The End of Summer

Its hard to believe that summer is making its final bow. It feels like we anticipated summer all June and July and it seemed to never come. We had hoped to really enjoy a nice long summer with the new baby, but it turns out it was possibly the fastest summer we've had, without any real warm spells (save the few days in August we made the mid 90's). To wrap up the end of the season we made our way to Michigan and along the way we stopped in Milwaukee and were able to spend time not only with family in Michigan but family in Milwaukee too, putting a pleasant ending to our 'gone-in-the-wink of an eye summer'.

On August 21st Collin turned 3 months, and he seems to be hitting milestones left and right. He giggles now, is starting to manage sitting up and is getting very good at holding up his head. He's enjoying tummy time a little bit more and cries much less and seems to get bigger every day. As his little personality comes out we are enjoying getting to know him. So far we've learned that Collin is impatient when he's hungry, loves to cuddle, loves to tell stories by cooing and gurgling, really loves to play with his baby mozart music box and eric carle elephant toy and loves being outside.






We left for Michigan on a Wednesday afternoon, as the Tornado sirens were blaring in Roseville. We crossed our fingers, hoped all would be okay while we were away and hit the road. Unfortunately, the rains followed us all the way to Milwaukee making for a stressful drive. This was our first trip with Collin and he did surprisingly well. It took us an hour longer than usual, but we only stopped two times to feed and change Collin. Hopefully our next trip to Milwaukee will go even better. When we arrived we were beat and hit the hay to catch an early trip on the ferry to Michigan, another first for Collin.
We look the lake Express from Milwaukee to Muskegon and had a pleasant trip. It was so nice to not have to keep Collin in the car seat, although the boat ride pitched a bit because of the waves from the storm we seemed to be bringing with us from Minnesota.

When we arrived in Michigan we were finally pleasantly greeted by some afternoon sun. Collin spent some time with his great aunt and uncle while we waited for the rest of our family to arrive.


Collin's papa came for the weekend because he had to work so they soaked up time together. They took lots of naps together and my dad was able to get Collin cooing and giggling often. When it was time to go Collin tried out the motorcycle.




When the rest of the family arrived we visited with Aunt Andrea and Uncle Nathan, cousins Erik, Anna and John. Collin loved all the attention and getting to spend more time with family he rarely gets to see.




While in Michigan and Milwaukee Collin had more 'firsts' to add to his list including his first trip to the beach, his first visit to a light house, his first visit to Lake Michigan, playing croquet and meeting many family members for the first time.







We were able to spend some quality time enjoying our families near lake Michigan and regroup before heading into the fall semester back at the University.





After we made our trip back across the ferry we landed in Milwaukee and spent a weekend with Drew's family. We were greeted by lots of family members including Drew's cousin Chelle and her two children, Miranda and Gavin, Drew's Aunt Jan and Uncle Mark, Drew's Aunt Jean, Drew's grandma Hollman and Aunt Joan, Drew's grandma and grandpa Montgomery and Collin's Aunts and Uncles- Chris, Amy and Susie.
While in Milwaukee Collin took his first swim in the pool and loved it!

Now featuring: Collin the Cuddler, for a limited time only!

I'm a little behind on updating the blog, so we are going to be rolling in a few weeks worth of activities and milestones in one post. So get ready for the condensed version of Collin's feature film: His Life.



As we approach 3 months things are getting easier and easier. Probably the best advice there is for new parents is the phrase "it only gets easier", which as it turns out, is true. Collin has nearly outgrown his fussiness, except for some small bouts at the witching hour (aka 7 O'clock pm). He hands out smiles now with the fervor of a door-to-door solicitor. All the time we see that cute little face just light up, and honestly, we can't get enough. Smiles really do make a world of difference when parenting. It gives you the sense that you are doing things right, and when you are a new parent the power of positive reinforcement should not be underestimated.

In the world of milestones and development, Collin has also almost figured out neck control. He picks his head up frequently and only once in awhile bobbles so much that he gets 'stuck' with his head tilted back or forward. We've been trying out the Bumbo (with some trepidation), but he seems to really like sitting up and can nearly sit in it himself, with only occasional help from Drew or I.

As he's hitting all these milestone he sure has been voicing his opinion about things too. He's definitely found his voice and loves to coo and goo, sometimes giggle and narrate his interactions. We love hearing the different sounds he makes and try to gather what his voice will sound like when he starts actually talking.

And, while this isn't exactly a milestone, Collin is aging in the 'receding hairline' sense- he's loosing his hair and every day looking more and more like a tiny little old man who's hair is inching further and further back on his scalp. Its cute and ridiculous all at the same time.

As for the summer, we've been making the most of the little bits of it that we have left, and Collin is enjoying exploring his surroundings as we take him to different places. Even at home he is much more interested in looking in mirrors and facing outward when someone is holding him. He even moved up in the world of Baby Bjorn and can now face outward to see what is going on.

This past week Aunt Susie came to stay with us so she can complete the radiology (sp?) portion of her residency here at the U. While she's here to look at x-rays and MRIs, Collin thinks she's here to be one more person in his entertainment entourage. Aunt Susie was able to entertain him enough to have some holding sessions that were cry-free. Yippee! (likely, attributed to Collin's lack of fussiness as he grows!)

