Our Big Boy Is Going To School

Next week Collin is going to start going to Parent's Morning Out every Friday morning from 9:00-1:00 at Johns Creek United Methodist Church. Today Collin got to go and see his classroom and meet his teachers. His class has nine children in it and three teachers: Miss Paige, Miss Jennifer and Miss Zahie. They all three seem so sweet and loving which I am so excited about. They all have kids of their own and said they love to give hugs and kisses to the children. When we walked into the school, Collin immediately started crying. He looked at me like "I know what this is and I know you are going to leave me and I am NOT happy." After a few minutes he warmed up and started walking around the hallway. When we went into his room he saw a little playground and was in heaven. Daddy put him on the bridge and let him go down the slide and he decided he LOVED the place. He also found a Thomas the Train table and loved it. He was playing beside several of his new classmates having a wonderful time! He was a little hoarder and was stealing all the trains. Looks like someone needs to learn to share! I am feeling a little anxious about leaving him at school but I know that it is good for him. I find comfort in knowing that he has three wonderful teachers who will love on him and comfort him and teach him everything he needs to know. I am also excited it is a Christian based program where he will learn about Jesus and his neverending love. Patrick and I are both in agreement that this is a wonderful school with loving teachers but that does not mean Mommy will not be shedding a few tears when she drops him off next Friday.

Potential Halloween Costume

I have been looking online for several weeks trying to find a cute Halloween costume for Collin. Yes, I know it is only August, but this Mom wants to be ready! I have been debating between a cow, teddy bear (that Daddy says is too expensive) or a puppy. I decided to order the puppy costume. It was a little long but Collin looked adorable in it. He, however, was not at all amused by mommy dressing him up. I am thinking I will keep trying it on him and hope he likes it. Looks like it might be a keeper.

Picnic

Today we all got invited to go over to Collin's friend Matney's house for a picnic. Since both of the mommies did not want to send the little ones to church and risk the possibility of them getting sick, we decided to have a picnic instead. Collin and Matney had lots of fun playing outside on her swing set. The daddies played with the little ones so the moms could relax. When it was time for Collin and Matney to eat we thought it would be fun to let them sit at the picnic table together. Collin had never sat anywhere other than his highchair and did not know what to do. He took a few bites then decided it was much more fun to play with his plate rather than use it to hold his food. He also wanted to taste all of Matney's food since it was within his reach. The picnic table only lasted a couple of minutes and then they moved to their booster seats at the adult table. Matney and Collin entertained each other so the adults could talk. Patrick and I had a great time. I am so thankful to have met Matney and her mom Stacey through playgroup!

Imaginations at Play

Today Collin, Grandmommy and I ventured to Buford to visit an indoor play area for children called Imaginations at Play. It was such a cool place. It was set up similiar to centers in kindergarten where there were different themed areas the children could play in. They had a train area, water table area, sand table area, animal area, baby area, music area, art area, and grocery store area. Collin especially loved the train, grocery and sand table areas. He loved running around from center to center and playing. He also loved people watching the other kiddos there and trying to communicate with them using his pointing finger. It was such a cute place and we had a fun time. We will add this to our list of places to go.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...Foods That Is

Our little Collin is finally feeling better. After a tough week battling hand, foot and mouth disease, he woke up yesterday back to his normal self. He has been hyper and full of energy for the past two days which is wonderful. We also think he may be going through a growth spurt. Yesterday our son ate FOUR chick-fil-a nuggets by himself, a veggie burger, pancakes, and a LOT of fruit. This morning he ate an entire Cracker Barrel pancake by himself and this is what he looked like at dinner.



He feasted on four chicken nuggets, an adult spoonful and a half of Kraft mac-n-cheese, and an entire individual sized box of broccoli and cheese. Oink, Oink! This makes us think he is definitely feeling better and definitely about to hit a growth spurt.

