Collin Is Nine Months Old

It is official, Collin is now nine months old. We have no idea where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday we were coming home with our newborn baby. Papa (Brooke's dad) was lucky enough to go with Collin and Mommy to his 9 month appointment. He was such a big help considering I am still in a wheelchair. Collin now weighs 20 pounds, 7 ounces (50%) and is 29 inches long (75%). The doctor said he was right on track with his height and weight and seemed to be developing well. As many of you know, Collin is still not totally crawling on his hands and knees. He is still doing the "swimmer crawl" as we call it. The doctor said that Collin really should be crawling by now and starting to pull himself up. Since he is not doing this, we are supposed to watch his progress this month and report back to him in 6 weeks. Since I have been confined to a wheelchair over the past 6 weeks, the doctor thinks that may have something to do with his disinterest in it and his wanting to be near Mommy all the time. We are hoping so and praying that it is nothing more serious. His doctor did note that Collin appears to be a very intellectual baby and is more interested in studying a particular toy or item to see how it works rather than crawling from toy to toy. Daddy said this trait must come from Mommy:)

The doctor also said that Collin's red cheeks were not in fact eczema but extremely sensitive skin. He said most babies outgrow this once they hit about one year old and that the heat also dries him out, making them appear redder.

Despite not crawling, Collin has made a great deal of progress this month. He is now able to sit up on his own completely and play with his toys for 15+ minutes independently. He has also continued to babble nonstop. His first, and only word, right now is "hey". He says it all the time and anytime a stranger at a store looks at him. Occasionally he will wave too. He has not figured out to put his hand up high when he does it, so you have to look down lower to see it. Collin has also started eating and enjoying a few finger foods. He LOVES Mum-Mum crackers and Gerber's Peach Puffs. Every time he sees the yellow peach puff container on the table he opens his mouth like "Give me some now". It is so cute! Collin is also able to hold his sippy cup and drink out of it if the water is filled up to the top. Collin is also starting to pick up on some baby sign language. We have been working on several everyday signs and Collin has picked up on "ball" and "book". If we lay all his toys in front of him, and ask him for the ball or book with the sign he can get them for you. This month we are going to add a few more signs to his repertoire.

We may be biased, but we feel the Lord has blessed us with one of the cutest baby's ever. Despite all the circumstances we have been through this month, Collin has remained a happy and healthy little boy who simply loves life. What more could a Mom and Dad ask for!

Collin's 1st Thanksgiving

Collin got to celebrate his first Thanksgiving today! After he ate breakfast we packed up the car and headed down to Papa's house for Thanksgiving dinner. We met Aunt Brittany, Uncle Jon, and of course Papa there and cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Collin played the whole time and then sat with us at the dinner table and watched Baby Einstein while we ate together. Thank goodness for the Baby Bach DVD! It was definitely a hard Thanksgiving without Nana there with us, but we know she was looking down on us from heaven smiling at how well everyone is getting along. We have all made it a top priority to remain close and keep things exactly as she would have wanted. We love you Nana and miss you so much!

Although our family has gone through more than is imaginable this year, we have so much to be thankful for. Here is just a small portion of what we are so grateful to our Father for blessing us with:
-God's grace
-A happy, healthy, and precious son
-Financial secruity during this tough economic time and that Brooke can stay home and be with Collin
-A family that will drop anything to be there for us
-Good health (besides nursing a broken ankle:))
God has blessed our family so much this year!

Collin Meets Santa

On Saturday Collin met Santa for the first time. We took him to the Avenue in Forsyth to see him. They were having free pictures with Santa and carriage rides around the complex. It was really cold so we visited Santa then headed home. As soon as Collin sat in Santa's lap, he looked up at him and was very curious. We knew he was either going to like sitting with him or cry, cry, cry. To our surprize, he loved Santa. He smiled at him, made some babbling noises, and then tried to pull his beard. Santa was so sweet and put up with all of it. We have a couple of other Santa visits scheduled so check back for more pictures.

Collin and His Daddy

My favorite boys in the whole world and they make me so happy!

Collin's New Tricks

Mr. Collin has learned a new trick...how to kiss:) Every night before Collin goes to bed we give him a night, night kiss. Now Collin participates too. If you stick your lips out, the little guy will give you some sugar. So sweet! Collin has also started sucking his thumb a lot. We are not sure what to think about this one!?!

Collin Is Eight Months Old

Well our little boy is now eight months old! It is hard to believe that in four more months he will be a year old. Where has the time gone? Collin has done so many new things since his seven month birthday. He is now a little over 19 pounds on our scale at home and is busting out of all his clothes. He now has his second tooth and looks so cute when he smiles with two little teeth showing. He has also learned his first word. Believe it or not, "hey" is what he says all the time. Everytime we go out and he sees someone he says "hey". He has even started lifting up his hand like he is waving to you. It is so precious! Although he says it all the time, Mommy and Daddy still like to brag and call it his first word.

Collin is still working in the crawling area. He does what Mommy and Daddy call the "swimmer crawl". He moves around the floor by wiggling his bottom and moving his arms like he is swimming. Although it gets him from place to place, it looks so exhausting. We are working on getting him up on all fours but he wants no part of it. We keep praying that one day our little man will pick up this skill.

Although he is not crawling, Collin is able to stand up and play with his Fisher Price table and rattles on the sofa or ottamen. When we stand him up he will support himself and play. It's not a huge accomplishment, but we are proud of him!

Luckily Collin is continuing with his good sleeping habits. He usually takes a two hour nap in the morning and a thirty to forty-five minute one in the afternoon. He usually goes to bed at 7:00 and wakes up at 7:00. We are blessed in this area!

We are so blessed to have Collin in our lives. This has been a really tough month in many ways but Collin always brings a smile to our face and brightens our day just by being himself. We are looking forward to getting ready for the Holiday Season with our little man and going to visit Santa Claus and ride the Pink Pig.

Collin's 1st Halloween!

Collin had a blast on his first Halloween. On Friday morning he went to a party with all his playgroup pals at his friend Charlie's house. He dressed up like a little monkey and surprizingly he liked wearing his costume. All of the mommies lined the kiddos up to take pictures. None of them enjoyed this but we did get a few good shots. Collin was sitting beside a little girl wearing a pink monster costume and all he wanted to do was eat her. I am not sure what his fascination was but he was in love with her pink monster costume. After the party Collin came home and got ready to go trick or treating. Since he goes to bed at 7:00 pm on the dot, we did some early trick or treating. He got in Mommy's lap and Daddy pushed us around in the wheelchair. He went to about 5 houses in the neighborhood then decided he had enough. All in all he had a great day!