Story time funny

Colin was helping me read "Panda Bear, Panda Bear What do you See?" today before nap. We got to the last page where all the animals are and he was saying the second word of each animal.

Me: Spider... Colin: Monkey
Me: Green sea... Colin: Turtle
Me: Macaroni.... Colin: Cheese (it's supposed to be penguin)

I burst out laughing so hard I was crying and Kevin had to read the rest of the page for me.

Easter...finally

(since I just got my pictures uploaded tonight).

On Saturday we went to my aunt and uncle's house. Colin hunted for eggs.
On Sunday, we went to church. After nap time, we went to Kevin's parents' house. Colin hunted for eggs.
There's just something about this picture I love:

Then he drove the tractor. Literally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIYiFjZXl7c

Quick Triathlon Training Update

I've been running more reliably recently, which is good because the triathlon is in 27 days! I ran 2.75 miles today in less than 25 minutes, which translates into about 9 minute miles.

Kevin pumped up the tires on my bike today. Hopefully Mother Nature decides to warm the place up a little bit so I can hit the pavement with the bike. I might alternate bike/run/rest/bike&run nights. We'll see what happens :)

Stephie and I are going to meet up one of these weekends to practice our canoeing skills.

My co-worker (Stacey) who signed up for the race lost her partner, so another co-worker (Amy) is racing with her now. Amy's a marathon runner, and we've been running together after school on Wednesdays.

I have no doubts about whether or not I will be able to complete the triathlon. It's just a matter of how much work I want to go through on that day. Hopefully working hard now will pay off when it's time to race!

2 year appointment

We had Colin's 2 year appointment yesterday. He's following his growth curve in both height and weight:
Height: 34 3/4" (57 %tile)
Weight: 29.8 lbs (71 %ile)
Head circumference: 49.5 cm (70 %ile)

We can officially switch Colin to skim milk rather than whole. Although Kevin would much rather drink 2%. I do the shopping, so... :D

Dr. R. was quite impressed with the fact that he's potty trained, even at night.

Colin sat quietly on the table and let Dr. R. examine him. She said he's healthy and seems to be a little bit ahead developmentally since he's potty trained and apparently talks more than most 2 year old boys. I always worry about him having asthma since I have it, but she said she didn't hear any asthma, so that's a relief!

Colin had to go to the bathroom while we were waiting, so I took him to the bathroom down the hall. He went potty, and then I had to go too. As I was going, he started opening the door, so I reached over and shut it. Right on his fingers. Bad Mommy. I felt so bad. We got an ice pack and one of his fingers was bruised for a half hour or so, but he was feeling fine within 10 minutes. At least if he's going to get hurt, the best place to do it is at a hospital waiting for a doctor check-up!

Colin got his DTaP and MMR shots too. The vaccine schedule says to give 1 year olds the MMR shot, but I delayed it to his 2 year appointment. Being a teacher and teaching children with autism, I would like to rule out that possibility if at all possible. I know there are studies to show that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism, but I'd rather not take any chances. Needless to say, I'm watching for signs of autism. I shouldn't be, but I am.

So, despite an injury and a sad little boy for about 3 minutes, it was a great appointment!

When we got home, I told Colin to tell Daddy about the doctor and he started talking about the dig-digs in the parking lot. How one scooped up the dirt and dumped it in the dump truck, and then it said, "Beep! Beep! Beep!". The memory of a 2 year old :)

Colin's birthday party

Colin had such a good time on Saturday at his birthday party!

My parents came up early to hang out for awhile before the festivities started. While my mom helped me in the kitchen, Colin played with his great grandma.
Here's my pride and joy of the day, homemade and decorated by moi. I call it beginner's luck :)
I was so nervous about the taste of it because I didn't allow enough time for the cakes to cool before I took them out of the pan, so both layers were missing some of their tops.

Colin took a long nap and when he woke up, he put on his birthday shirt (designed in Publisher, printed by cafepress).
After eating a second lunch (Barbecue sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit salad, and chips),
Colin dug into his presents. He was spoiled by all the generous gifts he received.
Then we sang Happy Birthday
and ate cake (which tasted fine!).
I had wanted to get a family picture taken at some point during the day, but I was too busy during the hubbub. So right before my parents left, as Colin was wearing down, this is the best shot we got.
This morning, one of Colin's first words was "tractor." It was like he had just remembered he had a new tractor sitting in the living room. So away he scampered to play with his tractor, then his truck, then his trike, then his baseball bat... repeat all day.

Colin thanks you for your generosity. He's such a loved and lucky little guy.

