My Little Stinker

So, Collin long ago reached the age where I couldn't just put him in his bouncy seat and expect him to be happy for 20min., kicking his leg. It was time to forget my {to do} list and get him to some play groups during the week. With the weather being so nice, we've spent many a day at the park, just outside, on walks or playing in the grass. I know I already posted pictures of this day at the park, but then Megan emailed me the ones she took with her snazzy camera, so I had to add them on! Here we are enjoying a nice ride down the slide....

But then I remembered my incredible fear of heights and panicked on the second go around. Or, I just saw a kid at the base about to be pummled by my giant feet. Everyone thought my reaction was so hilarious and wanted me to post it. Ha. ha. I look ridiculous, but oh well. Here ya are! :)

I really liked this one though. Yea for Megan and her mad photography skills. :)

Just this past week was Megan's birthday, so we got together for a lunch celebration. (With the best deli sandwiches I've ever had. Seriously. I know it's weird to dwell on it, but really, I will probably be on my death bed thinking about how delish they were. So props to Crescent :)

I love this picture of us all together, but then I have to laugh. We look like some weird {girl family} all posed for our yearly family picture. I think I'll have to frame it and put it on our {mantle}.

They have a great sandbox in their backyard that I plopped Collin into, noting a real, metal hand shovel that I didn't want him to get a hold of. Well, an hour later and I notice him sucking on the end of it. I watch for a while, then determine that it's not sharp enough to cut him, and too big to go down his throat. He's already eaten handfuls of sand, so what's wrong with a shovel sucker? Camille nudged me to make sure I knew he had it and I shrugged and said, eh? He's happy. I never thought I'd be this way. Having a boy has sure relaxed my germaphobiness. (That's a word, right?)

We had a little play group outing at my house last week, which turned out fun. Minus the chilens that kept running away and into the neighbors yard. This no- fenced- in- backyard thing really has its downsides.

Collin has learned a few new tricks lately. Including shooting hoops with Dad. No, he's not walking yet. I've quit holding my breath. He did suddenly stand up on his own in the middle of the room without holding onto anything. He would balance for 10 sec. at the most, then fall down. He got tired of that trick fast though and hasn't indulged our begging to repeat it at all.

He's still our little ham though. Such a cheeser. We've gotten a few comments from people that have noticed what a clown he is. He just loves attention and smiles. Check out those clenching skills.

It's not always smiles around here though. He ran a fever on Tues and Wed. and then woke up on Thursday with super goopy eyes and no appetite. I took him to the doctor who said he just had a cold that may have spread to his eyes and prescribed an antibiotic drop just in case. But he woke up fine on Friday with clear eyes and no temperature. He sure has been cranky though. It seems like all he does is scream/grunt/yell/make noise at me. You would think he was a girl with all the drama that goes into his day. I was in the kitchen when I heard a painful, loud cry come from the living room, so I went in to see if he was hurt or stuck. Nope. He just couldn't reach a toy in his toy box. And he was hoppin' mad. And that's just how things have been going. If Collin doesn't get his way, isn't being held, or getting enough attention, is being kept from digging in the garbage, has an itch, wants a pony, or just doesn't like the look you're giving him... he'll scream at you. Punk. We were running errands on Friday and I turned around to look at him and he was sporting the biggest frowny face. It made me laugh.

Quite often at night, we'll peek in on him before going to bed. The positions he's in will sometimes give us the giggles, but Friday night beat all. Just letting things air out I guess.

Today was not a good day for him. Or me. One more scream, and I was going to cause myself bodily harm. My nerves literally couldn't take it anymore. I escaped to a baby shower, near tears, and took a couple hours to unwind. How do single mothers do it? If Trav wasn't there to rescue me, I don't know what I would have done. I remember growing up, when my mom had reached her breaking point, and she'd take whoever was the baby and just leave. After a little while, we'd look around and realize Mom was gone, and wonder where she'd left to. (We were old enough to be left alone by the way. These aren't child neglect stories) She'd always come back in an hour or two, after she'd nursed her nerves with a McDonald's cone and some quiet time. I totally get that now. Tonight we went for icecream with some friends and it was about Collin's bedtime and he was acting that way. He even managed to push away his sippy cup, knocking it into Trav's glass and spilling a full cup of water all over us and the floor. The Wildings were nice enough to not walk away right there. I think this might be payback for all the times I judged other couples with their {obnoxious, screamy} kids at restaurants. Sometimes, you just can't shut them up! And I guess that's when you leave. I really do love my child. Maybe he's getting molars or something and I should be more sympathetic. Or maybe he's just an attention-demanding, pampered, only child. But if the antidote is a sibling, he's really not making a good case for adding another screamer on the tab. Just sayin.