Colin is 21 Months Old!

Colin showing off his movie star glasses from Mimi and Pappy.

Two years old is creeping in on us!  Can't believe how much our little man is growing up nor the fact that I have actually been blogging for almost two years without quitting.

As you will notice, its pretty difficult to get a photo of Colin these days.  I know I mentioned this when he was 18 months but now it truly is impossible.  As soon as we whip out the iphone or camera he immediately starts saying "I see! I see!" while frantically pointing to the camera and then bulldozing you until it's in his hands.  You'll see just a few of these moments throughout this post.

We've talked before about how Colin loves to write.  He's continued this passion and has oodles and oodles of doodles.

Notice on several of the papers COLIN is written.  Colin likes to pretend to write his name by drawing over it and he is also learning to spell it as well.

Mom: Colin, how do you spell your name?

Colin: silence

Mom: C

Colin: O!

Mom: L

Colin: I!

Mom: N - Colin!

Repeat

What can I say the boy knows his vowels.  He has recently started getting the C in there too.

I tried to capture Colin drawing with his markers and I got this instead...

Again not much has changed...little man still likes to be outside and he still LOVES to play with "real" things.  Here he is running around with Daddy's screwdriver - an accident waiting to happen.

Tried to push my luck and get some other shots but they turned out like this instead:

I can't even count how many photos I have like this.

Speaking of real things Colin loves to "act like Mommy or Daddy or Mimi"...

He insisted on wearing gloves like Mommy...blurry because he also insisted on seeing the photo before it was even taken.

While Mimi visited she wore Mommy's vest a lot of the time so when Colin found it one day he quickly put it on and walked around the house saying "I'm Mimi!" You can see he is also playing with the kitchen bowls...he does not touch 99% of his toys.

If Colin isn't pretending to be a person he is pretending to be some sort of animal, usually a dinosaur.  This boy knows a lot about dinosours and will actually play with his dinosours for a good half hour in the bath (For Colin this is an eternity).  His favorite dinosaur?  The triceratops ("high-top") Uncle Connor gave him for Christmas.  Speaking of dinosaurs, Colin absolutely loves his dino hat that you'll see in the next series of photos.

Food is still a struggle but fortunately mommy is able to disguise spinach in egg bites and Colin will actually eat it...and then shove what he doesn't want down his shirt....

"I'll just go ahead and shove this food down my shirt."

"Wait, where'd it go?

"Oh no! Now I want it back!"  (drama over food stuck in his shirt ensued)

We typically do not make spaghetti noodles so it wasn't until recently that Colin got his hands on them...

Based on the cheering, we think he liked them.

We've had fun eating smoothies together too although it might be hard to tell from the pictures...

"I see! I see!"

"I see! I see! I see! I see!"

How to take photo of Colin without him insisting on the camera?  Turn on the TV.  This kid loves TV ("T!") I mean loves it (borderline obsession). 

I try to limit Colin to one show a day or none at all unless he's sick.  He usually has one show at a time that he sticks with. He's gone from Yo Gabba Gabba (when he first started watching TV) to Dora to Dinosaur Train to Sesame Street to now Curious George.  We never have TV on unless he's watching a show and we use Netflix so there are no commercials.  This makes me feel better about letting him watch it.  Sometimes I get all wrapped up in the advice that toddlers not watch any TV.  I've come to accept that it is something Colin enjoys more than most things and allowing him to watch one a day isn't going to hurt anyone!  To keep from having to listen to Colin beg for it all day we've started a rule that he may watch one show in the late afternoon while mommy is cooking/cleaning and then we turn it off and eat dinner.  I'm happy to say it's been working really well so far!

Since Colin much prefers to be out and about over being home we try to leave the house as often as possible.   We have lots of play dates with friends like this one with Jake at the Fire Museum.

Colin also gets out of the house three days a week at his "school" where he couldn't be happier.  Here he is at his Valentine's Day party...eating a cookie.  If there is anything Colin loves more than TV its probably cookies. 

Since having Genevieve, Colin has spent some extra time with Daddy...

Finally, Colin loves to sing and dance and is super cute when doing it.  I'd show you evidence of this if I had any without a hand in the lens....

Aunt Veronica Saves the Day

Daddy had been gone a little over a week before Aunt Veronica arrived and I wasn't sure I could make it one more day without reinforcements.  I was so thankful the moment Aunt Veronica walked in the door and immediately handed over our little snuggle bug so I could be hands free for a few minutes.  Aunt Veronica loves her some baby cuddles so she spent the majority of her time with us holding our sweet Genevieve....

We both wanted to eat lunch so we came up with this idea to keep Genevieve asleep....it worked pretty well till we finished eating.

Aunt Veronica also spent some time playing with Colin.  She taught him to happily say "wahoo!" whenever he trips or hits something.  He's quite the klutz so this happens often.  Every since Aunt V left we've been doing this every day and it really helps to to forget about falling and then easily go back to what he was doing.  Aunt Veronica is a natural teacher for sure!

She took off of work, got out of classes, and drove all the way down from Richmond by herself just to be with us for a few days.  It was such a nice visit and I will be forever grateful for it!

Genevieve's First Beach Trip

The time Mommy was dreading had come...Daddy had to leave for a two week trip.  It was great to spend a couple of low key and "normalish" work weeks together enjoying our little family before he left. Don't get me wrong there were still several night flights where Daddy had to leave for 15 plus hours at a time and then came home at 7am exhausted and attempting to sleep with an infant and toddler wide awake in the house.  It's the closest to normal we can get and we cherished each precious moment...

For example, Daddy left on a Saturday afternoon so we took advantage of the time together that morning with Genevieve's first trip to the beach.  On the way there we stopped at Target and picked up a new shovel and pail for Colin.  He had a blast digging in the sand...we could hardly get him to leave the dunes. 

Genevieve spent her time sound asleep in the carrier with Daddy (just like Colin's first time!).

The water was freezing but that didn't stop Colin from getting his feet (and hands!) wet.

Apparently we picked the spot where all the surfers were that day. Here's Daddy taking a stroll along the shore with the surfers in the background - see all those black dots in the water?

Our visit was pretty short, we were ready to stay longer but Colin actually told us that he was ready to go.  I think he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed and I was so proud of him for telling us what he needed/wanted before having a meltdown.

I'd say it was a successful first trip to the beach for Miss Genevieve!

Since we still had some time before we needed to be home we stopped at our favorite little cafe for smoothies and crepes.  Yummy!!

Colin LOVES crepes....and using his utensils properly.

After a quick nurse in the car, Genevieve continued her nap at the cafe....

and again when we got home...

With everyone asleep, Daddy snuck out of the house leaving Mommy alone with a toddler and an infant.  Ahh!  Would I survive???

Genevieve is One Month Old!

 

Our sweet little angel girl is one month already!  She has been such a blessing. She's a great eater and sleeper so far.  She weighed in at 11 lbs at her doctors appointment which puts her in the 90th percentile!  She was 22 inches which is about the 75th percentile.  Genevieve looks like her Uncle Hunter and it seems she's following in his footsteps on the growth curve as well.

One of the most fascinating things about Genevieve is her incredible head control.  She has been impressively holding up that noggin since day one.  It's been hard to grab a pic of it but here's the best one I've got.

She has been extremely aware and alert.  People will often comment that she doesn't look or act like a newborn.  I guess since she was so well cooked in Mommy's belly she was more ready for the world than some.

 A few shots Mommy took of Genevieve around two weeks old.

I wanted to remember all the little things before she got any bigger...

tiny hands

tiny ear

tiny nose

tiny eye

Can't wait to see what month two has in store for us!