He's 7 Years Old

Collin is 7 today.  FINALLY, he really is 7 even though he has been telling people for a month that he is. 

This morning, I had to leave before the boys woke up.  Mainly because they have been sleeping in while they can before school started.  I set up some balloons around his chair where he eats breakfast and made him a sign saying "Happy Birthday Collin" that I taped to the back of the chair.  I also laid out a birthday hat for him to wear if he wanted it.  Daddy said that he really liked the balloons but you cannot tell from the picture.

He did call me in the morning to tell me that he loved me and hoped that I had a good day.

When I got home, I was ready for us to have pizza and the chocolate cup cake he said he wanted to have.  Change of plans.  He wanted to go to the new Chili's and have a hamburger.  "I love their hamburgers so I want to eat there for my birthday.  Why are they called "hamburgers" anyway?  There is not ham in there.  I am going to call them burgers.  Can we go to Chili's to eat a burger?"

We stopped by to see Grandma H first and open his presents from us (lightening machine), Aunt Nancy (the children's version of The Story and $$), Layla from my work (a board game focused around dog poop...well, that will be a hit), Mimi (small toy sharks) and Grandma H (remote controlled car and several books aimed at his reading level).  Grandma H was happy to see us and said that she had looked forward to this moment all day.

The Doggie Doo Game

Collin holding the sharks Mimi got him

Here he is with the remote controlled car

Grandma H watching Collin open his presents

Then, we left to have dinner at Chili's.  Collin did get his burger.  While there, we let the waiter know that it was Collin's birthday.  He had no idea what was waiting for him after we finished our meal.  When the time came, all of the wait staff came over to sign Happy Birthday to him.  He was not sure about this and huddled close next to Mimi.  "That really scared me!" as you can probably tell from the video.

When we got home, we gave him his big present which was a new, bigger bike.  He did not seem excited about it at first but then was all smiles when we asked him again about it and took pictures.  Here he is first seeing the bike.  He is carrying the lighting machine with him.  I think he was really focused trying to get the machine out of the book and did not think about or process that he just got a new bike.

Daddy also got a new bike.  Look at the happy boys!

He's growing up!  Happy Birthday Collin!!!

Getting Ready for School

Like last year, we have Collin seeing a tutor for a few days this week to assess if he is ready for 1st grade and to give us an idea of where he stands (behind or not).  Yesterday, he read and wrote his letters.  She said that he read and wrote really well.  Today, he worked on math.  I was happy to see that all of his numbers were facing the correct way AND looked really good.  The last several times we have worked on his numbers, most of them were backwards.  He said he did not realize that they were when he was writing them.  Possibly today, he did not write them backwards because we just talked about it last week.  He also read a book two levels above the book he read Monday (Level 6 vs 4).  He was able to read this book too.  She said that 1st graders should be reading at a Level 4-6 so he is were he needs to be.  I was surprised by this because he does not like to read when I ask him to. 

Other than getting a backpack and lunch bag with soccer balls all over them, we did not buy anything else to get ready for school.  He grew during the summer but still fits into his clothes,  We did buy shoes over the summer and these still fit and look good.  What a relief for this mommy that does not like to shop and was not sure when I was going to make time with all of the other things we have going on right now.  I pre-ordered his school supplies at the beginning of the summer.  These should be sitting on his desk on the first day of school.

We received a postcard in the mail with the name of his teacher.  He will have Ms Davis who was a 3rd grade teacher and will be teaching 1st grade in the Fall.  I emailed some of the mommies of Collin's friends to see who their kids have for 1st grade.  Other than Brody (his friend that he refers to as his brother), none of his other friends are in his class.  Most of them are in the same class with another teacher.  At first, I have my lower lip out reading through the email but then thought this might not be a bad thing.  This will force Collin to at least pay attention to the teacher for the first few weeks of school.  He will also get to meet new friends.  He will be able to see his other friends on the playground, after school or during sports.  I am sure he will be fine.

We meet the teacher this Friday at 10am.  This is a tradition that they do every year.  I like it because we get to meet the teacher, get to see where Collin will be sitting, meet the parents of the other students and understand what the kid's day might be like during the school year.