Perfection

The train whistle was carrying loudly on the wind tonight, and the oven timer kept ringing reminding me to check the birthday cake baking in the oven. With those two simultaneous sounds, Colin woke up crying, "Mommy! Mommy!" Not a half-asleep beckon; an awake beckon.

I walked into his room and scooped him out of bed, feeling his frustration. I hate being woken from my deep sleep by that blasted train! I carried my warm, sleepy little boy to the rocking chair. Quiet rocking moments are few and far between these days.

I held him like I held him so many months ago, with his head on my right arm and my left arm keeping his lower half on my lap. And I rocked, and he blinked his eyes slowly, drifting back to sleep. His mouth moved as he was trying to wet the dryness away. His right arm was up around my neck, but started to fall as his muscles relaxed, so I rested it on his chest.

I stared at his face and was taken aback by the perfection of it. His cute little button nose. His sweet lips. His rosy, soft, warm cheeks. His short, thin eyelashes. His soft, blond hair already bedhead-style after only 2 hours of sleep. His belly hung out of his pajama shirt. His legs curled up so he fit in the confines of the chair.

We rocked for just a little while, just long enough for the train to go by and for him to be sleepy again. But in that five minutes, I saw pure sweetness in my baby? My big boy? I saw calm and love. I saw perfection.

Thank you, God, for my beautiful little boy and for that perfect moment you made tonight.

The Zoo

With Colin's birthday fast approaching, we decided to spend some good ol' fashioned family time together. Last year we went swimming. This year we went to the Minnesota Zoo!

We saw some big kitties and petted some fake ones
We saw some fish
We walked through a tunnel
We petted some goats
But the most favorite thing of all was riding on the tractor!
We were in the Farm Babies part of the zoo and we were done petting goats. We were about to go to another barn to see some more babies, but along came the tractor and riding it was all Colin wanted to do. So our farm baby viewing was cut short, but only in my terms. Colin could have cared less :)

I think Colin really liked the zoo. He liked watching the different monkeys and the grizzly bears. He liked the fish and the sharks. But he didn't get super excited about any animal in particular. Instead, he was thrilled to see the tractor and some "dig digs" construction equipment in the turkey exhibit.

::sigh:: Anybody know a zoo that keeps heavy machinery on display for the curious child?

Birthday party plans

Colin's birthday party is in T minus 9 days. After switching from the Curious George theme to the truck theme, I made invitations in Microsoft Publisher. Leah helped me delete the background from a photo so I could put a picture of Colin in the first truck.
I also used the clip art to make a shirt design (yet to be revealed. I LIKE secrets!). I sent the jpg to cafepress and got it printed on a white t-shirt. For $12, it looks pretty good!

I'm still going to make Colin's cake. I need to find a construction truck of some sort to put on the cake. There is going to be a hill created by a cupcake on it. I have a sketch. We'll see if it turns out. If worse comes to worse, our neighborhood grocery store almost always has a truck cake made up.

The menu isn't decided on yet, but it will be easier than last year's grilling. We'll have a light meal available throughout since the party is at 3:00. We're thinking barbecue sandwiches in a crockpot, the usual picnic-type food. And, of course, Colin's favorite: fruit.

We're taking Colin to the Minnesota Zoo this weekend if the weather cooperates. It's part of his birthday present. He has been gaining interest in animals recently and I think he's going to absolutely love the Farm Babies there! We're also going to get him a water table.

I am excited for his birthday. I think he's going to have so much fun!

6 weeks later, 100% potty trained!

I can officially call Colin potty trained now! Actually, he has been potty trained 100% at home for at least three weeks. He still has a minor poop-related issue at daycare to sort through, but the last few days there have gone really, really well. He is starting to get more comfortable about telling Sandy when he needs to go. I rarely ask him if he needs to go anymore either, because I know he'll tell me.

He has never had an accident in public, which makes outings easy. No diapers needed! There have been a few times when we've taking long-ish car rides and I've brought the potty with us, knowing a bathroom might not be available at a moment's notice. He said he had to go, so Kevin stopped, then I crawled into the back seat and plopped him on the potty in the back of the Explorer. He went, I dumped it out, and off we drove!

He wears the Gerber training pants to bed every night now. The extra padding (how little it may be), is for my assurance. He has only had two night time accidents: the first night, and once last week, which I think happened because he was coughing so hard. He usually wakes up at 4:00 or so to go potty, and then goes right back to sleep when he's back in his crib.

I am so happy and fortunate potty training worked out like it did. Those first four days were frustrating and exhausting. I annoyed myself with all of the constant asking and reminding I did. Since then, as we've been able to slowly back down from the reminding and checking, it has been a breeze. In fact, I have almost forgotten the first four days.

So now I can really, truly say I am looking forward to a diaper-free summer!