Runnin and Potty Training

The teacher says the only problem with Collin is that he likes to run in class. Evidently we should not let him run in the house, only outside. Collin is really into running, the other night we were driving by Rice University and he saw about 20 runners running in a bunch. He got real excited and started yelling "RUNNING, RUNNING, RUNNING" all while pointing at the runners. He gets this from his mother who likes to run and probably ran alot while he was in the oven.

As for potty training, Collin is not shy about the potty. He wants to sit down and go whenever he is near one. Although he usually does not need to we let him so that he gets into the habit of doing so, This morning he got real MAD at me because I would not get out of the way to let him use the toilet. I honestly was not purposely trying to protect the potty from Collin, like he thought I was. I really had a good reason to be sitting there, Collin just thought I did not want to let him go and started taking his diaper off and yelling at me to let him sit down. The rest of the story went well but there for a few minutes it got loud and he was just out of reach.

Not camera shy

Unlike being shy around people he has never met or not seen in awhile, Collin is definitely not camera shy. When he sees my camera, he will point to it, say "picture" or "camera" and then stand there and smile. It's too funny when he does this. I have explained this to other people pictures can sometimes capture the moment even better than telling the story. An example of Collin posing happened Sunday when he was eating a snack after coming home after running errands. He was sitting on his airplane which I thought looked cute...and because I had not taken a picture in over a week (shock, I know!). Here he is eating his snack and watching TV.

As soon as he figured out that I was taking a picture of him, here are the next two pictures I took within a minute of the first one. That is how fast he got up to pose. I love it!

Yes you may Collin

One of Collin's new mannerisms in the last week is to move his head up and down as if to say "yes". No that big of a deal, right? What does make this a big deal or a least funny is that he does this when he wants the other person to say "yes, Collin, you can do that or have that". An example is that he would do this pointing down the stairs as if to say "Can I go down the stairs" as he is shaking his head up and down. He is essentially giving himself permission to do whatever it is that he is wanting to do and hopes that the person looking agrees with him. I have to try really hard to not smile at him when he is doing this and wants to do something he really shouldn't.

Lots of Kids Today!

I am sure Collin had no idea how many kids he would see today when he woke up this morning. First, we went to Gymboree where he saw Matthew and the other kids in his class. They learned to jump like frogs this morning. Collin loved hanging from the bars and then walking across the balance beam while bouncing. He was not as interested in jumping from the top of the blocks to me like he was last week in class. He was happy to do the things the teacher was instructing him to do until he saw the balls near the basketball goal. That was it....he was focused on putting the ball in the basket goal until it was time to play with the bubbles and the parachute. H was not ready to leave when it was time to go.

After class, we picked up Jason's Deli to go and met Melia and her mom at the bicycle shop to watch the Tour de France showing in The Zone. The kids had a great time playing with each other. Collin was not as interested in eating as he was playing with the bike pump. He had fun holding the hose and pumping the air in either his face or the face of another girl in the room. Then it was time to chase each other around the room. I am glad there were not many people in the room trying to watch the Tour. It was time to leave so Collin could take a nap and be rested for the next stop.

Collin slept only 25 minutes but I left him rest in his crib for another 20 minutes. He just laid there and talked to his stuffed animals...turtle, bear and monkey in his crib. I got him dressed and we went to visit Colt who is 3 weeks old. He is the son of a coworker. Collin was not interested in me holding the baby. He started to whine when I held him. He WAS interested in the "girl" that he kept pointing at. The girl was Courtney, Colt's oldest sister. She is 4. Collin loved watching her and following her around. She did not like this too much but did not stop him. My other coworker, Sarah, arrived with her husband and two boys, Matthew and Jason. Matthew, Courtney and Collin played in Courtney's playroom. Collin got to play with Play Doh for the first time. I watched him close because he kept trying to eat it. They were making "ice cream" so Collin thought he was suppose to eat it. They then played outside on her slide, swing and small trampoline. They got hot so Collin got to eat his first Ice pop. He got a little sticky but did eat most of it.

We left Colt's house, ran and errand and then came home. Collin was asleep before we got home. Since he had not had a really good nap all day, I successfully transferred him to my bed and we took a nap together. I loved lying there listening to him breathe and thinking it's been an enjoyable two years with Collin. I cannot believe he will be two next month.

