A River Runs Through It

We just arrived home from a lovely afternoon at the park. The weather is insanely beautiful today and we had a great time. Colin had fun running in his awesome new sneakers that I bought at Stride-Rite yesterday. He measured for a 6.5 wide width. Colin has HUGE feet. He is getting taller and leaner and his feet are just so big!!

While at the park, we decided to walk through the trails in the woods and came across a stream. I ended up with this shot of Jer and Colin which I think is amazing. You just have to click on it to see it big and up close. I am going to cherish this picture for a very long time.

Running Man!

The high yesterday was in the 60's!!!! Oh, the glory! After lunch I took Colin to one of the parks in our neighborhood and we will be going back there for sure. This one is completely enclosed by a gate and is not too large. It has a basketball court attached to it, which Colin had an absolute blast running around. He loves a new wide open space more than anything! There was a puddle on the court that he stomped in and plenty of room to run. I love the second picture above...I kept trying to take his picture running and that was the best I could get. It really sums up Colin perfectly. :-) I plan to get a ball this weekend that we can take to kick around. I think he would really like that. The brisk temps forced me into putting socks on with Colin's sandals. Not exactly stylish. The tennis shoes that I bought him at Target don't work. They are too bulky and big and hard to walk in. He needs wide width shoes and I am going to have to take time out this weekend to find some good ones for fall. He needs light weight, sturdy shoes with a sole that actually bends, just like his nice sandals. I think I am headed back to Stride-Rite.

I am "SO OLD".

We have had two days of rain here and two days of trying to find fun things to do that don't involve a park. Yesterday Colin slept in until 7:30am (which might as well be noon to us) and therefore took only one nap. I took him to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and to play in their playroom. He is obviously still too small to actually climb in those, but he loves to watch other kiddos. We sat facing the kids and Colin and I shared a lunch. Afterwards we went into the playroom, which is closed off from the dining room. I was the only mom inside and a little boy immediately walked up to me. The following conversation ensued:

Boy: Hi. I'm 5.

Me: Wow! What a big boy!

Boy: My little brother is 3.

Little Brother: I am THREE!! THREE! THREE! THREE!

Me: You are both big boys!

Boy: My mom and dad are getting married. Again. (rolls eyes)

Me: well. that is nice. (shifts in seat)

Boy: You look a lot younger than my mom.

Me: OH. MY. ER.

Boy: How old are you?

Me: I am 31.

Boy: (immediately becomes pale and his jaw slacks to the floor) 31?!?!?! That is SOOO OLD.

Me: I know. It really is.

Boy: Yeah. REALLY.

I laughed almost the whole way home. I especially loved finding out his parents were getting married. Again. ;-)

I HEART NAPS

Naps are my nemesis. Colin has been belligerently tired for days now. He has been crying, fussy, and generally extremely unhappy. This is not like Colin in the least and I have been so worried about him. It seemed that every day without two naps, things just got worse. Yesterday was a particularly rough day with Colin and I both so physically exhausted that the memory of the day is hazy. Today, I woke up on a mission. I decided that Colin was taking a morning nap and I was going to do everything that I could to make it happen. He woke up for the day at 6:20am and I put him down for his nap at 9:00. He protested loudly. I went back in a couple of times to replace his pacifier that he had thrown angrily across the room. After 30 minutes, I took his clean blankets out of the dryer and took them into his crib. It was so funny...he cried for another 30 seconds, realized that I had given him deliciously toasty warm clean blankies, and fell promptly to sleep. He slept for two solid hours. He woke up in a wonderful mood! We had lunch together and got our Monday grocery shopping all done with no problems. Colin was adorable and happy for the whole trip, even back to showing his dimples to anyone who would look at him. We got home and after putting all the groceries away, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try for his regular afternoon nap too. He went right down. I was really blown away. He then slept for almost two more hours. The poor little man was beyond exhausted. After waking up, he was a joy all evening. He let me cook dinner, played with his Daddy and Enzo, and laughed all night long. He ate a nice big dinner, did not cry at all, and then went right to bed at 7:30 0n the dot. So what does this mean? I DON'T KNOW! I am so confused. I just don't know where we are heading with this. I will be putting Colin down again tomorrow for the morning nap on time and play the day by ear. He was obviously in desperate need for sleep. I get the feeling that he is probably going to go back to the old schedule until he is well rested again and then go back to fighting two naps. I guess this will work itself out, but I sure do hope it does not take too long. It is hard to plan our days when I don't know what naps are going to be like, not to mention that when Colin does not nap properly, he is in such a fussy mood that I can't really run errands like I normally would. Not to mention that the poor baby is wearing himself out. I guess time will tell.