Monkey is Missing!!!!!

Collin still sleeps with Monkey at night. In the mornings, he will bring Monkey to the breakfast table to watch him eat his cereal. Then he and Monkey go to the couch to watch cartoons before going to school. Monkey is either put back to bed or left on the table before Collin gets in the car since we don't want to loose Monkey and don't want Collin to be that dependable on a stuffed animal.

At night, part of our routine is to make sure that we have Monkey before going to bed. Sometimes at in the middle of the night, Collin wakes me or daddy up if he cannot find Monkey in his bed. This usually happens when he is woken up because he has fallen out of bed (the mattress is still sitting on the ground so he does not "fall" far) or when he is turning over and cannot find Monkey when he does this.

WELL.......Monkey went missing tonight. All three of us looked everywhere around the house for about 30 minutes and could not find him. Collin was too cute because he was calling out "Monkey...were are you? Monkey!!" He told me to call for Monkey too and yell louder. Fortunately, he had Mickey Mouse that Mimi brought over. He has added Mickey to his night and morning routine for the last few days. I talked to Collin and told him that he had Mickey and he would be OK tonight. So far he has not woken up looking for him but he might forget Monkey is missing and ask for us to find him later tonight. Mimi is bringing the spare Monkey tomorrow. I bought a replica of "the" Monkey when I found it for moments like this.


Later: Daddy could not stand that Collin did not have Monkey. He searched and searched until he did find him hidden behind a large stuffed animal in Collin's room. Collin woke up this morning and Monkey was there. Thanks Daddy!

Mommy, the train is coming

This morning, Collin and I went to the local train park. My friend from high school, Bridgette, and her husband, Craig, invited us to join them. Her husband builds these trains for his hobby and wanted us to come out so he could give us a ride. As soon as we got there, Collin was pointing at all of the trains. When one went by with smoke coming out of the smoke stack, he said it was hot and on fire. Too cute...since he was associating smoke with fire.

After about an hour, Craig was ready to give some of us a ride. It was stinkin' hot today (99 degrees) so Collin was loaded down with sunscreen and Gatorade for the ride. This was one of those times that I was hoping he would NOT tell me he had to go potty since the ride was over 20 minutes long. I was also hoping that he did not want out after 5 minutes into the ride since we would not be able to get off once we got one. Luckily, neither happened during the ride...whew! Collin had a great time. We we passed each replica of a house or depot, Collin would say "there is another dog house". I have no idea why he thought these were dog houses but it was funny.

After the ride, we were all hungry. We brought food and had a picnic with Bridgette, her family, and Tony and Matthew (Collin's buddy). Collin must have been really hungry since he ate a lot despite being so hot. After he ate, he played with the other kids for about 30 minutes before we left.

Before heading home, we stopped by the outlet mall that was on the way. Since we were passing it up anyway, I thought we needed to stop....good reason, right? hahaha Since Collin was such a good shopper and really patient, we stopped at every place that had a kiddie ride for him. I did not have to pay for the ride because Collin freaks out when it starts moving. He just wanted to sit on them and "drive".

















He did take a nap on the way home. I stopped at our other house that is still for sale to get the mail and pull some weeds in case the house was shown the rest of the day or tomorrow. I was hoping Collin would want to finish his nap when we got home because I could have used one. Nope, he was awake. We had a snack, rested a little before we went swimming...mainly to wash off all of the dried, nasty sweat from the day. I can see this becoming a daily thing on the weekends if it's only going to get hotter this summer.

Staying Cool

It's getting hot out there. When I picked Collin up at school, his cheeks were red and his hair was glistening. The teacher told me that they had just come back in from playing outside. He was the only one with red cheeks but he gets that from his Mommy. When I am overheated, my cheeks turn red for at least 30 minutes after I start cooling down and Collin runs hot like both his parents.

We headed to the bike shop to pick up something for Daddy. While there, Ryan gave Collin a drink because he was thirsty. In one of the pictures, you will see that he has his glasses on. Whenever we get in the car, he wants to put his own glasses on like we do but to also keep the sun out of his eyes. Since he has done this, he does not complain about his eyes hurting as much.

Well, off for another fun filled day that I will write about later. Daddy and Collin are swimming in the pool this morning while I should be getting us ready for the day. I guess I need to sign off then.

