Monkey....in Vegas!!!

Daddy and I needed a quick weekend away from home because of the stress that both of us have been under at work and other things going on.  We have regularly gone to Vegas since we have been together but it had been over a year since we went for a weekend.  We left Thursday and came back Sunday for a quick trip.

Grandma H picked Collin up at school and brought him home while we finished packing for the trip.  Collin came into my bathroom, saw the suitcase and asked, "Where are you going Mommy?"  I said that Daddy and I were going on a plane while he stayed with Grandma H.  He seemed to be fine with that response and left the bathroom.  I did too and came back to see Monkey sitting in the suitcase.  I asked Collin if he meant for Monkey to go with us on "bacation" and he said he did.  I thought he would miss him while we were gone and he said, "I won't.  I have Puppy and Bunny.  I have new Monkey at Mimi's house".  Collin remembered that hew as going to Mimi's house over the weekend for a switch on Saturday after his soccer game (which he did not have because it was rained out).

Monkey has a GREAT time in Vegas.  We stayed at Cesar's Palace while we were there.  During the day, we all relaxed by the pool.  We either napped, read books/magazines, had breakfast AND lunch, visited with people sitting next to us or went for a quick swim.  Here is Monkey at the edge of Daddy's lounge chair.  He later copied Mommy while she read her magazine.  We spent at least 4 hours or more each day at the pool.  Within the first hour on the first day laying at the pool, I was so relaxed.  It was perfect!

After laying by the pool, we shopped for a little or played Black Jack for a few hours.  We then went back to the room to rest more, see Mommy and Monkey below, before going to a show each night.  During this time, we called Collin to check on him and see how he was doing.  He was having a good time with Grandma H, Mimi or playing with Timmy.  One time, I was walking through the casino on the way to catch a cab to the Venetian for the show when we called him.  I asked what he was doing and he replied, "Mommy, don't yell in my face."  I guess I was talking too loud on the phone.  I tried again and got the same response.  Later I heard he was enjoying playing with toys at Mimi's house.  Timmy was to come over later.

Here is Monkey the next day relaxing by the pool taking Daddy's spot on the chair.  Daddy was probably in the pool for a quick swim.

Monkey heard we had a lot of fun gambling and wanted to try it himself.  Here is is one morning drinking coffee and trying to figure out Roulette.  He did really well after a few spins and got the hang of it.  Notice him watching the numbers and hoping the ball would land on his picks.  He ran out of money quickly which was fine because we needed to head to the airport.  

Daddy and I had a great time but we were both really excited and ready to see Collin. We both really missed and could not wait to see him.  He must have had such a great time while we were away because he was asleep before 8am.  We did not get home until after that because our flight was delayed.  The President's plane landed in Vegas when we were leaving which delayed our departure.  That's President Obama!  Daddy and I still both kissed Collin on the forehead and sat there and watched him sleep for a little bit.  What a beautiful little, sleeping boy.  I hope he is happy to see us in the morning.

"What happens to me when everyone dies?"

For the past few weeks, Collin has regularly asked and talked about death.  Tonight he said, "Mommy, what if all of the people in the whole wide world die and the police man cannot wake them up?"  I asked if he was worried about me leaving him and he said he was.  I am working a lot of hours right now so maybe he is missing me.  However, Mimi and Grandma H said that he has brought up the death topic to them and asked similar questions like while they die, will Mommy or Daddy die?  Do all kids talk about death at some time or another?  What is he worried about?  No one close to him/us has recently died and his books don't have death in them. 

He seems to talk about it a lot and I am not sure where this is coming from.

