Colin loves elevators. At the Y, in parking garages, etc. Taking the elevator is more fun than actually getting where we are going. As soon as we get to the Y, before he sees it he says “el-e-va-tor” and then “twoooo” – I guess he assumes you always need to go to the second floor.
As a side note, it is about 8:30 right now and Colin has had a hard time falling asleep for some reason tonight. He is currently screaming bloody murder in the monitor and occasionally saying “Daaaa-daaa….Da Daaaaaaa” – it is hard to sit here and listen to it, but he is on the verge of falling asleep so we just have to let him cry it out…never fun though.
Today we dropped Chuck off at the Honda dealership to get his car check-up. We were sitting there for a minute and Colin kept saying “driv -to, driv-to” I had no idea what he was talking about and then I turned around and there was a sign that said “Drive Thru”… I am not claiming that he can read…but it was pretty weird. I am sure it was a coincidence but you have to wonder….well being his mom I have to wonder anyway.
As you can see from Colin’s dirty shirt he has discovered the joy of ice cream. Fortunately (or unfortunately for us) we live 2 blocks from a Dairy Queen. Colin had a few licks of our cones, but about a week ago he got is own cone. Now he has figured out that occasionally the nightly dog walk might just end in ice cream, so after dinner he says “valk” (pretend he is German) and once we get going it is “i ceam, i ceam – own cone, own cone” – he likes to eat the cone first so you can imagine what a mess he turns into.
He has also discovered that the sink is a great adventure in hand washing and general messing around. It started when I pushed a chair over for him to wash his hands and it was all over from there. Once I took him down (sopping wet of course) he ran right over to get a chair, pushed it back to the sink and proceeded to climb back up demanding that the water be turned on…I created a monster.
His talking is coming along well. Just yesterday he goes “Mama? – Whole Foods – eat – cheese” I could not believe the clarity in the word “Whole Foods” – but he does love the place. He also knows “Lowes” – I think he can even read the word. He used to know the little house symbol and word, but then he saw it completely out of context with no house symbol and he said “Lowes”. Likewise when we drive by the Zingermann’s trailer he says “ca-fee”. So what does that tell you about our lives right now…working on the house, grocery shopping and drinking coffee…oh that plus the “Y – pool”
One other note about the BBQ blog from Chuck…the day after we bbq’d Colin asked me for “outside sausage” i.e. hotdog.
Now there’s a title. Colin grabbed Jess’ swimsuit off the back of a chair the other day, threw it over his head, grabbed this bat (which, paired with Sevi, constitutes our home security system), and started running around banging the bat on the floor. I think he was yelling “ba, ba, ba”.
We grilled out for the first time this year, it was 70 degrees in Michigan on Tuesday, and it couldn’t have happened sooner. It was a bit of a struggle, to say the least…Jess was at a class, so I was trying to light the grill, watch Colin, cook the food, keep Colin away, feed Colin, get the food. It was a juggling act, luckily he hadn’t played with either of his lawn mowers outside yet, so he was very in to pushing those around. True to form, he preferred the one without any bells and whistles – now I just have to get the dog poop out of the yard so that he doesn’t hit any landmines. That’s going to be a must, because he’s obsessed with being outside (or “outsigh”), which is fine with me.
Colin managed to polish off one and a half hot dogs – he thinks they’re sausages, which I suppose they are. Anyway, here’s one more shot of bat/swimsuit:
Look, I understand it, we’re all biased about our own kids, but c’mon now. This blows the doors off adorable. The eyes, the look on his face, the puppy he’s now dragging everywhere. C’mon.
It’s a good thing he is that adorable, because he has also been a terror of late. Recently I’ve gotten home to the familiar refrain of “I’m exhausted, I’ve got nothing left” from Jess – which is perfectly understandable Jess! – who has been chasing him all over the place all day. With every passing moment he gets a little bit taller, a little bit cleverer, and a little bit more adventurous. Which means he’s into everything, moving it all around, opening doors…and gradually building up to the terrible twos.
Colin has really been a handful (but still fun) recently. We had a paint can in the kitchen and he moved it over the high table we have and proceeded to climb it to get on top of the counter.
Oops – just had to take a break because Colin just learned how to open the basement door. That was a first.
It is finally nice out and we spent much of the day today and yesterday watching the ants outside. Colin would see one and say what sounded like “bay-bay” – with a southern twang. I later figured out that he was saying “butterfly” – so I told them they were called ants and he now says “an” when he sees one. Then he gets really close – watches them and when they disappear he looks at me and does the “again” sign – as if I am somehow in control of the ants.
There is essentially no point in me ever picking up while he is up during the day. He takes things out faster that I can put them away. He is running around while I am trying to do the dishes and later I find his shoe and a pie plate in the dog food contanier, cranberries in a pot, cornmeal on the living room bookshelf and the cutting board on a dining room chair.
Sometimes the things he says seem to make no sense…for example, he is standing beside me pointing at the closed drawer in the desk saying “grape, grape, grape” – I think OK, not sure what you are talking about the grapes are in the frig…low and behold I open the drawer and there is a puzzle piece with a bunch of grapes on it. I have learned to trust that he knows what he is talking about.
One really sweet thing from the other day…it was first thing in the morning and I got him up and brought him into our bed. He was sitting there and I was getting dressed and he goes “Mama?” and I said “yes” and he said “Happy.” – implying he was happy – it was adorable.
Wow, check out the Damien-face on Colin:
Can’t remember precisely what prompted this, but I’m betting it was a call for the ‘cute face’ I mentioned earlier. This was just a much more impish version of it. Who are we kidding though, he still looks adorable, even when he’s looking kinda evil.
Colin has a new favorite word, probably because he’s had the chance to hang out with other kids more often lately : NO. I think all kids start off saying no the same way — it’s hard to put into words, it’s just the intonation, the way they draw it out, and the way they use it ALL THE TIME. At this point it’s still somewhat funny, but I can only imagine that won’t last. We’ll see.