The American Flag, Waffles and Mickey Mouse

With Memorial day around the corner we decided to hang the American Flag this morning. Collin was a big help and he says he really likes the Flag. It is hanging on the tree out in the front yard of our house. This got quickly interupted because he had Waffles on his plate the he had to eat so he could watch Mickey Mouse.

Funny morning because he told me he did not want Cereal, NO CEREAL, with a waving finger motioning no. Usually he wakes me up and tells me it is time for cereal. Mom suggested waffles and he liked the idea. Now Mickey MOuse pretty much trumps all, Collin is like his daddy when the TV is on so he only gets to watch 30 minutes a day and he zones out on Mickey Mouse. With the on demand we can turn on Mickey pretty much anytimes so he thinks Mickey comes on whenever he asked for it.

Next we take vitamins(No fair they are gummy bears) then off to school and work.

WOW Collin just told Mickey the shapes of the rocks as Mickey asked him. Mickey thought it may have been a circle and Collin said, "No Mickey it is a Triangle", I may be biased but Collin is the smartest kid in the world.

Fun at Alex and Ellie's House

This morning through mid-afternoon was a lazy day by Mommy's standards. We did get out to go to the grocery store and to bring Daddy lunch. Otherwise, we stayed in the house because we did do a lot yesterday AND it was a hot one.


Later after Daddy got home, we went to Alex and Ellie's house to play in the water and on there new swing and slide set. A friend of theirs, Kevin, was also over. Collin watched the kids at first but then joined in. He found a basketball and started to throw it at the toddler sized basketball hoop. He did this until the kids started to play on the swings. Eventually, he climbed up the ladder and slid down into the muddy mess below. I was standing too close and got a muddy hug after he got up. He climbed up again and took a long time the next time to slide back down. Alex and Ellie were COVERED in mud and Collin thought this was funny. It was time to get a snack so the kids got hosed down by Mr. Chad.

We went inside for ice cream cake, leftover from their birthday, and to play with their presents that they opened earlier in the week. It was time to go when Collin started to rub his eyes so much he could not stand.


What a great weekend. I am not ready to go to work this week.

Dreaming

I just transferred Collin to his bed from his car seat. When I was getting him out of the car, he started talking and I thought to myself, "Darn, he is waking up. He really needs a nap and I need some "mommy time"". I started listening to him and he was talking about petting the puppy over there and seeing Daddy. I still tried to lay him down thinking that he was waking up. He went to bed without a problem...grabbing onto Monkey and rolling over. I stood there for less than 2 minutes and figured out that he must have been dreaming and talking in his sleep. Yeah for Collin.....and Mommy!

Road Trip to Memaw's

Yesterday morning, Collin and I piled into Uncle Paul and Aunt Lisa's truck with Timmy and Dustin so we could go to Memaw's for the day. We did go for the day too since we got home last night around 11pm (Collin was asleep and transferred nicely into his bed since I had already changed him into PJs and a night diaper).

Collin and Timmy sat next to each other in their separate car seats. Collin quickly learned that Timmy does not like anyone touching the sides of his car seat. Collin had put his hand on Timmy's seat and Timmy screamed out as he was pushing Collin's had off. Of course, my son being like his Mommy, put his had right back and smiled at me. He purposely did this a few more times...and Timmy never gave up. Collin did eventually get bored of this. We were happy too since it got a little more quite in the truck. We did have to take a potty break on the way because Collin announced that he did have to pee. Paul just pulled over so Collin could go by the truck. He thought that was really funny and told everyone when he got in that he "pee peed in the woods".

We did finally arrive and had a lot of fun with Samantha. She is my other cousins youngest daughter who is five years old. Her brothers are a sophomore and senior in high school so she was SO happy to have "friends" over that were closer to her age. Plus, the boys had some toys to play with....lots of pink toys but at least toys to play with.

