Family Fuller

Every time Colin does something that is what I hear…”Mom. Mom. Watch, Mom, watch.” Then he does some weird move or jumps off something or runs somewhere. It is non-stop when we are outside and yesterday Holden picked up on it. Except Holden doesn’t talk so it is more like “Unnnh - Unnnh” really loud until I look at him and say “OK, Holden I am watching” then he throws the ball or drives the dump truck. This afternoon, I spent about 30 minutes alternately reassuring each of them that I was indeed watching each of them - Colin jumping into the sandbox and Holden pushing a dump truck across the patio.

About 2 years ago my mom got Colin these alphabet books that had dry erase pens to use to write letters and words. When Colin was about 2, or younger, he could easily follow the lines and write the words in the books. Well, he has had no interest in writing at all since then, but I know he can do it. So over the past 3 days I have made him practice in a workbook for about 10 minutes before he could watch TV. By the time we were done the first day he could write his name and yesterday he wrote “Holden” and “Spud” (Bob the Builder character). He also drew a person and a sun, with the word “SUN” by it. I am saving those drawings - they are great. I wish I could scan them in to post them up here.

Holden has been extremely clingy and jealous. He cries at my feet the whole time I am making dinner. Trying to shove himself through my legs, between me and the counter. I know he is fine though because if he sees something at all interesting he will immediately stop to play with it and then comes back crying again when he is done. He also does not like me holding or hugging Colin and always comes over and climbs on top of me if I am holding Colin. Today Holden grunted/screamed when I pushed another boy on a swing one time. I have been leaving him with plenty of babysitters though, so he should get over it soon

I am almost completely done with the sandbox. I just have to put on the cover tomorrow after the paint dries. Then the back patio area will be complete. We will take a few pictures tomorrow to post up here, including more of the boys outside.

Over 4th of July weekend, we went camping for the first time. Although it pretty much rained the whole time, Colin and Holden LOVED it. They thought everything was great, the tent, making hot dogs, playing in the dirt, throwing rocks in the river and the marshmallows - oh the marshmallows, Colin loves marshmallows.

We went to a campground called Gold Basin out on the Mountain Loop Highway. We got there Friday afternoon after a late start. It is only an hour’s drive, but it took us almost 3 hours because we had to stop for rain gear for the boys, then 2 minutes later Colin had to pee, then 2 minutes after that he was hungry and immediately after that he had to pee again (although this time that was a clever ploy to go in the gas station to see the ice cream display.)

There was a break in the rain while we set up the tent and the rain tarp over the picnic area. When we got there a sketchy guy and his big dog were practically sharing the site with us, but luckily they left a couple hours later and no one camped there that night. There were enough breaks in the rain that we could be out and playing. Plus we were under the trees so most of the time the rain wasn’t that hard.

Liam in his garbage bag rain suit:

We made hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. Ian started the fire and Colin must have asked him over 20 times whether it was ready or not. Once the fire was ready, he stuck his first marshmallow in it, burned it and from then on made “smores” like this:

Two pieces of chocolate and an uncooked marshmallow. Holden decided he only liked graham crackers so here is his “smore:”

We had brought the pack and play for Holden to sleep in the tent. Going to bed didn’t go so well, he woke up a few times and Colin kept talking in the tent. Eventually he slept until about 4 AM when he stood up and said “Maaaamaaa” in a really sad voice. At that point I was freezing and uncomfortable so I grabbed him, but then I had to use the bathroom so I passed him over to Chuck. I told Chuck I wanted him back when I got back in the tent because I was cold, but when I got back in Chuck said “Ok, if you want to disturb him” which really meant he wanted to keep the little heat ball. I said fine and then told Colin to get in bed with us. So all 4 of us slept on the half full air mattress for the rest of the night.

On Saturday we drove a bit to find a good hike for kids and then decided on the Old Robe Trail, which used to be a railroad track. Colin hiked almost the whole thing, including the pretty steep switchbacks at the beginning. Holden also walked by himself for about a half mile to a mile. It was the first hike either of them had done and they loved it. I was very proud of Colin, he complained a bit about all the uphills on the way back, but he did a great job all by himself.

