Colin Speaks!

He said a 3-word sentence this morning! I don't remember what it was, but it was something like "Mama up please." For those who haven't heard him in a few weeks, his vocabulary is growing every day. He now says cereal, gramma (Grandma), Pappy, and many other two-syllable words.

As for Kevin, we all know language is his strength. He learned the word nocturnal this week, and loves his dinosaur names. I think he knows more than I do.

Swim Lessons

Kevin has had swim lessons each week for the last few months. It has been interesting, to say the least. While the other kids are putting their faces under and laughing, my son took 7 weeks to put his chin in the water. He has to practice getting his face near the water since he cheats at lessons, too. The last activity of class is where the sink rings are at the bottom, and he is supposed to reach down and then pick them up. But he doesn't want his face that close to the3 water. Kevin uses his foot to drag them to the shallow water and then gets them. As a result, we had to bring a straw to bath time so he could blow bubbles in the water. We then shorten the straw just to get his face close to the water. He is very proud of that!

He doesn't have wet hair when he gets out of the pool, either. You should see how stiff he is when the teacher tried to have him lay on his back while resting on her. You would think the water was acid or something.

While he is in lessons, we play with Colin in the water. Colin likes splashing much more, and occasionally dunks his face under since he is playing and splashing so much. We tried to get some decent pictures to show you all. Here are the results:

Kevin during his lessons:

Hiding from splashes

A rare picture of his great smile!

Some pictures of Colin playing:

Giggling at the waterfall

And of course, a train was made!

Measuring and Hammering

Today Colin decided to fix things around the house. (I think it had something to do with Daddy being out in the garage fixing things as well.) He went around the house measuring and then hammering. He also required a stool for each project. (Daddy was also using a stool in the garage.)

Here are the pictures:

Measuring an fixing one side of the stairs.

Then the train table.

Then the other side of the stairs.

Measuring face.

Fixing face.

A Visit To See Aunt Kelly

Over Spring Break, Kevin and I went to see Kelly in Colorado. We made the trip sans kids, which made the trip much easier even though I almost cried three times before we even got on the plane. (The first time was about 6 seconds after we said good-bye to them. There wasn't a reaon to cry other than being a mom. I am sure they had an amazing time playing with Pappy and Grandma for the weekend.)

We hung out with both Kelly and Walter Saturday, walking around Pearl Street for most of the day. The highlight of the day was purchasing the cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning, but don't let that fool you into thinking our day was that boring. It is just the grocery shopping was that great.

On Sunday Kelly, Kevin and I went to Vail to snowboard/ski/read (respectively). I heard that they had a great time on the slopes. All I know is that it was warm and comfortable next the huge fire, where I finished my book.

We hope we didn't disappoint Kelly with our activities on Monday. We had several hours to kill, and instead of visiting the Dinosaur Ridge (We will do that when we bring the boys out.) we chose to watch tv instead. It was perfectly relaxing and quiet, and it was cable tv!

We had a great time. It was wonderful to see Kelly and Colorado again. Next time - the boys are coming!

On Pearl Street

The view from Kelly's

Where I was most of Sunday. (I will ski next time!)

Where Kelly and Kevin were for most of Sunday.

Colin Flirts

Anyone who has met Colin knows that he is a big flirt. Here is the best I have seen so far:

Downtown Grandma and I took Colin out to dinner to see Aunt Cathy. A blonde was working named Lizzie. Every time she would walk by he would stare at her, and a few times it looked like he was even checking her out. Finally, she came over to meet him. She had noticed him checking her out. He immediately starts tilting his head and smiling like crazy. He said "hi" and then "zoo." I think he asked her out to the zoo. Then he said "mom" which means he hasn't yet figured out not to take his mom on dates.

All was well until Lizzie walked away when he was looking behind him. As soon as he turned around and saw she was gone, he started yelling (very pathetically) "Zee! Zee!" I had to take him back over to her so he could say good-bye.

That kid moves fast.

Kevin's First Ransom Note

Martha

Skits

K2 and I went to Colorado to see Aunt Kelly last weekend. (Post coming soon.) The morning we left we were loading our bags into the car. Kevin saw the bags and starting talking about stealing Martha.

(Back story - Martha Speaks used to be his favorite show. Martha is a talking dog. Skits is the other dog in the household, which does not talk. On one episode there are some bad guys who want to steal Martha to make money off of her. They try to put Martha in a black bag, which happened to be the color of our luggage.)

So Kevin saw the bags and helped us carry them outside, all while saying "We are bad guys. We are taking Martha and Skits." He talked about taking Martha and Skits for about 30 minutes, which was adorable. We had a bit of time to waste before we had to leave, so I asked Kevin if he wanted to write with his new dinosaur pen. He agreed, and immediately started telling me what to write. This is what he said:


I soon realized he was leaving a ransom note. He was very proud and wanted to tape it on the window. Here he is.

Colin's Stylish Glasses

He loves wearing glasses. Obviously.

Colin Hiding Again

Another example of Colin hiding:

I am trying to find him after dinner. I hear giggling from behind the bathroom door...

I like how he is smiling because he thinks I still don't see him.

Funny Things Said

(The photo is from last July, but it fits the story.)

We are trying to encourage Colin to use his words as often as we can. I think he is learning. Tonight I heard a thud, and ran into the kitchen to see Kevin looking suspicious and Colin on the floor crying. Kevin told me "He was in my space. I needed more room." He was adamant that he did not push Colin though. After a moment of consoling, Colin stood up and firmly said "Stop. Stop. Stop." with his hand out towards Kevin. Way to stand up for yourself Colin. His toughness fell away when his next word came out. "Hug!" He made Kevin hug him.

Kevin and I were playing with a bunch of cards that have animals on them. First we sorted out the ones that fly, then the ones that live on the farm, and then the ones that live in the water. He did great spotting the otter, dolphins, fish, turtles and ducks. Then he added bear. I questioned him on the bear, to which he replied "They have to go in the water to get the fish."

It is always interesting!

Kevin Laughing

Kevin is at the age now where he is laughing at shows and books. I don't need to prompt him at all anymore. He gets the jokes on his own. And the adorable thing is that he laughs really hard at them.

I heard this twice today alone. The first was when he was watching a new Curious George episode. I was cooking and heard him start laughing loudly. He told me that the monkey dumped stuff on his head, and continued laughing.

The second occurrence was during bedtime. We were reading Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog by Mo Willems. He laughed so hard when the pigeon was mocking the duckling that I probably read that page ten more times, each time he laughed hysterically.

You know what this means? Now that he can figure out how funny things are, he will realize how unfunny I truly am.

Pappy and Grandma Classics

I just got some pictures from Pappy and Grandma from the last few months. Here are some classic moments.

Thrilling times at the Post Office.

Napping with baby Owen.

Helping make grilled cheese for lunch.

Their favorite thing to do - clean.

Smiling at snack time.

Kevin making one of his many trains.

Wild times at snack time.

Playing on the spiderweb at the park.

Watching the new plane spin around.

Playing with a favorite toy - a train!

More City Museum Pictures

Here are more pictures from our trip. These are from Pappy Grandma's camera.

Colin wanted to try the train a second time. He had watched his brother ride it countless times, and climbed in all by himself.

Parenting FAIL #2.

Trying my best to follow Kevin through tunnels.


Funny faces at lunch time.


Kevin's new goofy face is grumpy.


Climbing up to the tunnels.


Watching the turtles.


ALMOST making it down to the underground tunnel.