First Soccer Game

Collin's first soccer game was Saturday.  I was unable to make it because I was still completing at 65 mile bike ride for the Tour de Cure (for diabetes).  However, Daddy and Grandma H were there...to see Collin score the first goal of the first game for the Zebras, his team name.  Yes, Collin not only scored one goal...he scored two during the game which was the most of any player.  Daddy said that he told Collin to kick the ball into the goal and that's what he did.  Glad he did not tell him to get the ball like another daddy did.  That little boy, Clayton, went and picked up the ball with his hands.  Hey, his daddy did not say how he was supposed to get the ball.  :)

Yes, I am very proud of my little boy.  Not only am I proud about that but also proud of him for showing good sportsmanship during and after the game.  There were reports of other kids crying if something did not happen their way or shoving to get the ball.  Collin was in there with the rest of the players and did not need to push to get the ball.  Daddy said that he even dribbled the ball really well.  Maybe he will take after his Daddy's soccer skills.  Most importantly, he had a great time and wanted to know when his next game was.

Daddy got some great shots during the game.  He is #3 in the pictures where is back is to the camera:

Running to get the ball

Trying to help his team mate out.  Probably not...he is running to get the ball like Daddy told him to

This is the team after Collin scored the first goal



Look at that boy dribble!

Clayton and Collin (and a girl on their team)

Saige and Collin after the game

There #3 goes again!

Bus Day

Collin loves Bus Day.  Right now, the agreement is that he rides the bus on Wednesday and Friday or other days if it's raining.  Every night so far, he asks what day tomorrow will be.  If we respond with either Wednesday or Friday, he says, "Yeah, it's Bus Day!"  He is not bothered that he has to get up that much either to ride the bus.  He has actually gotten up on his own close to 6:15am two of the mornings and said he was excited that it was Bus Day.  This excitement generally does help Daddy push Collin along in the morning to get him dressed and out the door compared to other mornings.  Besides riding the bus, the bus stop is fun because "my friend Jacob is there" who is a neighbor around the corner.  He is in 1st grade and helps Collin when he is on the bus.  I think they generally sit together as well.

The social scene at the bus stop

Getting ready to get on.  Daddy is telling the cars to stop. 

There he goes without a glance back.  What a big boy!

Soccer!!

Collin is playing soccer this Fall.  His first practice was rained out so the only full practice before his first game was this past Saturday.  He was not sure what to expect when he arrived but then had a great time when he found out that both Clayton and Saige where on his team.  The boys, Clayton and Collin only, ended up playing really well together so much so that they stopped to hug a few times.  Not sure what that was about.  They were not too disruptive during practice but they did not pay attention to the coach like they should which caused either of them not to follow directions well. 

Ready.....

....kick and goal!!

Gatorade break was important and each player looked forward to it



Collin running to get a drink.  Cannot forget the soccer ball!



One on one with Saige and Collin

Collin got the ball and is heading back down the field

He's really excited about playing soccer.  I think he really likes the running and the kicking.  However, I have seen him practice dribbling in the house a few times showing me where he is supposed to hit the ball to dribble.  That's OK as long as he suddenly does not want to practice kicking. 

Daddy and I both played soccer when we were younger (Daddy MUCH more than me) so we are excited to see Collin playing and enjoying it so far.

Weekend Warrior

This is the time of year that I work A LOT!  The major deadline of the entire year is today, September 17th.  Therefore, most times, I am in the office working both Saturday and Sunday to try finish all of the outstanding tax returns that have not been finalized and sent to the client. 

This was the first time that Collin was with me at the office for a few hours Saturday before Daddy picked him up and then the entire time I was in the office Sunday.  Now, don't feel bad for the little dude. He was set up with coloring books, puzzles, action figures (mainly his dinosaurs) and toy airplanes.  On Saturday, he also had Daddy's iPad which was loaded with movies.  Here is what he mainly looked like Saturday for the 4 - 5 hours he was with me at the office:

Here he is after snacking on oranges and apples.  Must have been too much natural sugar for the little guy:

He had a great time following me around when I had to ask my colleagues questions.  Can you imagine the attention he got especially because he was carrying around a large dinosaur?  He was the center of attention and loved it.  He also really liked "visiting" the snack table we had prepared because we knew it was going to be a long weekend.  Collin actually helped me pick out some of the snacks and contributed Oreos to the pile.  I knew he would later want some of these.  I also had apples, oranges and other healthy snacks too.  By the end of the weekend, I think he had at least one of each snack item.  His favorite were the Oreos, tangerines and apples.  There was a lot of chocolate on the table but he was not interested in it.  I was not too surprised because he does not seem to like candy like other kids.