Saturday afternoon we didn’t do much, it rained pretty hard and Holden would not nap. For dinner we made some pasta and ate under the tarp in our rain gear. The boys went to bed really easily that night and slept all night long - it was great. Colleen, Ian, Chuck and I actually got to play cards until Liam and Holden started to cry a bit - to the dismay of our new neighbors.

Sunday morning we got up, made some breakfast, played a bit and then cleaned up the whole camp. Neither Chuck nor I had a watch on so we had no idea what time it was, but when we got in the car and saw it was about 8:30 I could not believe it. I thought it was around 10:30 or so. We were home by 10 AM and the boys were beat:

We had to dry everything out, we had pretty much been wet and everything was damp for 2 days straight. Sunday afternoon we all took 2 hour plus naps, which were definitely needed.

Last night we were driving home from REI after chasing Colin and Holden through every tent they had, and Colin asked if he was going to have a baby sitter. The reason he wants one is so he can watch TV at night, which is his “special treat” with a baby sitter. Here’s the conversation:

Colin: Am I going to have a babysitter tonight?
Us: No Colin you are going home and going to bed.
Colin: But I really want a baby sitter.
Us: Well as much as we would love to go out you are not having a baby sitter (side note: about a week ago he asked if he was going to have a baby sitter and we told him how baby sitters cost lots of money so we don’t use them all the time)
Colin (after a brief pause): I know (very excited and hopeful voice) - I will go home and dump out my piggy bank for a baby sitter
Us: You want a baby sitter so bad you are going to pay for your own?
Colin: Yes, I will pay for a babysitter.

So we agreed - next time the baby sitter can be on him

Other Tidbits

We have finally made some strides in the potty training arena. Last week I spent two incredibly frustrating days trying to get Colin to use the potty. I put underwear on him and he went through about 7 pairs in one day. I would ask if he had to pee, suggest we try and he would say no, then pee 5 minutes later. The second day was even worse, pee everywhere - dining room, chair, his room, etc so I gave up. I didn’t bother him about it the next day, but then the day after that we were outside playing in the pool and he just decided not to wear a diaper all day. I also added the stickers, M&Ms and trains as incentives and he finally got it. He used the bathroom all day, even when we went out to dinner that night. I wasn’t even asking him every 20 minutes if he had to go or not.

Since then we have had some ups and downs, some days he doesn’t want to do it at all, some days he is dry all day. He even went to the zoo and out to lunch and asked to go to the bathroom at the restaurant again. I feel like we are getting somewhere even if it cost me a few bucks in Thomas trains.

Holden has been really clingy lately. He doesn’t like the idea of being left with a baby sitter and it is pretty much the only time he cries out “Mama! Mama!” We went out for our anniversary and he was a wreck - but apparently he did get over it pretty quickly.

Today while playing outside he fell of a little kids chair on his head on the concrete patio. I was standing right next to him and freaked out. He was crying so hard. I took him inside to calm him down and then Colin runs in saying “I have to poop. I have to poop.” You have to understand that Colin hasn’t pooped on the potty yet and he knows when he does he will get Rocky the train. So Holden is crying with a big red bump on his head and Colin is screaming “I am so excited, I have to poop and I am going to get Rocky!!!!”. Colin did it and was very proud of himself, meanwhile Holden has stopped crying but doesn’t want me to put him down, so here I am holding Holden while trying to wipe Colin’s butt. Nice. Holden seemed OK after a few minutes and just kept on playing and Colin got his Rocky.

Holden has become so emotional lately. He is a big drama queen at this point. Everything is just so traumatic. If he decided he wants a sweet potato and then has to wait for it to be cooked and cooled he just falls into a puddle at my feet crying until I end up giving him the hot potato which he just shoves in his mouth. What happened to my little, sweet laid back baby? Overall though, he is still pretty good.

We have been really busy beyond just the potty training. It was our 6th anniversary last weekend and Chuck and I went putt putt golfing and out to dinner which was fun. The next day we had a “Back in Seattle” party. It was an open house BBQ from 1 to 7. It was fun to see old and new friends, but it most definitely was not relaxing. Holden had a really bad diaper rash and wanted to be held, stiff legs and all, all day. Colin was having a great time with his friends running around in the sprinkler. He was absolutely freezing, teeth chattering and still would not stop and get dressed.

