Birthday Party Boy - Leo's 7th B-day

On Thursday we celebrated my cousin Leo's 7th birthday party. The night started with some rock 'n roll courtsey of Collin and Cas. Then Leo showed them how to really play the drums.

Stella took Collin on his first trampoline experience. It was pretty tame, just some mild boucing. Hopefully one day Stella & Leo will teach Collin how to flip. I was trying to decide if I could still flip or if I'd injure myself trying.

Collin with Stella in his hair-pulling element -

And checking out cousin Cathy -

Collin was a party pooper as his bedtime neared, so we missed the family musical performance by Leo, Stella, Kirk & Melissa. We had a great time celebrating with the family and love being right around the corner from so many family members!

Collin has his grandmas well trained

Collin was lucky to spend time with Grandma Libia on Friday and Grammy Lesa on Saturday. Without any guidance from me, Collin had both of them in the right position for smiles and laughs. When he got his grandmas to put him on their laps, Collin would flail himself backwards. They soon learned if they tickled him when he was upside down, he'd laugh even harder.

Collin is one loved grandson!

Rockin' and Reading

Collin has been showing off his pre-crawling skill of rocking on his hands and knees. He doesn't go anywhere, but he's revving up to take off soon.
And for now, if the toys are out of reach, he'll find anything at hand to munch on - my yoga map now has teeth marks on it.

I was delighted when he first showed interest in a book, though he's just as happy eating them as reading them.

Surrounded by some of his favorites - And modeling how his parents read to him, Grandma Libia snapped a photo of him reading to a baby doll -

Roaring - or laughing - with Grammy

Grammy Lesa & I went to go visit GGB at the Charity Guild of Catholic Women shop and came home with lots of goodies. In a few more months, Collin will be zipping around on this lion scooter, but Grammy Lesa was powering the vehicle until then-
Uh-oh - it's an attack of the tickling fingers. It's fun to watch the anticipation and then the giggles. Collin is extremely ticklish under his arms, just like his mom.And like his mom, he knows where the camera is at all times - We have photos of my mom & I running the half marathon, and when I spotted the photographer, I turned it on, smiling in a carefree, these-13-miles-are-a-piece-of-cake, sort of way. Then the photographer snapped my mom with me in the background & gave away my true expression of exhaustion and how-much-longer-until-the-finish-line. It was not pretty but we had to order it just for the comparison.

Our first children

Bruno had an upset stomach that lasted 3-4 days a few weeks back, and I mentioned to Cas that before Collin, I would have been much more concerned about Bruno. I likely would have been researching dog ailments online and possibly scheduling a vet appointment. But now our poor first children have been knocked down a rung in the attention and worry ladder. They do, however, have each other to play with - looking fericious as they box and playfully fight - Sunday morning Collin woke up early. I was able to settle him back down and grab an extra 30 minutes of sleep, but when I returned to bed, the dogs had made themselves at home on my half. Bruno with his head on my pillow -

And Fergie stretched out at the foot of the bed-

All toys are chew toys

Collin spent time with Great Grandma Betty (GGB) on Wednesday evening and Great Grandma Jewell (GGJ) on Thursday. He showed off for both of his great grandmas, sitting without help, babbling, and showing them the spots on his touch-and-feel books with interesting tactile materials.

We introduced Collin to blocks over the weekend. At first, he was intrigued as we pushed the car to him.

But then the novelty wore off and towards his mouth the block vehicle went - This toy is better - hands-free in the mouth -

So far we've had to stop him from eating grass, computer cords, my hair that he pulls out, and our mail everyday when I retrieve it. I can't even imagine all the items he'll try to eat once he starts crawling!

Partying with the cousins

Though it wasn't the first kids birthday party Collin attended, it was the first one where he was awake for the celebration. Collin had a great time at his cousin Matthew's 2nd birthday party and got to spend time in the arms of all of his relatives.

Matthew, the birthday boy, after the birthday cake. . and after the sugar affects wore off

Cas with Jonathan and Collin with cousins Jonathan, Izabelle & Olivia -



Collin with Great Uncle Juan & Great Aunt Rosalyn -

John Carlos being tackled by Gabriel & Jacob-


Collin with Great Grandma Maria -
Most of the party gang - Collin post-party, curled up with the stuffed giraffe from cousin Jeff & Briana -

Collin fell asleep in the car with a death grib on the giraffe, so we let him snuggle with it in the crib at home. When you wind it up, it plays Brahm's lullaby, which was my ritual bedtime song when I was young.