Collin also attended his first baseball game, a Saint Paul Saints game to help my friend Kim's favorite charity,(Friends of the Orphans)Neustros Pequenos. When she lived in Mexico she worked for an orphanage that helps hundreds of children and still remains committed to raising money for their cause. Some of the profits from the game went to the Orphanage, so we were happy to attend and help. However, it was a sweltering day and the sun was raging down on us in the bright aluminum (read hot cookie-sheet fashion) bleachers, so we only stayed for an hour or so, for fear of cooking Collin. He's too small for sunblock still so we had to keep him all covered up. For some of the game he slept, but for the other portion he was so slippery with sweat that he was hard to hold on to. Like a little slippery piglet, which was fitting, since the Saints seem to have a soft spot for swine, as we saw one running around the baseball field. Also, there mascot, Mud-donna, is some sort of pig mutant...we're not really sure whats going on with it, but you can see it in one of the photos from the game. Nevertheless, we had a good time and look forward to more baseball games in the future.



Sadly, my time at home alone with Collin is also coming to a close, just as I was getting the hang of it :) I go back to work part time beginning in September, which will be a hard transition for me, but we are happy to welcome Amanda, our new nanny into our home to help with Collin. Collin will be well cared for and hopefully things will become more routine. One thing we are still struggling with is napping in the crib. We're hoping the interaction with Amanda will help solidify sleeping in his crib. Maybe its wishful thinking, but we're running with it until he proves us otherwise.


Parenting, overall, has been such a blessing for us. As Collin gets happier and happier the more he wants to cuddle and explore the world from the crook of my arm, which I absolutely love. I realize before I know it he'll be wanting to do things all himself, so I am enjoying every minute of the sweet cuddle time I get with him.

As we look back at the past three months its amazing to see how far we've come. I can't imagine our lives without Collin and it seems impossible to think that merely three months ago he hadn't even arrived yet. We often try to capture each piece of his happiness with a photo or memory as he grows, for fear of missing some little critical piece that will make the difference when he is older, but the truth of the matter is no matter how hard we try to capture our love for him we'll never be able to keep up, its simply overwhelming, and that, among all of the blessings he brings may be the one we are most thankful for. When the blessing of a baby allows you to open your heart so much that you can't even imagine loving him more, it has to be as close as you can get to a piece of heaven.

Over the river and through the woods...

and on an air plane, over a lake, through the clouds to grandma and papa's house we go....er, went.

Collin has been a very busy boy for the past two weeks.
Just after Collin turned two weeks our family was thrown for a loop with both expected and unexpected events. First, Collin had his vaccinations at his two month appointment. This was expected, but that didn't make it any less difficult. When we got to the doctor's office we talked to our pediatrician and she commented on Collin's development. She seems to think he has advanced motor skills, which is just wonderful, since we have a house full of stairs. But, soon after our conversation was over the nurse came in to give Collin the dreaded shots. He got one oral vaccine (which he took like a champ) and three shots, two in one leg and one in another. I didn't want to be holding him when he got the shots for fear of freaking out myself, so Drew did it. I was across the room, but when he cried out I began to cry too. It was awful! I had never heard that cry from him, it was so intense that he held his breath in between wails making it soooo hard for me to sit back and watch. After he was finished he was very sad, but luckily the only side effect he had was a little bit of extra sleepiness. The day after Collin slept a lot and otherwise was quite happy.

Then, early the next week we got some unexpected news. One of my cousins, Deanna, was tragically shot in a drive by in Kansas City, MO. Sadly, the shot went through her neck and killed her. She and her daughter, along with her mother-in-law were on the way home from a theater and were caught in the line of fire. We could barely believe the news, and truly struggled to understand how someone so loved and caring could be taken from the world so tragically.

The following week, we had more expected events. We made our first trip to Michigan. Collin had his first plane ride on Wednesday, July 30th, 2009 to go visit grandma and papa in Michigan. Every year I go to Michigan to meet up with my friends from high school for a girls only weekend at the lake home in Traverse City. So, while I planned to meet the girls, my parents planned to watch Collin.




While we were in Michigan Collin met more people before I left town. On Thursday we ate dinner with Grandma Herriman and took a 4 generation photograph, as well as with Bob and Aunt Chris. My cousin Tammi, her daughter Shae and husband Lee stopped over to see the baby too. On Friday, the girls came to pick me up to head to Traverse City and I left Collin in the care of my parents and sister, hoping that all would go well.
By the time we got to Traverse City I was already worried. I called home to check on him and found that Collin was doing absolutely wonderful while I was away. I called nearly every three hours and every time my mom let me know he was happy, smiling or sleeping. It was wonderful to hear that he had such a fantastic visit with them.
While in Traverse City, when I wasn't worrying about Collin we were wine tasting and spending time on the beach, as well as throwing Lisa a surprise Bachelorette party.





We had a fantastic time and look forward to spending time on the beach again next year for our annual visit.
Nevertheless, I missed Drew terribly while we were away. I think having Collin has made it substantially more apparent how much we rely on each other, and how much we love each other. I was so happy to see him at the airport when we arrived.
When we got home we were welcomed by our crazy puppy and a few surprise gifts in the mail, one from Drew's great Uncle Dick and Aunt Gloria as well as one from the Komor's in Germany. Colin has his first German friend!
In high school Drew visited Germany with his brother and stayed with the Komor family, since then, the families have kept in touch and they had a baby in April, just before Collin arrived in May. It was fun to get things in German.
The box had Spongebob on it, but it said, Sponge Bob Schwammkopf
All of the adorable clothes we received were size 68, which we later found out meant 6 months. In Europe baby clothes are based on length of the baby in centimeters. They sent lots of adorable items, including a teddy bear and a very cute doggy in a blanket.




They also sent a picture of their adorable baby boy, Victor. In the future we hope to be able to visit them so Collin and Victor can meet and become friends.

So finally, we are now catching up, with Collin turning 11 weeks tomorrow. We can't believe how fast he is growing and how much his little personality is starting to come out.