Climber time

I really wanted to get Colin a big climber/slide playset for the backyard. He is starting to explore new things and I thought this would be a lot of fun for him. After talking with multiple moms around my work, I decided to look for a Little Tike climber. I found this one on Craigslist (which is a way for people to sell/buy used items online) and picked it up last week. After Brian power-washed it and got it all cleaned up, we let Colin see his better-late-than-never birthday gifts. Colin wasn't sure what to think of it, but did seem to like it. Too bad it's been so hot outside, we really don't have much opportunity to get outside to play on it without overheating. Here are some pics of Colin and the climber...

We're not quite sure where this face is coming from. He's been doing it a lot lately - not quite a smile, not quite a smirk...hmmmmm

Poor guy was so sweaty he couldn't really slide down the slide feet first, so I just had him slide down bottom first. What a happy little guy!!

Colin LOVES Jake!

Colin has become more and more in love with Jake lately. He will literally follow him around a room, around the house, in the backyard, etc. Jake has gotten much more lenient with him and lets him crawl all over him, generally. Every once in a while we will hear a growl or bark from Jake when Colin gets too rough. We just let the two of them work it out, and they get over it within a few seconds.
The heat let up a few nights ago and we were able to play outdoors for a while (in the shade, of course). Jake was just chewing on a rock he found in the yard, and Colin took the opportunity to spend some quality time with Jake! :)
We thought these pictures were cute, so enjoy!

Colin also likes to take big handfuls of grass from our yard and pull it out of the ground. Sometimes it goes in his mouth, but usually he just likes to watch it fall back down in the grass. Maybe he is just trying to help with some lawn mowing, one handful at a time?

A few nights ago Jake let Colin hop on his back (with Daddy's help) and ride around the living room. Ever since then, Colin tries to get a free ride whenever he can.

This is an attempt to hop on for a ride in the backyard!

bath time

Here's a few pics from Colin's bath time recently. He just loves playing in the water and we always have a great time in the tub. Future swimmer on our hands?!

Colin's 1st birthday party

Colin had his 1st birthday party on Sunday. We kept it small, only immediate family came by the house. First off, we have a house that seems to become very full with only a few people there. And, Colin seems to be a bit intimidated by big crowds, even if the crowd of people are his loved ones. So, we did a sports ball theme, and had cookies decorated like basketballs, baseballs, cue balls, golf balls, and soccer balls. My mom came down on Thursday night and we spent many days trying to pull off the appropriate decoration for each ball. I think we both had fun, just were tired of smelling the sweet icing by the end of the party!
Colin did great at the party. He was, of course, overwhelmed by the big group of people, but by the end, didn't seem to mind them much.
We got a cute family photo during the gift opening time. Colin got this cute chair from his Grammie & Granddad.

This is where I found Colin when people were first arriving. He was just sitting by himself over by the fireplace, probably trying to figure out what the fuss was all about. Luckily, Uncle Chris came over and played with him one-on-one.

Colin got a cool 3-in-1 sports toy that he just loves. Oh, and his uncles and dad like playing with it too. Apparently they decided they should "break it in" for him first. Sheesh, Colin couldn't even play with his toys on his birthday. What's the world coming to?

Colin also got some really cool Nerf sports balls from his Aunt Tiff & Uncle Chad. But, those might have to get put somewhere he can't reach them for a while, because his sharp little teeth sink right into those soft balls and I don't want him to ruin them! I can't wait until he stops putting everything in his mouth.

Colin's cousin Olivia was at the party and had a great time playing with the new toys. Here's the two of them with an awesome puzzle that Meemaw got him. The puzzle was a bit difficult for Colin to do (he only had one free hand) since he wouldn't let go of the yellow shovel that Meemaw also got him. Good thing Olivia was there, she just had her first birthday a couple of months ago, and helped Colin play with his new toys.

Colin did what every parent fears will happen on their child's first birthday...he reached right out with is quick-flinging arms and grabbed the flame on the lit candle. Luckily, he put it out with one swift pinch, but that scared him a bit, and all of the party go-ers didn't quite know what to do. We all stopped singing and just stood there, trying to figure out what just happened. He was fine, no burning or anything, and it's actually kindof funny looking back on it now. But, here's Mommy and Daddy and Colin blowing out the candle (for the second time!)

Colin wasn't quite sure what to do with the cake. He poked at it for a while, tasted the frosting, seemed a little intrigued by it, then was done. He really didn't get into it all that much. But, he had fun poking at it and licking his fingers. I'm sure it's because he knew how hard his Mommy worked on decorating the cake and he didn't want to mess it up, right? Thanks, kid!

