Catching Up

Oh gracious...I am so behind. I had good intentions when I started this blog - I really did! A lot has changed with Colin since I last did his 6 month post. I'm not going to break this down month by month, but I'll just update you on what he's doing these days.

• He's crawling and pulling up, which means he's getting into everything! He can crawl on hands and knees, but when he wants to get somewhere really fast, he does the army crawl where he just uses his arms to pull his body around. He tries to pull up on everything, which has led to several tumbles when he's tried to pull up on unsteady things.
• He's got two teeth - his front two bottom teeth. He's had both of these since about 8 months, so I'm really expecting another one to come through anytime. He's recently learned that these two teeth can be used for biting. Oh joy!
• He is saying mama, dada, and many other baby words like baba, gaga, and on and on.
• He likes to open his mouth, make noise, and for someone to pat their hand over his mouth like a little Indian. So cute!
• He eats like a grown person. I used to have to share my food with Jackson (our dog), but now whenever I sit down to eat, Jackson comes running and Colin comes crawling. I haven't found anything that he doesn't like yet. Let me rephrase that - I haven't found anything that he won't eat yet. I think he eats it even if he doesn't like it. He eats his baby food and anything and everything off our plates. He loves to drink out of a cup. You better not even think about drinking from a cup in front of him and not letting him get a sip. He thinks he's grown. Sheesh!
• He is a climber! He tries his best to climb up and over the couch. He recently learned that when unbuckled in the stroller, he can turn around, pull up, and climb up the stroller. Oh yes - we're in for it, I know!
• He loves remotes. Such a guy thing!
• He and Jackson are getting along much better now. I think Jackson just tolerates him, but Colin smiles when we come in the house and he sees Jackson. I can put him on the floor and Jackson will come up and give him some kisses, but then he's done. Colin wants to pet him, or better yet, pull his hair. Jackson's not a big fan of the hair pulling, so he usually keeps his distance from Colin.
• Colin loves to play peek-a-boo, but he wants to be the one covering his face. If I give him a blanket, he will hold it up in front of his face. I'll say, "Where's Colin?!" And then he will pull the blanket down and have this big cheesy grin on his face. I love it!
• He is a momma's boy, but he loves play time with his daddy. He will cry when I leave the room, but thankfully, he gets over it quick and will usually let most anyone hold him or play with him. This is nice when I need a break. Don't be offended by his blank or serious face when you try to talk to him. He does it to everybody. He really is a happy baby though!
• He loves the pool! That is the one place where he can splash and we don't have to worry about the water getting in his ears due to the tubes. So he splashes and splashes!
• We've lowered the crib all the way down, and he is sleeping through the night. He goes down about 9 and wakes up anywhere between 6 and 7. I feed him and then if we don't have anywhere to be, he can sleep till about 8:30 or 9. He's not a great napper. If I lay down with him, he can sleep for a good 2-3 hours at a time. If I lay him down by himself, he only sleeps about 45 minutes to an hour. On a good day, he will take 2 naps. He fights sleep pretty hard during the day, so it's pretty challenging and time consuming to put him down for a nap. I'm up for any suggestions! :)
• At his 9 month appointment he weighed 20 pounds. It will be time to get a new car seat soon. Still researching convertible car seats. I want a good, safe one, but for a reasonable price too. Baby stuff is expensive!

So that's what's going on with Colin these days. He will be 10 months on July 7. It's going by so fast. The planning for the first birthday party has begun! I'm excited, but that almost makes me want to cry. Where is the time going?? I am trying to savor every moment!

7 Months Old - April 7, 2011

Checking out his Easter basket!

8 Months Old - May 7, 2011

Jackson showing Colin some love!

His first beach trip! He loved the sand!

Loves the pool!

9 Months Old - June 7, 2011

Happy boy!

Riding on the golf cart at camp!

I loved this shot! Not to sure about that camera.

My sweet, sweet baby boy! Love him so much!