Swimming, running and having fun

This afternoon after I picked Collin up, we went to Hannah and Hayden's house. We met them at their community pool to swim for two hours and then go back to their house. They brought lots of pool toys and Collin loved the water guns. He was really good at shooting it but needed help filing it up. He was not as interested in getting too far in the water today. He loved walking up and down the steps and hanging on the side of the pool just watching the other kids play. I tried to get him to swim a little or just jump of the side of the pool to me. Nope, not interested.

We were getting hungry, so we went back to their house, got cleaned up and had pizza, grapes and ice cream. The kids had a great time after that running around chaise Collin. Collin and I play chase at the house so he was used to this and did great not getting caught. Then they played outside for a little while taking turns going down the slide and then swinging. when they finished, Collin was all sweaty. The boy just took a bath!!

When it was time to leave, he did not want to go. He fussed until he saw that Hannah and Hayden were staring at him. He waved 'bye' and blew them a kiss. We will have to come over again. They all had a great time....the mommies did too.

Dodie, Dodie, Dodie by Daddy

Our morning routine on our way to school is getting fun. You all know about waking Collin up and feeding him but what happens afterwards?
We play on the second floor for a bit hoping for Collin to go Poo, then we head down stairs to get dressed for work/school. I usually beat Collin down the stairs (It is always a Race). I head into the bathroom and start to get dressed, by the time Collin comes in, it is time for DODIE. He comes in the bathroom with his hands in the air as high as they can get, saying DOEDY, DOEDY with a strong focus on the two syllables. So I apply the DODIE to his pits and then he wants to put the cap back on and put it back on the counter top.

Then we get dressed and make our way out to the truck. He is now climbing into the truck and into his chair and he is now buckling the seat buckle himself. Then we are off.

No Pictures but a lot of fun.

Running and running and running

Collin loves to run and has since he learned to walk. If we are home and he gets excited, he will run from the couch, to the office and then back. He will do this several times until he either gets tired or gets distracted...which is usually the case. When he starts this, he really likes it when one of us starts chasing him. I like to run behind him and stomp my feet loud. This causes him to laugh and run faster.

We were at the bike shop Friday after i picked Collin up from school. After a quick snack, he wandered off into one of the side storage areas. He was curious about what was back there and liked walking through the black curtain. Then it started...the running. He ran through the storage area, out the other side and then back through the front of the storage area. He did this about 10 times until he wanted me to do it too. I started to pretend to chase him and he would squeal. We did this several times until he started to hide from me when he ran through the other side of the storage curtain. He thought he was being so smart but I would find him, he would laugh and....yep, start running again. He ran so fast that the pictures were blurry. Here are some of them though...I love the tongue sticking out, don't you?

School - Making Friends

We did find out that Charlotte is the name of the little girl that gave Collin a kiss the other day. Daddy met her mother last night and she did say that Charlotte is VERY friendly. Guess Collin quickly figured that out.

When daddy dropped Collin off at school this morning, he said that Charlotte gave him a big hug and patted his head when he walked into the room. He did still cry but not as much. The other kids that were already in the room all gathered around to make him feel better. Awwww!!!

Kissing!

Today when daddy picked up Collin from school, he found out that a girl on Collin's class kissed him on the mouth. The teacher said that Collin was surprised and did not know what to do. AHHHH....kissing already. I guess that's better than one of the kids biting him.

Here is a pic of him yesterday morning on the way too school. I took it to send to Daddy since he was out of town and missing him. I cannot believe that Collin looks SO big and like a little boy.... not like a baby anymore. His new hair cut only makes this more obvious.

Exhausting Night Night Routine

These days, Collin tries everything he can to distract us from remembering it's bedtime and putting him to bed. On his way up the stairs, he says "eat" or "drink" while pointing towards the kitchen. We know he is not hungry or thirsty because we have fell for this a few times and figured out that he just did not want to go upstairs. After his bath, we have to put him in his room and shut the door or he will try to escape out the door and down stairs. Once in his room, it's a fight to get his PJs on. Before then, he happily plays in his room or pulls down books that he wants to read. Once we start putting his PJs on (it takes two of us sometimes to do this), he starts trying to run away and fussing like we are the bad guys or something. One we are exhausted from diapering him and getting his PJs on, then is time to read a few books. Collin pulls out two books for every one that we finish. We try to limit the number to 4ish books a night. Collin wants us to read many more than that because he knows the next step is to get in his crib.

