Pumpkin Patch

Brian, Colin and I headed to a nearby pumpkin patch last week. We weren't sure how Colin was going to take it, but of course, he had a great time. This pumpkin patch had it all, a petting zoo, pig races, a train, hayrack rides out to the pumpkin patches, several areas for photo ops, etc. Colin still just LOVES animals, so we didn't make it past the petting zoo. That was fine with us, we had spent enough time there, but Colin just had a blast feeding the pets.

It was a beautiful day, around 80 degrees, a little breeze. We had a wonderful time!

Colin feeding the goats. We had to make sure Colin had a "flat, open hand" like the signs said. His little pudgy hand had a hard time getting completely open, but he did well.

This guy just loved Colin.

Definitely, Cute as a pumpkin!

There was one particular Pygmy goat that Colin adored. It was really funny too, cause he was this big, odd looking white goat with a long beard and horns. I thought for sure he would love the cute little baby goats, but no, he thought this guy was the best.

Colin showing off the piggie! Oh, and of course, pointing with his MIDDLE finger on his right hand. This kid is funny. He points with his pointer finger on his left hand, then uses his middle on his right hand. We are working on that...not exactly the politically correct way to point!

Mr. Ed!!

And this little piggie went Wee, Wee, Wee, Wee all the way home!

This was when I had to get after Colin a bit. He was trying to feed the chickens little pebbles he found on the ground. He got confused about needing to feed the animals the special food we bought rather than random things he found on the ground!

We had a blast at the sound station. This is where there were pots and pans strung along a chain and they had various items around for the kids to make some noise! Colin just loved it!

And finally, Colin just loves to pick up rocks and stones. He could've spent just as much time here at this rock pile as he spent anywhere else. We had to pull him away, kicking and screaming!

A good family picture on our way out the door. What a fun afternoon!

Sunny afternoon

It seems like we are getting a taste of fall here in KC. It's really nice to be able to head outside to burn off some energy as the afternoon is winding down. Of course, Colin has very important things to do outside, such as picking up leaves from one side of the sidewalk and transfering them to the other side. Or, picking up tiny pebbles and placing them on his slide in the backyard. He is such a busy baby these days.

We had another round of sickness last week, consisting of a double ear infection (we don't really think he ever got rid of his first bout of ear infection earlier in September) and Croup. So, he got some really strong antibiotics and a steroid. This past weekend, we had our fun and happy Colin returned to us! Yeah for medicine!

Neighborhood watch! Colin likes to make sure there isn't anything out of place on our street.

Been getting this face a lot from him lately. Kindof squishes his nose up and squints his eyes.

Checking things out. Notice Colin is sitting in the grass. Apparently he doesn't like the feel of walking in grass (with or without shoes on), so whenever he gets placed on grass, he immediately sits down or crawls around. I don't get him at all!

Busy at work - lining up his pebbles on the slide.

Colin has also started removing the register covers from around our house. He is always into something! At least he hasn't started putting things down the vent (yet!)

Work conference in Canada

I was able to attend a work conference in Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario this past week. I had a wonderful time, learned a lot (the entire conference was on pediatric exercise physiology, which is exactly what I do on a daily basis), visited a few wineries, did some shopping & sight-seeing, and basically relaxed a bit. Of course, I missed my boys every second I was there, but I really did enjoy the conference.

The 2nd night I was gone, I couldn't get a hold of Brian at home. Starting to get worried, finally was able to talk to him at the Emergency Room with Colin. Colin had been throwing up quite freqently for more than a few hours, and Brian figured it was time to get him checked out. Colin's entire daycare had been affected by this virus, so Brian had an even more difficult time being a single-parent with a sick baby. Everyone was alive and well when I got home, so I consider it a success!

This was Colin helping me pack. Basically, he took everything out of my suitcase, one by one, until he was able to crawl in and take a seat. Guess he wanted to come too...

I wonder how much it would cost to check that suitcase?!

Took a trip to Ft. George, right next to our hotel. It was very interesting to hear all the history about the Niagara-on-the-lake area.

One of the wineries we visited. Loved the Ice Wine they made (but very expensive, yikes)!

Overlooking Niagara River, to the American fort, Ft. Niagara. There also was a sail boat race going on, which was fun to watch. Very peaceful!

I thought this plaque was interesting, a list of people that successfully made it across the 32 mile Lake Ontario. Wonder who keeps track of the un-successful swims?!

Finally, proof that my boss, Rich, and I were at the conference. Here is the poster I presented while there. We forgot to get a picture of us while we were presenting, so instead, took a quick picture right before we left the conference. Better late than never, right?!

Weekend of work

Brian and I used all of our resources this weekend and got our entire house (almost) all cleaned up and ready to be put on the market. Brian was outside with a bunch of people, attempting to do what I thought was pretty much impossible, paint our entire house in one day. Well, they did it!! And, finished just in time to watch the thunderstorms roll in. Luckily, it didn't do much of any damage to the paint on the house. Phew!

While the boys were outside, the ladies were inside working on the house, touching up painting, using Old English on the wood (very time consuming but makes the wood look brand new!), wiping down walls, cleaning things inside and out. Brian's mom took Colin for the day on Saturday, and part of the day on Sunday, so we could be productive. You really can't get much of anything done with a 14 month old running around!