Here is what we did for the day:

• I made snickerdoodle cookies mainly for Paul since he had never had any and wanted some. Cousin Michelle and I made too many dozens of these growing up at Memaw's house. I have since associated these cookies with Memaw.
• Samantha is in cheer right now and was showing us some of her cheers. These also included her doing some cartwheels and other tumbling moves. I have no idea how we got on the subject of Paul, Lisa and I doing a cartwheel too. OK, I cannot even remember when I did a cartwheel last but I has to have been at least 25 years ago. We were all up for the challenge and finally did it. I have to say that Paul did the best one. He actually landed on his feet the first time. Lisa does have a video of me doing it....but there was no way I was going to include it here.
• For snack, I made queso. This is also something else that I associate with being at Memaw's. Can you tell that I did a lot of cooking whenever I visited Memaw's?
• Samantha wanted to play hide and seek which we all did for a little while. Even Collin was the one that had to find people....he was funny when it was time for him to hide. He would find a spot and then yell out that "I am hiding".
• We threw the ball around outside. Collin cannot go a day without throwing the ball either inside or outside of the house. He found a small ball and carried that around with him all over the house. When Timmy tried to grab for it. There was a small fight whenever that happened.
• Samantha's mom called and said that I needed to paint her toenails and fingernails for church in the morning. Michelle was not going to be home until after Samantha was in bed so she would not have time to paint them. I ended up painting Samantha and Lisa's toes......AND Collin's. He did not want to be left out....and has seen me paint my toenails many times. I do plan to take this off before we go out in public. I have a feeling there will be tears since he is still talking about it this morning. He cannot go out with painted toenails....and pink color too.
• Samantha has a little dog which Collin was afraid of when we first got there. It did take him over 6 hours but he did finally pet the dog but only when Memaw held the dog in her hands. He was proud of himself and told me several times that "I pet the puppy mommy".

We did eventually live because some of us wanted to sleep in our bed last night instead of spending the night. Collin had a snack in the car and then sang himself to sleep. Lisa was amazed that he sang most, if not all, the words to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, B-I-N-G-O and Isty, Bitsy Spider. Next time, we all decided that we should be prepared to spend the night. That would have been lots of fun.

"I put my clothes on Mommy"

Yesterday morning, I had laid out Collin's clothes to wear that day. We were headed to grandma's house with cousin Timmy and Dustin, Uncle Paul and Lisa....so I needed to pack for the day. Collin was eating breakfast and watching.....yep, Mickey Mouse....so I thought I would run to my room and get ready for the day. While I was in Collin's room getting him a change of clothes (and I did end up needing them), Collin came into his room changed into the clothes I laid out for him. He said "I put my clothes on Mommy" and had a HUGE grin on his face. He had taken off his PJ top and bottoms and night diaper. He was wearing his shirt slightly tucked into his shorts. I checked, and he did have underwear on (but on backwards).

I was so proud of him! This was a first for getting entirely dressed. He has been putting on his underwear and shirts. I don't recall ever seeing him put his shirt on by himself.

Here are a few pictures of him that morning. Notice the shirt he is wearing. A buddy's mom from school got this for him when she found out how much he likes cereal and Cheerios.

His crib is still in his room but he has not used it to sleep in since his big boy bed was moved in. He has used it to climb in and turn on the light that he needs slightly on at night (like his night light).

First Class Picture

Here is Collin's first class picture. He is the only light blonde-headed child in his class. Notice he is sitting next to the teacher sticking his tongue out. Either he got in trouble before this picture or he is already the teacher's pet.

I get Cranberries!!!:)

So Collin was so excited that he dropped a log that before it hit the water he was telling me that he gets Cranberries:) You see we told Collin that if he went poo poo on the potty that he would get, well you guessed it, Cranberries. Tonight was the first time he went poo poo in the potty for me and I am not a seasoned proffessional like my wonderful wife.

So I made a rookie mistake tonight while helping my son go by holding him on the big potty at James Coney Island I forgot to protect myself from the gunfire coming from the front weapon. BAM, he got me right in the stomach all over my nice brand new shirt. It was a warm feelin that I did not first recognize so I continued to take fire and could not move fast enough to get out of the way. So I had to finish dinner with that warm, salty feeling.

Nonetheless, Collin went Poo Poo for daddy in the potty and that is the big news.

Hurry up mommie come home we miss you

3 Hours of Swimmin

Today mommie left town for a few days. Collin and I threw the ball, played with the neighborhood kids and then went swimmin. Just as we were finishing Saige and her daddy came over so we swam some more. For over three hours we were swimmin!! Collin Likes to jump from the waterfall into my arms and loves throwing thingsto me fromt he play area.

Collin fell alseep while having a snack, guess what his snack was. Collin is on a Cereal kick these days and every meal he wants it. I did get him to eat chicken tonight for dinner but he had to be bribed with Mickey Mouse. The boy went to sleep easily today, hopefully he makes it through the night.

9 Hour Lunch at Saige's House

Collin and I went over to Saige's house to see her and have lunch since we have not seen her family in about 3 weeks. We were all missing each other. My intention was to stay until a little after lunch knowing that the toddlers would need a nap. We ended up leaving over 9 hours later. Collin did not take a nap the entire time we were there so he fell asleep on the way home. Since it was just a little after 7pm when we got home, I thought for sure he would wake up. I was able to get him out of the car and transfer him to his bed. He has been asleep for over an hour now. Maybe he is down for the night. Wow!

Recap of the day:

• Played with Saige and Linden before lunch
• Ate a slice of cheese pizza and a bread stick
• Wrestled with Ethan in Saige's room for over 30 minutes
• Read books with Saige
• Played and built with Lego's
• Played outside after the rain which included throwing a football (see the video in the next entry)
• Watched Toy Story 2
• Played with toys some more
• Ate dinner (Collin only ate a few chicken nuggets)
• Took a bath with Saige and Linden
• Watched Baby Einstein video to calm down for the evening
• Had a snack since he did not have much dinner
• Left Saige's and fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes later

Future Football Star?

Some of you know that Collin has a good arm when it comes to throwing any type or sized ball. He is very accurate and can throw it really far. Most of the time, I am playing with him so it's hard to capture this on video. Today, we were at Saige's house for a few hours. He was playing with Ethan's football and throwing it into the net laying against the house. Here is a video that should help you understand that if you throw a ball with Collin, you might want to back up:




He is in a swim diaper because he and Saige were playing in the rain water right before he wanted to throw balls instead. She got bored and went inside.

"Sing to me Mommy"

Daddy, Mimi or I have been singing to Collin every night before he goes to bed. Lately, he has started to sing with me and can sing most, if not all, of the following songs or nursery rhymes:

Mary had a little lamb
Twinkle, twinkle little star
Jesus loves me
BINGO
I love you Collin (the song Mimi wrote)
Pop goes the weasel
Muffin Man
Itsy, bitsy spider

Throw the ball!

I bought Collin a lefty glove today and could not wait to get home and show Collin. I was hoping he would be excited as I was. When I got home, he was having dinner with Mimi (she watches him Thursday's after school). I let him finish eating since he does not eat much at dinner usually. Then, I told him I bought something for him and gave him the bag. He opened it and said "ohhh!!!!". He ran to get his shoes on so we could go outside and use his new glove. It came with a soft baseball meant for kids his age.

When we got outside, Collin instantly put his glove on the correct hand like he was a pro. I did have to show him how to close it and hold it to catch a ball. He threw to ball to my glove almost every time he threw it. When I threw it to him, he caught it most of the time but only because I did throw it into his open glove. He and I will need to work together to teach him how to close the glove and catch the ball.

Daddy came home and joined us. Collin quit throwing because he was tired but left his glove on....he put it on his head. Daddy and I threw the ball for about 15 minutes more and we went inside.

What a great way to end the day. I cannot wait to do it again.

C-O-L-L-I-N

I was surprised to find out tonight that Collin knows how to spell his name. Mimi taught him to do it. He LOVES the "bingo" song.....you know, "There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o". Mimi changed the words to "There was a boy and Collin is his name-o, C O L L I N, C O L L I N, C O L L I N and Collin was his name." I asked him if he new he was spelling his name and he said "I'm Collin."

He also told Mimi his name is Collin Edward. He did this when she was calling his name and he said he is Collin Edward.

Morning Helper #2

Collin had continued to greet me in the bathroom while I am getting ready in the morning. He typically bypasses Daddy sleeping in the bed and opens the pocket door to the bathroom. I can usually tell when he is there because he does have to try a few times to get the door open.....probably because Monkey is being held in the other hand. When he walks in, sometimes I do get a greeting of "Hi Mommy" but most of the time he tells me that he wants cereal or that he wants breakfast...and then says he wants cereal. Since it's only 6:30am when he asks for this, I try to distract him by asking him how he slept or talking about the day ahead. This helps me to continue to get ready so I don't run late. By the time I am starting to blow dry my hair, his patience had run out and he asks about breakfast again. I have him wait by playing with him and the dryer. This does by me some time. Once my hair is at least dry, I do go to the kitchen area to make him breakfast, get his snack bag ready for school and make me breakfast. By this time, Daddy is usually awake and joins us in the kitchen. I then go back to my room to get dressed for the day. Both the boys walk me to my car or at least come outside so I can blow kisses to them as I am leaving.

