Where to start...pretty much everyone knows at this point we've moved to Michigan. We spent December getting the logistics set-up for our big move, which was HELLA stressful. Chris' parents came to visit and spent the night with Colin so we could say our goodbyes to those who belonged to our Denver tribe.
Of course, I love my Christmas lights, so we went out and about to get into the festive spirit of the holidays. Needless to say Colin loved all the lights and the people. He's really a rather dull child...;)
We packed up and shipped out of Denver December 21st, and while there are certain things we will miss, we both agree it wasn't the right place to raise a young family. We both wanted a smaller city with more of a hometown feel, since that's how we both grew up. After the few months we've lived here, I think we've found it!
We headed to Oklahoma to celebrate Christmas with the Kuriyamas. It is always so fun to see all the kids together and how they interact, especially since they are so close in age. Naturally the kids made a killing after opening presents, and had a great time sharing & playing with their loot!
Unfortunately this is also the time Colin started lashing out at a few of the other kids, which was totally uncool and really stressful. It is hard, because without the ability to talk, it would make sense their actions are their only outlet and you can't really explain to a kid that young "use your words" when they can't talk. We kept an eye on his as best we could to intervene before anyone lost an eye. Parenting obstacle!
From Oklahoma, we headed east through St Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus and ended up at my parent's house. The townhome we are renting wasn't available until January 6th and I had to sign online to work on the 2nd, so my choices were: work in a hotel room or work at my parents house. I picked the latter. Colin made out like a Christmas bandit there as well - he better understand how lucky he is!
At this point we were all really over being in a car & hotel that it was taking its toll on all of us.
Chris started work on January 9th - very exciting! It was such an awesome feeling for both of us, and what an accomplishment! We survived four years of school while living in a very expensive part of the country and having a baby and I think we both finally felt like we could really start our lives together.
Now onto the good stuff...!
Colin is still the precocious and high spirited kid he's always been, which can make for a lot of "what the $&%!@#!" moments. We still make our best efforts to get outside as much as possible - but let's just say winter is a tad different in Michigan than it is in Denver. We've certainly had our wonderful, 60 degree days but they are fewer and more far between around this time of the year than what you'd get in Denver. I'm really looking forward to spring/summer/fall in these parts - I missed the plush, green of the Midwest!
We've also been exploring our town a bit more - have to mix it up for the little guy or else he gets himself into major trouble!
I will try to give a rundown of what has changed since the last update here:
- He is a master of stacking things - rings, blocks, cups - you name it he's on it!
- He had this 18 month check-up on Feb 1st. He is progressing really well and is overall in the 91% for height & weight
- He is a constant chatterbox. His current vocabulary includes: yes, stick, rock, up, walk, no, ball, book, bird, shoe, boot, water, mama, dada, oh! and the F word...
- He is starting to say phrases, like "That's good" "all gone" "what's that?" "that's sick" and "open it"
- He has mastered the slow head turn & eye roll combination
- He can jump!
- I can leave him unattended without too much worry.
- He has a big boy (toddler) pillow in his crib now!
- All of his teeth have poked through but haven't fully descended yet.
- He can use a fork & spoon
- He can shoot baskets (and make them)
- He loves helping with laundry. I will hand him the clothes and he puts them in, shuts the door and helps me push the start button.
- He loves piggyback rides. I can't seem to sit on the floor or pull my back off the couch before he zooms over for one. Case in point:
Some fun notes & stories:
- He LOVES bugs. We've been getting lots of ladybugs in the townhome, and if he sees one he will not rest until we put it in a tupperware container & take it outside to be free. He picks them up himself and loves when they crawl on him. He hasn't (intentionally) crushed one yet!
- When he wakes up from naps or in the morning, I will go in to get him and sometimes he isn't ready. I leave, and he will just sit in his crib and chatter away, point at things in his room, or just sit and flip through a book. I give him his space, and when he's ready he usually screams - then I know he wants out!
- We took Colin to a high school production of Shrek. We had no idea how he would react, but he was great the whole first act. He clapped when the crowd clapped and exclaimed a few times! Everyone around us thought he was too cute, but close to intermission he was getting restless so we hit the road.
- We took him to an indoor gym with inflatable toys to play with - he was very unsure at first, probably because the inflatables had some give and weren't solid surfaces. We went down a few small slides and he loved it, so I thought we'd have a go at a big kid slide. I thought he'd be okay to go by himself, but he ended up going end over end a couple times, looking like a crash test dummy. He was fine, but it was a parenting brain fart moment. I guess I'm that mama bird that pushes her kids out of the nest to teach them to fly!
- He loves shooting baskets. We have a basketball hoop inside our townhome, but if there is a ball and something that looks like a hoop - he is ON it.
- There are a few younger kids in the neighborhood and every time Colin hears them outside, he runs around like a lunatic to go out and play with them. They are all super nice kids and really good & patient with Colin. He just watches them in amazement and thinks they are SO COOL.
- I taught him how to dance like a hippie. It is hard to describe, but I will slowly move my arms around my head & body and go "whoooaaaaa, ohhhhhhh" and he do it too!! It is hilarious and I love how funny he can be.
- He mimics us! He knows how to blow his nose (and actually does blow), he saw me wiping down the walls and helped me out.We really have to start watching what we do!
- Stickers & coloring with markets are his new obsessions. I found some big coloring pages and tape them to his table, and then put stickers around the outside of his table and he pulls them off and puts them onto paper!
- I have discovered stickers on the oven, fridge and toilet, and have found scribble marks on his basketball hoop and random pieces of paper
I certainly plan to do a better job going forward of keeping these more regular. I can't imagine how terrible your lives have been without a scheduled reminder of how the little guy is doing, and I can't have that on my conscious. <3
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