Collin's been doing some fairly funny stuff lately. He cracks up at nearly everything and we just love his little laugh. Pretty much everywhere we go he's laughing, the store, in the middle of church, during dinner, whenever...
Drew caught two instances of his hilarity on his phone, so the videos are pretty low quality, but still funny nonetheless.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Collin Turns One
Dear Collin-
I continually wonder where the time has gone as you've grown, but facing one year has made that perspective a bit more intense and suddenly overwhelmingly heartbreaking. You're a toddler now and the baby in you disappears little by little everyday. I hang on to those moments, those brief glimpses of baby--those cuddles and snuggles like they are little bits of gold, but the more I try to find ways to hold tight to the baby in you, the more independence you assert.Its so difficult for me to reconcile as I encourage you to grow and shed small little tears about losing all of the baby in our lives.
Lately, we spend our days on great explorations. You are a sponge and your little brain is exploding with new information. Your inquisitive nature makes you incredibly interested in how the world works. You learn so quickly and are into everything. It took you a day to figure out how to quickly scale the stairs, 15 minutes to figure out how to use the bookcase to scale the shelves and 10 minutes to figure out how to throw your new favorite balls down the hallway in sequence so they happily bounce, bounce, bounce.
You figured out how to open cupboards, how to crawl inside the space under the stairs and how to quickly chase us into territory you usually are prevented from being in when the opportunity is right(the storage room, the laundry room, in the refrigerator etc.). You take after your dad in so many ways- you are such a monkey, climbing everything.You're now saying "dada" consistently, which makes daddy smile, as its taken you awhile to learn to say it, and you also babble all the time. You're a regular motormouth. You're vocabulary is expanding, and we can almost see you taking in so many new words and ideas every day as we label your world from top to bottom. Its incredible to see the gears in your little brain turn as you are learning and absorbing all of the fantastic pieces of your environment.
Your first birthday was eventful in many ways for us- you now have a shiny new playset with a swing, which you love, and you're now entering a stage of independence. Its almost as though you walked through a door on your first birthday and haven't looked back. We've had to introduce "discipline" to our vocabulary, as you test and test when it comes to things where we set boundaries- ingelectrical outlets, trying to play with the space heater in your room, throwing food off your tray to feed the dog. You try and try to find a way to explore things off limits, only to be crushed by our persistent "no"s. You cry and look to use for comfort, as if we've just betrayed you by telling you no so clearly.
You wake up every morning by standing tall in your crib and talking to me through the monitor. If could decipher what you are trying to communicate with your nonsensical words I'd image it was something like, "oh mama, hurry and come get me, I miss you!" as everyday when I lift you out you greet the day by giving me an enormous hug.
You still love books and look forward to reading new stories every day. You're trying lots of new foods as we try desperately hard to give you vegetables in any form. You love flavor, pesto and pasta, guacamole and sun-dried tomato and spinach sausage. You're so daring in many ways, but tasting vegetables is not one of them. When you don't like something you windshield wiper it off the tray of your highchair quickly supplying the dog with a buffet of flavors.
You've just finished your first semester at the little gym, and you've come such a long way. You love forward rolls and walking around wheel-barrow style. You love seeing your little friends every Saturday, and have learned to crawl and nearly walk all within the small, brief glimpse of your time together. The families there appreciate your smile and happiness, as its so very contagious.
We still don't let you watch television, and we really don't miss it. We enjoy spending time playing with you, teaching you animal sounds and body parts, working on your throwing skills and taking walks around the neighborhood, where three quarters of our neighbors look forward to seeing your smiling face.
Over the course of this year you've stolen my heart in ways that I didn't think were possible, you can melt me with your smile, send me in an instant panic with your tears and make me laugh with your silly little faces nearly everyday, from your frog sounds to the quick lizard tongue you've recently started to imitate.
Your personality is so much a blend of both of us. You have my excessive stubbornness- you'll sign only after I request it three or four times (although you're getting much better at this) and then provide the sign begrudgingly. You have your dad's sense of humor- you'll laugh at nearly anything that you can and find laughter entirely contagious, if we start laughing you pick up on it and it turns into pure hilarity.
You're growing so fast, and we're barely keeping up. Chasing you keeps us on our toes, and even though you're quickly escaping around every corner, we love seeing you grow.
At the end of 12 months I find myself wondering how the year passed so quickly and at the same time catching a glimpse of what the next year will bring. These past 12 months have added such joy to our lives, we can't imagine how we existed without you. Now that you are here its as though our capabilities to love have grown 10 fold, our patience has tripled and our life as a couple has turned into life as a family. We're so happy your here and we can't wait to see what the future holds.
Love,
Momma and Daddy
Friday, June 4, 2010
Queen of lateness from Running-Behindville....
