Nap time at our house

Today I think Colin learned the art of getting out of a nap... or at least attempting to get out of a nap. Around nap time I took him into his room, sat in the rocking chair and started singing him some songs (which we do every time) He started to get sleepy and likes to put his hand in my face as he is drifting off to sleep. Well this time he managed to stick his hand in my mouth as I'm singing and apparently it tickled. He started to giggle which made me laugh (big mistake) and thus the nap time was pushed aside as Colin, now wide eyed and ready to play, wanted to be tickled again and tried to stick his hand in my mouth over and over. I stopped singing to him and just tried to rock him to calm him down and hopefully make him sleepy again. Our little boy is smart and tried to pry my mouth open with his finger. When that didn't work he eventually stopped and started rubbing his eyes. Nap time take 2.... this time he decided to stick his pacifier in MY mouth and actually got it in the first time - which was just as funny as his hand being tickled - maybe even funnier to him. At this point I just stick him in his crib for a few minutes hoping he'll tire himself out. I left to take a load of laundry to the basement and as I'm coming up the stairs I hear our ceiling light shaking that is directly under his room. Colin is now standing up and jumping up and down in his crib and shaking it so hard I'm afraid he'll hurt himself. He thought it was extremely fun and much better than a nap. As I'm getting him down for the 4th or 5th time (I've lost track by now) he all of a sudden starts clapping. FOR THE FIRST TIME! And how do you not praise something you've been trying to teach him for a while. I praise him and then start our nap time routine all over again but Colin is so proud of himself he keeps clapping - with a huge grin on his face. And he is really cute doing it - it was all I could do not to smile at him. He eventually fell asleep after and hour and a half and is now sleeping peacefully and will hopefully do it for a long time. I need a nap after all that. Lets hope this is a one time event and doesn't happen tomorrow during nap times.

Let's Go Swimming

We have been taking a baby swim class through the university and Colin is quite the swimmer. Well... he really just loves to chew on the balls but he LOVES the pool. Now when we go he likes to stand at the glass fence surrounding the pool and excitedly slap his hand on the glass until its time for us to get in the pool. His mommy is hoping he becomes a good swimmer! He must drink a gallon of pool water each week (by choice-he lunges his mouth towards the water so he can drink it) and doesnt like getting his head wet. We have yet to put his face under water. He likes it when Brent goes under the water and blows bubbles. We learn sign language each week but Colin is more interested in getting in the water. Last time we learned the sign for wait but I don't think Colin will attempt to learn that one any time soon. He loves the froggy float toy and likes to lounge back and relax when we put him in it, at the same time tries to monopolize all the balls and collect them all as we pass them. His motto is if one tastes good the rest must be even better! He goes more for the green balls than any other and loves this big green beach ball - its a challenge for him because he can't get his arms around it and it always gets away from him. That doesn't stop him from trying. Its been great to get to know other parents and kids Colins age. And you never get too old to play in the pool! I think we get more excited about going than Colin.

Driving along in my automobile...

One day last fall I went running, passed a yard sale and came home with this amazing find - a jeep for Colin! It has been in our basement all winter and Colin recently discovered it when he was helping me do laundry a few weeks ago. He really just wanted to chew on the car but last week the weather finally got warm and we brought it up on our deck and Colin rode around in it. He wasn't too sure about it and just wanted to get out, crawl around and put berries in his mouth. He's a fast one and I caught him slipping them in his mouth just in time. The walker toy (we're not really sure what its called) that's in the background is Colins favorite thing. He crawls over to it, stands up and walks with it back and forth. He has learned to redirect it and go all over the place - and can even dodge people and toys! He is so proud of himself and every time wears a huge smile on his face. We're so proud of our little boy!

one last snowfall!

Yesterday we got 8 inches of snow - hopefully the last we will see this year. Colin didnt make this snowman but his parents sure had fun making it. Colin wasn't sure what to make of the snowman and after a few minutes outside he did a faceplant into the snow and wanted to go back inside.

Weekend at the farm

We spent a weekend at the farm a few weeks ago to celebrate my birthday. Its funny how with our students I feel old but with the other moms in our playgroup I feel so young - I wonder if you ever really feel your age... But we had a great weekend at the farm with lots of family. Colin loved the warm weather and being outside everyday. Unfortunately its been so cold here that he hasn't been able to play outside since. (there are 8 inches of snow on the ground right now - spring please come soon)

I wanna be just like Daddy!

Colin loves being where we are and doing whatever we are doing. Here he is "getting ready" with Daddy one morning. It might not look like it but he is getting more hair. Its really cute because a few strands will stick up... good thing Daddy fixed that in this picture!

Back in Action!

