Let's Go Riding

It was raining most of the day so during a small break in the rain and to get Collin outside for a little bit, I took him out so he could ride his new bike for the first time. He did a great job with his balance. I pushed him by holding onto the handlebars and standing behind him. He had a great time. After I could see that he could hold his balance, I then pushed him by holding onto his waist so he could steer. He turned then handle bars when he turned his head so we did not go straight for a long period of time. hahaha I can tell we have work ahead of us but it will be fun to watch him learn.

Christmas with the Family

This year, we celebrated Christmas the day after because the Duttons flew in from Colorado. They are Collin's uncle Robin and Aunt Nancy and who we visited this past summer. Collin heard that there was going to be a party tonight and he was really excited to know that people where coming over. He wore himself out playing with some of his new toys that he too over a 3 hour nap this afternoon. I thought it was great because I was able to cook all of the desserts, get the appetizers ready and clean the house before company arrived. Once family arrived, the quite house was full of conversation. Collin did get overwhelmed by all of the people. Luckily, daddy arrived just in time to take care of him and and give him some attention.

Here are Collin, Mimi, Aunt Nancy and Timmy. Timmy is now 8 weeks old and getting bigger every day.

After dinner, we started to open presents because Collin was getting tired. I wanted him to open his presents in front of the people that got them for his so they could see his excitement. He opened the first present and began to play with it for several minutes forgetting that he had other presents. After about 10 minutes, we had to move it so he would open the other presents. He was not too happy about this until he opened the next gift. One of his favorite presents was this one from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Paul. I really liked putting the colored balls into the holes. This came with a hammer that I thought Collin would be more interested but I was wrong. His other favorite was a jack-in-the-box from us. Daddy picked it out and did a great job. He was not sure what to think of it at first but then laughed hard every time the guy popped out of the box at the end of the song. Here is a short video of it. Sorry I turned the knob so fast. I could not wait to hear him laugh again.

Here is Aunt Lisa and Timmy. He was enjoying looking in the mirror. This is in the stairwell between the 2nd and 3rd floor. I used to do this with Collin when he was this age. As he got older, he would expect that we would stop and look in the mirror. He crawls down the stairs now, so we do not do this anymore.

Merry Christmas!!!

As he does every morning, Collin crawled down the stairs to get some breakfast. This morning, he was WAY distracted by the NEW BICYCLE he saw once he was downstairs. He did not care that he was hungry. He was way too interested in the new bike in his house. He crawled over to it and said "ooooohhhhh" as he pointed to the shiny padding and the reflectors on the bike. Daddy put him on the bike and he had the biggest smile. I pushed him around and he loved it. He completely forgot how hungry he was until I pushed him a little to close to the kitchen. He saw his milk waiting for him and started to cry for it. The fun bike time was over for now.

After breakfast of healthy cinnamon rolls and blueberry waffles, Collin opened one of his many presents. We thought it would be fun for him to be able to open one every few hours today instead of all at once. The first present he opened was a six-sided Curiosity Cube. He had fun looking at all of the different sides and exploring what each side would do.

Daddy then put mommy's gift together which is an art table for Collin and I to hopefully spend many hours on coloring, drawing, painting and other fun activities. Here we are checking it out. Right now, Collin likes to crawl and sit on top of the table. He did sit on the seat a few times and helped mommy read the mail. Mommy then showed him the different colors. He was focused on pulling the cups out of the holes and throwing them. Every time mommy put the chalk or crayons back in the cups, Collin would take them back out. It was part of the game, right?

All of the bicycle riding and crayon throwing made Collin tired. He sat on his daddy's lap and was quickly ready for a nap....which turned into over a 3 hour nap!!! We were not expecting that.

Sign My Cast?

After Collin woke up from a nap, we went to daddy's bicycle shop to see Santa. Yep, Santa was at the shop so he could greet the kids while their parents shopped. Collin was not really interested in Santa so daddy had the guys sign Collin's cast. Apparently, they could not wait to do this. Even Santa got in on the action.