Well, you know the drill... I usually open my blogs with some self-deprecating statement about how far behind I am on blogging. I'm still here in that boat. As it turns out a whole whirlwind of things have happened since my last post, to name a few, mother's day, we bought a new car, Collin turned one, my whole family came and visited from Michigan, Collin got sick (and better)...and the list goes on. If you've ever seen The Soup on comedy central you'll know that they do these ultra short synopsis vignettes for shows. I think it might be appropriate if I try that with our life. Here's our life in 5 brief episodes, to be followed by one real post about Collin's birthday (because what kind of mom would I be if I reduced Collin's birthday to 4 short sentences?!?)
Episode 1: Mother's Day.
I love my mom. She's taught me so many things, like for instance, how to cook without measuring, I do the 'little bit here', 'dash there' thing all the time. It frustrates Drew sometimes when he asks me how to make something and I never know quantities. So for mother's day, reflecting on my own mother's experiences-- my life in review looked something like this:
At 5 years old: make ridiculous gift- likely ugly Christmas tree ornament for mom, she accepts, slaps a smile on her face and graciously says thank you as though I've just handed over a string of pearls. Said ornament continues to show up on "downstairs" tree for years to come. I wonder who made the ugly thing.
Flash forward to 12, tween-days. Mother's day comes around, spend the day 'pretending' to be appreciative. Instead wonder how I ended up with such a horrible life. ugh. Tweens are so terribly dramatic. Sorry mom. I pretty sure I was particularly full of shit at that point.
Flash forward to 16/17 or so. Spend mother's day, as usual, at the Mother's Day matinee for whatever show the high school is putting on (Sound of Music, Maybe?). I'm in the show, covered with three inches of pancake makeup and as I'm approaching back stage for opening curtain I see friends giving their mom's flowers. It occurs to me I've totally forgot, and not only have I totally forgot, my younger siblings had no idea it was mother's day without my help. Its the end of the day, and we haven't even said "happy mother's day". Still feel shitty about that one. Bigger Sorry mom.
Flash forward to 24/25. Settling into life, newly married, excited to be a mom. Start to realize how fantastic my mom was in my life growing up. Hmmm. How is it that the culmination of realizing my mom's tolerance, love and generosity were enormous, took, oh say, 25 years. Plan to pray for my own kids not to be so dense. Sorry again mom. In a nutshell, I love you. It took me a long time to grow to the person I am now, but I'm very happy and attribute so much of that to your love.
Episode Two: The shiny new car.
So it has been on our minds for awhile to purchase a new car. Our family will expand one day and I'd like to be able to get to the back seat of the vehicle without turning on my hazards like a John Deere tractor, slowing to 35, pulling over, straddling the seat and falling into the backseat to determine what exactly it was that made Collin cry in the first place. So off we went to see cars while Lori and Pete watched the little man. We had already discussed what we were in the market for--I was not about to be part of the soccer mom variety sporting school bumper stickers and a personalized vehicle-only kiddie menu in place of my sanity, complete with four automatic doors that slide on a minivan, thank you very much. No Odyssey, Town and Country or Sienna for us. We were exclusively looking at crossovers. We've even narrowed it down to the Chevy Traverse or Buick Enclave because we get the lovely friends and family discount (thanks Uncle Pete!), so really, how hard could it be?!?
I thought, 3 hours MAX and we'll have a good idea of what we want. 8 hours later I was trying to poke my own eyes out.
Hour 1: Look at every tiny detail on Chevy Traverse while sales lady continues to banter us about purchasing a car. Continue to tell her over and over we're not buying until we see other cars at other dealerships. Said sales later tries to extrude early literacy advice from me while test-driving cars, all the while I'm thinking, what do I get in this exchange? Reduced APR???
Hour 3: Move on to Walser Buick to see the Enclave. Meet snotty sales lady and her side kick. Side kick is especially douche-like. Can't handle sitting in front of him for more than 10 minutes. After asking for a quote on paper, which he refused to provide, we leave. Both of them are sweating "my shit doesn't stink and you'll buy a car on our terms" airs. Sort of makes me want to throw up in one of their cars.
Now were cranky because of dealership and because we're starving because we wasted another hour at this place. Boo Hiss.
Hour 5: Wander into Whitebear lake superstore (read Buick) dealership with trepidation. Fear the Enclave cockiness is ingrained in all sellers of the vehicle. Wait for sales man to approach us. We're ready for the punches to fly. But, surprisingly, its a whole different atmosphere at this dealership. This guy doesn't seem to think that Buick Enclaves are to be auctioned off to the highest bidder....So we start to get serious and he totally wins us over. This sales guy talks us out of navigation package and DVD package. We're a little bit surprised, but glad to see there are some Minnesota nice folks still out there who believe in customer service. So after hours of adjusting prices, meeting our needs and trying really hard to stay patient and positive (after financing, insurance, tax, title, and other necessary crap) we finally left the dealership driving a brand new, lovely and spectacular Buick Enclave.