This is the way it has been for months now and we are all used to it. So, you must imagine my surprise when late last week, I looked over and saw Collin climbing into his crib himself and saying "night night". I tried to not act too shocked, took him back out of his crib and he climbed in again. He did it again last night and I got it on video this time. As you saw from the end of the video, he wanted out and to climb in again to only repeat again. I did not let him do this so we then started the bedtime routine of reading a few books after negotiating which ones to read.

Whew, it's a workout and I am ready for bed after putting Collin to bed. Anyone else have similar experiences?

Let the day care germs begin

Collin came home with a runny nose only after being at school for 3 days. He slept horribly that night because he could not breathe and we were up a lot that night listening to him toss and turn. The next night was a little better but not too much. Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat and somewhat runny nose. Tonight, I am typing this with my mouth open because I cannot breathe out of my nose. I guess that keeps my mind off my sore throat. :) I picked up some medicine this morning which helped for most of the day but it's wearing off now and not time to take a new pill. Collin did get a little better but his nose was the most stuffed today that it has been since Wednesday.

I heard from other moms that we will have a year of this (Collin getting sick and sharing with us) and then it will be better since he will have built his immunities up by then. I hope they are right!

Major Haircut

After playing on the playground for only 20 minutes this morning, Collin hair was soaking wet. Daddy said we should cut his hair when we get home which is something we have been talking about. We both LOVE Collin's hair long but know he will be more comfortable in this heat this summer if it was shorter. When we got home, we went in our bathroom, got out daddy's hair sheers (I cut his hair and have before we got married) and went to work. I thought for sure Collin would be squirming and fussy when we tried to cut his hair...especially with the noise the sheers were making. Surprisingly he was really still for the amount of time we spent cutting his hair. Well, see for yourself.




Here is a picture from this past Friday showing how long his hair is....

















.....and here is what is left of his hair after we finished cutting it. Collin checked himself out in the mirror for a little while trying to figure out what happened to his hair but quickly started being himself again. What do you think? He looks so much older huh?

Zoo

It was a scorcher at the zoo today! Collin and I met Elina and her mommy, Ginni, this morning at the zoo. Before we even got through the entrance, the back of Collin's head was wet with sweat and I had to put my hair up because it was already so hot. I dreamed of swimming while waiting for Elina and Ginni to arrive. Our first stop was to see the giraffe. The kids enjoyed watching the giraffe walk around. Our next stop was the Asian elephant habitat. The elephants were getting a bath and both Collin and Elina loved to watch the water run off the elephant. Elina was trying to give the elephant her play cell phone. Collin eyed another kid's popcorn treat on the toddler's stroller tray and I told him that the popcorn was not his. The toddler's parents gladly gave Collin a handful which he devoured. Glad I had grapes for him to snack on next. Ginni gave Collin his first orange slice and he really like it. Yeah, we might have found another snack Collin likes.

We then followed the path to see some four-legged creatures. Here is Collin being a monkey and climbing the fence to getting a better look of the Bongo Antelope. He stops to take a look at these guys every time we have been to the zoo. We then checked out the bears, tigers, monkeys and then the sea lions. We headed to the Children's zoo section before both kids got hungry, cranky or tired. They both LOVED the petting zoo section. There were brushes that the kids used to brush the animals. I think Collin brushed every animal in pen. Here are a few pictures showing how much fun they had....and hot hot it was.

We left the zoo and met daddy and Mimi at the bike shop to have lunch with daddy. I ran some errands and then came home to cool down in the A/C and so Collin could rest before heading to Mimi's for a late evening swim in her pool. To our surprise, Timmy was there since his parents were out for the night. Instead of pushing Collin to swim in the pool, I let him have fun playing with Timmy. They actually played really well together. I thought Collin would get upset with Timmy when he spotted Timmy playing with "his" toys since this was "his" Mimi's house. He was good for the most part. It was time for Timmy to eat and Collin was fine until Mimi pulled out a baby food container that Collin recognized. He started to whine so I took him to the kitchen so he could eat. After the boys were feed, we hung out in Mimi's room for a little while so mommy could take a much needed nap. No swimming today but Collin had fun anyway.

School Art

As promised, here is a picture Collin colored for us this week at school. At least the coloring is contained and not all over the place in squiggly circles.

