Colin is growing up

As Colin grows, so does his personality. He loves to laugh. He thinks it so funny to get zerberts. It is slowly becoming apparent that his tummy is his ticklish spot. Colin is a smart boy too. He reconigises his bottle and get very upset if it is not given to him right away after he sees it. He is learning what it means when I say "arms up" and "ready" (time to change clothes). He shuts his eyes tight and balls up his fists. We started feeding Colin solid food in small amounts but he already has likes and dislikes. He loves the vegetables, espically squash and green beans, but dosen't seem to like fruit much. He defiently dislikes rice cearel and applesauce. Colin is a good sleeper. We have a bedtime of 9 PM for him (sometimes it's earlier) and he will sleep through the night. We hear him up and moving around 7 or 8 AM but he doesn't get fussy until 9 usually. We know Colin wakes up overnight but he never cries. Sometime we hear him turn his music box on which puts him right back to sleep. Colin is begining to show interest in other things too. He will watch Brian play his online computer game and the other night was fasinated but the fish. Colin also seems to like watching "Mickey's Clubhouse" and "Jake and the Neverland Pirates". I'm glad he likes these shows and not shows like "Barney the purple dinosaur".

Corn Maze Time!

Nearly every year since we were married, Brian and I have gone to the Staheli corn maze in October. This year we took Colin. Every year more games and attractions are added. This year they had a cute little rocking horse and a pirate ship maze. They also added a section to the corn maze for kids. To get through the maze you had to hunt for the posted storybook pages of "Spookly the Square Pumpkin." It was a cute story and fun to find all the pages. We had fun getting lost in the normal corn maze too. We showed Colin all the different farm animals but it was hard to tell if he understood. He did seem intriqued by the donkey and sheep. Maybe next year Colin will be more interested in all there is to do and see at the corn maze.

An old time Halloween

This was Colin first Halloween. We found a cute tiger outfit for him and got a little felt pumpkin sack for treats. Brian and I found our outfits later and said that Colin was our ferious pet tiger. We carve the Jack-o-Latern the night before and were please with how it turned out. We have been doing simple designs since we don't have a pumpkin carving kit. After taking Colin to our ward Trunk-or-Treat we went to Hurricane were Colin got to play dress up with his cousins. It was a late night but we had fun

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Smiles

Colin is growing bigger by the day. He is now in a size 2 diaper. He is laughing more and smiling for everyone. Everyone still says he is the cutest baby. Colin’s hair has gotten thinner in back but we are told that’s normal. We bought a baby bathtub for Colin and he loves it. Colin thinks its wonderful fun to splash and make bubbles. He cries when bath time is over and he has to come out and go to bed. We had a surprise visit from Aimee’s parents as they traveled back from a National Parks tour. Colin really enjoyed seeing them and they were so pleased to see him and how much he has grown. Colin’s pediatrician tells us he is a healthy boy and growing well just like he should. Colin is developing his small motor skills and can almost hold a bottle. He needs a little help adjusting his fingers around the bottle but he has the grasping part down. He has strong legs and good head control so we are debating on getting him an exercisaucer. We tried one that Brian’s parents had and Colin didn’t seem to mind it much but he wasn’t sure what he was suppose to do in it. We noticed the other night that Colin is responded more to his name. He loves going out in the stroller on walks. Colin still loves to be held, especially when he is tired. Brian and I are getting pretty good at deciphering the tired cry from the hungry cry now. There are a couple of big days coming for Colin. He gets his 4 months shots and the chance to celebrate Halloween. Colin’s going to bring in quite the candy haul with just his smile. Brian is working hard with the high schoolers. They are struggling with story problems this month. Story problems are never easy and adding algebra makes them even harder. He is having lots of fun with his Spanish class. They are going to celebrate Dia de los Muertos later this month. Brian even bought a pinata for them. Some days Brian does seem overwhelmed but he is handling being a new teacher really well. Terrisa gives him lots of help and advice. Aimee is working hard too. Work is giving her more and more responsiblities. Now she does more supervisor type work then ever before. It will be interesting to see what the next year brings. At home, Aimee spends most of the time taking care of Colin. With the weather cooling off, she looks forward to going on more walks with Colin and spending time in the garden. Aimee wants to get some quilting done and has a couple of ideas but the little one often has other ideas.

Professional pictures

While wandering around Peach Days we discovered a professional photographer. She offered to take some pictures of Colin and then of the family for a really good price. We figured we'd try it and see how the pictures turned out. Colin looked absolutely darling and drew quite the crowd. She even got a decent picture of all of us together. We picked out the best of the pictures. What I really like about this photographer is that she gave us a CD of the photos so that we can print as many copies as we want.