Yes, it has been almost a month now since our last post. Our computer had a hard drive crash, so we were relying on Best Buy and their SLOW service. Of course a ton has happend since our last post as Colin is now 10 months old. Pulling himself up has been the norm, but lately he's been moving around tables, and moving on walls. This one picture shows one of his favorite things to do. Get into the fridge and pull himself up. As he goes up, all the food goes down! He pulls everything and anything he gets his hands on. Not many casualties, but a galloon of milk did pop open! It was rescued after loosing half of its container.

Another thing he has enjoyed doing is giving high and low fives! He is a team player let me tell you. We love how much he smiles and laughs with us. He also has his little basketball hoop mastered. Of course I am super proud as a father. I joke with people that he is dunking already. Okay, so its only about two feet tall, but he's developing quickly. haha

our little handyman

This past weekend I got out the measuring tape to measure as I tried to rearrange our furniture once again to make things more childproof. Brent picked up the measuring tape and started showing it to Colin who thought it was a game - see how fast you can grab the end before it winds back up. Who needs toys when Daddy's tools are this much fun!

Colin the Rhino!

We have had tons of fun with Colin lately. His personality comes out more every day. One of our favorite things that he has started doing is his "Rhino" impersonation! As most of you know, his crawling speed is at "maximum velocity" so we chase him around the house all the time on our knees (makes it a little more fun as we would probablly catch him pretty quick otherwise!). Lately, as we chase after him, he turns around and starts crawling the opposite direction giggling the whole way. Well, as he's moving as fast as he can, he tends to lower his head occasionally trying to use it as a battling ram or something. I guess you have to see it for yourselves, but to us it is absolutely hilarious. We think he thinks that if he lowers his head, it will help him pick up speed or something! ha

He also now has "almost" 5 teeth! As you see in this picture, he definitely has four, but his fifth one is coming in on the bottom. I was amazed Abigail got this shot, but he's showing off the few pearly whites that he does have! What a stinkin cutie.

babbling boy

Colin has turned into quite the talker. He now says dada sometimes when he sees Brent. (of course mama is also his favorite word) He has perfected what we call his "pteradactyl scream." Whenever he gets really excited his does his little yell over and over while flapping his arms. Its very entertaining. Today he did it to everyone we passed while grocery shopping. He also says other unidentifiable words that we wish we could understand because they are repeated several times a day.

They say only parents can understand what their kids are saying, well we don't fall into that category yet! It's only a matter of time! ha

a winter wonderland

Old man winter has finally hit Morgantown. I think it is still snowing as I write this. We woke up Sunday to go to church and had a couple inches of snow on the ground and being from Virginia where everything shuts down with a dusting, we decided to stay home. Everyone else we knew drove to church. I guess we'll have to learn to drive in the snow. Later that afternoon we took Colin outside. The poor boy had at least 4 layers of clothes on and could barely move. (remember the kid in A Christmas Story whose arms just sayed up- that was Colin) He wasn't sure about all the snow and plopped right down in it at first but his favorite thing was to eat the snow. I'm sure its just a matter of time before he learns to love it!


Another great(scary)scene from A Christmas story is when that one boy gets his tongue stuck on the pole! OUCH!!!!! That will NEVER be Colin. HA

Go Back to Sleep!

So here is a short story but a sweet one. The other night I was heading to bed from putting Colin back to sleep (yes, a theme that doesn't seem to be going away). I slowly get back in bed when Abigail rolls over on her back. She says in a low voice, "Colin is spitting all over me!" I then sit up a little bit awaiting another great one-liner from a sleep deprived mom. "Wipe his mouth, WIPE HIS MOUTH!" I begin to laugh under my breath wondering how to respond. Now minutes after responding to her, I just lay there trying to think of what I "should" have said to her. Basically I said what any good natured husband would say. "Okay sweetie, now go back to bed." But what I "could" have said would have been something like, "oh my gosh there's spit EVERYWHERE! Babe, get out of bed, we're all soaking wet. What are we going to do!" haha

But alas, I was not thinking when I replied to her, and the funny story ends there when it could have been even better.

My new friends

I caught this picture the other day as Colin was discussing something very important to his new friends Bambi and Dumbo. (which Bambi is a very sad movie for children to watch. I think we may have to hold off on that movie until he's 18!) But I wish we knew what he was telling them. He now has long conversations with us which usually consists of grunts, squeals and mama and dadadadad mixed in between. His new thing is to go mummmm when he eats.... only when he likes the food. If he doesnt he will whine and complain really loud to show he doesn't like the food. Meal times can be very entertaining at our house now.

Colins other favorite!

We didnt forget Colin's other favorite aunt... Here he is with Aunt Angela and AJ... he's a little blury since he always gets really excited when he see's dogs. Colin keeps asking for Aunt Angela and Uncle Opie to come visit Morgantown, and to bring that dog of theirs!