Sweet, Thoughtful Collin

Collin is so excited about his upcoming birthday.  He has been practicing saying that he is 7 for a month now.  The count down to his birthday has been "How many more days until my real birthday?" and "How many more days until my fake party (which is his birthday party a few days later)?" Yesterday, I showed him a few pictures to get some ideas for his birthday cake.  He looked through them and passed them up until he came to the one with cake in the middle and cupcakes around the cake.  He aid he wanted that one because "if people like cake, then they can have cake.  If they like cupcakes, they can have cupcakes.  This way, they have a choice."  How sweet was that? 

He chose the cake below and said he wanted chocolate.  We will have to see if the local bakery can make this cake.  She has done great the last 3 years so I am sure it will look great.

Writing Notes

I have been working with Collin the last few days and will until school starts to get him ready to sit still in a class and do school work.  We have worked on his words, reading, math and writing.  He gets really tired with the writing because he is not used to holding his pencil. 

Usually, he does not want to write anything when it's not "school work" time.  However, in the last two days, he has written several notes.  Here is one of them that he wrote and laid on his animals that he placed on the floor by his bedroom door.

When I was working the other night, he wanted to send me an email.  He wrote the following and sent it to Dad and I:

"I love you and Dad"  Collin

At the baseball game, he left his autographed baseball hat.  He does not wear hats other than when he is playing baseball so none of us remembered he was wearing a hat until we were headed to the car. I quickly sent a text to a coworker that was still there.  She fortunately found it and brought it to work the next day.  I thought that was really sweet.  Collin was so excited to see his hat when I got home that night.  Instead of working in his school workbook, I had him write a note to her using his words.  here is what he wrote:

She loved it...especially the baseball stickers he included on the note.

Famous Mommy

Collin is liking the attention I am getting because of breast cancer.  This Sunday, we went to the baseball game for Family Day with my work.  We had to arrive early because I was being honored on the field with a few other work colleagues resulting from the recent breast cancer walk.  I was the top fundraiser and the others were top donation, largest team and best costume. 

I had to wear a Field Pass around my neck so I could go on the field.  Collin really wanted to go with me but they would not let him.  Good thing he did not go because I stood on the side of the field for 45 minutes waiting until we were on the big screen and introduced to the crowd.  I don't think he would have been bored though...just tired of standing like I was.  While we were on the field, we got to see the players warm up, the mascot walk around and joke with us and the players and look up at the people in the stands.

When it was time for us to be on the big screen, we walked behind home plate and then the lady signaled that we were on the big screen.  They called me out first stating my name and then why I was there.  I felt like a giant on the screen and especially because I was standing in between two ladies shorter than 5' 4" tall.  I had my phone in my pocket and could feel the texts I was getting probably from people seeing me on the screen.  This was a televised game so I did expect to hear from a few people I know that regularly watch the games. 

Getting ready to walk on the field

This is what Daddy and Collin were doing in the stands while waiting on me.  What are you teaching our son?!?!  Shows that boys will be boys.

When we were finished, we stayed on the side of the field for the remaining opening ceremonies and then head to where the rest of our family was.  Collin said he liked seeing me on the big TV...and then quickly changed subjects.  Unlike prior years, he wanted to eat as fast as he could and then head to the seats to watch the game.  Instead of asking questions about the plays, he made comment about how good they were, why the play was good, etc.  I really had fun watching the game with him. 

We did not stay long because I had to get back home to host a fundraiser for Team Wonder Woman.  This is the team formed last year for the Tour de Pink which is a bike ride to raise funds for mammograms.  I did really well fundraising last year jut by asking for donations.  This year, I am WAY behind at $180 so I decided to host a party for Thirty-One Gifts with the proceeds going to my fundraising.  People are more willing to part with their money if they get something in return.

Eating Frenzy

Collin is growing and eating like crazy the last week.  He has gotten skinner but taller in the legs.  He used to be at least a head shorter than his friend Saige, who IS tall.  He now comes up to past her ears.  I am sure she has continued to grow but this means he is growing more.  For breakfast, he eats two bowls of cereal, five chocolate chip muffins and some strawberries.  Lunch is the usual half sandwich, yogurt drink, slice of cheese and fruit.  Dinner was two peanut butter jelly sandwiches, a chicken sandwich, apple and chips.  Wow!  And....because he is eating more, he is sitting on the potty longer.  :)  I guess it does have to come out at some point.  He does still need complete silence to go #2.  I cannot talk, the vent cannot be on and no other noise until he is finished.  He has done this ever since he started sitting on the potty.