I love my family....

Happy Mother's Day

This was my third Mother's Day with Collin and Chris. The morning started with Collin waking Chis up before 7am. They left the bedroom so I could sleep in another 30 minutes. We had a lazy morning (well for me because Chris did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen because it was my day) until we left to meet another couple for brunch. The food and company was great. Collin had a good time because he buddies Ellie and Alex were there (they came over to swim last weekend). We called our mommies on the way home to wish them a happy Mother's Day.

We came home thinking Collin would take a nap but Daddy did instead. Collin and I played in his playroom and in the backyard. He was getting sleepy so we came inside to relax on the couch and watch Mickey Mouse Club....Collin's absolute favorite.

Chris woke up to watch Collin who went to sleep 10 minutes later while I ran some errands by myself. It was nice to get out and stop where I wanted without wondering if Collin would be in a good mood or to stop at every bathroom we saw since he is wearing underwear now.

I came back to join the boys for dinner and then a late afternoon swim for about an hour. I bought Collin a floating basketball goal thinking he would love to play with this in the water. He wanted it OUTSIDE the water but did at least play with it by throwing the balls in and then back at us in the pool. We threw them back which started the process all over again. I got in the hot tub before getting out and starting the bedtime process with Collin. He went to bed relatively easy....but that's because he picked out 10 books for me to read. Can you say....he did not want to go to bed?

I had a wonderful day with my family. I love my boys so much!

Hannah and Hayden....oh Boy!!!

Hannah, Hayden and their mommy, Teresa, came over for a late afternoon swim and dinner. We have know their parents before the kids where born. I used to run almost every morning with Teresa when we lived in the same neighborhood. Things have changed for both of us in the last 5 years (Hannah is 5).

They had not been to the house before so Collin enjoyed showing them around and playing with them. They started off with a swim. Hannah and Hayden are like fish. They both swim really well without the aid of floaties or other devices. Collin had not seen kids his age swim before, I guess, because instead of getting in the water and swimming, he watched them most of the time.

By this time, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Paul and cousin Timmy came over. We had already seen them early in the day at the museum. They were nearby because they dropped Dustin off at a pool party. Timmy did not want to get in the water much. He wanted to play on the slide and drive the toy car since he had the play area all to himself because the other kids where in the water.

Here they all are when it came time for dinner. For the kids, hot dogs, strawberries, grapes and water. The adults had shrimp and crab penne pasta and salad. Cookies were later.

The adults continued to sit around the table after they finished eating while the kids played on the toys, rode the bikes or slide down the slide. At one point, they used the rings from the ring toss game and were being silly. Only pictures can really describe what we saw.

Timmy and his parents had to leave. The rest of the kids stayed and played with Collin a little longer. When it was time to go, Hannah told Collin to get in the car while the parents were saying their "good-byes". Collin was ready to go to their house and spend the night. Hannah and Hayden wanted him to go home with them. About 20 minutes later, I had to crawl in the back seat and get Collin because he did not want to come out. Of course, he cried really hard when I did this. He was OK by the time we got into the house.

Maybe from all the activity from today, he will sleep in at least past 7:30am. Doesn't he know it's Mother's Day tomorrow.

Culture Time with the Family

Collin got a little culture today since we went to the local natural science museum with family. We first met everyone and ate lunch together at a locally own cafeteria. Collin was not interested in eating until Timmy leaned over to grab Collin's cornbread. He just sat there most of the time watching us eat.

We then headed to the museum to mainly see the magic exhibit. Collin was not really interested in this part until he saw the talking bust (sculptured head). It would talking on a regular basis and then close it's eyes. Collin thought his movement was waking it up to talk again. He would laugh really hard and point at it when it started to talk again. Cousin Dustin liked the live magic performance so much that he wanted to see the next show. Maybe it was because of the scantily clad assistant. He is 17 you know.

We left that exhibit and looked at the animals and dinosaurs. Collin and Timmy really like both of them. Collin especially liked the zebra and then the huge dinosaurs bones on display. This is where Collin started to push Timmy around in the stroller. He is getting to be a really big boy....both Collin and Timmy. They are growing up so fast.