Colin and Caden

Mom, Dad, Colin, and I went to my Grandma Joyner's house for Easter weekend. It was nice to see a lot of family and Colin got to meet his newest cousin Caden who is 10 weeks old. Colin was sooo interested in Caden. He wanted to touch him and kiss him and he kept smiling at him. Caden was a good sport letting Colin love all over him!

Caden was not into the picture taking at first. I love how Colin is looking at him, trying to figure out why he's crying!

This is my favorite picture! I love how Colin is smiling at Caden in this picture. So precious.

6 Months Old

Colin was 6 months old on March 7. Yes, I know it's March 26, but better late than never, right?! I am really loving this age/stage that he's in right now! It is so much fun! Right now his favorite times of the day are first thing when he wakes up, bath time, and of course anytime when there is food involved! I hate leaving for work in the mornings because he is so happy and in such a good mood. It definitely makes Saturday mornings so much sweeter! He is loving bath time! Mom has a bath tub that he is able to sit up in and he LOVES it! He splashes and splashes. He is saying "da da" really well. He only says "ma ma" when he is upset. Go figure! He is loving solid foods. Peaches and sweet potatoes are his favorite so far. He's rolling over occasionally, but lots of times he just content to lay however we put him down. When he's on his stomach, he can scoot pretty good so I'm just waiting for the day when he learns to crawl. Don't think it will be long! No teeth yet. He has been chewing and gnawing and drooling for so long it seems, but I haven't seen any white poking through yet. All in all, Colin is a very happy baby and we are having so much fun watching his little personality develop!

This was the beginning of "I'm going to try and get that camera!"

Books, Books, and More Books!

Maybe it's the mom in me, maybe it's the teacher in me, maybe it's the fact that I love spending time in Barnes and Noble. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm a sucker for buying Colin books! I sure hope he likes to read when he gets older because he already has quite a collection of books. I enjoy reading to him, but right now all he really cares about is trying to grab the pages and put them in his mouth!

Sitting Up

I am extremely behind on updating my blog, but I wanted to still document these things. Colin has been doing the tripod sitting up thing where he had to put his hands down in front of him since about 5 - 5.5 months. A couple of days past 6 months he figured out he could sit up without using his hands for support. He likes that a lot better because now he can play with his toys while he's sitting up. It's so crazy how fast he's growing and how fast things are changing with him! Love him to pieces!

Look Mom! No hands!!

Colin and Carter

Carter (Glenn's brother's son) is about 2 months younger than Colin. They are now both getting to the age that they are interacting with people, toys, etc. Will and Sasha came over to Washington for lunch a couple of weekends ago, and Colin and Carter got a chance to see each other. Carter was intrigued by the video camera and Colin didn't seem too happy about having to share the attention with his cousin. Spoiled rotten!

5 Months Old

I feel like I say the same thing every month, but man, time sure is flying!!! Colin was 5 months old on February 7, but it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. He is growing so much, so fast. He is rolling over from his tummy to his back. He is making more sounds and experimenting a lot with his voice. When he gets upset and is starting to cry he says "mama", but I know he has no idea what that means or who that is at this point. He still is not sleeping good. We are getting up 2 times a night, most nights. He has been sick since he was a month old, and is still sick. We took him to the doctor right around his 5 month birthday because he started coughing so hard he was throwing up. That lasted about a week and still occasionally he has a bad coughing spell. We've got albuterol syrup to help with the cough. Unfortunately, he is still very congested. He sounds like a pig when he breaths because he is so stopped up. I really think it's allergies since it's lasted this long, but they say there is nothing we can give him for that until he is 6 months old. So I'm hoping that at his 6 month check-up we can get some allergy medicine to try. All that to say, I'm hoping that when he finally kicks this "cold" he will start sleeping better. He loves his bouncy seat and has really started to like his taggie blanket. I'm wondering since he doesn't take a pacifier if he will want to take this little blanket everywhere. He is still doing good with solid foods. I'm hoping to start introducing vegetables this weekend. I think I'm going to start with sweet potatoes and see how it goes. I love my little boy. I wanted trade my sleep deprived life for anything! Here are a few 5 month pictures. Enjoy!

Baby Recognition Sunday at our church.

I thought this was a funny shot! Spread eagle! :)