Catching Up

We have been really busy with summer baseball games two days a week and visiting Grandma H almost daily in the rehab facility.  She is doing well with her daily rehab and likes for us to come and visit...especially Collin.  Since she had been there, I am getting a LOT more hugs and kisses from Collin.  I don't know if it's a coincidence or if it's because he is scared for her.  He does talk about death and dying so I know she is on his mind.

Last weekend was full of running around.  We did have Timmy and Leah spend the night to help Mimi so she can work whatever she needs to and to give Aunt Lisa a break so she can focus on Tyson....or sleep.  Aunt Lisa brought the kids over Saturday afternoon and stayed a lot longer than we expected.  We really enjoyed her visit.  Tyson was fun to hold and was awake most of the time.  Aunt Lisa got another reminder that she needs to bring a change of clothes for herself too when she is out of the house.  She was feeding Tyson on the couch when he had a blowout.  She was soaked.  She finished feeding him and then changed into a pair of Daddy's shorts.  She handed my Tyson to go change and he threw up all over the couch we just cleaned up.  A reminder of how much work infants are.  Fortunately, we have a leather couch that cleans up quickly.

Collin did great holding Tyson. 

Leah loves holding her brother.  That's the first thing she does when she comes home.

Great picture of the kids

The kids got along great.  For the most part, boys let Leah play with them.  Even when they were playing the Wii game, they let her take a turn.  She did want to play by herself a few times and also color.  I drew her name and she colored in the letters.

Leah and Collin playing Wii

In the morning, Leah ordered pancakes for breakfast.  Too cute because she remembered last time they spent the night that I made pancakes for all of them.  She ate three of them which I thought was a lot for her.  When Aunt Lisa came to pick the kids up, they did not want to leave.  Guess they had a good time.  We will have to do that again soon.

This weekend, Collin had Jacob spend the night with him.  His mommy needed a night out but decided to stay home to watch a movie instead.  They boys have known each other since they were 22 months old...so they are good friends but also act like brothers and fight at times.  This time, they got along well and compromised when deciding what to do or play with next.  I liked seeing how both of them are maturing and learning to play with each other.  In the morning, I made pancakes like I did last weekend.  The recipe I used was really good and I was looking forward to trying it again.  The boys then played Wii waiting for Jacob's mom to come get him.  It got quite after a while and I looked around for them.  They were not in the playroom, Collin's room, the Wii room or outside.  I had no idea where they could be.  I know I did not hear the door open because I was in the office working.  I then went back to Collin's room and looked under the bed.  I don't know why I thought to do that...but there they were.  All of the animals and pillows were underneath there too.  They were both playing on the iPad separately and being REALLY quite.  I left them there because they looked too cute.

After Jacob left, I had to get us outside because the weather was GREAT for August.  It was 18 degrees cooler than it usually was AND low humidity.  I thought we should go to the zoo...and so did everyone else in the city.  Fortunately, I found a place to park not far from the entrance.  Walking in, Collin asked for a map to show me around.  He asked what I wanted to see and I said we should stay to the right because we always go left...and miss the right side.  I could tell that he had zoo camp for two different weeks this summer because he was my personal tour guide.  He showed me the birds and told me stories about them...that sounded like he was repeating what his zoo counselor told him.  He even told me if they were boy or girl birds.  We saw a stork which I had no idea the zoo had.  What an UGLY bird.  Collin really liked it and wanted his picture taken in front of it.

Trying to figure out where we should go first

First of several stork pictures.  He kept posing and wanting me to take pictures.

Here is where we are on the map

We walked through the BUGZ exhibit which was outside.  It included gigantic, fake insects and information about each of the bugs.  Again, Tour Guide Collin told me about most of the bugs including watching out for the one that sprayed water at the people walking by. 

Had to pose in front of the giant soccer ball

Help us!!!!

We spent the rest of the time in the children's section. I have not been to the petting zoo with him since he was 3 or so.  They had changed it around quite a bit so I enjoyed walking around to see the new exhibits.  After 2 1/2 hours, I was ready to go back home...and he was not.  I spent another 30 minutes trying to get him to head to the front of the zoo and walk to the car.

Acting like one of the animals in an exhibit

One of the many times he had to rest on the way out

We went to our neighbors, the Jureks, for dinner and watch a little of a movie before coming home.  After bath, Collin was sitting in the office while I was cleaning up the kitchen.  I wondered what he was doing in there and being so quite.  He came out and showed me a note he wrote.  After reading it, I knew he had a great day.  What a sweet little boy.

"Holmes, I love you, Love Collin, Mom"