Daddy then brought out a bike to see what Collin would do with it. Collin LOVED it when daddy pushed him around on it in the shop. He did eventually get distracted because he saw the new kid area in the shop and wanted to play with the toys instead.

Now that Collin had warmed up to everyone there, we attempted pictures with Santa. He still was not really interested in Santa but he at least sat next to him on my lap.

Snoopy and Lights!

Collin is really enjoying all of the Christmas lights. When we drive around at night now with him, all we hear is "ooohhh" as he is pointing at all of the lights. Tonight, we had a Christmas White Elephant party and brought Collin with us. The house was decorated with large characters in the front of the house and lots of lights. When we arrived, Collin was "oohhhh'ing" and pointing to the Snoopy. I had daddy take a picture of us in front of it. See how excited he was to be that close to Snoopy? He quickly moved on to "ooohhhh'ing" at something else.

Mommy's Work

I had to work late several nights this week. On Thursday night, Collin got to come with me to work and bring dinner to a crew that was working. He was a hit. Everything he saw caused him to 'ooooohhhh' which then caused my coworkers to laugh and smile at Collin. This only encouraged him to "talk" to them more. He really fell in love with Thuy as you can see from this pictures.

After we finished dinner and toured the floor, we went back to my new office. Collin enjoyed playing with my computer mouse (nothing new there...it's an electronic device) and a file folder. He did quickly get bored with that so he grabbed my calculator of my desk and was delighted that he got to push some buttons on it. I like my calculator but not this much.

Daddy came to pick Collin up and see my new office and meet my coworkers that were still there when he arrived.

Collin's Adjusting

Collin is adjusting well to his cast. At first, he was really mad that it was on his leg because it was holding him back from walking, standing on his tip toes and crawling up the stairs. He would crawl for a little and then collapse on the floor and start crying. That was hard to watch. He would pull up on the couch or any other object to start walking and would instead start to cry. I am not sure if he was hurting or figured out that he would not be able to walk because the cast was in his way.

It's been almost 5 days since he got his cast put on and he is doing much better. He is back to crawling up the stairs without a problem. He has figured out how to go from crawling to sitting and then back to crawling. He still does not stand on the leg much. Maybe he will do this more when the shorted cast is put on in about 2 more weeks.

Kisses!

Collin has learned to smack his lips together when he wants to give you a kiss.....and he LOVES to give kisses. He kisses his favorite stuffed animal, a monkey, every time he picks him up. He gives him a hug first and then pulls the monkey to his lips to give him a kiss. If he sees daddy and I give each other a kiss, he starts to smack his lips and wants to join us. It's really hard to not start laughing because it's too cute! I will try to get a picture of this and post it some time.

What's Timmy Doing Under There?

Aunt Lisa and cousins Dustin and Timmy came over tonight to give me my birthday present since we were out of town during my birthday. Timmy is 7 weeks now and still nursing every 2 hours. So, during one of the times that he was nursing, Collin got curious about what Aunt Lisa was doing with Timmy. He scooted next to her and lifted her Hooter Hider up to see what was going on. Once he saw Timmy underneath, he looked up at Aunt Lisa and smiled. Think he remembers when he did this? hahaha

Take a Break

Well, our sightseeing was cut a little short Wednesday afternoon and it was a long few days after that. I thought it would be a good idea for Collin to get to play at a local park before getting in the car to tour more of Phoenix. He played on the smaller playground equipment first and really liked playing with the steering wheel attached to the side but quickly became too interested in watching the big kids play on the other playground. We went over there so he could get a closer look. He walked along the equipment and was mesmerized by the kids running around. There was a kiddie train that I thought Collin would love to ride so I wanted him to get down so we could catch the next train. The fastest way down was the slide. Collin did slide down the slide but we did not get to ride the train because he ended up breaking his leg. I did not know that at the time. I thought maybe he bruised his ankle because he stopped crying and became interested in watching the kids play. To see if he was OK, I put him down and he fell over. That's when I knew we needed to get to the local ER. Collin was so calm that he fell asleep on the way there. I just wanted to have him checked out to make sure he was OK so we still went.