This week we have gone to the zoo, the beach, a concert, play date and a birthday party and that was all in just 3 days. We have been busy working on our yard as well, but that will have to be a separate blog.

Last Wednesday morning Colin woke up and told me he didn’t really feel well and his stomach felt icky. I decided to keep him home from school and about 9 AM, when I was in the other room I heard him yell and say “Mommy, there is water coming out of my mouth” - in other words he had just thrown up all over the couch. I ran in there, picked him up and he threw up all over me. It was a mess consoling Colin, trying to keep Holden out of it and clean up all at the same time.

That is the first time Colin has ever thrown up so he had no idea what was going on. Later he kept saying he “spit up” - but it was more than spiting up He seemed fine later, and went to school the next day (for graduation), but later on Thursday he said he didn’t feel good again and didn’t eat dinner. He never had a fever, but didn’t have much energy on Friday so he missed his last day of school party at the park. All weekend he seemed happy, but didn’t really want to eat much. It was weird because he never asked for snacks, never complained and was pretty subdued. I can’t believe it but I was actually hoping he would have a crying fit over something so he would seem more like himself.

Over the past couple days he has been playing like normal, even had a few meltdown periods, but he still doesn’t ask for food very much. Hopefully he will get back on track over the next couple days because at sub 30 pounds he doesn’t have a lot to lose (side note to this Colin just ate a taco, chips and is now working on his second large banana)

Holden has been doing well - has a cold and a cough now, but happy. He just had his 15 month check up yesterday and the dr thinks he is doing great. He hasn’t gained any weight in 3 months (following in Colin’s footsteps) but he has grown 2 inches, and of course has a massive head (off the charts 99%). He is “saying” about 10-15 words now including:

da = Dad
ba = Colin
ma = Mom
mo = more
bye bye
ha = hi
dah = dog
ca = cat
bo = bowl

And all kinds of animal sounds, to say what a pig says he just opens and closes his mouth really wide. He does fishy lips for fish. The funniest thing is when he does this weird inhale laugh, I have to try to get it on video sometime. Also his comic timing is off so he laughs well after everyone else is laughing. He also recently learned how to stand on one foot.

Tidbits:

After tapering down over the past few weeks I stopped nursing Holden on Friday - he is almost 15 months now. It is a hard process for me as my body just likes to keep on producing milk and I am in a lot of pain. Lots and lots of pain, which if weaning Colin was the norm for me, will last about 3 weeks. Plus I feel really sad that Holden and I don’t have that connection anymore. Most of the time it was relaxing to finally be able to just sit and feed him and not really worry about anything else (aside from Colin in the living room) -to get to hold him and rock with him for 15 or 20 minutes. Plus it is looking very likely that we won’t be having any more kids (although it isn’t completely out of the question I guess) so it is sad that he is growing up so fast.

On the plus side it is nice not to have to wake up in the middle of the night to feed him and to be able to go out around bedtime and have someone else put him to sleep. It also had to be done because I am going away this weekend by myself, and although Chuck is a great dad I don’t think he could pull off nursing

Saturday was the first night I didn’t feed Holden before bed and he went to sleep right away but woke up an hour later and then cried every half hour until finally at 1 AM I got him out of bed and tried to give him some soy milk. That made him super mad and he screamed bloody murder for 20 minutes until Chuck got up and rocked with him. Of course Chuck didn’t get any sleep at all and had a run the next morning…I will leave it up to him to blog about that. Sunday night went much better and Holden actually slept until 7 AM - a miracle because he has been getting up at 5 AM. Can’t really blame him though, it is totally light at 5 AM. In fact when he woke up the other night at 4:45 the sun was coming up and birds were singing…and we still have a month to go before the longest day of the year.

My only issue with the weaning as far as Holden goes is that he won’t drink hardly anything. We aren’t giving him dairy right now because his skin was pretty bad (it has been better since we stopped the dairy) so milk is out. He drinks a little bit of water but not much throughout the course of the day. I wouldn’t be concerned but he barely ever pees now - never any really heavy diapers. Of course he eats well, is very active and drools like you wouldn’t believe so I don’t think he is dehydrated. I guess we will just wait and see if he starts to like his sippy cup.