We stayed for about 2 hours before we had to leave because friends were coming over to swim and have dinner. This is becoming our regular plans on a Saturday and Sunday early evening.

Eye update

Collin had his eye update yesterday afternoon. The doc said the spot on his eye has not changed and she was pleased with this. Since he does not complain about his eyes like he used to and the spot has not changed, she said that it's likely this spot is not affecting his eyes and that it's something he will have through his life. We go back in 3 months for another check.

My wunderful day with The Boy. By Daddy

So the boy had a hard night getting up a few times a couple of them with poo, poo. Then finally getting up at 6:15 with mom to help her get ready. She did think is was wierd that he did not ask for cereal as that is his norm. Just Water, but nevertheless she went about her morning.

I wake up and proceed to take over the reigns of The Boy. We head to the front of thehouse and I am wondering why he is not hungry, but he wants to watch TV so no sweat. Then he looks at me and says "MY TUMMY HURTS" boy was that an understatement. I have him climb up into my lap and he proceeds to spewww everything that was in his little tummy all over my face, chest and stomach. So there is something to be said for how much The Boy can fit in his stomach. (I Saved the Couch, and Laura still has not said thank You for that one)

Now let me tell you the meaning of Love- your son throws up all over you and you sit there worried about him and hope that he is OK while you are sitting covered in nastiness. Once I determine is his fine we move to the washroom to clean up. Sorry no pictures.

Now fast forward to the end of the day- while you could imagine that the morning festivities were not fun, it did allow me to spend the whole day with Collin by myself, something I have not done in a long time. He is such a loving little boy that truely wants to be independant and likes to make his own decisions. No problem here as he tends to make pretty good ones so far. (Right now I would like to throw a big shout out to his mother for helping to raise such a smart, confident little boy.)

So trying to keep the boy entertained but not to active is really hard, but we did have some fun and then went to the eye doctor to find out things are just Fine.

The day ended with The Boiy laying in my lap trying not to fall asleep and singing with me as his eyes opened and shut. Then Mommie took him to bed.

IN MY OPINION THIS WAS A GREAT DAY, ALTHOUGH I WOULD HAVE SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE MUCH DIFFERENT WHEN IT STARTED SO YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN YOU WAKE UP. Thanks for a Great Day Collin.

First Baseball Game

Tonight, Collin, Daddy and I went to the baseball game. This was Collin's first baseball game ever....and my second of the week. I went Monday with some clients. Anyway, Collin quickly made friends with the people sitting behind us. The guy was really nice and gave Collin a soft baseball with the team's logo on it. You know how Collin likes to throw balls....so he was REALLY tempted to throw this ball too. He did end up throwing it back and forth to the guy behind us. That must have made him hungry because he ate most of his hot dog (this was the first time I have seen him eat a hot dog with the bun) and two slices of my personal cheese pizza. I don't recall seeing him eat this much before...or at least, it's been a long, long time. We brought an apple juice from home which he polished off too.

He did pay attention to the first two innings and then was bored after that. We got up and walked to the other side of the field and watch some from the outfield. He liked watching from Daddy's shoulders. We then went outside to throw the ball and to wear him out before heading home and go to bed. It did work...but a little too much. Collin broke down when we took a detour to the local frozen yogurt place. Hey......I just remembered mine is in the frig! Bye!

I want cereal!

This is Collin's response if you ask him what he wants to eat. It does not matter and he does not care if it's not breakfast time when you ask him this question. Try telling him this and he will just repeat his request...."I want cereal". Some mornings, this is the first thing he says instead of "good morning" or "I love you". If you are not moving fast enough to get the cereal, he will open the pantry door and point to the box of cereal that he wants. Lately, it's "the big one" which is Cheerios. He used to like Rice Krispies but he has moved to Cheerios. He also prefers my rice milk to his organic cow's milk. I gave him rice milk one time when we were out of his milk. After he finishes the cereal, then he picks up the bowl and drinks any milk that remains in the bowl. He learned this from Daddy.

Sunday Night of Friends

More friends came over tonight to play in the pool and have dinner. Alex, Ellie and their parents, Diana and Chad came over. Alex and Ellie are a year older than Collin. They have played together a few times and have had fun every time. Collin was so excited most of the day when I told him that Alex was coming over. I was getting dinner ready and let him know that they should be here soon so he ran to the front door to look out the side window. I asked if they were here and he told me no. When he did not come back, I asked what he was doing. He replied that he was waiting for Alex. When they did finally drive up, I knew it because Collin came yelling to me saying that Alex was here over and over.

