An almost two-year old!

I've been a bad mommy blogger lately. Figured we were due for some updates.

Collin acts like a typical toddler. He has his bad side: flailing, all out temper tantrums on the floor, hitting and throwing, but the sweetness reigns. Those baby toothed smiles, the two word phrases, (favorites: "Hug momma?") make it hard to stay mad at him for long. He definitely knows how to push limits. I can see why they say toddlers are little teenagers. Absolutely no regard for safety, immortality is a given. He's the kid that will step to the line and put his foot over it just to taunt you.

I'm trying to empathize more, understand the power toddlers want to exhibit when everything else in their world is pretty much powerless. But it almost makes me lose it when he tortures poor Hurley the cat. Luckily the cat is very forgiving.

Collin talks all the time and is due for another sedated hearing test though we want to find out if it's really necessary at this time. I hate the sight of the mask over his face to put him under. Considering he has other hearing evaluations that will tell us how he's responding to sound, it doesn't seem like something we need to rush to do. He repeats practically everything and is at the typical level of communication for his age. It is important to continue to evaluate him and make sure he doesn't lose any hearing in the good ear.

And now for some pictures:

New Kitty on the Block

I started craving a cat a few weeks ago. If you asked me if I'd end up with another pet after we said goodbye to our beloved dog and our (horribly mean) cats I would've laughed. However, I was convinced there are friendly felines out there. I grew up with the sweetest tabby ever. Our two tortoiseshells proved to be near evil and after attempting to claw Collin and annoying us to no end we gave them up for adoption.

A week ago, Mike gave in to my craving and informed me he bought a littler box and cat food (props for good husband!) That weekend we went to the Humane Society with Collin and looked through the Plexiglas windows at the mewing, mostly sleeping, cats. There were a few that seemed a little too wild. A few that had just a few lives left and then the cutest of the bunch, the kittens. I was a little nervous of them around Collin. He definitely hasn't grasped "gentle" yet. One of the volunteers told us she had a sweet male kitten. He was about 5 months old and a little groggy recovering from surgery.

We agreed to spend some time with him and she brought us a soft gray-blue bundle of fur named Hurley. And he was oh so sweet. With white socks markings. We decided to take the gamble and bring him home. Collin was very excited. His chants interchanged between, "Hurey, "Kitty," and "Cat."

The first few days were a little iffy. Hurley refused to come out from under the couch (except to eat and to use the litter-box thankfully). He was terrified and trembled whenever we approached him. I was convinced he hated us. About three days later he finally let me pet him. And then slowly opened up to Mike. And now he'll even hang out with all of us in the same room. Collin loves to chase Hurley around and try to feed him his food. Hurley mostly ignores Collin, or runs for freedom into the basement. But occasionally he'll let Collin pet him.







He most definitely likes being around his people and is a talker. He will happily let you give him a belly rub and loves resting his chin on my arm. It's nice to have a companion as I work (although it can be irritating when he decides to attack the computer screen or walk on the keyboard).



I hope Collin will grow up with warm memories of Hurley, just like I have with my beloved cat, Moppet. RIP old friend.

and how could I forget...

"Clock!" Minus the "L." Makes for amusing looks that's for sure

Chatterbox

I cannot believe how much Collin talks. He's absorbing everything and a lot less frustrated with communication (= way less hitting too). He's starting to string words together but doesn't quite do sentences. Example Collin phrase: "Dada shoe." "Momma Uhoh" (as in momma I broke something). I'm trying to write down all his words but everyday there's something new and it's hard to keep track of them all!

The concern about his hearing is pretty minimal at this point. He's definitely on target if not ahead with language. Toddler talk is just about the cutest thing ever. I'll try to be unlazy and charge the video camera to get some Collin conversation in action.

Here's a breakdown of Collin's (nearly!) two year old vocab, I'm sure I'm missing some. He's also repeating a lot (watch the cussing around him!):

Momma
Dada
Nona (grandma)
Baba (grandpa)
Uncle
Blue (the dog)
Elmo (newest obsession)
Baby
(He's also said friend's names and names of other kids: Katie, Ali, Kai Kai, Anna)
Cat
Doggie
Duckie
Gecko (kind of random but he loved these guys in Hawaii)
Light
Bubble
Botty (potty, says it but won't use it)
and along those lines: Poop, pee, diaper
School
Sun
Moo (moon)
Die (sky)
Pillow

Ball
Balloo (balloon)
Book

Purple, blue and orange (colors in context)

Apple
Nana (banana)
Orange
Apico (apricot)
Dodee(tomato)
Mah (milk)
Pumpkin
Pear
Juice
Oameal (oatmeal)
Bean
Wah (water)
Puff puffs (cheddar corn puffs)
O's
Blueba (blueberrys)
Chee (cheese)
Cook (cookie)

Shoe
Socks
Pants
Shirt
Coat
Hat

Knee
Eye
Tee (teeth)

Choo choo (trains and cars, doesn't quite differentiate the two yet)
Bite (Bike)

Hot
Cold
Yummy
Yucky

Uhoh
All right
All done
Bye Bye
Hi
Up
On
Nigh nigh (night night)
No
Yah
Mine
More
Help (just started saying this for when he needs our assistance like scooping out the rest of his yogurt)
Sit
Peas ("please," according to his teacher but I have yet to hear it!)

The day in the life of a toddler

Collin loves "balloo," of course Blue and also his new baby.

From Winter 09-10

"Choo choo" time with dad!



And there's nothing better than making a fort

This is what happens you leave a toddler alone for 5 minutes while you gather the laundry

Yep he discovered the box of mandarins. Such fun to squish.

Christmas Fun!

For Collin's second Christmas we spent a few days at the Oregon Coast with Mike's family. Jon and Mary Ann rented a beautiful beach front house and we got lucky with the weather. I've been to the coast in July only to find it gray, gloomy and 60 degrees. But this time it was bright, clear blue skies and although chilly with the wind, still pleasant to walk along the beach.

From Christmas 09

There was a pile of gifts to bestow (recession, what recession)!



Collin received lots of fun presents including books, a new best friend we call Reindeer, a train set, and a tool box just like dad's (foul language not included).



Mike surprised me with a new camera just like the professionals use and an introductory lesson in January! I started messing around with it, though I'm completely clueless with ISO and all the manual setting stuff, I'm excited to learn. I've always wanted to take up photography and now no excuses. Best part of the new camera--that click, click, all in a row instead of seeing the perfect picture and then having it disappear in the time I press the button to take the photo. We also got lots of great gifts from family including a dutch oven and a rice cooker I'm excited to add to our kitchen appliance collection.

We spent about an hour on a chilly doc while Chris, Jon and Virginia went crabbing for dinner. Collin was pretty fascinated by the crabs and their claws and luckily didn't find out what happens when you reach out to touch them. We left when it got too cold for Collin but they stayed to catch enough crab for a delicious gumbo dinner.







After we left our relaxing coast trip we went to my parent's house for "second Christmas" and we all got more fun toys to play with (a griddle/panini press/bbq = more awesome times in the kitchen) and once Collin gets the hang of the "sit and spin" I imagine he'll enjoy making himself sick with dizziness.

We're fortunate that both our families are nearby and we were able to spend time with everyone during the holidays. And appreciate everyone's generosity. Collin is beyond lucky to have so many people that care for him.