A month later I still am completely in love with this car, which makes us confident that we've made the right decision. We're planning to have this car around for a long long time, so our investment is for the long haul hopefully hasn't been in vain :)
Episode Three: Collin's Cough
A few weeks before Collin's first birthday, (about a week before he was supposed to get his one year shots) we woke up to a sad little face troubling to breathe, with that awful wheezy, bark-y cough hoping for our help at 3 a.m. It was on a Wednesday, so at three a.m., in a panic, with Collin equally panicky about not being able to breathe- we set up camp in the bathroom with a never-ending steam bath emanating from our our shower head. By about 5 a.m. he was breathing better, but I was convinced my adorable baby had made it nearly to a year without so much as a cold and now we were paying for it with Croup. So, on Thursday morning we made an appointment and wandered into see our Doctor. Unfortunately for us, our regularly happy and helpful doctor was off for the day, so we'd be seeing another doctor, who was less than cheery. After two minutes of listening to Collin breathe and asking us to describe his "bark" she determined it wasn't croup, just an "awful virus" and there was nothing to do for it. We were less than satisfied :( Two weeks later, one rescheduling of 1 year shots and lots of nights of a misserable baby our little guy was still barking. So, at his one year shots appt we asked again, only to hear, its just a virus, and we might be waiting for up to two weeks for it to get better...Three days later, Memorial day weekend began, our family flooded Minnesota and everyone was worried for Collin's cough. So, on and on, a total of three weeks later (that's 21 whole days!) it was finally starting to wane. I hate having a sick baby! We felt so guilty that we couldn't do anything for him while he coughed and coughed. I feel doubly awful for those families that have babies who catch colds, viruses and get sick so early in life. What a stressful and exhausting journey back to health.
Episode Four: Michiganders in Minnesota
Collin's first birthday was actually on the 21st of May, but since the holiday was approaching quickly and our family had a long way to travel, we moved his birthday party to the 29th, to have it while everyone was here to visit. So, across the miles came Nana and Papa Wackerle, Auntie Andrea and Uncle Nathan, Nathan's girlfriend Faya, her daughter Jayla and from Milwaukee, Grandpa and Grandma Hollman. We were so blessed to have family and friends in town and we enjoyed the wonderful weekend together- a birthday party, a trip to the zoo and lots of time with family he rarely gets to see. Collin loved having everyone here, was spoiled by being held and played with 24/7. Collin didn't seem to get the whole "blow the candle out" thing, and really wasn't into the cake so much, but really enjoyed all of his new toys.
Episode 1: Mother's Day.
I love my mom. She's taught me so many things, like for instance, how to cook without measuring, I do the 'little bit here', 'dash there' thing all the time. It frustrates Drew sometimes when he asks me how to make something and I never know quantities. So for mother's day, reflecting on my own mother's experiences-- my life in review looked something like this:
At 5 years old: make ridiculous gift- likely ugly Christmas tree ornament for mom, she accepts, slaps a smile on her face and graciously says thank you as though I've just handed over a string of pearls. Said ornament continues to show up on "downstairs" tree for years to come. I wonder who made the ugly thing.
Flash forward to 12, tween-days. Mother's day comes around, spend the day 'pretending' to be appreciative. Instead wonder how I ended up with such a horrible life. ugh. Tweens are so terribly dramatic. Sorry mom. I pretty sure I was particularly full of shit at that point.
Flash forward to 16/17 or so. Spend mother's day, as usual, at the Mother's Day matinee for whatever show the high school is putting on (Sound of Music, Maybe?). I'm in the show, covered with three inches of pancake makeup and as I'm approaching back stage for opening curtain I see friends giving their mom's flowers. It occurs to me I've totally forgot, and not only have I totally forgot, my younger siblings had no idea it was mother's day without my help. Its the end of the day, and we haven't even said "happy mother's day". Still feel shitty about that one. Bigger Sorry mom.
Flash forward to 24/25. Settling into life, newly married, excited to be a mom. Start to realize how fantastic my mom was in my life growing up. Hmmm. How is it that the culmination of realizing my mom's tolerance, love and generosity were enormous, took, oh say, 25 years. Plan to pray for my own kids not to be so dense. Sorry again mom. In a nutshell, I love you. It took me a long time to grow to the person I am now, but I'm very happy and attribute so much of that to your love.
Episode Two: The shiny new car.