Mimi reports about Collin and his school

From Mimi about yesterday:

Nancy and I had a great time spending about an hour at Collin's school. We took pictures (to be posted later) and hoped the time was good for Collin to feel more comfortable there. I thought he would be in the gym were he has been when Daddy picks him up and was surprised to see him in a classroom as I was showing Nancy the outdoor areas. Nancy remarked that there was a blonde boy that looked like Collin sitting by himself and looking out the window. We stood at the large window from the hall until he noticed us and it was Collin! Nancy got a great picture of him running to us.

We joined Laura at home who was working from home for the day. Collin told me to 'roll fast' the ham sandwhich meat which he ate about 1 3/4 of 2 pieces. Laura prepared a delicious pasta meal and salad. Collin drank milk from a glass and liked pouring some milk from the sippee cup to the glass. He sat in the dining room chair while doing this and motioned several times to the floor and said 'fall'.

We went upstairs for his bath and bedtime. Collin noticed the humidifier in his room for his running nose he has had since last night (first week of school and already a runny nose). He calls it 'air' and did not like it in his room much. He did not sleep very well last night and awoke around 10 tonight before going back to sleep briefly and then finally asleep after midnight. Hopefully, he'll eat more lunch tomorrow since it's pizza and yogurt....some of his favorite food.

Mommy will pick him up and go to some friend's house that she has not seen in awhile. They used to be neighbors before Collin was born and now have two little girls. Collin might enjoy playing with them. When then head to a birthday party for a 3 year-old boy. It's being held at a park close to daddy's bike shop. We might stop by after that depending on how Collin is feeling.

Where is the Ball?

Wonder what Collin is doing besides looking cute? He was trying to get a ball that was stuck under the TV furniture. His arms were too short, so I guess he decided to try his legs instead to see if they were long enough to kick the ball out. Too bad he did not figure out that he could have grabbed the ball on the other side of the furniture. Maybe that's a 3 year old thing to do. hahaha

School Update

Collin is doing a little better in school. He does still cry when daddy drops him off but not as long because he has found the kiddie sink. Remember, Collin loves to wash his hands. I am not sure how long the teacher let's him stand there but I am sure he does this several times throughout the day.

He is still not eating much of his lunch so he is really hungry for his afternoon snack and the snack daddy has for him in the car on the way home.

He is napping really well which we were concerned about since he takes his naps on a cot. I thought for sure he would keep getting up and want to play with the toys instead of napping. He has napped great since the first day. Must be weak from not eating lunch. ;)

When daddy picked him up tonight, the teacher said that Collin really enjoys playing with the older kids in the room.

Daddy said that he was talking non-stop on the way home yesterday. Collin usually sings or points out different things that he sees on the road, but last night, he was talking about everything and anything he saw. When he got home, he met me in the kitchen as I was cooking dinner. I brought he sippie cup to me and told me "water, straw, lid, juice, hot and mommy" without taking a breath the moment he saw me. Whew, that kid had a lot to say.

Last night, Daddy brought home a picture that Collin colored for us in school that day. He was even "green" and colored on the back. If I can get my scanner to work, I will post the picture. Not a huge deal but it was his first picture from school. I am sure there will be MANY more.

Day of confusion, Cryin', and Anxiety

Today was the first day of School for Collin. Until now Collin has either been with Mimi, Laura or myself. So we went to school got out of the truck and went into the building, we walk down the hall to the classroom and Collin did not have an idea of what or where we were, although I told him we were at school. So I introduced him to his teacher and put his things away and then he figured it out. Daddy was leaving me, WAAAAAA,WAAAA, Collin started to cry and look at me with the "why do you hate me so much" look "what did I do to deserve this" then I got the "I will be better " hug as if to say don't leave me I don't know anyone here. So I told him to make some friends and showed him a Tractor that was on the floor.

None of that mattered though. He was wise to what was going on. So I just left, but I did not really leave. I waited for what seemed eternity and peaked back into the window, only to see Collin looking right at me making him cry louder. So then I really left. I mean I walked further down the hall away from Collin and then I turned around and went back to peak on him again. Yet there he was looking right at me as if he could smell me or something. So then I REALLY left and went to talk to the admin lady. But before I left for the day, I started to walk down the hall and they were headed out of the room to go play outside with Collin, still cryin', looked up and saw me peeking around the corner, DANGIT!

I learned my lesson: Collin has super powers and used his super sense of smell to smell me. So that started the Day of Confusion and Anxiety that I had because I am now convinced that I am the worst Dad ever for leaving him there all alone with nobody he knows.