Colin has been doing pretty well aside from our park visit yesterday where he fell over 4ft off this rung-climber thing. Then right after had a head on head collision with Liam on the swings. He was fine with both mishaps, but there was a lot of crying going on. He finally cracked 30 pounds a few weeks ago, however on Saturday he was wearing size 12 months shorts and they pretty much fit. He eats a lot - right now he is sitting here eating lunch which consisted of 1/2 orange, 2 big bowls of pasta, a piece of watermelon and now a strawberry yogurt. Plus he told me he had string cheese, watermelon and crackers at school - how does it all fit in that little tummy?

We have had a lot of other things going on - trip to Portland last weekend which was very fun, fixing some siding issues with our house and trying to get a new patio poured. The weather was great over the weekend - really hot on Saturday and perfect on Sunday. Saturday we went to the Norwegian Day Parade in Ballard…let’s just say it was long - but fun for the kids.

I have been bad about blogging I know, but it seems like things have been crazy around here and when you don’t get much sleep at night it can be a bit hard to get around to it.

Tidbits:

Colin was planning on having one of his preschool classmates (who is also our neighbor) over after school today. Her name is Gabby and she is pretty soft spoken and really cute. In school they kept talking about how she was coming over and then on the playground they hugged and she said “I love you” and Colin replied “I love you” then she replied “I love you more than chocolate.” It was adorable.

Once she was over I heard them in his room and Colin was saying “Gabby do you want to see my underwear?” - Not as bad as you think, as Colin is still in diapers so all of his underwear is in his drawer.

After dinner we usually have to undress Holden. Of course then Colin also wants to get undressed. Last night when Colin got undressed, Holden came around the corner and saw that Colin also had his belly out. Holden got all excited and started grabbing and pointing at his tummy and then pointing at Colin’s tummy. He thought it was pretty cool.

Holden has also learned how to get up on the dining room chairs (they have no rungs so it isn’t easy) and I am not happy about it. He gets up on them, then tries to get on the table. Mostly he stands on the chairs and tries to get them to rock back and forth on the uneven floors - that was until he fell off one today and bonked his head on the floor. Ugh.

We are heading to Portland tomorrow to go to my friend Emily’s wedding reception. The boys are coming with us but the dinner is adults only so we have a babysitter for them in the hotel. Colin is very excited to order room service. He has told me numerous times today that is is going to “order french fries and chicken fingers. Then I am going to set it down on the table in front of TV and eat and watch TV at the SAME TIME.”

I think I won the dumb mom of the day award on Thursday when I locked Colin and Holden in the car outside the zoo. Not only that but Colin was seat belted in his seat and Holden was roaming free in the car. My keys were locked inside along with my cell phone. The number of things I had to do wrong to make it happen was astounding and yet it still managed to happen.

Colin was sleeping in the stroller so I put Holden in first, but he had so much energy I thought I would just let him play around for a bit while I got Colin in his seat. Then I thought “Oh, but I better lock the door so Holden doesn’t fall out.”: Open Colin’s door and the passenger door, click lock on the keys, put keys and phone in car, get Colin out and into his seat, shut door, shut passenger door so Holden stays put, go to back to put stroller in car, realize all the doors are locked, phone is in car, Colin can’t get out of his seat or reach the lock….freak out!!!

I pleaded with Colin to try to get his belt off, but it is really hard to do, even for me. About 2 or 3 minutes later I stopped someone on the street and used their phone, a nice couple and their 20 something daughter. We called 911 first, who said if they came they would have to break the window. I wasn’t to that point yet so I then called AAA, which I just happen to have joined about 2 weeks ago.

Meanwhile all these Hispanic construction workers from the local condo noticed I was having a problem, however none of them spoke English - thankfully the young girl did. They started bringing all kinds of tools over trying to open the door. The man I stopped happened to be a fireman so he was ready to break the window at any point. I am pleading with Colin to try to get himself out of his seat or reach the lock - you can imagine how that went (he had just woken up from a nap) so he just started balling. During all of this Holden is the front seat by the steering wheel. He found a full pack of gum and started unwrapping every piece, smiling, oblivious to everything. He started using the gum as play dough. It was kinda hot out and getting hot in there and I was just praying that he didn’t stick one of the pieces of gum in his mouth and start choking. Once the gum was all unwrapped, the construction workers and the woman I stopped tried to keep Holden entertained - he was laughing away at them.