Because he is a kid, they saw him right away. He was flirting with the nurse and watching the TV that they had in the pediatric area of the ER. Then the doc came to check out his leg and he became a little cranky. Most of the time that the doc pressed on his leg and foot, he did not flinch. He was being such a brave little boy. He did cry out when the doc squeezed his calf. Because of that, the doc ordered an X-ray. Collin really did not like the X-ray part and was squirming so much that they had to take more than one picture. I saw the break in his bone on the first X-ray though. We found out later that he broke his tibia. They wrapped his leg and put a splint on it in case there was swelling.

We left the ER, got some meds and went back to the room. As you can see from these pictures, he was smiling and feeling relatively well for someone that just broke a major bone. He was a little irritated with the splint because it was in his way of crawling and moving around. He slept OK that night and only woke up a few times. He just needed a hug from mommy I am sure.

Today, he got his cast put on. He will be in this one for 2 - 3 weeks. After that, they will put on a cast that is from below his knee and covering his foot. Collin did SOO good while they put his cast on. He only got fussy at the end because he was getting hungry. Daddy came to the rescue with vanilla wafers. He loves these.

Here is his in his splint waiting for the orthopedic doc to see him. After this picture, he grabbed the paper he was sitting on and wrapped it around him. He started pulling on it and riping it. This happens every time he sits on this type of paper at the doctor's office.

Here he is being really brave and calm while the nurse put his cast one. Like the blue? We can pick another color the next time. We thought the darker color would be best with him since he will probably drag that leg around every where. The cast is only going to slow him down a little and only in the beginning. He will quickly figure out how to move around with it and get into things he shouldn't again.

Santa, I would like......

There was a fake Santa in the lobby of the hotel, so I thought it would be fun to have Collin sit on his lap and see what he would do. He did not care about the Santa and was more interested in the large fake candy cane Santa was holding.

Sedona

Today after Collin took a morning nap, we headed for a drive to Sedona. I used to love to hike on the red rocks in the area and camp in Oak Creek Canyon. I thought it would be fun to see how it had changed and also to enjoy the beautiful scenery I have missed. Plus, since Collin was still tired from yesterday, I thought he would not mind being in the car so he could get some rest. We did stop to get out of the car and stretch our legs. I thought that Collin would perk up some but he was not really interested in doing much. He did walk around and enjoyed looking at the stuffed animals in a few of the shops.

Big Boy Moment

This morning, Collin seemed to only be interested in milk for breakfast. I had opened some baby food (hey, we are traveling an in a hotel room with no frig) but he was not interested. He usually eats more than milk for breakfast but I was not too surprised with his disinterest this morning because he is teething and in new surroundings. I left the spoon in the container thinking I would try again a little later after he woke up a little more. He was interested all right! About 20 minutes later, I looked over to see what Collin was doing and he was standing on the tip of his toes reaching for the spoon in the container. I thought for sure that all of it was going to be pulled off the table and get all over him. He did no such thing. Instead, he scooped some of the food out with the spoon and put it in his mouth. I slowly walked over, grabbed the container off the table and brought it to his level. He continued to use the spoon to scoop out the food and put the spoon in his mouth. Most of the food did actually make it into his mouth too but I was still glad that I had not put his shirt on yet. He continued this until all of the food was gone. What a big boy!!!

We Made It!!

It was a really long day for all of us but we made it to Phoenix. By the way Collin was excited about the bus ride to the airport, he probably thought this was that all of the excitement of the morning was about. He loved standing up as the bus was going so he could look out the window at the cars going by. I know he was having fun because he was jumping up and down on the seat and laughing at the same time.

We got to the airport and he loved his stroller ride for a little while. He got restless so I let him out to walk around and stretch his legs before getting on the plane.

Collin slept the first 45 minutes of the flight only after screaming for a few minutes. I was hoping for one of his marathon naps during the flight so he would sleep most of the time. Just as I was settling into the movie, he woke up. I thought he might be hungry so I gave him his sippy cup. He drank out of it a little bit and then thought the guy behind us would rather have it so he threw it at him. I have no idea if he was awake or not but he sure was after having a sippy cup fly at him. I then gave Collin his pacifier thinking that would settle him down. He threw that to the man sitting next to us. Boy, I was not sure how much longer I would last with this. Boys sure do have a lot of energy. He did settle down after I turned the channel to some music and gave him the earphones. I will have to remember that for next time.