I go to pick him up this afternoon and he sees me and I think here it comes, he is going to run over and hug me like there is no tomorrow. NOPE! He does a "drive by" as Laura calls it where he runs over and touches me and then keeps on going. No hoopla, no I missed you nothing. Does this kid know I stewed over leaving him all day, I could barely get anything done my mind was on him all day? I only called once, but they called me once so hearing that he was OK twice today helped some.

All in all, it was a good day so tomorrow is day TWO........

Fun-filled weekend

Besides fireworks, this weekend was spent in the water and with friends. Collin missed Saige (since he spent a week with her and her family last week), so we went to her house Saturday afternoon to have dinner and so her and Collin could cool off in the water. They spent time in the pool splashing each other and with the Waterpiller that we brought over.

Today, daddy was off work so we spent time together as a family. This morning after breakfast, Collin played in the pool for about an hour before we went to the grocery store. Afterwards, we stayed home for the rest of the day napping, reading books and enjoying the house. Mimi, Pappy and Nancy came over to visit on their way back home. Collin was very entertaining and loved that people were over at his house. He would do or say things knowing that he would get a reaction from us. If he did not, he would do it again and make sure that we were paying attention.

Collin did go poo in the toilet today. I know, exciting huh? Hope you were not eating when reading this.

Matthew and more water

Collin met Matthew this morning at a water park near daddy's bicycle shop. Matthew was all about the water. Collin....not so much today. While Matthew played in the water for a little while, Collin played on the nearby playground equipment. He checked out the swings, the stairs and slides. This park has a play house too with a table that Collin likes to play in. I like it too because it's shade for both of us on a hot day like it was this morning.

Matthew eventually came over to join Collin. They both took turns sitting on the car. Collin even made car noises as he bounced on it. Collin then showed Matthew the house. Collin picked up the wood chips and threw them towards Matthew. Matthew did the same thing back to Collin. Hey, at least they were playing together. At one point, one guy was on one side of the house window throwing the wood chips through the window at the other guy on the other side. Both mommies were laughing. Their aim was not that great so there was nothing really to worry about.

After the wood chip fight, we "encouraged" the guys to get back in the water so we could clean them up. Collin got hungry and cranky so it was time to leave so I could prevent Hurricane Collin from forming.

We went to the bike shop and took daddy to lunch. We then ran a few errands and came home to cool down from the day. After dinner, it was time for driveway pool. Collin was really good about holding the water hose to fill the pool up. I taught him how to drink from the hose to cool down. The little dude is collapsed in his bed right now from a long, fun day. Tomorrow will be more of the same.

Peeing....in the potty

Collin finally peed in the big boy potty tonight. I had just finished bathing him, and was getting ready to dry him off. I saw him looking down at himself and realized that he was about to pee, so I scooped him up and put him on the toilet. He held onto the sides of the seat, looked down and then peed. I praised him and he knew that he did good. He sat there a little longer and we both figured out he was finished. Daddy was really proud too when I told him what happened.

Not getting too excited yet but maybe diapers will be a thing of our past sooner rather than later.

High Chair Gymnastics

For the past week, Collin lets us know he is hungry by climbing in his highchair, buckling himself in and then saying "eat". Here is a video of him doing this. I missed the part of him climbing up the to the seat because he did it so fast. He does not normally laugh when he is doing it because he is hungry but he is laughing in the video because he LOVES to have his picture taken. If I put the camera down, he will point at it and say "picture" for me to put the camera back up and take another picture.

We have started letting him eat in one of the dining room chairs at the table so he will be used to sitting in a chair and not a highchair when he starts school next week. He is drinking out of a cup too. This does not work so well if he is walking around and drinking.....hasn't quite figured out how to hold the cup upright while walking. He'll get there though.

This is not just a walk....

Collin and I went for what I thought was going to just be a walk this morning before I started to work. Instead, since it was cool compared to other mornings this week, we went straight to the park. It's been awhile since just Collin and I have been to the park and I really enjoyed it. It was a perfect time to be there because he had the entire playground to himself for about 20 minutes before another kid arrived...another boy. Collin climbed all over the playground equipment, we sat on the teeter totter and then he wanted to swing in the baby swing. He can swing in the big boy swing but he wanted to swing in the baby swing because the other little boy was doing it. I tried to find a picture of him in this same swing a year ago to show how much he has changed.....look at those long legs hanging out the bottom. Here is a picture from when he was 7 months....big difference.