So it has been on our minds for awhile to purchase a new car. Our family will expand one day and I'd like to be able to get to the back seat of the vehicle without turning on my hazards like a John Deere tractor, slowing to 35, pulling over, straddling the seat and falling into the backseat to determine what exactly it was that made Collin cry in the first place. So off we went to see cars while Lori and Pete watched the little man. We had already discussed what we were in the market for--I was not about to be part of the soccer mom variety sporting school bumper stickers and a personalized vehicle-only kiddie menu in place of my sanity, complete with four automatic doors that slide on a minivan, thank you very much. No Odyssey, Town and Country or Sienna for us. We were exclusively looking at crossovers. We've even narrowed it down to the Chevy Traverse or Buick Enclave because we get the lovely friends and family discount (thanks Uncle Pete!), so really, how hard could it be?!?
I thought, 3 hours MAX and we'll have a good idea of what we want. 8 hours later I was trying to poke my own eyes out.
Hour 1: Look at every tiny detail on Chevy Traverse while sales lady continues to banter us about purchasing a car. Continue to tell her over and over we're not buying until we see other cars at other dealerships. Said sales later tries to extrude early literacy advice from me while test-driving cars, all the while I'm thinking, what do I get in this exchange? Reduced APR???
Hour 3: Move on to Walser Buick to see the Enclave. Meet snotty sales lady and her side kick. Side kick is especially douche-like. Can't handle sitting in front of him for more than 10 minutes. After asking for a quote on paper, which he refused to provide, we leave. Both of them are sweating "my shit doesn't stink and you'll buy a car on our terms" airs. Sort of makes me want to throw up in one of their cars.
Now were cranky because of dealership and because we're starving because we wasted another hour at this place. Boo Hiss.
Hour 5: Wander into Whitebear lake superstore (read Buick) dealership with trepidation. Fear the Enclave cockiness is ingrained in all sellers of the vehicle. Wait for sales man to approach us. We're ready for the punches to fly. But, surprisingly, its a whole different atmosphere at this dealership. This guy doesn't seem to think that Buick Enclaves are to be auctioned off to the highest bidder....So we start to get serious and he totally wins us over. This sales guy talks us out of navigation package and DVD package. We're a little bit surprised, but glad to see there are some Minnesota nice folks still out there who believe in customer service. So after hours of adjusting prices, meeting our needs and trying really hard to stay patient and positive (after financing, insurance, tax, title, and other necessary crap) we finally left the dealership driving a brand new, lovely and spectacular Buick Enclave.
A month later I still am completely in love with this car, which makes us confident that we've made the right decision. We're planning to have this car around for a long long time, so our investment is for the long haul hopefully hasn't been in vain :)
Episode Three: Collin's Cough
A few weeks before Collin's first birthday, (about a week before he was supposed to get his one year shots) we woke up to a sad little face troubling to breathe, with that awful wheezy, bark-y cough hoping for our help at 3 a.m. It was on a Wednesday, so at three a.m., in a panic, with Collin equally panicky about not being able to breathe- we set up camp in the bathroom with a never-ending steam bath emanating from our our shower head. By about 5 a.m. he was breathing better, but I was convinced my adorable baby had made it nearly to a year without so much as a cold and now we were paying for it with Croup. So, on Thursday morning we made an appointment and wandered into see our Doctor. Unfortunately for us, our regularly happy and helpful doctor was off for the day, so we'd be seeing another doctor, who was less than cheery. After two minutes of listening to Collin breathe and asking us to describe his "bark" she determined it wasn't croup, just an "awful virus" and there was nothing to do for it. We were less than satisfied :( Two weeks later, one rescheduling of 1 year shots and lots of nights of a misserable baby our little guy was still barking. So, at his one year shots appt we asked again, only to hear, its just a virus, and we might be waiting for up to two weeks for it to get better...Three days later, Memorial day weekend began, our family flooded Minnesota and everyone was worried for Collin's cough. So, on and on, a total of three weeks later (that's 21 whole days!) it was finally starting to wane. I hate having a sick baby! We felt so guilty that we couldn't do anything for him while he coughed and coughed. I feel doubly awful for those families that have babies who catch colds, viruses and get sick so early in life. What a stressful and exhausting journey back to health.
Episode Four: Michiganders in Minnesota
Collin's first birthday was actually on the 21st of May, but since the holiday was approaching quickly and our family had a long way to travel, we moved his birthday party to the 29th, to have it while everyone was here to visit. So, across the miles came Nana and Papa Wackerle, Auntie Andrea and Uncle Nathan, Nathan's girlfriend Faya, her daughter Jayla and from Milwaukee, Grandpa and Grandma Hollman. We were so blessed to have family and friends in town and we enjoyed the wonderful weekend together- a birthday party, a trip to the zoo and lots of time with family he rarely gets to see. Collin loved having everyone here, was spoiled by being held and played with 24/7. Collin didn't seem to get the whole "blow the candle out" thing, and really wasn't into the cake so much, but really enjoyed all of his new toys.
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