The kids played in the pool or with bubbles for about an hour before we ate dinner. I served tortillas with different "fixins" and lots of fruit. Light dinner after swimming. The kids ate and then played int he backyard while the parents talked. Collin was not too happy when they did eventually have to go.

He was so tired from the errands we ran today, swimming and playing with friends that it was not too difficult to get him into bed. Three nights in a row, he went to bed in his big boy bed without much of a fuss and did not get out when I left the room. The last two nights were not difficult at all. Now that it's a "school night", I hope tonight is the same.

Nice Words

We have been working on Collin to say "please, thank you, excuse me" since he could talk. There are just as many times that we have to remind him to say "nice words" as he uses them with out needing to be prompted. Some times, he does not want to say please so he says it really softly or with a growling voice to let us know that he does not want to say it but wants what he is saying please for. To teach him when to use these "nice words" we use them so he could have examples to follow.

Today, on the way back home, he asked if he could have a sip of my drink. I said, "What do you say" and he said "give me the drink". I asked him to use his nice words and he did say "please". I gave him the drink, he took a few sips and I asked if I could have it back. He did not give it back so I asked again if I could have it back. He told me "No because you did not say 'Please'". I turned around, look forward and laughed silently. He was right. I did not say "please".

New Friends

Courtney, Colt and their parents came over to play in the pool and have dinner tonight. Courtney is almost 5 so I was not sure if she would be willing to have Collin follow her around. She did great except for the time that he wanted to color in the exact spot she was coloring in. The kids had a great time the the play room before we headed outside to eat dinner. Neither Courtney not Collin could wait to get into the pool. We cleaned up dinner and they got their bathing suits on. After playing in the water for about an hour, Colt was getting tired so it was time to go home. Collin wanted to hold the baby before he had to leave (probably because I was holding him...surprised this did not make Collin jealous) and here is what it looked like:
Tonight, when we read books, Collin took Zeus and Monkey (his currently favorite stuffed animals) and put them out of his room. I asked him why he did that and he said that they cannot listen to the book. I asked if they had been bad but he would not say. After we finished reading the books and were getting ready to get in his bed, he opened his door to get Zeus and Monkey back. He has done this the last several nights. I thought it VERY strange that Monkey would get put out for any reason. Monkey has been by his side since he broke his leg.

"I Was Bad"

When I picked up Collin yesterday from school, I asked how his day was at school and what he did. He usually tells me that he sang songs or which friends he played with. I was surprised when he told me something different. He said that he had to sit in the "time out chair". I said "oh really" and asked why he had to sit in the chair. He said "I was bad" but could not tell me why he was bad. Based on conversations with the teacher, Collin did have to sit in the time out chair several times when he first started going to school but I had not heard that he had to recently. Could be because he is tired since he is getting up several times at night. He is also sleeping on the way to school in the mornings which he typically does not do.

New Sleep Position?

Collin went to bed last night MUCH better than he as since he moved into his big boy bed. After signing some songs (as requested every night), I told him that I loved him and that I was going to go to sleep in my bed. He turned over on his side and closed his eyes. I thought there is no way this was it for the night (which turned out to be right...but much later). I left his room and joined Daddy in the living room. Collin stayed in bed until around 5:30am. He came to my side of the bed, I picked him up and took him back to his bed. The screaming and crying began!!! He did not want to stay in his room. Daddy came in to help calm Collin down and I was thankful for that.

Finally, Collin stayed in his room. I did rock him, put him back in bed and then left the room. I stood outside one of his doors to catch him if he got up which he did 5 times. The last time, he wanted to sit at the side of his bed so I let him. I covered him up and left his room. After standing at his door for a few minutes, I thought he might actually stay in his room so I went back to my room and checked him out in the monitor. He was still sitting there. At one point, he laid his head back on his bed and then picked it back up. He then laid his head to the side on the bed and left it there. He eventually fell asleep that way. Was that comfortable? This was 6:30am by this time so I just left him like that if he was going to sleep. He did wake me up 30 minutes later and I put him back to bed. He had to be tired because I knew I was. He got back in bed without a fuss. Wow! That was until he said he pooped. Ugh!!! I thought maybe he was just saying that. Nope! Good morning Mommy!!!