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June 13, 2004
June 13 2004
Collin - 2 years, 11 months.
Ireland – 6 months.
What can I say other than my son is my best buddy. He is at the funniest stage and no matter how hard of a day I’ve had, he keeps me laughing.
His imagination is wild right now. He loves to make up and tell stories and loves to get a reaction out of us. Right now, the grosser the better. He’s in that stage where he makes up gross combinations of things just so that he can watch us snarl up our noses in disgust. A few of his favorites are:
**How about you have yourself a dirty diaper sandwich?
**How about you make yourself a dog toenail cake?
**How about you have yourself a fruit shake with blood?
**How about you eat a snake dog/cat hair hotdog?
**How about you make yourself a dirt, mud, worm sandwich?
Each time he suggests one of these combinations, I’ll purposely contort my face and shrivel up my mouth howling, ”Ewwww!” which always makes him bust out a belly laugh of huge proportions. Once he gets done laughing he’ll look at me with a huge grin and wide eyes and say, “Was that cussusting (disgusting) mommy?” If I tell him it was, he’s pleased with himself. I promise my child isn’t in need of therapy; he’s just going through a stage right now and loves getting a reaction!
He’s also quite interested in his bodily functions and how they work. He thinks passing gas (tooting) is funny now, which we are trying to steer him away from, but no matter what we say or do, he thinks it’s hilarious. He also finds it funny to watch the cat throw up hairballs. Ah, the joys of parenting a little boy!
He’s also into making up charming little stories. He likes to pretend he’s a character and he acts out parts. He gets so into it, he insists that I refer to him by the name of the character he’s portraying. Right now his favorite show to watch is a Nick Jr. cartoon called “Max and Ruby.” It seriously is almost boarder-line obsession. They are about two bunnies and he loves Ruby. Several times during the day he acts like Ruby and has me calling him Ruby. I’m always Max. He won’t let me be Ruby, because she’s the older one. He’ll run into the living room and say, “Maaaaax! You need to pick up your socks off the floor!” Then if I say, “Okay, Collin,” he’ll correct me and say, “Oh no! You mean Ruby.” Then I’ll need to rephrase myself and say, “Oh yes, thank you Ruby.” Then he’ll go happily bouncing down the hallway. It really is pretty funny.
A few months back we were eating Mexican take out from Carlos O’Kelly’s and Collin made up one of his stories. Mind you we DO NOT keep alcohol in the house and Collin has never once seen anyone drink a beer, so I’m not sure where half of the story came from but anyway….
“There was a guy driving his car. He was eating quesidillas, drinking beer, and making out a grocery list. He drove his car down and crashed into a beautiful birthday party.”
I said, “Oh my! I hope everyone was okay.” He smiled huge and said, “Yep, everyone was fine, mommy!”
As Collin’s 3rd birthday fast approaches, he seems to be turning into a little boy right before our eyes. Each day brings new discoveries, new talents, new questions and a new excitement. Collin is a very sweet child and is still a thinker. He isn’t very confrontational or demanding and is pretty easy to please. He’s very sensitive and if he thinks someone has even one bad bone in their body, he steers clear of them. He’s the first one to offer a hug or kiss if you’re not feeling well. He’s inquisitive, independent, animated and very smart, always trying to figure how to work trinkets and gadgets. He’s very, VERY literal!
He loves arts and crafts and books. He’ll spend loads of time messing with play-doh, his leap pad, and his magna doodle. He loves playing with bugs and dirt and has a blast getting messy in the yard and his sandbox. While he doesn’t like to jump through the sprinkler, he has an awesome time getting wet by holding the hose. He’s also very into his building blocks, his fake foods, playing restaurant, helping me cook, puzzles, bubbles, games, dinosaurs and ANYTHING SPIDER-MAN related!
He’s so good with Ireland. He likes helping out during the day and when Ireland starts fussing, he runs over to her and gently touches her as he whispers, “It’s okay, Sis! Mommy will be right in for you!” He enjoys playing with Ireland’s toys and insists that he need to “borrow” her toys first to see if they are okay for her to play with. He likes guessing what kind of baby food she’s eating and he thinks it’s a riot when she spits it out when she’s full. He loves crawling into her crib so he can lay with her and play. Seeing the two of them interact is so amazing. I thank God every day for both of my kiddos.
Collin is going through a picky eater’s stage. All the vegetables and foods he once adored, he now scoffs at. He used to love eating fresh green peppers and tomatoes and now he won’t even entertain the though of placing one in his mouth. He’ll eat them if they are on pizza but that’s about it. He used to really like mushrooms too but now try to get one near him and he goes screaming for the hills. His favorites still tend to be fresh fruit, mainly melons of any kind and citrus. He’ll eat an entire can of black olives without blinking an eye. He still loves strawberries, hummus and mozzarella string cheese. He also loves juice boxes now. He thinks it’s pretty neat how he can go to the refrigerator, grab his own drink and put the straw in himself. By the way, he’s now learned how to work the refrigerator lock! Oh No! Sidenote: A few months ago Collin wanted a snack. When I asked him what he wanted he said, “How about some Cheese Nipples!” After I picked my mouth up off the floor and stopped giggling I was able to realize he meant Cheese NIPS!
