Saturday, July 28, 2012

Brave Girl

This morning, I took Sydney to her very first movie, the Disney/Pixar cartoon Brave! She did great. She sat in her own chair some, sat in my lap some and stood in front of our chairs some. She wasn't scared at the parts that I thought for sure would scare a 2-year-old, and she fell asleep on my lap the last 10 minutes. The ticket taker gave her some Brave stickers, which really made her day (we are VERY into stickers right now.)

She loved how big the theater was, and it worked out nicely that there were only two other people there. A 10:10 a.m. showtime at the older theater in our town isn't exactly popular. My only complaint is that there were SIX previews before the movie started. I was hoping with the likelihood of young kids in the audience, they would just get on with it, and I kept telling Sydney "one more commercial and then we'll see the pretty red-headed princess" --- I was wrong a lot.

Sydney's favorite movie at home right now is Annie, and she goes to a movie with Oliver Warbucks and Grace Ferrell at one point. Sydney has been begging to go ever since starting to watch that movie. I really thought she was too little, and even though she moved around a lot and fell asleep at the end, she had the best time. As we were leaving she said "Mommy, that was SO fun." That's about all I need for a good day! We went for nuggets at McD's and then came home. She's napping now, and we'll be headed to swim at the lake when she wakes up.

During all this girl time, Collin took a nap and then he and Daddy went to Walmart to get a few things to take for a dinnertime lake picnic. This was the first time he rode in the cart like a big boy, and Randall texted me this great photo. (Side note: Our son has a very long tongue and he loves showing it. Such a crack-up!)
Randall will take Collin to his first movie when the time comes. We thought about getting a babysitter so we could both go but decided against that. I really enjoyed the mommy/daughter morning, and I think Randall was OK with a quiet house for a couple of hours. By the way, the movie is very cute, even for adults. It comes highly recommended, whether you're 2 or 30. I even teared up at the end. :)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Sir Laughs-a-Lot

I told Randall tonight that it's very important to take videos of your children because when they become famous and VH1 wants to do a documentary about their lives, they will surely ask for childhood footage. We don't have big plans for our kids at all, do we? ;-)

This first video of Collin from last week demonstrates how easy it is for Sydney to make him laugh. And she's such a trooper --- if one thing gets a laugh, she will do it over and over and over and over. It's awesome that she gets as much enjoyment out of his laughter as he does!


This next video is the best. Last night, Randall was throwing a big plastic cup up in the air, catching it and putting it down on the counter. That's it. I so wish I could be that easy to please. I could watch this video for hours.



The last video is a short snippet of Collin eating dinner this evening. I hadn't documented how well he's been doing with the spoon. Tonight's food choice was sweet potatoes and corn mixed together. This was a new combo for him, and he loved it. I'm reminded every time we feed him that I really need to get some plastic bibs that don't have pink all over them. Bless his heart --- second child syndrome is going to be a very real thing if we don't straighten up. :)



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Six months!

Collin is six months old today, and it's pretty amazing to see how much he has changed and grown recently! I can't wait to get his height and weight stats at his appointment next week.

Collin is now a pro sitter - doesn't need a pillow behind him anymore - and he's had all kinds of food! The only ones he dislikes so far are peas and squash. Favorites include bananas, pears, carrots, applesauce and yogurt. He also loves prunes, but we learned the hard way that we must limit that intake (yuck!) :)

He is still the sweetest, easiest baby ever, and he sleeps from 7 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. during the week (because we have to wake him up for school) and he'll often sleep til 8 or 8:30 on the weekends. I am grateful every single day that we have good sleepers. I hear stories from other parents at their school, and I don't know how I'd make it with some of their children!

In addition to sitting, Collin is rolling all over the place, and his legs are working like crazy, trying to figure out how to crawl. I'm in no hurry for this stage, but I can tell he desperately wants to be able to chase Sydney around. They are still the best of friends, and I love seeing them play together. No one can make him laugh like she can!

Collin is wearing 9 month clothes and filling those out quite well. His hair is growing slowly but surely and it's looking lighter everyday. Could I really end up with two blondies?! How unexpected and hilarious that would be.

Life with two has become so much easier now that Collin is out of the infant stage. I am LOVING this age for both of them. Sydney is hilarious and keeps us on our toes, and she's also a huge help with her baby bro.

Happy half birthday to our sweet son!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Baby, You're a Firework

We celebrated Independence Day last night with a firework show at a big park in a neighboring city ... and many people had the very same idea! It turned into a pretty crazy evening with a 2.5-year-old and 5-month-old (and R is fighting a bad cold), but we accomplished what we set out to do. And I must say, our family looked the part in all our red, white and blue! The kids both loved the fireworks - Collin was mesmerized - it was the getting there and getting home that involved some whining and fussing in the car. We didn't get home until almost 11, so this was one more bit of proof that my anal-about-their-schedule ways aren't totally for nothing ;-)
Look how well I'm sitting up!
Maybe the only time I stood still for half a second from running and dancing :)

My  attempt to get their photo together wasn't a complete success, but here's what we managed to get before we left the house.


Can you believe how much Sydney changes from one July 4th to the next?! Here she is in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Holy smokes.


And since it was his very first July 4th, it seems appropriate to end with my favorite picture of him from the night. I also love his onesie --- I feel like this kid really could eat up some BBQ! :)