The before...

And after...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLIN!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Bday lunch at Fritz's

Colin and Daddy came to visit me at work on Monday, Colin's actual birthday. We decided we should first, show off our cute little boy to all of my co-workers, then go to Crown Center for our first ever outing to Fritz's. It's a fun restaurant where a train travels around the top of the restaurant walls and delivers your food directly to your table, plops it down on a tray that raises/lowers, and is just kid-friendly fun! I wasn't sure how much Colin was going to notice all of the train movements, but he was watching them very intently and seemed to be enjoying himself. We got there when the rest of KC was also there, so we had to wait in line for quite a while to be seated, then had to wait, what seemed like forever, for our food. Luckily I had packed some grapes with me to tide Colin over as an appetizer. He did great, we just got a little behind on our afternoon nap schedule is all! Oh well, you only turn 1 once, right?!

This is at my work, Children's Mercy Hospital in the Exercise lab. We've got the best view around! Literally windows surround every wall in the lab, overlooking downtown KC.

Waiting, patiently, in line for Fritz's

What a cutie! The hat didn't last long, but we got some pics with it, at least!

Chowing down on some grapes, probably his favorite fruit right now.

Got me another straw! These things are the best!!

Playing bongo drums on the table. He's so much fun right now!

Phew! Finally got some food. What a fun birthday lunch!

Whale of a time

For Colin's birthday, Brian and I thought it would be fun to have a fun water toy for him to use. Brian's idea was a "slip n slide", but since the age requirement suggested 5 & up, that was vetoed. We did find this cute whale pool with a slide and Colin just loved it. Of course, he had just as much fun playing in our sprinkler, but oh well. It has been so hot out, we haven't really let Colin play outside for too long. It was nice to have a cool pool to be in and splash around. He just LOVES the water (maybe it is in his genes?!)

Oh, and if you want to pay particular attention to our nicely stained deck in the background...that took FOREVER to do! We were out there at night after work for about 3 weeks, trying to get the darn thing done by Colin's birthday party. It got finished, but since it was over 95 degrees on Sunday, we stayed inside the whole party. Go figure!

Colin has started taking his first steps. I am a little late in posting this, but this past week he has gotten very good at walking. He still does quite a bit of crawling, but is getting more brave and adventurous when wandering around the house. He is so fun to watch right now!

I will post some birthday party pictures once I get some sent from my sister. We were so busy running around with Colin that we didn't get any pictures taken with our camera. Good thing there were other people willing to share the pictures with us. We had a great time and Colin just loved all the balloons and sports balls we had scattered around the house.

Random Sunday fun

We just LOVE Sundays at our house, because that means both Brian and I are home together with Colin. Lately it seems like we have been filling our weekends with house projects, but since it decided to rain and thunderstorm pretty much the entire day on Sunday, we just took it easy! It was nice!

I think Colin is trying to get sick (of course, just in time for his first birthday party this weekend) or it could be some teething issues since he is a drooling monster right now. He is into just about everything he can get his hands on, including the camera, so I just love this first picture of Colin trying to grab the camera from me. He is laughing so hard, but looks a bit mischievous, huh?!

Note the drool streaming from his mouth - his shirts are always soaked!!

Picture of Mommy & Colin - after running around the kitchen, chasing Daddy. So much fun!

Hair cut & more

Colin got his first hair cut, one week before his first birthday. It was getting very long and thick in the back (kindof looking like a mullet!) and completely covering his ears. He sat there nice and calm for a while, then started getting a bit restless. The combs were a good distraction. Hopefully now that we have some sort of a guide, we can do our own haircuts from now on.







After Colin got his hair cut we went out to lunch at Jason's Deli. This was the first time I had ever gone there, and it was nice. We had a great salad from the salad bar and one of their lunch specials to share. Colin, of course, just picked off our plate. That is so nice to not have to pack food for when we go out to eat now that he can eat pretty much anything.
One of Colin's favorite items right now is plastic straws, and he will carry them around with him all over the house for days. The last straw was in desperate need of replacement, it's a good thing we went out to eat and grabbed a fresh one!


Colin and his straw, modeling the new hair-do




Colin's other favorite item is our dog, Jake. Poor Jake. He gets his hair pulled, face hit, tail grabbed, etc. Every once in a while we will hear a bark from him, but usually he just sits there and takes the abuse. We think Jake puts up with Colin so much because Colin ends up feeding Jake a lot of the food from his lunch and dinner. We just can't keep Colin's hands from hanging off the side of his high chair, dangling chicken, fruit, etc from his hands. It's a nice treat for Jake!