Colin the almost 3 year old

We started a sticker chart for the potty for Colin last week and I don't  want to jinx it, but it's really working! Colin has been wearing undies the last week and tells me when he needs to go and then goes! It's like it's all a sudden clicked with him and he definitely loves the incentive of the stickers and eventual treat...let's hope this stays!! 

Colin's language continues to grow and he really converses/talks so much now. 

He really is quite the backseat driver and whenever we are in the car he always wants to know where we are going and how we are getting there. He even notices if I go a different way, just today I took a different exit to his gymnastics class, which we only go to once a week, and he asked if I'd gone the wrong way! I think he's got his mommys innate sense of direction :) it's also been a good opportunity to teach him left,right straight and behind as he is always asking which way we are going. 

 He is also repeating a lot of what we say so we have to be extra careful of our curse words now! Otherwise...repeat! He also repeats so many phrases I say to him.. just today he repeated shortly after me "that's correct!" to a different subject then what I had said that to... when he wants my attention besides saying "Scuse me" he'll say "look into mine eyes" because I apparently say something similar to him when I'm trying to get him to listen/pay attention. He really is pretty hilarious at this age, of course he also has his extremely stubborn moments and getting him dressed nowadays can be a challenge...luckily not because he has a preference in his clothes, just getting him to sit still is the challenge...he does definitely like to pick out his socks, undies and shoes, the rest I luckily still get to pick out. 

All in all I really love this age. I hope to document as much as I can on this blog, it's nice to look back at different ages and I think will be interesting to compare what his brother will be like at similar ages. 

The sticker chart

A much needed haircut

Visit to Santa, no tears or hesitation for the 3rd year in a row! 

Almost 31 week belly

In between in Florida

Our Florida trip was filled with lots of play dates, family and friend time. It's a little exhausting but I try to squeeze in as much as I can because our days are much harder to fill in LR. I was to come back for the sole reason to see Evan, it'd been 11 days since we saw him, entirely too long.I love being home in Florida when he's here with me but not as much when he's not.
We are in such a weird limbo stage this year, when we come home to the house In lutz it's like we never left...our rooms are untouched and have all our belongings, Colin sleeps in his old crib and plays with many of his toys we left behind. He knows exactly where everything is.
In Little Rock, we have our house with new belongings but don't spend much trying to make it a place we will be long term.
I had to get creative for Christmas this year, with an almost 3 year old in the house, the holidays are magical but we don't have any of our Christmas decorations in LR. So I hit up the dollar store and have the house decorated pretty well for less than $100,not bad! I'll write a separate post about what kind of Christmas celebrations we've been up to since we got back. Here are some snapshots of our time back in Florida.

Fishing

We had a great time on the boat today. We were out for about 3 hours and it was the first time Colin and I had been on the boat since June. Colin loves going out on the boat and demands to go "faster faster" and also loves when there are big waves to bounce over. I love watching Colin and and Evan interact in the boat together. Colin is still very busy at almost 3, but the boat keeps him plenty occupied. He loves doing things like helping Daddy with the anchor, catching the bait out of the bait well with the small net, and of course reeling in his line. Today was the first time Evan put a hook on his little pole. Colin would help get the shrimp and after Daddy would bait and cast, he'd hold the pole and reel. He kept asking to reel it in " faster faster" but we were trying to teach him some lessons in patience by watching his bobber and waiting for the fish. He ended up catching two fish and reeled them in all on his own. He also has no qualms about touching the fish ( unlike his Mom) and grabbed the fish right away when it came out of the water. The same went for the bait fish, if one fell on the boat deck he had no problems scooping it up with his hand and putting it back in the well. I love that Colin will grow up on the water and it's one of our top reasons to come back to Florida when Evan finishes fellowship. It's been so nice for all of us to be back here this week, Colin is happier, Evan is happier and I'm happier.

Indoor time

With the time change recently, it's left us little to no outside play time in the afternoon/ early evenings. Our routine as of late was this: Colin naps till anywhere between 4-4:30 and then slowly likes to wake up by watching some cartoons after nap. We then would head out for a good hour of bike riding to the playground. Since it's now darker a whole hour earlier it is almost dark by the time Colin is ready to play outside...so we've been trying to find more indoor activities. Today it was painting with water colors. Colin seems to really enjoy these projects and is very enthusiastic when I suggest them. He's also very proud of his artwork that he brings home from school and likes to see them hanging on our fridge.

Gymnastics class

A few shots of Colin at his gymnastics class. He goes every Wednesday and has a a lot of fun!

No fear

Colin has demonstrated time and time again that he is one fearless kid. At the fair, he's pointing to all the adult fast rides wanting to go on them. A scary surprise dinosaur leaps out at us during a haunted hay ride that has his mom shrieking and he doesn't even bat an eye. He'll try anything that might look remotely daunting to a 2 year old and then ask to go again and again.
But, he is a sensitive little guy, if he thinks anything is hurting he gets upset...a train falling off a cliff in his cartoon or a stuffed animal getting his arm ripped off in his book tonight will bring tears,until I reassure him it's ok. It's the sweetest thing.
Another sweet thing he does that I want to remember is when he accidentally hurts mommy ( which with his rough housing can happen at least once a day) the second I say "ouch you hurt mommy" he immediately will stop and say " I sorry mommy I sorry don't cry" and rub his hand wherever my boo boo is. Sometimes he will even go get his dr kit and help my "boo boo" feel all better.
This kid, he's really the best.

Halloween 2013

Colin had a fun, busy Halloween. He spent the morning at his school, where he got to dress up, eat cupcakes and watch Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. For the school morning, he dressed up as Buzz Lightyear, which is a costume Id saved from last year.
Then for Halloween night he'd told me the last few weeks he wanted to be a "piwate!" . He never changed his mind and a pirate he was. He practiced his "arrs" and "happy Halloween"and "trick or treats"and was ready to go. We'd been reading about Halloween night for a few weeks so he definitely knew the fun that was about to be had.
We headed over to a party at a friends house where we ate, played and answered the door for other trick or treaters. We then headed out around our friends neighborhood, hitting up about 10 houses before heading home. When we got home, I extended the fun a little bit and we went for one more trip around our block, I didn't want the fun to end for him! It was so cute! A big success!!

In the middle of it

I read a quote tonight that went something like this..remember,when you're in the middle of it, there's good on the horizon.
I see babies on tv or in person and get sooo excited at the thought of another little one.
But I'll admit I'm also scared....scared for the hard work I now know a newborn takes, scared of how I will feel if breastfeeding doesn't work out again, scared of the sleep deprivation, scared of having a "hard baby", scared that the postpartum depression will come again, scared ill constantly compare the baby to Colin.
But all those fears? I know this time...there's good on the horizon.
 When you have your first baby, you think they'll be in their current stage forever and if it's a stage you are struggling with, it sucks.
But now I know, if I'm having a bad day, week or month as we adjust to being a family of four, there's good on the horizon. Because those first few months of adjusting to a new baby( or who knows maybe a shorter time since I wont be adjusting to the whole shock of motherhood, I already know what it's all about), well that baby does grow, and if he turns out to bring me as much joy as Colin, there's definitely good on the horizon. I just have to remember when I'm in the thick of it!

6 month bump

24 weeks pregnant today. Feeling lots of kicking from this little guy, who is still nameless.
pS that's my vein on my side in the last pic, still no stretch marks ( fingers crossed)

Morning at the Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we headed out to Motley's Farm in southwest Little Rock for a morning at the pumpkin patch. Colin had a blast feeding the animals, going down the slide over and over, going on the hay ride and cow train, and picking out pumpkins. It was a nice couple of hours and it was a treat to wear our jackets in the crisp fall weather and to have Evan with us. If you want to see last year's trip, click here.

watching the pig races

feeding the sheep

there's a pumpkin in my belly

at the top of the hay stack waiting to go down the slide

riding the cow train