HE CAN WALK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it!!! Even as I type this, I can't believe it!!! COLIN CAN WALK!!! I don't even have words to describe how excited we are tonight! What a great day! Let me start at the beginning...we spent the day with some of our best friends and their families. Jeff and Nat brought their kiddos over and we went swimming at the big pool. Ellen, Wes and Aubrey joined us all for dinner and we ended up getting take-out at Babe's because it was packed and the babies were not having an hour wait in the hot sun. We took the food back over to Ellen and Wes' place and had a great meal. Afterwards we were all hanging out, having a few drinks and lounging around. Colin has been standing up like a champ and walking around holding our hands for weeks now. In the past few days, Jer and I will sit apart from each other and encourage him to walk back and forth. He has gotten two steps in before he then falls. Well, tonight that all changed!! We were sitting on Ellen's living room floor and Jer and I were FAR from each other. He just took off!! It was amazing!! He walked back and forth for about an hour, with us moving farther and farther away. At one point, he started making turns and going away from us in a completely different direction!!!!!!!!!!!! HE WALKS!!! It was truly the most amazing sight I have ever seen. My little baby walked all around all by himself!!!!!!! What a champ!! The best part was that we got to experience the moment surrounded by our best friends. They were all there to witness history and they were all cheering and clapping for him. I could not pick a better way to experience a milestone. Luckily we had the camera and Ellen got the pics above. I will be getting some video asap! What a wonderful and special day...I will never forget it!

Happy 11 Months, Colin!

My sweet little man is 11 months old today! Yea, Colin!! There have been so many changes in the last month...he can take 3 or 4 steps on his own before he falls and loves to stand up all the time. He crawls all around the house now and is getting into everything he can get his hands on! He sleeps through the night (most of the time!) and takes three 8 oz bottles a day along with three meals of solids. He loves to feed himself and this month he has tried (and loved!) cheese cubes, deli meats, guacamole, chicken nuggets, french fries, watermelon, cantaloupe, peas, carrots, peaches, mac and cheese, all kinds of bread and tasted of just about every dinner that I have made. I gave him his first taste of regular milk today in a sippie cup...not a fan. I am going to have to move slowly with that one and let him develop a taste for it. He loves water, so I think he was just thrown off by the taste of milk coming from his sippie that is normally full of water. He drinks soy formula, but has no problem with cheese, eggs, or yogurt, so I am hoping that stomach wise he will be okay. Jer is a little worried on that front...he remembers how hard the cows milk formula was on him and how much he spit up. The pedi seemed confident that it would be okay, so I am staying positive. He did not really taste enough today to tell.

I am starting to get nervous about food. There is only one short month left of Colin getting his "meal-in-a-bottle" of formula and I am starting to stress about how hungry he will be and if I will be able to keep him satisfied (and healthy!) without those bottles. He likes to feed himself and has started to bat away the spoon when I try to feed him. Therefore, he gets little bites of things like cheese, fruit, crackers, and lunch meats. He eventually starts to play with it and feeding it to Enzo. It all seems like more fun than nourishing. I have not stressed about it because I know he is getting all his vitamins and good stuff in his bottles. Without that, it will be up to me to make sure that he has a well rounded diet with plenty of fruits and veggies and proteins. That seems daunting at this point. One step at a time, I guess. I worry...that is what I am known for and with a baby...I am taking it to new levels! ;-)

His "words" at this 11th month consist of "ma ma", "da da", "na na", and "ba ba". If we say, "Colin, where is Mama?", he will look at me and laugh and the same for Jer. It is so cute! He will also do it for Enzo and "kitty". Jer thinks that he is calling his nuk "nana" and I think he may be right. I can't wait until he is really calling us by name. That will be so much fun. Happy 11 months, Squirt!!

A Day of Firsts!

Well, here is the first video of Colin that I have ever posted on the blog for your viewing pleasure. :-) I had to grab the camera today because Colin decided that he was not satisfied with walking around the kitchen and decided to go explore the house. When I first put him in the walker, he would just rock in one place. My how times have changed! In fact, Colin pulled himself to a standing position all by himself for the first time today! We were playing in the office and I have a little table sitting on the floor. Sure enough, he planted his little hands on it and pulled himself up. I did not have time to get misty about it because he immediately fell down. I had to jump in and distract him quickly so that he would not scream. It worked and he went right back to trying to pull himself up. In the matter of mere hours today, my world has changed again. I won't be able to take my eyes off him now unless he is restrained in the walker or exersaucer. I would walk all around the house while he played on the floor with his toys, but I see now that he could pull up on something and fall down within a second! So there goes that! I can't believe how fast time is flying by me. Also, I noticed a second tooth popped in overnight right beside the first one on the bottom. Sure enough, that would explain the horrible week of sleep and Colin staying up all night the other day. I am starting to get this figured out. Now just...um...30 more teeth? :-)

Happy Easter with a TOOTH thrown in!

