WUV YOU and Life Lessons from Kiddie Books

In the middle of playing, Colin came up to me, hugged my legs, and said 'wuv you' before continuing on his busy way! MELT MY HEART! I am so blessed :)

Before bedtime, we always read a few books to Colin. We went to the library after dinner, so tonight we had two new books to read: No, David and Mr. Impossible. I had never read any of the books from either of these series and was actually very impressed with their underlying meanings. Or, at least, what I was reading between the lines. Who knows if that was the actual intent!

1) In No, David, the main character, David (of course), continues to try his mom by engaging in all sorts of crazy antics. Playing baseball in the living room, climbing on the counters- your typical boy activities. From beginning to end, all that you hear his mom say is 'No, David!' When he's finally put in time-out and gets upset, his mom says 'Davey, come here. Yes, David...I love you!' 

Isn't it so true? No matter how much they do, no matter how much they may disappoint us, we still love them more and more!

2) Mr. Impossible was about a little creature that could do absolutely anything! A little boy, William, takes him to school to share with his classmates and teacher. When William went home and told his parents about his day, they chuckled at him. 

As a mom, I want everything for Colin. I want him to believe that anything is possible. As Christians, we are taught that absolutely nothing is impossible through Christ. But society makes us doubt ourselves, and ultimately, God. An interesting thought from The Mission of Motherhood:

"I've learned that my influence on my children is limited only by the smallness of dreams and my lack of commitment to the Lord and his purposes."

Very humbling. Here's to undeserved love, BIG dreams, and always believing in the impossible!

10.10.10 - A Baseball Extravaganza!

We couldn't have asked for a better day for Colin's birthday party! The weather was BEAUTIFUL and, in fact, it was down-right-HOT for October, but that didn't stop them from playing their little hearts out! We had friends, food, balloons, a giant playground and a mini-baseball field. Lots of things to do for a two-year-old boy! 

The morning of the party, Colin woke up in his usual good-spirits. While I was getting ready, I heard this sound rubbing against the wall. I found Colin trying to 'hang' his birthday cards. I decided to help him out a bit and taped them to his bedroom door. He was very pleased! I liked the idea so much that I may just have to make it a family tradition:

During his afternoon nap, Chris and I worked in shifts getting things ready for his party. Here's a look at a few of the details:

 The food. Most important, the baseball-shaped Rice Krispies cake. Colin is limited on foods and cannot have your typical cake due to the wheat flour and egg, among other things. Rice Krispies, however, he can enjoy!

Each guest signed this wooden baseball bat as a keepsake!

One of our little guests, Ava. She brought along her little purse to the party, so cute!

The balloons! We had a love/hate relationship that day. Colin was obsessed with them but the wind liked them more! We lost a few good balloons that day :(

The gift table! Lots of fun toys for the little guy.

We were blessed to have our family and friends celebrate with us. Thanks everyone for making it a great day! Now with the party over, we are welcoming Fall with open arms and gearing up for Halloween! 

Colin's 2nd Birthday Pictures

I didn't take 18 month pictures of Colin and I definitely regret it. It has been a full year since we've had professional pictures of him. Anna Kennedy did Colin's 2nd Birthday pictures at a local pumpkin patch. We were pretty pleased with the results! Here is a glimpse of her work:

I love them all! I couldn't stop posting!

Colin Turns Two

Tuesday, October 5th, marked Colin's 2nd birthday! We made a trip to see Dr. Poon for his 2-year check-up. Everything looks great! He's growing, slowly, but he's growing, coming in at 31 3/4 inches tall and 23 lbs. and 6 oz! He really is a Little Guy. I think he hit the 30% for his height. So we're making progress!

To celebrate his big day, my parents came over for dinner. We had Chipotle (the BEST restaurant for Colin's allergies. He can eat pretty much anything there!) and cupcakes from Sugar Cupcakery in Milford, Ohio. They made gluten-free, vegan vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkes. They were delicious! However, both my dad and Colin were not big fans. I think Colin isn't into chocolate frosting these days. Crazy, I know. But he put down a couple of allergy- free sugar cookies that I had made for him to take to school. Also, very good. There are a lot of great allergy-free baking products available now. 

Before he went to bed, he opened a few gifts from all of us. His favorite toy of the night was the fire engine riding toy that he got from Chris' dad and Theresa. Of course, he can go very fast and it makes lots of noise! We love having toys like that around the house, haha. But he loves it! His birthday party will be this Sunday so I'm sure there will be a lot more noisy toys to come!

Here is an update of Colin's development...

Food:

No new foods. Although, he did eat a TON of asparagus at the wedding reception. So I guess we can add that one to the list, if it wasn't already there. I will admit, I do need to start introducing more foods to his diet. The poor kid can only eat so much beans and rice, and macaroni and cheese! We will make that my challenge over the next few months!

