Labor Day Getaway

While Cas had a very productive Labor Day, working around the house, Collin and I got away from the home repairs and retreated to Grammy & Brownie's house. Grandpa Brownie introduced Collin to a lizard -

Collin wasn't sure what to make of it, but didn't appreciate it when Grandpa Brownie refused to let the lizard become a chew toy. We quickly gave the lizard its freedom.

My brother and I grew up with lots of critter catching. We'd be taking a bath and my dad would walk by and drop in a frog. We'd be eating dinner and a lizard would be dropped off to scurry across the table. It will be fun to watch Collin learn to catch frogs, lizard and skinks, but hopefully he won't be bringing them to the dinner table . . . at least not at our house.

Later that evening, GGB and Great Uncle Dick came for a fajita dinner. Great Uncle Dick taught Collin his second trick (his first one being to shake his head "no" - something only his dorky first time parents think is thrilling) - high five. It's still a work-in-progress, but here they are practicing -

We told Grandpa Brownie that Collin wakes up around 7am. At 6:45 in the morning, Grandpa Brownie was pacing. Of course it happened to be the Sunday that Collin would sleep a little late, finally making a peep at 7:25. As soon as he was done eating, he was whisked away for more grandparent time and I got to sleep late - yay!

Collin had a blast on the swings with Grammy Lesa. He was squealing and giggling the whole time - Grammy's work threw her a grandma shower when I was pregnant and she got a TON of great baby items - booster chairs, toys, diapers, books, and lots of "I love grandma" paraphernalia. One of the teacher's husbands felt sorry for my dad and bought this onesie, so we had to go outside with Grandpa Brownie for a photo op -

Collin's onesie reads, "Grandpa's my hero."

Practicing his walking skills - though he's yet to get forward crawling mastered.

Collin wondering, "Grandpa Brownie, why do you wear socks with sandals?" We don't know, Collin, we don't know.

We do know that Collin LOVED Grandpa Brownie's breakfast. No bacon for now, but he did try his first blueberry pancake. He ate half of one after his scrambled egg yolk breakfast.

What do you mean that doesn't match?

This is what Collin was wearing when I picked him up from school today:
When I mentioned the outfit to Cas - maroon & navy onesie, green & navy plaid shorts, light blue socks, his response was, "what do you mean that doesn't match." There was one common color running through his top, shorts & socks - navy - but still!

So while Cas is dressing our child like a "what not to wear" candidate, he is also making my day with some sweet treats. Yesterday I had a rough drop off at school with Collin - who was fine by the time I got to my car, but I was not fine - so he brought home a box of:

Sprinkles cupcakes - yum! I know the joke is the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but Cas has learned the way to my heart is with dark chocolate!

Black Bean Boogers

Collin wih a black bean mustache -

The efficient side of me wants to restrain my son when he eats. It would be a much quicker and MUCH cleaner process if he did not munch on his hands between bites, try and grab the spoon, and then smear his food all over everything. But I also don't want to be spoon-feeding him forever, so I am trying to enjoy seeing him develop independence. When he woke up this morning, I noticed some black bean leftovers still in his nose - guess I missed a spot in the clean-up effort.

Finger foods are clearly a work-in-progress, seeing as how half of the puffs ended up on the floor -

Bruno and Fergie would be happy if Collin is a messy eater forever.

Birthday Party Hoppin'

Collin loved going to my best friend's oldest son's birthday party at an indoor inflatables place. There was so much to see and so many children running around, that even though he couldn't join them on the slides and bounce houses, he was highly entertained.

The birthday boy with his grandad. And my godson, the younger brother, enjoying the inflatable slide -

Collin with baby sister, Esmae. Holding hands -

Chase, the world's cutest 2-year-old, was racking up the score in air hockey. Unfortunately no one explained to him that he was supposed to knock the puck in his opponent's goal. Anytime he'd maneuver it into his own goal, he'd clap for himself.

It was hard to eat lunch when there were balloons floating overhead -

But Grammy was able to get some pears and cereal in Collin.

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 -