This turned out to be a beautiful Easter weekend. My family came up as planned and we had a great lunch here at the house on Saturday. Jer's parents also came over, so we had a big group all together at once for a change! Colin also got to hang out with his cousin Jackson, which was too cute for words. They are going to get into so much trouble together one of these days! :-) Today we said goodbye to my family and headed over to Jer's parents house for Easter dinner. We got back not too long ago and I just tucked Colin in to bed. All in all, a really good weekend.

The big news of the weekend is the official arrival of Colin's first tooth!!!! I noticed a tinge of white on his gums while giving him his breakfast on Friday morning and just about lost my mind! I called Jer immediately to tell him the good news. I still can't believe that my little baby has his first real tooth coming in! I can see more of it today...just a nice white tooth top swimming in all those pink gums. It is beautiful, if you ask me. :-) He is so funny about it! He keeps running his tongue over and over his gum line trying to figure out what is going on. He has been literally pouring drool and chewing on everything. He especially likes to chew on his rubber alligator bath toy. The only downside is that the poor little guy is in a lot of pain. I have not slept in days...he wakes up at all hours of the night and then has a really hard time getting back down. I don't know if all the teeth are going to hurt him as bad as this one is, but I sure hope not. He has been miserable...running light fevers and just not feeling good all the way around. Today he seemed in a better mood and had two really good naps, so hopefully we have weathered this particular storm. :-) Colin has also started consistently going to bed an hour later than he used to. He used to go down at 7:30 like clockwork and ever since daylight savings time, it can be anywhere from 8:30 - 9:30. I am going to have to pick a time and start putting him down on a schedule. I thought he would even out after the time change and go down on his own like he used to, but it is not happening. I know he does better on a set schedule with sleep, so I am going to probably pick 8:30 and stick to it.

You may also notice in the pictures that Colin's irritated eye is back in full force. It had cleared completely up, but started back again last week. We have been giving the Zyrtec again, but I really don't think this is allergies. He itches that one eye constantly and it is so raw and red. There is not drainage or anything to indicate infection, but with allergies I would assume that both eyes would itch and he would be sneezy, etc. But he shows no other signs. I am going to take Colin back to the pedi tomorrow to check it out again.

The pictures are all from Easter weekend. The last shot is all of the loot from Colin's first Easter. Not bad! :-)

The Glider

More changes in the world of Colin...although this seems like no big deal, it is to me. Before Colin was born, I carefully picked out the glider rocker that I planned to use and got it all set up in Colin's room. I had the room in perfect order with a pretty lamp right beside the chair. When I came home from the hospital with Colin, we quickly realized that Colin needed to be rocked often and for long periods of time. Rocking was just about the only thing that would settle him down in the beginning. So we moved the glider into our living room. It matches nothing there and is totally in the way, but it was a lifesaver for me. I rocked Colin in that chair for every single feeding and every time he cried. With the rocker in the living room, I was able to stay out with everyone instead of being locked away in Colin's room for hours at a time.

Things have been changing rather quickly around here lately...Colin does not like to be rocked anymore when he eats!! He insists on laying on his blanket on the floor to drink. I still have to hold the bottle, but he does not want to be held while he eats. The only exception to this is his feeding when he wakes in the middle of the night. He still wants to be rocked for that one. But other than that, no rocking for him! Now when he cries or gets fussy, he generally wants to play with something or be entertained, not rocked. Now he only wants to be rocked before naps and bedtime when he is tired. Then he turns into my little baby again. Bottom line...we don't need the glider out in the living room anymore. In fact, now I need it in Colin's room. Since Colin likes to be rocked to sleep, I end up carrying him to his crib and the little guy is too heavy now for me to carry across the house from the glider back to his bedroom. So, back in Colin's room it is going. This is a big deal for me because the gilder in the living room represents the early days with Colin. I am excited about all of these changes but I also wish he could stay tiny forever!!
:-)

He Sits!

Last night my baby boy sat up completely unassisted for the first time! Has has tried it before, but always topples over in a matter of seconds. So yesterday he finally sat up on his own with his toys for several minutes! So this morning I decided to bust out the camera and take pictures of this big moment! As you can see, he is the most precious baby ever! Jeremy said that the first picture is titled "Elvis" and that he has no doubt it will become famous and used at some point during his wedding. :-) My little man is growing up!!