)

Time for some Football!!!

Collin had his first flag football game Saturday.  We arrived early so he could get his uniform shirt.....which turned out to be white (really, for 6 year old playing in grass and dirt?).  His them is the Chiefs and he is #4. 

For the first game, he played defense and was really good at it.  Once he figured out where the boy was running, he could turn quickly and run after him fast.  Most of the time, he did not catch up to the boy with the football because it took him a little while to find the boy with the ball.  I figured out after watching a few times, that Collin is shorter than most of his team mates so he has to look around and not over them to see where the football is.  If he can figure out a way to do that faster, I know he will be able to catch up and get a flag.  He did get a flag once and stopped the team from scoring.  Later in the car, he would tell us that his elbow hit the flag and that he did not grab it.  We said that still counts but he did not want to count it. 

By the second half, his team figured out the offense and defense and started playing really well together.  They did end up losing 2 - 3 but played a great game. 

We did take pictures but the camera cord is at Daddy's office.  I will load some later. 

"How is it dark with the sun out?"

Last night, same 'ole story with getting Collin to his room.  Fortunately, he did not stink so I decided he did not need a bath (he had one last night).  Because I worked until 7:30pm and had not seen him much that morning, I wanted to spend some snuggle time reading to him.  As he was putting his PJs on, he wanted to know why it was bed time already. 

Mommy:  "Because it's dark outside so it's time for bed"

 

Collin: "How is it dark outside when I saw the sun today?  I know it's out there."  Yep, smarty-pants even at 8:30pm. 

 

Mommy:  Where do I start....I made a fist with both hands and held them up.  "This one is the sun and this one is the Earth (pointing to each fist).  During the day when it's sunny, this side of the Earth is facing the Sun.  Then, the Earth rotates and gets dark because the Sun is on the other side now."  I am watching his face while I am talking.  He actually seems to get it...but I am sure that I went overboard for late at night.

 

Collin: Taking my Earth fist he said, "So right now, we are over here on the dark side because it's dark outside.  When I wake up and go to school we will be on this side."  Ummmmmm.....he got it!!!

 

Mommy:  "Yes, that's right."

He finished putting his PJs on, picked out two books and climbed into bed with his stuffed animals.  Good, I was not going to have to fight him to get to bed......but that came later when it was time for me to leave.  He said, "I cannot get cozy without you here with me" and then started to cry.  I want to stay there every night but I know he needs to learn to fall asleep without me there.  I have a hard time leaving and seeing him upset....plus, I was tired and needed to visit with Daddy before I went to bed.  I walked back in 10 minutes later and he was asleep.  Guess he got cozy without me.

Off to a Good School Year

Collin is having a good time being a Kindergartener.  He is making new friends and coming home with "smiley" stickers in his folder.  That's really good for him.  I am assuming this means that he is focused enough to not be disturbing others in his class and listening to the teacher....things he had trouble with in Pre-K.  So far, he has not had homework but I heard it will be coming soon. The teacher has asked us to ask the kids questions when they come home about their day...which we do anyway.  Sometimes, he will respond and other times, he is not interested.  I can usually ask him later and I will get a few responses.

Daddy picked Collin up at school this afternoon on his bike.  Collin was really proud to show his friends the "attached together" bike before he rode off on it. I would not be surprised if he asks Daddy to pick him up on the bike again tomorrow afternoon.

He is loving soccer and football so far.  Tonight, Daddy said he was excited to change clothes and go to football practice.  He's favorite is to run and grab the flags off the boy running with the football.  I thought he might be good at this because he loves to run...and run fast!  Daddy said that he is really good at running with the ball but he does not like to do this as much.  His first game is this Saturday morning.  I am not sure about the first soccer game time but the games will be on Sunday...I think.  My short-term memory is not that great these days.  I have read that this "chemo brain" could last up to a year.....yeah.  So far, the family is being really great about it.

Starting this week, he has used an alarm to wake him up instead of us trying to wake him up several different times in the morning.  Yesterday, he woke up before the alarm and this morning, he woke up to turn it off....and got out of bed.  He met me in the kitchen as I was making his lunch.  Instead of giving a breakfast order, he sat on the couch and talked to me.  Glad he did not ask about his lunch because I just finished packing it....and was NOT going to change it at this point.

At night while I read books to him, he is letting me teach him a few sight words.  He is really tired by this point, so I only do it for 5-10 minutes before he is impatient or does not want to do it.  So far, he has learned My, You, And, Of and Go.

Bath Goggles

Collin has NEVER liked having his hair washed and getting his eyes wet...in a bath.  He is fine to take a shower and stand under the shower stream but I guess that's different to him.  I have tried so many different things including the bucket that is supposed to keep water out of his eyes.  Nope...he still fusses and wants a towel immediately after having water on his head. 

I thought for sure this was related to him not wanting to put his head under the water when he first took swim lessons.  Now that he is swimming great with his head under the water the majority of the time, you would think that taking a bath would be better.  Not. One. Bit. 

I gave up and now let him wear swim goggles when I, or he, is washing his hair.  I move the goggles around so that I can be sure to wash the hair under the straps.  He then likes to play in the water with the goggles on after his hair is washed.  At least his hair is washed.....especially after stinky football practice like tonight.