Three months old

Colin is getting so much bigger. We measured him and found out that he is now 23 inches in height. At this rate, Colin won't be in newborn clothes much longer. Colin is tracking us and knows what it means when he sees a bottle. He is getting better at sleeping longer through the night but still gets us up once or twice when he gets hungry. He is getting better at sitting up on his own now. Colin is starting to smile. I keep trying to get a picture but I'm not fast enough. We have started tummy time but Colin doesn't like so I don't leave him on his tummy for very long. He loves the outdoors and wants to see everything when we go outside. As for Brian and I things are going pretty well. We have been really busy lately though. Brian is slowly figuring out how to run a classroom. He gave the kids the first math test of the semester this past week. Some of them are doing great and are understanding the concepts but others are obviously having some problems. I have helped him grade papers a couple of times and it's interesting to see the trends. Brian also gave a Spanish quiz this past week. It was simple (one that I could do) and the kids did really well on it. Brian didn't have any one fail it. He wants to get a special computer program to help him teach Spanish. Right now he's using flashcards and photocopied book pages to teach so the program will help Brian a lot. As for me, I have been busy working and taking care of Colin. I get an extra day off work every month which I really enjoy. I am counting the days until the new year is here and I can look more at going part-time.

the weeks fly by

Its been a busy 2 weeks for us. Brian and Colin found out what days without Aimee around are like. Brian found out it's not so easy to nap when Colin is napping. Colin has had two doctors appointments. He is now almost 8 lbs. The doctor says he is doing really well. We do his 2 month immuization and will have him circumcized on Aug 8. That is not going to be a happy day for Colin. Colin got to see his first rainbow (it was a double bow) and felt a couple raindrops on his face. I didn't keep him out long. Colin is staying awake longer and eating more now. He still loves to be held. Brian and I made a special beanbag for him that helps him sleep. We get Colin to sleep the longest when Brian snuggles him really tight and we put him in his swing. We have been trying to stretch out Colin's feeding schedule to 4 hours the past two weeks. He has mananged to last 3 1/2 hours now without too much problem for the most part but 4 hours is still too long in Colin's opinion. We had a yard sale over the past week (while I was off) and made a little more room in the house with all we sold. I would have liked to get rid of more but I'm happy we get rid of what we did. Colin was out with us during the early morning before it started to get hot and was the hit of the yard sale. Brian is going through school books and working on getting paperwork done for his new job in August. He will be in charge of all the high school math classes and will be teaching some spainsh classes too. The school has no foreign lanuange and asked if Brian would teach Spainsh I along with the math he was hired for. Brian will need to take the Praxis and possibly a Arizona test to be certificed in Spanish but I don't think it will be too hard for him. He's had practice with the elementary and his Spanish is more fluent now. As for me, I look forward to the day I can work part time and be able to spend more time at home being a Mom.

just pictures

a picture a day

Things are completely upside down and backwards these days. Our nights have gotten shorter and days are definitely longer. Brian and I are slowly figuring out how to fit doing what we used to do in with the needs of Colin. Naps are a necessity these days. Having my parents around to help for a couple of days really spoiled us. Grandparents are wonderful. Colin is doing really well. We have taken him to his first doctor's appointment and learned that he is almost 7 lbs. We take a picture a day and watch Colin grow. He is getting used to baths and diaper changes but still doesn't like them much. He loves his swing and bouncer. I think mommy and daddy like them more though because we can put him in one after he eats without worrying about reflux. Colin has a special blanket now too. It so soft and just the right size to snuggle him in. We use it to put him to sleep fast. Colin's belly button is now visible. The scab fell off on Monday this week. I can't say it looks much like a belly button to me but it isn't a horrible scar. Logan and Colin will have to compare and see if their belly buttons look similar. We have taken Colin to church (sacrament meeting) once and then headed back home. He had so many people who wanted to meet him and thought he was the cutest little boy. We have also taken him to Hurricane a couple of time when we have been celebrating birthdays. It hard to not just take him everywhere and remember that we do need to limit his crowd exposure for a while longer. Brian and I are doing well. We are learning how to sleep, rest and eat in shifts. We take turns with diaper changes and feeding. I am a lot more conscious of how loud and what is on TV now days. I may need to switch back to books for my entertainment. Brian is getting lots of practice playing his computer games one handed. Neither one of us has figured out how to type one handed yet though. I am dreading going back to work next week. It's going to be hard to go and leave Brian to do things all on his own. I am working on getting things cleared out and cleaned up so that Colin actually has a room. I am pushing Brian to have a yard sale before August comes along. I don't know how much we will sell but it will be nice to get stuff we don't ever use out of our way. Brian will be starting a new job in August and he is excited but worried about it. He will be a math teacher at the school out in Colorado City Arizona. Brian's sister already works there and it is a small school so I think this is a great stepping stone for him. He is going to be a great teacher.