Wright Brothers Memorial

I am back to catching up on pictures taken over the holidays. While we were on the Outer Banks, we had a fun morning trip to the Wright Brothers Memorial. Colin enjoyed learning about the first flight and exploring the museum. I remember that he was very vocal that morning. The way he behaves you would think we never let him out of the house.

Colin loved his daily excursions out of the beach house. Unfortunately, the only way to get him to take his nap was after a busy morning and a car ride. Kristin spent some relaxing time in the car in the driveway while Colin was asleep in this car seat.

Pittsburgh's Going to the Super Bowl!

Here we go, Steelers, Here we go... Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl!

Colin was in the spirit right before the big game with not one but two Terrible Towels. We are very excited that the Steelers were able to knock off the hated Baltimore Ravens and earn a chance to compete for their 6th Super Bowl title. It was a special day for young and old Steeler fans alike. You can bet that Colin will be wearing his lucky Steelers outfit on Super Bowl Sunday.

Here we go Steelers, Here we go!

Colin's First Trip to the Beach

After Christmas, we headed down to the Outer Banks for the annual William and Mary New Years Eve event. We have missed the past couple of years but this tradition has continued uninterrupted since 1999-2000. This was Colin's first time to the beach. Normally, this is not a good time of year to be on the beach in NC without at least some warm clothing, but we really lucked out this year. Our first full day there was around 70 and all of the kids were able to go out to the beach and play. Colin wasn't sure what to make of it and we pretty sure he tasted both sand and shells on purpose.

Here is a picture of all the kids. Note that the oldest of 7 is only 6 years old. Colin was the youngest by 1 week.
Since I know they read this blog occasionally, so I will say, "We missed you Cheeks and hope to see you next year!".

Christmas Evening

I know I am running about 3 weeks behind, but I have a number of pictures worth posting from the holidays. These pictures are from Christmas evening at dinner. The kids had a great time playing over at Gavin and Keira's Grandma's place. Colin especially enjoyed the ice cream after dinner. A special treat that he does not get from his parents. The kids had a fun game keeping the dads out of one of the bedrooms. You should have heard Colin laughing and screaming. He had such a great time!

Christmas 2008

Due to the hectic holiday season, updates to the blog have been severely lacking. Never fear. I received a new camera for Christmas and I have plenty of pictures. I may be writing about Christmas and New Years into February to post all of the great shots.

Christmas 2008 was a different experience as compared to last year, because Colin could grasp the concept of presents and new toys. The second annual "Kippmas" was held on Christmas Eve and Colin really enjoyed his new gifts. He especially loved the dog shown in the picture. It barks and pants as he pulls it around the room. Colin can even say a variation of dog consistently enough that we know what he is saying. Colin probably did not realize it at the time that Christmas was just beginning.

On Christmas morning, we went over to Dan and Alison's place to open presents with Colin's cousins. Just going over to their place is an adventure with all of the toys, so adding Christmas to the mix just elevated the excitement level. Colin really enjoys playing with his cousins. Here are the three kids will all of the gifts. Santa seems to be coming through the recession OK.

To be continued on the next blog...

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!