We arrived in Phoenix, got our car and headed to the Karg's for a fun evening. Collin and their three-year old hit it off right away. "A" wanted him to play in the backyard but Collin was interested in pushing and pulling the toy lawn mower. He even brought in into the house with him. He eventually found something else to play with when he spotted the other toys. After that, it was time to explore the house. He must have worn himself out because he did not eat dinner and past out in the high chair while we were still eating dinner. He did wake back up and noticed that "F" had woken up from her nap. He got down and followed her around the house and up the stairs. While we were touring the house, Collin found some toys that he must have thought would be better downstairs because he stood at the top of the stairs and thew one toy at a time down the stairs and laughed while he did it. Thank goodness they have kids or this might have been a shock to them.

I had a great time. Even thought it had been 7 years since I had seen the Kargs, we talked and laughed like it had only been since last week. I really miss them. We will have to come again. Maybe daddy will be able to come next time.

Going on a Trip

Mommy told me I was going on a trip to Phoenix so I immediately got in my car so we could get an early start.



She laughed and let me know that we were leaving tomorrow and going on a plane. I was excited because I love going on planes and meeting new people. We plan to see some of mommy's friends while we are there. She has to work too which is the main reason we are going. I cannot work with her, so she is going to leave me by the hotel pool (just kidding!). I will be sure to have mommy post pictures while we are gone so we can tell you how much fun we are having.

Updated Stats

Daddy took Collin to the vet Tuesday and she said Collin looks good and is developing like he should be. He is 22lbs 9 oz (25%), 32 in long (75%) and his head is 18 3/4in (52%). Translation: Tall, skinny, large-headed little boy. Little boy and not baby is right. We had dinner with our neighbors last night (Ella's parents - see the Blog list on the right) and they commented how he looks like a little boy and is quickly losing the baby look. Yep, he is growing up too fast.

Daddy's Bike Shop

Collin got to hang out with daddy this morning at the bike shop while waiting for Mimi to pick him up. He had a great time checking out the inventory. One of his favorites is to pick out the smaller items out of the bins by the check-out counter. Here are some pictures of him testing the bikes more his size.

Here he is checking out a tag which he is still drawn to every time he sees one.

Take Me for a Ride

The other night, I thought it would be fun to sit Collin down on one of our blankets we leave on the couch and pull him along. I thought of this because he really liked riding on the cart at Gymboree the other day. As I thought, he had a blast!!! He was laughing so hard, he fell over one time.....fortunately, the blanket was there to soften the fall a little. I pulled him around for about 2o minutes. I stopped because I got tired...not because he was ready for something new.

I had not done this for a few days and thought Collin did not remember me doing this to him. Well, this is were I was wrong. Tonight, while I was cooking, he walked over to me pulling the blanket behind him. I looked over at him and he looked to make sure I was watching him. Next, he dropped the blanket, stepped on top of it and looked at me as if to say "Mom, pull me around like you did the other night". So, I did. Since I was cooking, I could not do it as long as I did the other night. I stopped, gave him the blanket, and put one of his stuffed animals on it to see if he would pull is around. He did for a little while but stopped when he heard daddy come home.

Hyena Laugh

We have always thought Collin had a great laugh. No matter what kind of day we had, seeing him and hearing him laugh would make it that much better. Well....that laugh have developed into what we refer to as the Hyena laugh or the screaming laugh. When you hear his new laugh for the first time, you might think he is screaming. Looking at him though, you know he is laughing. He is all smiles, has his tongue out between his teeth and laughing loud and as hard as he can. I know none of us laugh this way so I have no idea where he picked up.

I have tried to capture it on video but have not been able to yet because I am laughing too hard myself. Yes, I know that this only encourages the laugh. Maybe today will be the day.