Sista-s and Colin

This is just such a sweet little pic. I know, i'm becoming a sentimental in my old.. uh ummm young age, but isn't this a great pic of Colin surrounded by him mom and 2 favorite aunties!!!!!!!

growing up so fast!

Now that Colin has mastered crawling, he is working on standing and loves to pull up on things. Our favorite is when he crawls to you and pulls up on your leg! Of course usually its to be picked up and with a face as cute as his its hard not to.

Tonight he was standing and holding onto my shoulders when he let go as if to balance himself...only he promptly fell down. (good thing diapers add lots of padding) His friend Mackenzie was learning to balance herself and walk this week and we think he's trying to catch up to her. We're not sure we're ready for him to walk but its fun to see him try to figure it out. Crawling is old news to him now - he wants to move onto bigger and better things, which usually ends in falling down!

Colins first christmas

It's been a while since we've made a post. The holiday season does that to a family. Even though things get busy, we hope everyone was able to be thankful for the blessings that they have, and to remember the birth of Christ and how he entered into this world as a baby in a manger.


Here we are at Abigail's parents house celebrating Colin's first Christmas. As you can see in the later pictures, Colin was loving the fact that there was a tree full of presents JUST FOR HIM! It didn't matter who's name was on the box, he just figured he'd open them all.





It was very fun having a 7 month old for Christmas. Colin LOVED our tree as well as his grandparents tree, and kept crawling over to it trying to eat it. He learned to use the presents to catapult himself up to reach the ornaments he wasn't allowed to touch (aparently all the shiny ornaments are breakable). He also learned to open presents that his aunt Sarah wrapped (Sarah doesn't put tape on the boxes) And I didnt teach him to do it - contrary to popular belief within the family. He had a great time crawling up the stairs at his grandparents house and met his first dog, AJ. He was very interested in figuring out what a dog is, but when he snuck up on AJ while sleeping, he promtly got bit! It didn't stop him from chasing after the poor dog all week. They are going to be great friends though, that is, if the dog has any hair left after putting up with Colin grabbing at him all the time.

Here he is next to a Christmas tree that we have no problem pulling on, down, or throwing across the room. As a matter of fact, he even chews on it. No pine needles to worry about, so that is just fine! Don't worry Angela, it will remain in great condition for years to come!

Lots of love to give!

So along with crawling comes wrestling! Colin loves to crawl all over us (although we probablly enjoy it more) and then give us kisses. It can be mistaken as a "bite" but we like to think of it as a sign of affection. He enjoyes kissing his mom and also likes to grab anything in sight. Often it happens to be our nose or hair or face!

Colin also has begun to pull himself up. We often find him pulled up standing when we go into his room to see why he's awake! Abigail taught him to "climb up" her stomach all the way to her shoulders. Then he gets this big grin on his face as he makes it to the top. Yes, pride starts at a young age! We'll let him enjoy this one!


Another thing he enjoys is watching "Baby Einstein." It's amazing because it doesn't matter how much he's crying, or how happy and entertained he is, once we pop it in, he stops whatever he is doing and just sits there. We love the way he rests his little head on his shoulders and just sits there is awe.

Coming before we know it

In a short 16 years this will come all too soon....

Since Colin has been crawling lately, we figured he has earned the right to start "driving!" So we plopped him in the drivers seat and told him he could drive to the farm for Thanksgiving. He took us up on that offer and grabbed the wheel. We didn't get very far as he couldn't quite figure out that keys were needed to get the engine started. So his dad ending up taking over the rest of the way!

The rest of our holidays was extremely relaxing. Being out at a 300 acre farm for a few days and being able to hike in the woods is what Abigail and I really enjoy. We had relatives come and visit too which is always fun. Here is a pic of everyone getting "creative" with the natural landscape of a farm!

But the highlight of Thanksgiving was meal time. Not only because its the best meal of the year, but also because it brought some great laughs. For one, we introduced Colin to bananas. We just squished one and gave it to him. Oh man, the facial expressions were priceless. It was as if he was sucking on a lemon (which I will have to try one day soon when Abigail is not looking) Also, watching Colin try to steal food from Howard was so funny, as they would both exchange glances.


Finally, a few other benchmarks: His first tooth is almost in now. It has broken through, but is not very big yet. A final thing to mention is that he has started saying, "moma." I still think its because he naturally makes that noise when he strains, but Abigail would like to think otherwise. I'll just let her believe it as it brings her much joy!

all i want for christmas....

Over Thanksgiving break while we were at my grandparents house, we took Colin to see Santa Clause. He was at Southern States in Louisa, VA and had stationed himself among the aisles of farming equipment. Santa was really nice and great with the kids. He kept going down the line greeting all the kids every few minutes saying, "No one should have to wait for Santa!" And the best part was we were able to just go and use our own camera to take pictures. (we could've bought professional portraits but our camera worked just fine!) The funny thing was there were more dogs than children getting their picture taken with Santa.