Family Fuller

Just Now after Holden hit Colin:
Me to Holden: “Colin uses words to solve problems, not hitting”
Colin: “Yeah, sometimes I am right but sometimes I am really right”

Yesterday:
Colin: “When I grow up I am going to work like you Dad”
Chuck: “Oh, yeah, what are you going to do?”
Colin: “I’m going to eat lunch then do nothing. Oh wait. I am going to eat lunch, do nothing and then take a nap”

Sometimes I don’t really know how much Colin can read. He seems to know how, but I think he does it by remembering words, not by sounding them out. Then today he read me two trivia questions from his string cheese:

1. How long does it take to make a Jellybean? A: A Week
2. Before the National Park Service began in 1916, who administered America’s park system? A: The US Army

The only words he didn’t get were “1916″ and “administered.” He still resists me trying to get him to read things but clearly he can read quite a bit more than I think he can. We have his first parent-teacher conference on Tuesday at his preschool. Should be interested in hearing how he is doing, I don’t anticipate any issues

Colin saw a black Honda CR-V just like ours the other day and said “Hey that car is exactly like ours, but I bet it is clean inside”

Just now while watching Sesame Street on Sprout (they have some commericals) there was a commercial about insurance and Colin said to me “Mom, did you hear that – they can save you some money – you should get it” and two seconds later when this commerical came on for an automatic toothpaste dispenser (as if anyone needs that) Colin said “See mom, that is why we need the Touch N Brush, it keeps your bathroom clean and is fun for the whole family” Last year he was obsessed with the pancake puff pan.

It is currently Sunday morning and the boys are eating cold pizza and watching TV…am I am bad mom? We went out for my birthday last night and I am tired this morning so I feel OK about the cold pizza

Colin has been very into the world series this year and was rewarded with the victory last night. I myself was raised to be a Tiger fan, but I feel myself getting sucked in to the Yankees. I don’t see how I can help it when Chuck loves them and now so does Colin.

He watched the last three games and was really into it even though he doesn’t totally understand the game. I would be in the kitchen and hear him say “Oh man, mom you aren’t going to believe it the Phillies just got a home run.” Then later I would say, whose up? he would reply “I don’t know but the Phillies have two outs” – which could mean anything because he doesn’t really understand what outs are.

His lack of understanding was evident last night because he would get all upset and into the game, nervous when the Yankees were up, etc, but then in the top of the 9th he said “What is a strike?”

He started out being a Melky fan but by game 4 was loving Johnny Damon for stealing 2nd and 3rd (still talks about it.) About Game 4 he also started being a big Matsui fan and said he though he was the best hitter on the Yankees. I said I didn’t think so, but I guess Colin was right all along

Both boys wanted to be sharks for Halloween, specifically a bonnethead hammerhead for Colin, and you can’t buy those so I had to make them. Holden is a “ate ite ark – swimming in the ater” (Great White Shark, swiming in the water)  They turned out pretty well:

Side view

Back view

Sitting at Colin’s preschool:

Showing off their costumes at school:

Yesterday after school I brought Colin’s bike so he could ride with the other kids. His training wheels are off but he hasn’t really ridden yet. He was very upset that I had brought the bike without the training wheels but eventually agreed to try it.

A few minutes later I look over and he is riding it. He was so excited and so proud of himself. All the other moms thought it was great that he had just learned right there after school. He said it was all because there was a little hill where he could get started. Very fun.

He had also learned to zip his zipper for the first time all by himself at school that day, so it was a big day all around.  In fact when I got in the car I said “Wow, you have learned a lot of things today, you sure are growing up”  and Colin stood up and said “really, how much taller am I?”

Attended Holden’s first preschool event tonight – the pumpkin party, so called because everyone was supposed to bring in a pumpkin to decorate (with breaks for a little Mexican buffet and ‘circle time’).

Holden was a real champ when it came time to decorate – very careful and precise about how he slopped paint on the pumpkin – looked like a masterpiece to me:

For a couple months now Holden has been very into the ABCs. He knows them all and every time we are out if he sees a big sign he reads all the letters off and then says “What that say mommy?” It is pretty cute and reminds me of when Colin was little.

Last Friday, after the grape sale, Holden started limping a little bit. We had been outside for 5 straight hours, biking, climbing trees, etc. When he woke up Saturday morning he wouldn’t take a single step or even stand on his leg. He stayed like that all day. In fact we went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (in 3-D) so he would have something to do. He was happy, just wouldn’t walk. Of course I was really worried he did something serious, but Chuck being the voice of reason said let’s just give him a day or so. He woke up on Sunday morning and promptly began running around the house.

Colin’s latest thing is playing the adjective, verb, noun game. I give him a sentence and he tells me the part of speech for each word. It is currently limited to the above parts, no adverbs, articles, etc. He is about to pass my knowledge in this area – seriously. I am awful with grammar, spelling, etc.

Of course shortly after playing that game I found myself telling him “Stop licking the outside of the milk carton” at breakfast, so he is still a five year old (or a 2 year old in that case)

Colin just came to me and said “we didn’t have any sales this year. Can’t we sell grapes?”

He proceeded to pick our sour grapes, wash them and put them on a plate. Of course Holden did the same.

Then he made a sign, with a little spelling help. At first he was going to price the grapes at $50 but decided one dollar was better – and it is all you can eat.

He got a table all ready. He sat down and said “there aren’t any customers but that’s ok I am patient”. A minute later he said “Holden watch the table I am going to look out for people”

About 5 minutes in he expanded into apples. Tart, semi rotten apples, with some decent ones mixed in.

No one has come by yet but Colleen stopped by and bought an apple which made Colin’s day.

They have decided pears might get some people to walk by

Here are some of Colins drawings. He has a whole series of sea drawings all with sharks.

Here are his coloring skills:

A drawing of Holden:

Not to short change Holden, he has become quite the artist as well.