Raking in the Pollen

Springtime in Texas means piles of pollen to rake. We put our 14-month-old to work. We've got a ways to go in the work ethic department . . . he didn't last very long. Leaving the pollen behind, he explored the driveway and front yard and experienced another toddler right of passage: his first skinned knee! I'm sure this is the first of many outdoor exploration war wounds. Cas claims I am an over-protective mother for taking sticks and sharp objects out of his hands as he toddles around, but I'm trying to prevent serious injuries to my unstable son. Skinned knees I can handle, impaled sticks, not so much.

Going on a rabbit / squirrel hunt

Collin enjoyed having his dad join him on Saturday afternoon at his favorite local park.

Spying out the window -

He had a good time in my arms or sharing the see-saw seat.

And climbing structures to be taller than his dad -

But he had the most fun tracking squirrels - Until they escaped up the tree - He tripped and it's blurry, but he got really close to this tame one - The biggest excitement - at least for me - was following a friendly rabbit, which Collin is pointing out in the background - I see a zoo post in the near future!

This chair is just right

Wednesday started off calmly, reading with GGM (Lita) after breakfast.

Then Collin discovered the rocking chair that had come from my grandparents' home. It was loved by all of the grandchildren starting with me. Collin's discovery of the chair that is just his size marks the start of a new generation enjoying the miniature rocker.

But being a typical boy, quietly rocking didn't last long. Hmm, what else could I do to have more fun. Climbing on the unstable chair would be much more exciting. Over to the couch, or leaping off the front.

Silkie in hand = smile on face

How quickly he went from walking to running to climbing. Another stage of baby-proofing will soon begin.

Austin birthday party

With our family in town for a wedding and Bob, Carla and Daniel dropping by for a visit in route to San Antonio, we ended up with a great crowd to celebrate Walter's birthday in Austin. Collin somehow had energy left after the playground to play ball with Grandpa Brownie and explore Cheryl and Walter's deck and backyard -

Cas, Grammy and I, tired from the toddler chasing, all enjoyed a relaxing and incredible dinner while the rest of the family took turns watching Collin. He let Leah chase him all throughout the backyard, taking a quick break at the table for me to shove some black beans in his mouth, which were not highly appreciated.

Happy birthday, dear Walter - Yum for chocolate sheet cake! In pajamas, saying good-bye to Uncle Larry before we headed out. We had another wonderful visit to Austin - a great town with really great family!

Basket, Basket we want two (clap, clap, clap)

Both of my boys were EXTREMELY proud of Collin's dunking ability. When in Austin, we played at the elementary school down the road from my aunt and uncle. Cas found an adjustable basketball goal, set it on its lowest setting, and handed Collin a ball.

Since he's been watching his dad throw the ball through the hoop for the last year of his life, he immediately made the basket. This is the only picture showing Cas' proud daddy grin, but Grammy thought Cas' smile was bigger than Collin's. He knows he made the right moves, slamming the ball through the hoop -

It took quite a bit of strength, determination and focus -

The playground was perfectly sized for toddlers . . . not so much for adults, though we tried.

Collin was non-stop for 2 hours, playing with toys and later exploring the playground.

A sweet but brief water break before he was back up to explore some more -

I would bet that Cas has been checking craigslist for a similar b-ball goal for our home.

Delays on the Drive to Austin

We went to my college roommate’s wedding in Austin two weekends ago. The wedding was at 6pm Friday and we intended to leave Houston at noon. We finally were on the road at 1:15 and almost 30 minutes into the trip, realized we had forgotten the pack ‘n play portable crib. We debated turning around or buying a new one, since we knew we were fairly tight on time, having to drop Collin off at my aunt & uncle’s and drop the dogs off at Cas’ aunt and uncle’s. We went the buying route, and were back on the road after Cas waited through a single-cashier-open line at Babies R Us that saved us maybe 15 minutes of time compared to back-tracking for ours at home. Oh well.

As we approach Austin, we see a long line of cars braking. And that was when Collin woke up because the lulling, constant driving motion had ceased. Not a fun combination for me – traffic when we’re time constrained and a wide awake baby with an hour drive remaining. After 20 minutes, we realized the freeway was shutdown, and so we had to drive away from Austin for 45 minutes before taking a different road into town.

At this point I'm debating several scenarios for making it to the 6pm wedding – take Collin to the wedding and my parents could leave early with him, drop the dogs & Collin off at my family’s home (where they had just planted a new garden that my dogs would be itching to destroy and where they have 2 dogs of their own). Finally I resigned – Cas had made this determination earlier but just kept quiet while I stressed – that we would be late.

The last hour and a half of the car ride, I’m sitting in the backseat next to Collin. But sitting would be a generous term, as even the middle seat space where I tried to fit my body was overtaken by the pack n’ play box and Cas’ suitcase, my bag, four bags for Collin, and our wedding clothes. The dogs in the trunk area meant the two tons of equipment that we needed for our 14 month old and us for the weekend was all in the backseat. So much for our perfectly laid plan that entailed Collin sleeping the entire car ride and Cas and I enjoying quiet conversation in the front seat!

As I reluctantly expected, we arrived when the ceremony was complete, but they were still taking pictures. We rudely attended only the reception. But we had a great time. We ate Salt Lick BBQ, danced to the Aggie War Hymn, caught up with friends, and got to celebrate with my college roommate and her groom, who Cas knew through a basketball league. When we hastily dropped Collin off at my aunt & uncle’s, I failed to mention that he was getting his bottom molars and had woken up in the middle of the night the past two nights. And so my Great Aunt Cheryl was fruitlessly searching through Collin’s diaper bag in the wee hours of the morning for baby Advil (which was there, but hidden). Luckily Collin went back to sleep after a few minutes and woke up delighted to play some more with his great aunt and uncle and my parents, who were staying at their place.

Stay tuned for photos of the trip (what a shocker) in the days to come!

Playing chase in a diaper

Wednesday, after taking some early St. Patrick's Day photos, we changed Collin out of his Irish duds to be saved for the next day. Before we could get him in another outfit, he took off, with Grandma Libia "chasing" after him. He found it delightful -

Caught - Do you see that big smile?!? Happy boy playing chase with Grandma - I made the mistake of chasing after him when he headed to the street, so now unfortunately I've taught him that's part of the chase game. We can't wait to teach him to chase the dogs so all the "kids" can burn up that energy together!