three years of colin

Happy third birthday, Colin!

We had a little birthday celebration when my family visited this weekend. We had pizza and cupcakes at our house and then went creek stomping with the cousin crew! The kids had fun playing in the rocks and mud, chasing the water skimmers, and getting completely soaked.

Colin's birthday was a perfect reflection of his interests. (I even found banana-print wrapping paper for my banana-obsessed kid!) Creek stomping was a great activity since he loves being outside as much as possible, even if he's just collecting sticks or watering plants with the hose. We're working on giving up the stroller so we've been trying to take longer walks on "Mommy and Colin" days when I don't work.

Like many little kids, he is completely obsessed with trains (and trucks and diggers), so we added a few pieces to his wooden train set. Every night before bed, we read him two books, sing a song (Edelweiss), and then tuck him into his blankets (in a particular order) while he asks, "Mom, can we talk about trains?" And every night I have to come up with something new to tell him about trains. Sometimes it's fact like, "Today I saw a gray train stopped on the tracks by the interstate," and sometimes it's something ridiculous like, "I wish there was a candy train full of lollipops to deliver sweets to our house." I fear the day I run out of things to say about trains.

Bed and nap time have been a bit of a struggle lately. Colin started potty training recently, and we took the side off his bed. Downside: he can get out of bed. (He frequently opts to sleep on the floor instead of in his bed now.) Upside: more room for snuggles with big sister!

Colin still loves Octonauts and Bluey. He was very excited to get some Octonauts toys and a Bluey truck as gifts. We still watch these shows most nights before bed and in the mornings if he wakes up before my brain is fully functioning. He's a big helper whether we're doing yard work, folding laundry, or preparing food in the kitchen. He loves to be right up in the middle of whatever is happening, even though it makes dinner prep a little challenging! He's also really good at entertaining himself and playing quietly for short periods of time. He's the snuggliest little nugget; he often crawls into my lap and curls up while meowing. Sometimes I have a little boy and sometimes I have a little kitten.

It's fun to watch Colin's sense of humor develop. He loves to play silly pretend games like, "What do you think is for breakfast at day care today?" Common responses include things like "ice cream chicken" and "hot dog cereal." When he asks if dinner is ready and I respond, "Not yet!" he always follows up with "..... YET??" This usually leads to a good 5 minutes of "Yet?" "Not yet." "Yet?" "Not yet." "Yet??" "Not yet!!!"

Happy three years to my silly, snuggly, sweet boy!

happy colin to you!

Happy birthday to my little two-year-old! He has loved singing his version of the birthday song for Dan, Mae, and me while we celebrated our birthdays over the last couple months, and today it was finally time to sing, "Happy Colin to you!!"

Colin is chatting up a storm these days. Of course he's learned the essential phrases that come with having a big sister, like "my turn" and "NO!" After any accomplishment, like crawling to the top of a slide, he yells "I did it!" He's curious and inquisitive and always asking, "What dat??" When we are in the kitchen he yells, "I see it!" and demands to be lifted so he can see what food is being prepared. He's especially good at asking for food, including his favorites: chicken nugget, hoddog (hot dog), mahna (banana), i-keem (ice cream), and chokkit (chocolate).

His favorite color is yellow. It might just be the only color he knows. Everything is yellow. His favorite activities is whatever Mae is doing. He idolizes his big sister and she loves taking care of him!

Colin loves playing "Oh no, attack!" He climbs all over me yelling, "oh no attaaaaaack!" Then sometimes he is the victim and I smother him with kisses and tickles while he belly laughs. His other favorite game to play (with Mae as his partner-in-crime) is "Ew ew ew." Mae and Colin slowly crawl towards me while I yell things like, "Ew Ew Ew! What is that?? It's so gross and furry! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH IT'S TOUCHING MEEEEEE!!!"

Colin goes to bed around 7:30 p.m., wakes up around 7 a.m., and still takes a nice long nap in the afternoons. He sleeps with a pillow, a blanket, his two pachis (pacifiers), his stuffed animal Owlbert, and a cup of water which he must witness being filled every night right before bed OR ELSE. I have acquiesed to this request, but drew the line at his insistence that I wash the pachis every night under his critical gaze. Not happening. We read two books (usually about cars, trucks, or farm animals), and sing "Skidamarink a dink a dink" before bed. He's just recently started recognizing letters and points at words saying "B-C-D!" He loves when we sing the ABCs (or BCDs, I guess).

He is certainly earning the nickname of "our little Sour Patch Kid." He might just have turned two today, but he has been practicing his tantrums for at least a few months now. Most of the time he's even-tempered and cheerful, but occasionally, and often for no apparent reason, he is all screaming and flailing limbs and rage. Fortunately, when he's sweet, he's sooo sweet. He loves being my big helper. He especially likes to "shop! shop!", unpack groceries, and change laundry. He's overcome his fear of the dustbuster and vacuum and likes to help me suck up all the discarded bird seeds from Kiwi and Blueberry's cage. "Bird! Eat seeds!"

He's loving summer so far. We've made a few more trips to the pool, and could definitely spend all day at the splash pad ("pashpa"). He was even brave enough to attempt swimming in his new puddle jumper, though he promptly tipped sideways and his face went in the water. (He was mostly unfazed.)

Happy birthday to my sweet, silly, snuggly little kiddo! We love you to bits.

little sockhead

I’m getting Colin ready for winter with this little knit set! I picked up the yarn at the Kentucky Wool Festival this year. It’s a self striping sock yarn called "Grinch Night" from Colorplay Fiber Studio.