Gymboree Play

Saturday morning, Collin and Matthew met at Gymboree to play since it was Open Gym day (when any of the students can play on the equipment). The thought was this would wear them out so that they would take a long nap that day. I don't know if it worked for Matthew but it did not for Collin. After playing for almost 2 hours, I thought the little guy would be pooped....or at least ready for a snack. He did not want either and want not ready to go. He was having too much fun crawling through the tunnels, climbing up the slides (yep, he slid down them last week so it was time to climb up them this time I guess), throwing the balls, going for a ride on the pull-cart and crawling across the bridge. Most of the time, he and Matthew did not play together. They did play side-by-side a few times. Once some of the older kids arrived, Collin was more interested in watching them play and trying to figure out how he could do the same thing. They were getting annoyed with him because he was in their way a few times. They did politely ask him to move but he just stared.

After Gymboree, we left to visit daddy's new bike shop. WOW!!! What a difference location, a large parking lot, new paint, flooring, fixtures and space makes. The customers coming in for a visit had only positive things to say.

Mimi stopped by the shop to work a little. Before she did that, we went to lunch. Collin ate an entire plate of mixed fruit like he had not eaten in days. I guess all of that playing did make him hungry.

Shopping, shopping, shopping.....

Since both mommy and daddy have been busy with work, neither one of them have been able to run the errands they have needed to. Well, I thought errands and shopping were fun the first day since I got to meet lots of new people, scream at them (it was loud...I wanted to hear myself talk) and flirt. I really liked it when mommy let me ride on her shoulders because I was getting really tired of sitting in the strollers. Besides, strollers are for babies which I am not.

By the second day of this shopping, I really did not like the word. At least I was outside more this time and got to stretch my legs some.

We are staying home today to rest, play outside and clean the house. I am not going to clean though....I plan to sleep, eat, play with my toys and scream at the kitties.

Helping Daddy at the New Shop

After I took Collin to gym class, we met daddy at the new bike shop. Collin had a great time "helping" put inventory out on the floor. Here he is making sure we know what's in the box by throwing everything out of it. At least I was smart enough to move another box in front of him so that he would throw the supplies out into another box and not on the floor.

Once he finished "organizing" the cycling socks, he walked over to daddy and thought he should supervise what he was doing. Daddy was trying to build a bike rack but had to slow down the building of it because Collin kept walking away with the wrench. Hey, it was shiny and interesting. You can't blame him for being curious. We ordered pizza for all of the guys and Collin was a big boy by eating his own slice. He also had a little of a bread stick. Working at the bike shop makes you hungry.

After leaving the shop, I went to get the car wash since it has not rained here in awhile (every time I was the car, it rains within a day or two). Seriously, the car needed a cleaning since it had been over 9 months or so since the last wash. Collin had a great time watching the water and the cars go by.

We ran a few more errands and then came home so Collin could get some rest. I guess he needed it since he slept over 2 1/2 hours.

Big Boy on the Stairs

Collin does not always get on his hands and knees to go up and down the stairs anymore now that he is walking. He likes to stand up and go down each step while standing giving mommy and daddy a near heart attack watching him do this. He will give up most of the time and start going down on his belly backwards like to learned to do. While walking up the stairs, he uses the molding ledge to follow along with his and up the stairs while walking up in a crouched position. He will also wait for you to hold his hand and guide him up and down if you will let him.

Home Gym

Collin is a little monkey and loves to climb into, onto and around anything. I was at the store the other day and found this for Collin to play in. He LOVES it!!! He plays hide and seek in it, crawls through both tunnels and then turns around to do it again and reads his books in the main part of the gym. I used to love something similar as a kid and thought that Collin would like it. So far, he really does.

Keeping the Doc Away

Every time we go to the grocery store, I start in the produce section and find a Red Delicious apple for Collin to eat while we shop. I loves the apple and this distracts him the entire time I shop which works great for me. Used to, he would try to climb out of the cart or grab and the items on the shelves. He now concentrates on the apple until he is finished. This trip, he had already finished one and was eating his second.

Ashes, Ashes we all..........

Ring around the rosie




















Pocket full of Posies




















Ashes Ashes





















We all fall down