Collin is already starting to play Mark and I. Just today he came downstairs and told me that Daddy said it was okay to smash Rolley Polley bugs with your finger if they are already dead. When I went upstairs and asked Mark about this, he said that Collin never came to him and asked him anything regarding Rolley Polley bugs. As I looked over at the television, I saw our tape of Max & Ruby playing. I asked Mark why it was on as I said that Collin had had enough TV for the day. Mark raised his brow and said that Collin came upstairs and said, “Mommy said it was okay for me to watch my Max and Ruby tape.” Ahhh, the little sneak is learning early!
His musical tastes mirror ours. He loves current rock and jams out in the car when one of his favs comes on the radio. He can tell me the name and artist of a song even if he’s only heard the first three notes. Most times I don’t even know what song it is. He likes Evanescence, Linkin Park, Godsmack (still!!!), 3 Doors Down and Five for Fighting. The only two children’s song he likes are the ABC song (he can get through the entire alphabet with just a bit of trouble around the RSTU area) and Old McDonald Had a Farm. He walks around singing Old McD., adding all the animals and doing all the appropriate sounds. Once he’s gone through all the animals he starts adding silly things like apples, oranges, and lemons.
His favorite books right now are his Spider-man comics, his Muppet’s My First Dictionary and the Max and Ruby books we check out from the library. At night before bed he loves us reading him entries from the Muppet Dictionary. He’s told us how he wants to learn how to read so he can say the words in his books on his own.
When it comes to TV, I let him watch too much. Sue me; I’m a bad mom in this department. I never used to let him watch much, but to be honest, it gives me a few solid moments to take care of Ireland. I know that too much TV, regardless of what it is, isn’t good for a child. In my own defense I DO only let him watch age appropriate shows such as Sesame Street, Nick, JR, or Clifford the Big Red Dog. (One time Mark was watching the Simpson’s after work and Collin came slamming into the living room yelling, “Daddy! Go into the bedroom to watch your INAPPROPRIATE TV!) I know for a fact that he has learned several great things from watching certain shows, but I also know that he’s probably watching too much. Time goes so darn fast during the day! A feeding for Ireland here, breakfast there, straightening up the living room and kitchen and BAM! It’s already 11am and the TV has been on since 8am. Now that isn’t to say that Collin is plastered in front of it the entire time. Most times he’s messing with something else, playing with his toys, or running around the house “webbing” things with his imaginary Spider-man webbing wrists. During the afternoon, the TV is always off and we listen to music. There are times he puts up a small fuss about that, but once he hears one of his favorite tunes he starts having a great time dancing and singing…which by the way, he can actually sing pretty darned good and he even knows a lot of the lyrics.
Two other videos he’s always asking to watch are my birth video and a video of my mother on a cooking show. He loves them both and sits with great interest. I don’t let him watch the birth video because after about the 5th time, I got sick of watching it, but I do let him watch my mom’s video, “Cooking With Tanya,” whenever he wants. It makes me so happy to see him watching that. I’m grateful we have that video so now he can actually see how his Grandma Tanya looked and acted and what her mannerisms were.
As for discipline, Collin HATE, HATE, HATES having a time-out. We went through a week where he was having a time-out at least once a day, but now I can’t remember the last time he had one. He’s really a good mannered child and while he does test his limits, as he should, he isn’t into throwing fits or temper tantrums – never has been. I’m not saying he’s always a sweet angel – he’s had his moments of pure insanity, but generally he’s very laid back.
I’ve always vowed I would never HIT my children. Now I know this is a sensitive subject, but I do not believe in spanking (i.e. HITTING) a child. I do not think it’s right to teach a child not to hit by hitting them. I know there is a difference between spanking and abuse, but to me hitting is hitting. It’s a black and white issue for me. For us, a firm (firm…not screaming…something else I do not believe in) word with Collin gets the point across most of the time. If not, the next step is suggesting a time-out. Now that usually is the end all but if he goes the next step he does get the time-out, which as I said before he hates. I’ve never had to go with the time-out rule of one minute per age because honestly, two full minutes in time-out would be torture to Collin. When his time-out is over, I quickly, and in his terms, explain to him why he received a time-out. Then I follow up with a hug and an “I love you.” I always end it positive and never angry.
Honesty and children – can there be anything funnier? Collin announced to a guy at Menards that he was bald and wanted to know if he purposely shaved it off or if it fell out on it’s own. I swore I though I was going to have a heart attack!
We were discussing Christmas and Collin said the darndest thing. “Mommy, YOU have to get my presents for Christmas because Santa isn’t going to know where to find the right toys. YOU have the hook-up mommy!” This kid is going to be the one in Kindergarten telling YOUR child there is no such thing as Santa. I can almost hear the angry parents phone calls now. Yikes!
Collin is having two birthday parties this year. On Sunday, June 27th, we’re having a Spider-Man themed dinnertime grill-out, inviting family and friends. Collin asked that Mark's band play some acoustic tunes and he can't wait to "web" everyone with cans of silly string.
The second party is just a small little immediate family party on his actual day of birth, Tuesday, June 29th. Mark has some family coming in from out of town and we are all going to the zoo that morning. Later that evening we are having a dinosaur party and keeping it simple with pizza. Collin is excited about this because I told him I would make him a pin the horn on the triceratops game. He can't wait to be three!
Collin is 38.8 pounds and is 3 ˝ feet tall. He wears a size 10.5-11 shoe, and a 4T pant/short/shirt. He’s also very left handed, which is interesting because Mark and I are both right handed.
This kid is growing up right before my very eyes!!!!
I'm vowing to update more on a regular basis. I'm shooting for weekly, I hope I can keep up.
Ireland’s update is next…stay tuned!
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/n/nebraskacollin/
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