The hat is the Sockhead Slouch Hat in child size. I used a provisional cast on, folded the ribbed edge in half, and joined it together on the first row of stockinette knitting. I love the extra warmth of the double-thick ribbing! I added a pompom on top. Colin loves the "ba!" on his "hat!"

The mittens are roughly based on the Pat-A-Cake mittens pattern. I sized them similar to Mae’s fiesta mittens. I doubt Colin will ever keep them on, but they sure look cute!

I was able to get a few pictures before he insisted on running down the driveway to play with his bubble mower ("buh-buh-moh").

Hat and mitten details on my Ravelry page.

a brown bear birthday

We finished up Colin's birthday weekend with a big birthday bash! We had family and friends over for a fun backyard party, pizza, and cake. The decorations and cake were themed for one of Colin's favorite books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?"

It was REALLY hot, but Colin and all the other kids had fun playing in the sandbox and baby pool. Between the Baptism, the sandbox, the cake, and the pool, I think Colin went through at least 5 outfits... and even spent some time in his "birthday suit."

Colin loved trying cake for the first time! He poked it a couple times, and then dove in face-first for a bite. I think he was confused about how to eat something that wasn't cut up into tiny pieces!

After a few tentative nibbles of frosting, he really dug in!

I used the leftover colorful frosting from the cake stripes to frost cupcakes for everyone else. I might have gone a little overboard with the food coloring!

I think I barely survived hosting a Baptism and a birthday in one day. Remind me never to have a double-header party again! I was especially out of practice from not hosting any gatherings during the pandemic. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and I was able to relax and enjoy the party! I'm grateful that we were able to have family and friends all together to celebrate!

colin's baptism

While Colin's actual birthday wasn't very eventful, the day afterwards sure was! We celebrated Colin's Baptism and had his first birthday party all in one day!

Colin was pretty well-behaved for the Baptism ceremony. He was a little wiggly but calmed down with a pacifier.

Since he loves bath time so much, I wasn't worried at all about him crying. He looked confused but relaxed as Father Ed poured the water over his head. As soon as I lifted him back up, he pointed and lunged back towards the water saying, "da!" (which translates to, "Can I play in that little baby pool?!")

He was entranced by the Baptism candle and kept pointing at the flame.

Thank you to Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Christopher for being Colin's Godparents! We took family photos at the church and then enjoyed lunch back at our house before getting ready for Colin's birthday party. More (lots more) photos to come!

Welcome to the church, Colin!

one year of colin

Happy birthday, Colin! Our biggest news from this month is that Colin started standing on his own AND took his first steps! He stood on his own just two days after he turned 11 months. He was pretty stable and could hold the pose for several seconds! His first attempt at walking happened while we were visit Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma reached out her arms and he took a few little steps towards her! He has tried a bunch more times, but he gets too excited! He always tries to run, which ends up with him lunging forward and tumbling into the arms of whoever is nearby. And, when he's not trying to run, he's trying to climb.

We took Colin to the pool for the first time while we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa. He took to the water like a little fish! We put him in a floaty ring in the baby pool and just motored around like a little bumper boat. He loved floating in the big pool also.

On Father's Day, we went to the farmers' market where Colin played in a little fountain. I think he wanted to get all the way in! Later in the day, we went to a nearby splash pad where he had a ball! He was obsessed with the water jets: poking, splashings, crawling through. He didn't mind getting soaked or sprayed at all!

Now that the world is beginning to open up again, Colin is enjoying going out and seeing the world! He squeals with excitement any time I put the car in park now; it's like he's saying, "Where are we exploring today?!"

Near the end of May, we ate inside a fast-food restaurant (that was completely empty) for the first time. Colin really enjoyed the pizza.

Then, this month I took him to the mall for the first time. We got lunch at the food court. Colin really enjoyed the pizza.

And finally, we ate at a real sit-down restaurant as a family for the first time in over a year. Colin really enjoyed the pizza. (I'm sensing a trend as to why he likes going out.)

We went back to the same restaurant for my birthday. (We particularly appreciated the fully cicada-netted outdoor seating.) Colin dropped his pacifier on the floor and said "uh oh!" for the first time. This week he also started saying lots of "mama" (mostly when he is whining) and "ba" for "ball!"

Speaking of pizza, Colin pretty much gave up baby food this month. Why would you eat baby food when instead you could just eat hundreds of grapes? His favorite foods are fruit and cheese, but he will eat pretty much anything! Last week, I gave him some tiny pieces of tortilla and then walked into the kitchen. While I was gone, he managed to slam his body forward and back in the high chair until he got it to roll all the way up to the table. By the time I got back, he had grabbed an entire tortilla off the table and was eating it. Just yesterday he popped through a 5th tooth, which makes eating tortillas (and pizza) even easier!

Routine is very important to Colin. I put him to bed the other night, and he seemed tired so I skipped reading him a book. After I left the room, he wailed so I went back up with a bottle. I picked him up and carried him to the rocking chair to feed him. He shoved the bottle out of the way, pointed at the book "Little Blue Truck," and said, "Da!" Guess I can't get away with skipping bed time stories any more! (Everything is "da." Half of Colin's life is spent pointing at things and yelling, "da!")

Colin loves to climb, explore, and even sometimes snuggle. If I sit on the floor, he always crawls over and plops himself into my lap. It's just so darn cute! He's the sweetest, smiliest one-year-old! We can't wait to celebrate your birthday party tomorrow, Colin!

P.S. Here's some of the cute artwork Colin made this year. The picture of him on the sled is my favorite!