We just have a few more loose ends to tie up, getting our carpet cleaned, then meeting with our realtor on Tuesday. I leave for a work conference on Wednesday up in Canada (Niagara-on-the-lake) and will be gone for the first days of our house being on the market. Brian gets the super dad award, for sure!!

My sister brought over a huge bucket (on wheels) for cleaning, and of course, Colin wanted to get in it. So, here's some fun pics.

He looks a bit scared in this pic, but really, he was laughing his head off, rolling all over our kitchen!

What a good idea, Aunt Tiffey!

Colin helping out mom wipe down the walls. So much dog slobber all over them, gross!! Good thing Jake is cute!!

Okay, really, this is what Colin did to help out...he tried to eat the wall wipe, yuck!

Learning all the time

Sometimes Colin just seems like such a little man to me, especially this particular night when I pulled out the camera. He can really entertain himself now, finding things to do and to play with without much coercion. I was doing the dishes one night while Brian was out working on the house, and Colin started playing with the fridge magnets.

Attacking the camera

He has gotten much better at his fine motor control. He usually doesn't have any problems getting the magnets where he wants them, particularly when he is tossing them over the railing into the room below.

Working hard

Playing in the tub. Everybody needs to have bubbles on their head, right?

Horsing around with Daddy. I believe this was a "tickle monster" attack!

Messy Mania

Brian and I belong to a group called "parents as teachers" where an elementary educator comes into our home and teaches us ways to help promote the best learning environment for Colin. We LOVE it, our educator is really nice and it's good to see if Colin is keeping up with all of the important milestones. The program took a bit hit in funding since the economy is so bad right now in schools, but they still try to hold group meetings where kids & parents can do fun activities together.
This past weekend parents as teachers held Messy Mania, which basically provided a place (where the family didn't have to clean up after) to do all sorts of messy activities, like painting, playing with different textures, etc.
Colin had such a great time!!! And it's always fun to see him interact with other kids...

Our first stop was finger painting, but when we realized they didn't have any papertowels set out yet at this station, we quickly left. However, we didn't leave soon enough, Colin already had gotten quite a bit on his shirt...oh well!

Then we went to a brush painting station, where you could "paint" with water. Colin just had fun flinging the water all over the place. This is definitely something we could do at home. Good idea!

Colin "Picasso" Teson, hard at work

Then we headed to the water fountains, Colin's favorite area by far! He loves splashing around and there were probably 12 different fountains, all of which he had to individually touch. Too funny!

This was a truck painting station, where you rolled the truck in paint and made different designs. Colin didn't quite the the patience for this one, so in turn, I got green paint all over my shirt, thanks kid!

There was also lots of climbing toys, Colin is so strong!

This was MY favorite station, the flour station. It was really funny to see how Colin reacted to this, because he just stuck his hands in the flour bin, and didn't move them. It was as if he stuck his hands in concrete. Eventually he moved them around, but not as much as some of the other kids there, they were covered in white from head to toe.

The last station we visited was the coffee grounds. Of course, Colin had a bite to eat, gross. But, he had a good time digging and scooping out the coffee. He is a very neat kid, didn't really seem like he wanted to get too messy.

Right before we left, a picture of Mommy's painted shirt and Colin's messiness.

On the car ride home, he was still laughing and having a good time.
He went IMMEDIATELY into the tub once we got home, I can't stand a messy kid!

Labor Day weekend & such

It seems like we have been so busy lately, but it's just normal "life" stuff that's been going on. We had a friend of the family's Dad pass away last week, so of course, had a couple of days where we were remembering and honoring him.
We also have been trying to do a few odds n ends around the house to fix it up, especially outside where there has been woodrot damage. Yuck.
Colin has also been battling a couple different viruses. School is back in session, so there are a lot of new germs being introduced at daycare. He's doing fine, except over the weekend we decided to take him into an urgent care center to get him checked out. Ended up getting diagnosed with an ear infection and got a prescription for an antibiotic. Hopefully this will get us our "normal" Colin back! He's been acting okay, you can just tell he doesn't feel well, with a lot of snotty noses and terrible cough. Poor kid.
My mom invited us to Topeka over the weekend, and so we made the trip on Friday (which happened to be our 4th anniversary). This meant Meemaw watched Colin on Friday night and Brian and I got to go out to dinner. We had a nice relaxing evening. Actually, the entire weekend was fun, it just flew by.

Daddy taught Colin how to use the light switches, so now we can't walk by one without him pointing and grunting and getting excited. Who knew they were so much fun?!

In Topeka with Meemaw. He got spoiled rotten there, getting to eat pudding with dinner...

Trying to find some fun things to play with. He just loves opening and closing drawers, usually pulling something out of them (like the antique pocket watches he found, uh oh)

Waiting for Ginger at Meemaw's back door. He still is in awe of dogs, walking up to them and giving them hugs. Ginger and Colin got along quite nicely, everyone behaved!

Having fun with Aunt Tiffey

LOVE this picture, because Colin didn't feel well and this was the sad face he gave us all weekend (Tiff was giving it right back to him!)

Playing with all sorts of fun things at Meemaws house (look at his belly!)

Caught in the act. Back home, Colin's new favorite thing is to run into the bathroom, close the door behind him, open the drawer and pull out a Qtip to chew on. He used to grab entire handfulls of them, but now he just gets one or two and carries them around the house with him in his mouth. Too funny!

Colin with his Qtip

Looks like a cigarette in this picture. If we take it out and toss it, he will just go back and get another one. Wonder where he learned that?! Kids are so funny!