Finally 25 minutes later the locksmith came and opened the door in about 15 seconds. The boys were none the worse for wear and Colin didn’t even want to get out of the car. Thank god for nice people is all I have to say

Chuck was in London all last week, so I didn’t even have any spare keys anywhere and no one call during the whole fiasco. While he was there he bought Colin and Holden some sweet “football” jerseys - actually the whole home and away uniforms for the England National Team…how cute are they:

And little Holdie:

Grandpa and Grandma Fuller and Uncle Fletcher were in town last weekend and both Colin and Holden (as well as us) had a great time. The boys were very well behaved and had lots of energy. We went out to get pizza on Thursday night and Colin was teasing Fletcher about what he likes on his pizza (butterflies, bugs, beer, etc) when it eventually devolved into potty talk and “poop on your pizza”. We told Colin not to say poop so he replies “Uncle Fletcher do you like that brown stuff that comes out of your butt and smells bad and goes into the toilet on your pizza?” Nice.

Friday we took a little stroll around the Pike Place Market and then went to the aquarium. The boys had a great time there. That night we went out to Snappy Dragon for a great Chinese meal. Saturday we took a ride on the Bainbridge ferry and then played at the baseball field for awhile that afternoon. Colin loved playing baseball with Daddy and Uncle Fletcher, which is good because Colin needs a little practice running. Saturday night we got a babysitter and enjoyed a beer out and then dinner at Le Gourmand. Dinner was great, lasted 3 hours and was lots of fun. The family left Sunday - it seemed to go very fast. Chuck had to go to London on Monday, so after so much family fun all weekend it seemed a little slow this week.

Holden has been doing pretty well over the past few weeks, aside from the vaccine fever (which also causes a minor measles rash). He loves balls - and carries a football or baseball all over the house with him. He says “dada”, “dah = dog”, “ma”, “mo = more” and “ba = ball” - beyond that he babbles all the time. He does lots of signs, but he tends to have a sign of the day and does that for everything. He does signs for again, more, eat, apple - which means all fruit of any type, and today he made up his own sign for open which was swinging his arms way behind him.

Although he doesn’t speak very much he understands everything we are talking about. Chuck and I were talking about getting bagels for breakfast and he overheard us, made the eat sign and went to his high chair. He also overheard me telling my mom how we were trying to get Colin to hop on one foot and all of a sudden Holden is picking up his one foot trying to balance. He also tells us when he pooped in his diaper and the other day he went to the diaper bag to get a new diaper.

Sorry no pictures on this one - I will try to download them tomorrow.

Now for a few tidbits:

We have had a tough go round with Holden and his illnesses. His rash turned a bit worse, but no fevers and he was acting as happy as could be, however I was freaked out. He was sleeping better and his ears even cleared up a bit.

A week ago went to see the Ear, Nose, & Throat doctor to see about getting tubes. We decided to hold off a bit, then two days later he woke up in the middle of the night crying again. We thought it was the ears again so we decided to do the surgery. However Thursday we went back to the dr for yet another rash and the Dr. said it just looks like he has sensitive skin and it wasn’t anything to worry about. He also said that one of his ears is clear and the other has fluid but no infection. Now what? He said lots of times if you can make it until April (end of cold season) you won’t have problems for awhile. Anyway the surgery is still scheduled, but may not happen.

In other news, I just got a new laptop, so now I don’t have to go into the basement to use the computer (which never happened). Hopefully now I will be able to blog more often. Of course the kids are going to have to watch out, because I am currently sitting her typing and just saw Holden fall backwards off a toy. Not to worry though, Colin went over to console him with a “It’s OK” and then a tackle.

It has been pretty nice here recently - in the mid 50s and no rain. We definitely have to start working on the patio because the boys always want to go out there and right now it is a mess.

Tidbits: