15 Month Checkup

Colin had his 15 month doctor's visit this week. Some of us were nervous because Colin appears to have a belly and we were worried the doctor would say we were feeding him too much. It turns out that he is steady in the 50th percentile for weight but jumped to the 75th percentile for height. If anything he is tall and skinny versus short and stout. He still has quite the belly though.

Colin is faithfully cheering the Steelers through the season and can hardly wait until the playoffs. Every week we practice his response to "Touchdown Steelers" which is to raise his arms in the TD signal.

In other news, Brian had LASIK surgery yesterday and everything is looking good so far. The ritual burning of the glasses will be held this weekend.

Christmas Spirit

Colin is really enjoying the start of the holiday season. We put up the Christmas tree and decorations last weekend, and Colin had a great time putting the ornaments on the tree. We have heard him exclaim, Ooooooo, when he sees the tree all lit up. The first picture was from Longwood Gardens which is now decorated for Christmas. Maybe he was overwhelmed, but he seemed to get a bigger reaction out of our decorations versus the truly fantastic ones at the Gardens.

In other big news this week, it was "transition week" at day care where they introduce him to the Toddlers room. Colin really loved hanging out with the older kids and there will be no going back to infants starting on Monday. We now officially have a toddler!

Turkey Day

While most people have turkey for Thanksgiving, we took it a step further and had turkeys over for Thanksgiving. Colin was not a big fan of eating turkey but he enjoyed having breakfast with them. We were at my parents house in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving this year and their property backs on to some woods. They enjoy feeding the animals and it is not uncommon that a deer or two are out back. Recently, a rafter of turkeys started visiting my parents. I bet you didn't know that is what a group of turkeys are called. They may be good eating but they are truly ugly, large birds so I decided not to put a picture on the web site. Would you believe there were about 14 birds out back in the morning? Colin was very intrigued.

The rocking chair below was my mothers and apparently I used it as a small tot as well. Here is Colin trying the chair on for size. Colin really enjoyed playing with his grandparents and soaking up all of their undivided attention.

Fun and Games

Since Kristin and I are both working full time, we really try to spend some good quality time with Colin before he has to go to bed each evening. He is often very tired after a long day of day care but he still really wants to play. The games he seems to enjoy the most are just silly little things. For example, these yellow balls were "won" by his dad due to his unique skill at golf. You see, yellow balls might be easier to find when you hit them in the brush as often as I do. They are just little foam balls but Colin loves throwing them or dunking them into the trash can. He can sit in his chair and throw the balls time and time again as we fetch them. Sometimes he even attempts to fake us out with some misdirection throws.

Maybe this is a sign of an early interest in golf. Look out Tiger Woods.

Boustos!

I am a little behind on the blog again. With the excitement of Halloween documented in the last blog entry, we missed talking about our visit to New Jersey to see Nick and Liz DiProspero and their two boys. This was a quick trip up to Northern NJ to spend some time with my college roommate and his family. Colin had a great time playing will all of the toys in the basement. It is hard to say at his age how much he was actually playing with Peter and Andrew. The adults enjoyed Nick's new toy of his movie theater experience. Watch DVD's at home just like the movies with their HD projection system on one entire wall of the basement.

I know this isn't the best picture of the boys, but we just remembered to get a picture at the last minute and Colin did not feel like sitting still. I told the boys to all cry like Colin. Andrew on the left gave us his best fake cry, but Peter was trying to settle everyone down and get things back into control. Thanks for trying Peter.

First Time Trick-or-Treating

Colin had a great time his first time out trick-or-treating! He really took to it like a fish to water. Colin is a very strong willed little boy and he did not want to be carried up to the houses. He wanted to walk up himself carrying his pumpkin just like the older boys and girls. This slowed down the process a bit, so we did not get a big haul of candy, but he did get a lot of attention at each house. Besides he hasn't really had candy and he loves attention.

We visited about 7 or 8 houses and felt that was good enough for him to get the experience and then we went home to see all of our trick-or-treaters. Apparently, Colin was not of the same opinion and he grabbed his pumpkin and headed out for more (by himself if need be). After doing this a couple of times and chasing after him, I finally realized he was not going to call it a night that early so we had to hit a couple of more houses. I think we are in big trouble for the next several Halloweens.

In case it is not obvious from the pictures. Colin went as Pooh's favorite side-kick, the famous Tigger.

Pumpkin' Pickin'

The weekend before last, Colin, Kristin and I headed to the farm to pick out our pumpkin for Halloween. The place we visited was called Ramsey's Farm and they had a number of kid friendly activities. We met another family at the farm and we enjoyed exploring the corn maze. It wasn't too hard to get turned around in the maze but we managed to find our way out. Colin managed to not quite put everything he picked up into his mouth.

Giant Pumpkins

Here is a Bonus Blog post this weekend, so remember that when I miss a week. These pictures are from our visit last weekend to Longwood Gardens for their pumpkin festival. There was a contest for the largest pumpkins and then some carving exhibitions of the aforementioned giant pumpkins. Who knew that pumpkins could exceed 1,000 lbs? The carvings were really quite astounding!

Colin tried to push this giant pumpkin home for his jack-o-lantern but these darn kids would not get off.

Go Steelers!

We have not mentioned it so far this season, but you may be wondering if Colin is still pulling for his favorite team, the Steelers. At his birthday, he received some new outfits from his Grandparents in Pittsburgh to show his support. The Steelers are off to a good start at 4-1 and this week that take on the Bengals. Here is hoping the Bengals continue their losing ways.

Incidentally, we are convinced that he understands "Touchdown Steelers" and knows to put his arms in the air. The Steelers football that sings and talks is a big hit. Tomorrow the Steelers are finally playing again during the day so we can watch the game together.

Brandywine Zoo

We have had some great weekend weather in early October here in the Brandywine Valley. Last weekend we took Colin to his very first visit to the zoo. Colin was very interested in the animals and we heard him utter a few "Ooos". The highlights included a petting area where Colin had a close encounter with a friendly goat and feeding time at the monkey house.

Some of you might find the picture below familiar. There is a picture of Alison and Gavin at the same spot along the Brandywine River. Neither Colin nor my camera were cooperating so this was the best shot I could get.

History Lesson

Last weekend we went to Gettysburg for a nice mini-vacation. Colin and I had never been and it had been a long time since Kristin had been there. It was the special grand re-opening of the cyclodrama exhibit in the new visitors center so there were a few extra things going on. We did not know this when we made our plans. That explains why several hotels were sold out.

I think we will have to go back when Colin is older for him to learn about the Civil War, but he had a great time. He really enjoyed playing in the museum. I hope the other patrons didn't mind his enthusiasm.

There were folks in period costumes all over the place that weekend. Here is some Union Troops in parade formation. I am not sure where those Johnny Rebs ran off too. Probably back to Virginia.

Kids Day

I feel like I am playing a bit of catch up with the blog. Now that Colin is an adorable and active 1 year old, he really has us on the go. These pictures are from the previous weekend, so we will have to wait for any discussion of our mini-vacation to Gettysburg this past weekend.

We had a beautiful weekend in Wilmington and we headed down to the Kids Day event at the Wilmington waterfront. Many of the activities were a bit too old for Colin, but he enjoys being around activity and people and had a great time. Colin picked a winning ducky (they all win) and was rewarded with an inflatable bat to hit daddy.

Here is Colin playing ball and cruising to the music.

Sonia and Garett in Delaware

Not long ago, we had a surprise visit from Sonia and Garett on their way back from Martha's Vineyard. They were passing through Delaware on I-95 around lunch time and we met them out for a quick bit to eat. Granted Delaware is a small state, but most people only see the 15 miles between NJ and Maryland along I-95. Maybe Delaware will start getting some respect if the next VP is from Delaware. OK, probably not.

It was nice to catch up with Sonia and Garett and great to know that there are more blog readers out there that are not directly related to Colin.

1 Year Old!

Can you believe that I have been doing this blog for one whole year? Ok, not only are we celebrating 1 year of blogging, but most importantly we are celebrating Colin's first birthday. We had a great birthday party down in DC last weekend with both sets of grandparents, 1 great grandparent, an aunt and an uncle and a couple of cousins thrown in for good measure.

Colin had his first taste of icing and was ready to go back for more. He had a great day and was exhausted by the end of the night.

Colin's walking is progressing well and we are really getting to know his personality. This is a very fun age.

Who is about to have a birthday?

Just a very cute picture of Mr. C. We are looking forward to his birthday party this weekend. Colin has been working hard on his walking and plans on impressing everyone. The walking, falling and getting back up really wears him out, although tonight he is really fighting going to bed.

Labor Day Weekend

Trying something new this week. We enjoyed a nice day at the park today and I captured a small segment on video. The exciting news this week is that Colin is just starting to walk. That assumes your definition of walk is taking more than 2 steps in a row without falling.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend.

Niagara Falls

It seems like everyone has been to Niagara Falls before except for me, so I probably don't need to tell you that they are spectacular. We had a very nice visit and took the obligatory Maid of the Mist cruise up to the base of the Falls. Kristin learned which side of the boat provided the best viewing and we were on the upper level right on the rail. The last two pictures give you a sense of what it was like when we were getting close. Colin didn't join us for this trip, but he was just as happy visiting a small beach on the shore of Lake Ontario that afternoon.

Can you believe that Colin will be 1 year old in about 3 weeks?

Back from Vacation

We are back from our vacation to Niagara Falls. This was the best vacation of Colin's entire life and he is not looking forward to going back to the every day routine. He was happy when we arrived home after a 10 hour drive yesterday. You could tell he remembered home and was happy to be back.

We rented a cottage on the Canadian side of the Falls in Niagara-on-the-Lake with Kristin's parents and her sister's family. It was a very nice little community right on Lake Ontario and made for a good home base for our daily excursions. In addition to the trip to the Falls (which I will cover with a separate blog entry) we spent a day at Marineland, visited Ft. George, went to an indoor water park, and learned how ships get around the Falls.

Colin did not join us on our boat ride to the Falls. It was very wet, loud and windy. Maybe we will visit again when he is older.

This is Ft. George which was captured by the Americans during the War of 1812.

Here is Colin playing with his cousins in the house.

DiProspero Visit

Exciting weekend! This weekend we are having several visitors. Last night, Nick and Liz DiProspero came to visit on their way down to DC. It was their first chance to meet Colin. They left the boys at home so Colin did not get to meet them. We will have to head up to New Jersey soon and check out their basement with the home theater system.

Right now, Kristin's parents, Aunt, Uncle and cousins are on their way up to visit. More picture opportunities for the blog!

Comfortable?

Yes. He was really sleeping like this. This can't be comfortable, can it?

Five Teeth

Regular readers of this blog might be saying by now, "It looks like Colin has some teeth now. I wonder how many?" OK, maybe no one is saying that, but I wanted to update the blog and this seemed as good a topic as any. His bottom two teeth came first. They are completely in and fully functional. It seemed like he was teething with the tops for some time. They took forever to come through. If you look closely, you can see that he has three top teeth through the surface. One is bigger than the others which has led to the nickname Snaggletooth. I hope that name does not catch on in school.

I am giving Colin credit for having 5 teeth.

4th of July

Happy July 4th everyone!

We really enjoyed having the long weekend for the July 4th holiday. We drove down to DC on the 4th and enjoyed spending some time at Aunt Alison and Uncle Dan's place. Here is a picture of the cousins ready for all of the BBQ and partying that is typical for the 4th of July. That evening we went to the club but Colin did not make it up long enough to see the fireworks. Maybe next year.

The following day we took Kristin's Dad as a delayed Father's Day gift to the Tiger Wood's invitational golf tournament (without Tiger Woods) known as the AT&T National. The weather cooperated and we enjoyed the day watching the event. The crowds were a bit smaller than last year without you know who in the event.

Now back to work and day care!

Colin with Grandparents

OK, so this picture of Colin with his Grandparents was from last weekend, but not much exciting happened this week to create photo ops with Colin. He is continuing to make steady progress in all areas and his new found mobility is allowing for new discoveries just about every day. Just yesterday, he found the spring doorstop in his room. That made for a fun toy but it can come off. You don't really think about them, but they are in about every room of the house and Colin keeps finding new ones. He always heads for the thing most likely to get him in trouble.

We are excited a for the short week this week, although Kristin has a pretty tough 4 days.

Gavin's Birthday Party

This weekend we went down to Virginia to celebrate cousin Gavin's 4th birthday. It was a big blowout and fortunately we had great weather. The kids were able to play in the pools, the slip and slide and even in the moon bounce in the front yard. Colin seemed to be a bit awed by the whole spectacle. He seemed to have more fun once the party died down and he was able to play with the birthday boy and crawl around the house. Colin is really coming around with his crawling in one short week and now heads directly for the thing which will cause the host harm or mess.

Here is Colin with the birthday boy. Happy 4th Birthday Gavin!

Swing Set

Here is a picture of Colin enjoying his new swing set. We think he likes swinging. What do you think? A special thank you to Aunt Alison who entered Colin in a raffle drawing for the swing set. Swing sets are the outdoor accessory of choice in our neighborhood as you can tell from the pictures. I am sure he will have many years of fun on the new swing set.

Father's Day at Air Show

Happy Father's Day!

Colin celebrated Father's Day by bringing his Dad to the New Garden Air Show. We arrived just in time to see a stunt pilot go through many death defying maneuvers.

This was a big week for Colin. He had his 9 month check up at the doctor's office and is now just an oz shy of 20 lbs and is 28 inches tall. This puts Colin squarely at the 50th percentile. Our boy is average! Colin typically makes strides when seeing the doctor, and this time was no different. This weekend we are crediting Colin with crawling for the first time and he is attempting to feed himself from the tray. Still plenty of work in both areas, but we are encouraged after being so close to crawling for so long.

Erin Visit

This weekend our friend Erin came up to visit. We followed through on our plans to visit Longwood Gardens even with the excessive heat. You might have figured out that we bought a season pass so be forewarned that we may take you to Longwood Gardens if you come to visit. It was just too hot for picture taking so here is a much more pleasant picture from the air conditioned house.

Colin has hit a few milestones this week in preparation for his next doctor's visit. He is frequently sitting up on his own and he is able to stand next to the couch holding on for decently long stretches. The crawling is still not going well, but we think he will have that down soon. He tends to go backwards which leaves him a bit frustrated.

Also, Kristin made it through her first full week of work in Wilmington!

Balloon

Colin was such a good boy getting his passport photo, he was rewarded with a balloon at the CVS. This was quite a hit! He held on to this balloon for close to 2 hours. Even when it was time to eat, he held on to the balloon. We will have to remember this the next time we are in Babies-R-Us thinking about buying a toy. We should just go buy a pack of balloons. Of course, once he finds out what happens if you are too rough with a balloon, it might be a different story.

In case you are wondering, Colin isn't going far for his first vacation. We are heading to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls in August.

Longwood Gardens

Happy Memorial Day everyone! We are having wonderful weather here in Southeastern PA. Kristin, Colin and Brian decided to head up to Longwood Gardens for the afternoon for a nice stroll around the Gardens. We did not realize it was their Fireworks and Fountains day. With the great weather, the place was packed! We are members so we are able to get in for free along with a couple of family members. So, if you come visit we can go and you can be part of our family.


Believe it or not, this adorable little child is being very fussy right now, so I have to run.