Blessed

Collin has been very sick and cranky this entire week. There have been many days when all he did was sit in my lap and watch movies all day long and cry because his throat hurt so bad. There have been many times when I realized how blessed we are that we have a healthy child the majority of the time and he has nothing seriously wrong with him on a daily basis. My heart aches for mothers and fathers in this position as I watched my child with a simple summertime virus cry out in pain and there was nothing I could do to help him. I will now make an effort to thank God daily for giving me a healthy, happy son and blessing me beyond belief with this. I will also pray for those whose children are sick that they feel God's arms around them as I can only imagine how tough it must be. Patrick and I are so blessed and I never want to forget this!

Poor Baby

Our poor little Collin has been so sick this week. It started Monday when I went to get him dressed for an outing to Catch Air. As I went to dress him, I noticed he was really hot and sweaty. I took his temperature and it was 101.6. Needless to say, we did not go. I then let him just lay around on me and we watched movies much of the afternoon. He really had no symptoms other than being cranky and lazy, which was to be expected. Tuesday morning, however, he woke up screaming at 5:30am. When we went to get him he still had a temperature and was coughing a little. I brought him into the doctor at 9:00am since he was crying nonstop. They said he definitely looked sick and was running a fever and had sores in the back of his throat. They did a strep and flu test but both came back negative. His doctor then told us it was viral and had to run its course. Unfortunately the coarse got much worse. He screamed and cried all day yesterday and this morning. I have to admit, I let out a few tears too seeing him in such pain and not being able to help. I was able to get an applesauce and some bubblegum pedialyte down him but nothing else. He has luckily given in to sleep at the moment and it is finally quiet. If you think about it, please say a prayer that he will get better soon and have some relief from his sore throat.

UPDATE: We just got back from the doctor and it is hand, foot, mouth disease. He got it from church. Gotta love those kiddo germs.

Our Little Boy Is Growing Up

Our little Collin is starting to do so many new things all at once. This week at the beach we noticed he has learned many new things. The first is that he points at everyone. Both Patrick's family and my family went down to the beach together which means Collin was with all his grandparents and all his aunts and uncles. By the second day he knew who everyone was. When we would ask him where someone was, he would point at them and start smiling so big. The pointing eventually carried over to everything. Anytime he wanted something, he would go up and point to it. This is much better than listening to him say "ugh" and trying to figure out what it was he wanted me to do. It is a little embarrassing now, though, when we are out in public and Collin is pointing to everyone and everything. Whenever someone walks past him he gives them a point, as if to say "hello". Patrick and I are just going to have to watch and make sure the middle finger never goes up:-)

Collin also surprised us with how much he has picked up from what I have been teaching him. Everyday I talk to him nonstop and try to tell him what everything is. Over the trip, when different people would ask him to identify body parts, he knew them! Mommy's teaching is paying off! He knows feet, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, head, tummy, and knee boo-boos. Yes, we had to teach him knee boo-boos because his poor little knees are always scratched up. He also knows many of the transportation vehicles from his "Things That Go" book. His favorite one.......monster trucks. Yes, we have a boy on our hands!

Collin also got promoted to the toddler class at church today. When we dropped him off there were blocks, houses and tables for the children to stand at to eat their snack. Mommy was so sad to leave him but he seemed to have a great time. We just hope his new teachers love him as much as his old ones did. All the classes he has been in have absolutely loved him and cuddled with him the whole time. I hope the new teachers love him as much as we do.

Hilton Head Island-Beach Trip # 2

We just arrived home from a week long vacation to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Collin had a great time! He got to spend time with both the Dunaway and Hardy families and got showered with love and attention. I hope Mommy can get him back in shape next week when it is just me to entertain him:-) He absolutely loved the beach! The first day we took him down to it, he took off running to the water. He went straight into it with no fear. Luckily Daddy was right behind him to grab his hand as the waves went in. This love of the ocean continued for the entire week. He also loved running down the beach and digging in the sand. His favorite activity was taking sand and putting it on everyone's beach towels and chairs and finding holes in the sand to play in. Collin made a lot of new friends on the beach as he went up and talked (or babbled and pointed) to everyone he saw that had a colorful umbrella or toy he wanted. We had wonderful weather with no rain except for brief showers two nights. We are so blessed we got to spend time with both of our families and share this experience with Collin.