By the Sunday, he was more comfortable with the other people around and was not shy.  This lead to some really funny comments or actions from him like:

Collin:  "Mommy, was does everyone keep coming in here to ask you questions?"
Laura: "Well, I am their boss so they are making sure I agree with them."
Collin:  "So are you the Queen?"
Laura:  After I stopped laughing, "Not exactly." 
Collin:  Obviously not hearing my response, "Who's the King?  Kings are boys."
Laura:  Having fun with it, "Ask the guy next door.  He's the King."  Well, he is one of the partner's of the firm.

Collin did ask and he said he was defiantly not.  Collin was then bored with that topic and moved on.  There was a little bit of a break in the amount of questions and then they started again.  After either the third or fourth person came in and then left, Collin said, "Phew!  I did not think they would stop talking!"  I do feel that way sometimes too buddy. 

When he was feeling REALLY comfortable, the fart noises appeared.  He would stand at my doorway and make a fart sound with his mouth, laugh and run into my office.  He quickly quit doing this because he was not getting attention.  However, when he walked down the hallway, he would make the fart noise.  Oh well, now my colleagues think I have gas. 

There was about a 2 hour window Sunday where I was waiting on tax returns ready for my review and had answered all of the questions that had come up.  I knew I needed to get Collin out of the office for a little bit because I did need to come back.  So I thought it would be fun for him to go to the Children's Museum.  I knew he would have fun there and possibly be tired enough to lay down when we got back to the office.  He DID have a great time and announced when we were heading back to the car, "That was my favorite place Mommy."  We do have plans to go back with Timmy and Leah within the month so it was good to get such positive feedback from him.  He remembered being there before.  When we walked in, he asked, "Is this the place were Timmy and I worked on bikes at the bike shop?" and it was.  That was months, and possibly, a year ago.  Great memory kid!  When it was 20 minutes before closing, I showed him outside where all of the water "play" was.  He had a great time making waves with the machine, guiding boats in the water and seeing what would happen if a block was in the water changing the stream and also with the water windmill.  I knew he was going to get wet but also knew he would really enjoy this part of the museum...and he did. 

He is moving the parts to direct the water to the bottom to turn the mill.

We did have to go back to the office for probably two more hours so I bought him dinner on the way so he could eat it in my office.  When he walked into my office, he said, "Awww, I missed you my sweety" referring to his blanket and stuff he had left on the floor.  We did not end up leaving until after 8:30pm.  The entire time we were there, he did not ask once when we were going home.  On the way home, I asked if he had fun today, and he said he really did.  Based on the amount of time I was at the office and could have been away from him if he were not with me, I had a great time too.  I enjoyed him with me...even though it did cause at least 2 - 3 more hours total because of the potty breaks and me attending to his needs.  He can come to the office any time!

Cousins and Swimming

We had a blast today with cousins, Timmy and Leah.  After both Mommy and Daddy took turns working today, Aunt Lisa and the cousins came over to play and swim.  The cousins had fun playing in the playroom together.  Leah was a big girl and held her own in the with the boys.  She would come out every once in awhile to "check in" with us and then head back to the playroom. 

After about 30 minutes, we went swimming in the backyard pool.  Wow!  We had so much fun!  Aunt Lisa was amazed at how good Collin was swimming since the last time she saw him swim.  She could not believe how much he had improved.  She was also shocked at how much Leah was moving around and not afraid of the water at all.  Lisa was worn out by the time we got out because Leah had no fear and was jumping off the side of the pool into my arms or sliding off the pool float with no fear. 

Timmy did great too.  He was a little afraid of the water in the beginning and did much better when he put floaties on and could kick around in the middle of the pool.  Collin swam around him and included him in what he was doing.  He also ha d fun jumping off the side doing "cannon balls" to make a big splash.  This made Leah laugh and she wanted him to do it again.  He went down the slide too and Leah wanted to also get on the slide.  Timmy started to but never made it down.  At least he kept trying. 

Here are some pictures of Leah being brave and really scaring her mommy.  Aunt Lisa does have her on the underside of the float and Leah wanted her to let go. Aunt Lisa needs to get that girl signed up for swim lessons.

Happy girl waiting to jump to me

Timmy loving being in the middle of the water with the rest of us

Having a great time

I was really happy to get some pictures and videos of Collin diving for some toys at the bottom of the pool.  Now that the weather is getting a little cooler, we will not be swimming much longer.  He is so proud of himself diving in the deep end of the pool. Here are some pictures and video of him diving under the water.

Collin did a great job taking this picture of his Mommy, Leah and Lisa

Can you tell that I like my new underwater camera?  I LOVE it!!!

Bus Ride

Yep, Collin rode the bus for the first time to school Friday and it was his idea.  He and Daddy leave on the bikes to school sometimes when the kids are still waiting for the bus or when the bus is driving the kids to school.  On Thursday, Collin announced that he wanted to ride the bus.  Daddy was not excited about that announcement because he enjoys riding bikes to and from school with Collin.  However, we were going to make it work.  Daddy had to pick up the bus pass from school and tell his teacher that he would be riding tomorrow.  They have a great system where the bus riders go to a different section of the school.  The Pre-K and Kindergarten kids cannot get off the bus unless a parent or adult is waiting with a bus pass that has the students name on the pass.  We have a few at the house now in case we need them again.

So, Friday morning, Collin had to get up a little earlier because the bus is there at 7:30am.  He and Daddy have been leaving at 7:45am to ride bikes.  In case he changed his mind, we did ask if he still wanted to ride the bus that morning and he said he did.  Ok, here we go!  He ate breakfast, got ready and we headed to the bus stop.  Two neighbor kids, Jacob and Caroline, where already there.  They told us that we needed to wait for bus #104.  We let them know that this was Collin's first bus ride and Jacob said he would sit with him and let him know when to get off the bus.  That was really nice of Jacob.

The bus came, Collin gave me a kiss and then headed to the bus to get on.  That little stinker did not turn back around to wave or say anything to Daddy or I when he was walking up the steps.  Then the bus left.  No, we did not cry but it was strange to see our son leaving on the bus to go to school.  Daddy did not like it and hoped Collin would not want to ride the bus again.

I left work early so I could see Collin get off the bus between 3:30 and 3:45pm.  This is later than we need to be at school if we were to pick him up which is 3pm.  We both were at the stop at 3:30pm and the bus arrived just a few minutes after that.  I sure did hope Collin was going to get off.....and he did!  He was sitting right up front.  The driver let Collin get off after Daddy showed her the bus pass.  Collin was sweaty because the bus does not have A/C and it was a really warm 98 degree day.

When he got off, we asked if he liked the bus and he said he did.  "Can I ride it again tomorrow?"  Oh no Daddy!  Collin might be hooked on riding the bus.  After getting a drink of water, he was now ready for all of the questions we had.  He explained that riding the bus was easy.  The older kids took him to wait for the Orange bus.  The Purple one went by and that was not his bus.  When the Orange bus got there, he lined up with the other kids, got on the bus and sat up front.  It was easy.  He did not mind the heat.  I think it bothered us more than him.  He and Daddy went swimming later anyway which took care of the red cheeks.

Later in the day, we said that he could ride the bus on Fridays or if it was raining.  He liked that compromise.  We'll see if he remembers that "deal" when he goes back to school next week.

After School Routine

Collin is already well adjusted going to his new school.  He is excited when he gets home to talk about his day and put his things away.  When he gets home, he unloads his backpack.  First, he takes out his lunch containers and puts them near the sink.  Based on what's leftover so far, he is really eating good compared to what we heard from his other school.  He only has a bite or two left of his sandwich, hot dog or main meal.  After unloading his dishes, he takes out his favorite drink container and fills it up with water to drink.  He loves the container and tells me that it's his favorite...which also means I have been hand washing it every night so he can have it in the morning.  He said he really likes it because the lid flips up for him to use the built in straw.

Here is his thermos and lunch bag.  I did not know how much he liked Batman until he insisted on this set.  I would have thought Spider Man or some other action figure.

After putting away his backpack, he and Daddy have been doing fun things to wear him out since he is home more than 2 hours earlier than when he was going to his other school.  They have done a ton of swimming which has really helped Collin improve his swimming and increase his confidence in the water.  He can now dive to the bottom in the deep end of our pool to get sunken toys off the bottom of the pool floor.  He and Daddy have also gone to the park or played with friends.

Collin is loving his new school and additional time at home.  This school year is off to a great start.

Lookin' Good!

Collin used to go to school or outside without brushing his hair.  Daddy likes the look.....I just cringe sometimes thinking what does the teacher think.  She knows Daddy and I and am sure she also knows that it's not Collin's fault his hair is not brushed.  Collin either never noticed or just did not care about his hair.

That has changed!  Now, most of the time when we leave the house, he asked for my brush so he can brush his hair.  If Daddy is around, he rubs the top of Collin's head quickly which then messes his hair back up...and causes a little boy to get mad at his Daddy.  He is smart enough to walk out of Daddy's reach and then brush his hair again.  Even though he is brushing his hair, it's only helping a little because of the way he wants to brush it.  He brushes from the back of the top of his head forward and then to the right.  He then repeats this but brushes to the left.  This makes a section of hair on the right side of his head stick up.  After brushing, he does look at me and ask, "Does my hair look good?"  Of course it does....after I mash that back section down.  :)

I ask him why he is now interested in brushing his hair and he cannot tell me why either.  At least he is not going to school with his hair sticking up everywhere now....but he does have helmet hair, I am sure, because he is rides his bike to school with Daddy.

Neighborhood Pool

We went to our neighborhood pool Saturday with the Jureks.  Collin has been here a few times with them already.  He has told me about the slides and him jumping off the diving board so I was excited about seeing him do this for myself.  Daddy was able to join us so that made it even better. 

When we arrived, Collin wanted to play at the shallow end with Linden.  Then, they decided to go down the slide a few times before jumping off the diving board the rest of the time we were there.  At first, Collin would stand at the edge of the board and tell us where we needed to be in the water before he would jump to us.  In another 30 minutes, he was running from the back of the board and then jumping into the water without any fear.  He waited for one of us to catch him and then would swim to the edge and get out of the water using the ladder by himself. 

This is after he ran from the back of the diving board

Here he is swimming to the edge

Daddy and I also jumped off the board.  Daddy was having fun doing "cannon balls" or "jack knife" to see how big of a splash he could make.  Todd did it too but Daddy's were the biggest splash.  I surprised everyone by doing a flip and landing with my feet first in the water.  It's been YEARS since I did this but was happy I could still do it.  All of those hours practicing in the neighborhood pool when I was younger made that moment worth it.  The kids wanted me to do it again and again.  Collin even tried to do a flip but did land on his back in the water.  That did not seem to bother him too much.

One of Daddy's big splashes

Look at the girls at the edge of the pool getting ready for the splash

We swam for almost 2 hours before getting out and heading to the Jureks for pizza night.  It ended quickly when Saige and Collin started to fight...that happens frequently when there are two, tired 5 and 4-year olds in a room together trying to share.  We left and Collin was asleep in his bed in less than 30 minutes.  Yep, tired little boy.