Words:

'Bus' - he loves to point out every bus on the way to school in the morning!

'Beep' - whenever he hears a car horn on the road he always follows up with his own 'beep beep'

'Up/Down' - he's beginning to get the point of these words and often uses them correctly. The same with On/Off

'Melk'- milk. This is a word that we have been waiting for for a LONG time. Teacher Becky even mentioned it to us at school. But he said it last night and I made him repeat it just to be sure!

'Decky'- and speaking of Teacher Becky, Colin refers to her as Decky

'Carter' - his little friend at school. So sweet!

'Nana' - my mom

'Pop' - what he now calls my dad, who was originally Pap. Oh well. Pop is cute!

I'm trying to think if I've missed anything else- it seems like he's been saying so much more! I probably missed a few here or there. He is doing very well with language and can actually carry on somewhat of a conversation with you. He has moved up to the 2 year old room at school so being around the older kids should help him even more in this area!

Potty Update:

He has now gone pee on the potty twice all by himself and poop once. All three times, he has taken off his own diaper and walked himself to the bathroom and sat down. So we know he knows HOW to do it, we just need to make it a more consistent activity! Very excited with his progress here, it hasn't taken much effort on our part so far. Chris just needs to relax about the possible 'accidents', however, or else Colin will be in diapers until he's 7!

Looking forward to spending a beautiful day at the park this Sunday for Colin's Birthday! We've been very blessed to have such great friends and family be a part of his life. 

Sous Chef

I'm playing catch up these days! This posting is a collaboration of a few weeks worth of stories...

A few weeks ago, I took Colin to the grocery store with me. I do not remember what day or what time of day it was, but it was freakishly empty so I let him walk with me rather than sit in the (very uncomfortable-looking) cart. He was quite the helper! He followed along side me very well and only strayed a few times to pick up things that he recognized- box of rice, gatorade, etc. It was very cute! I was amazed that he was able to recognize the items that he can have.

Flash forward a few weeks, I was making a box of the macaroni and cheese that we purchased. The Little Guy got into the cabinet and pulled out a pot for himself. While the water was coming to a boil, I let him have the dry macaroni and a spoon. He went to town 'making' his macaroni and cheese! He really enjoys to watch what I'm doing in the kitchen and tries to 'help' as much as possible. Maybe one of these days he will be cooking for us!

Tomorrow is the Little Guy's 2nd Birthday! Check back for a run down...

CAUTION- Extreme Gushiness Ahead!

I can't help to by emotional sometimes, it's only natural for a mom, right? Lately, I've been having a lot of those little moments that just make your heart swell up and overflow with love and joy. The moments that make you say- It's great to be a MOM!

Last night, we took Colin to his first Ryle High School football game. We sat in the same stands that I used to stand in while I was in high school. We watched the band and dance team line up to form a tunnel for the team. Then the cheerleaders hoisted up their paper sign- 'Welcome to R House!' - and the Raiders broke through and made their way onto the field. Everyone was cheering, but I got teary eyed. Ridiculous, I know. All I could see was Colin breaking through that sign and making his way onto the same field for the first time. So cute! That will be a proud moment. Just thinking about it gets me all teary-eyed again! But those days are still a ways off (thank goodness!). There are plenty of special moments to enjoy up until then...

And not to keep you waiting...

Colin has been showing interest in going "pee pee" on his potty. He will strip off his clothes and sit on the potty, but every time he ends up having an accident. He doesn't quite seem to get it. Again, this morning, he stripped down and I put on his big boy underpants to help prevent any such accidents. A few minutes later he came up to me saying "pee pee" so I took off his underpants and let him sit on his potty, like usual. Within a minute, I see him carefully trying to carry his potty back into the bathroom- HE PEED! No accidents! 

I was not at all expecting it to happen today, like it hadn't on previous days but I was SO happy for him! And I could tell he was very proud of himself. We flushed it down the toilet and he had a special treat. It was a great moment! Who knew that watching someone else relieve themselves could make you so happy?

His big boy underpants

The proof! It happened! 

Congrats Colin! We are so proud of you! Football can come later ;)

Tumble Bug

Carrying over from my previous post, Colin has officially started tumbling classes at MJM Studios! He's a little young for it but he has been doing very well. We definitely needs to work on his listening skills but you can tell the child has no fear! He's into everything- the pit, the trampoline, the balancing beam. He even does forward rolls down the cheese! His favorite parts of class: 1) the tramp, 2) the pit, 3) getting his hand stamped at the end of class!

Take a look at the little guy in action:

In the foam pit with Kyle!

Way to go little man!