Sleeping Like a Rock Star

Today Colin slept until 8:48 am -- who are you and where is my child?! He slept so long that I was showered and ready for the day with a cup of tea in hand and a clean dish washer before he even stirred! Unfortunately, he briefly woke up with a scream at 5 am and I was awake since then...figures!

He normally wakes at 6 am -- not sure why today was so golden -- so why do some babies seem to wake so early and others sleep in until 8 am? He seems to have some sort of Atomic clock that knows when it's 6 am Pacific time...wish I could reprogram him so that I could go join our free taebo class at the church at 5:30 each morning.

Sleeping in is great, but then it throws the whole day off -- so when does he eat lunch? nap? Does he get one or 2 naps? Such a transition time! I think it's his teeth -- blame all sleep outliers on teething!

Just an update on Elliot (family cat & Colin's daily playmate): We are taking him to the vet again next week for a review of more skin issues -- we will continue to pray that they are not cancerous.

* I am thankful that Elliot is so tolerant and loving with Colin. He adores Colin and will sleep outside his door when he naps during the day.
* I am thankful that Colin slept in today later than ever - what a treat for mom!

Colin Visits Texas

Colin and Uncle Clint

Great Grandma/Pa Walker and Colin

Grandma and Colin

Uncle Jerry introduces Colin to his horse, Pete

Colin and Grandaddy

We just returned from an 8 day adventure to Texas -- Colin got to see where his Mom grew up, and also got to meet his Great Grandparents. We stayed with Colin's Grandma in Panhandle, and there were so many fun things to explore around the house (plants, cabinets, glass bowls, cookbooks, etc.)

Each day Colin met/saw someone new -- Grandma Walker, Clint's family, Grandaddy Walker and Ethan, The Biggs Family, Jama and her girls, and much more extended family (yes, he even hit a wedding shower to meet some of Grandma's cousins.)

He also got to see Ric harvesting grandma's wheat, which was just the best wheat harvest most any farmer can remember! To further his country/farm experience, Colin got to go watch cattle and also got to meet Pete the horse up close (see pictures -- too cute!)

Colin got 2 more teeth while in Texas, some molars. He ended up sleeping SOOO much the first few days we were there. At first I thought it was his Aunt Judy's heavenly crib that she so graciously loaned us during our visit, but now I suspect it was ALSO those teeth!

Colin is also learning to say the first syllable of some words -- "Ba" for ball and banana, "Ma" for Mom and Milk, "Pu" for Puffins, his favorite morning cereal, and "Da" for dad. He's actually getting pretty clear about signing "all done" and shaking his head no if he's not all done. We are reaching a point (parden the pun) where he wants to point when he wants something, but I'm not always sure what he wants.

He has also learned to slither down the stairs on his belly with his feet first -- guess he has to go to Grandma's to learn these things, as the stairs have aways been a challenge up until now.

And now, for a new tradition for our family blog: I will end with 2 things I am thankful for:

* I am thankful that Colin was such a great travel buddy! Going through security in Seattle, the TSA agent let me "cut the line" since I had Colin with me, and then I ended up having a nanny in line behind me who graciously folded up the stroller and helped me out.

* I am thankful for getting to introduce Colin to the place where I grew up. It hasn't changed much over the years, and that is some of the charm about it. There are so many people that wanted to meet or see Colin -- he's a lucky boy to have so many people in Texas that love him!

Mr. Cow Can Moo, Can You?

Today we had a chilly playdate with the families from our BCC class. We met up at Kelsey Creek Park, an urban "farm park" that has lambs, goats, chickens, 2 cows, pigs, and rabbits. All of the moms were saying "oink oink, or moo moo" in an effort to get our kidlets to remember these sounds from all of the books we read to them. I think that Colin's first word recently has been "moo" -- his cattle-ranching Uncle Jerry would be proud of him!

Colin also enjoyed some time at the playground, pictured here with both Olivia's from our class. This will obviously be a popular name in his kindergarden class some day : )

Meeting Matthew

Today was so exciting! We got to meet Colin's newest little friend, Matthew. He is the new son of some friends of ours, and he and Colin are 3 weeks apart in age. We have been waiting for months with eager anticipation to meet this precious boy.

The family just returned last week from Vietnam, and we are glad they are home and finally all together. You can read more about the Dang's journey to Matthew in their blog. An amazing and moving story!

Visit from Alaskan Cruisers

Yesterday, our friends Amy and Brandon flew up from Texas and they visited us before their big cruise up to Alaska on the Holland America cruise ship, the Noordam. (As a random aside, Matt and I once had lunch on the sister ship, the Oosterdam, while it was docked here in Seattle. Just fabulous!)

We hired a sitter last night and enjoyed a scrumptious Pacific northwest style dinner at the Yarrow Bay Grill on the waterfront in Kirkland. And too bad the weather was so cold and cloudy -- we had a perfect seat for a sunset!

It was SOOO good to visit and catch up. Amy and I became friends back when we were 19 -- on a mission trip to Jamaica with our church college group. We later became pledge sisters, and the fun continued from there. Great memories! Amy was up here in seattle 3 years ago when she worked for Women of Faith. but the last time Matt and I saw them both was when we were down off the water in south Texas and we had to help board everything up for a looming hurricane before heading back to Houston. Boy that's been too long!

Fiji: So close, yet so far away!

Random story, but I had to share, as my husband thinks I am so silly...

Back in late winter, shortly after my "retirement," I saw an ad on TV to name the little car on the Pierre Auto Money Mart Commercials. The name Turbo immediately came to mind, so I found their website and submitted an entry for the car. I'm a marketer -- I can do this! The winner was to receive a trip to Fiji.

I told Matt about submitting this entry, and I told him how I had the perfect name that was going to win. Fast forward almost 4 months. So I'm watching TV this morning and their new ad announces the winning name of the car: TURBO!

Hey, that was my entry! Am I destined for a trip to Fiji and the announcement made it to my Hotmail junk folder? Am I THAT far behind in opening my mail? Nope. I guess my entry was one of several exactly like it...they must have conducted a drawing, because here is video footage of the winner (see lower right corner of page): http://www.pierremoneymart.com/

Fiji -- so close, yet so far away!

Hawaii

Colin loves his turtle floatie!

What do I do with the shovel?

Colin's first day at the beach

Majestic Sea Turtle Swims Nearby.

Colin had a fabulous time in Hawaii, and Mom and Dad enjoyed a little relaxation, as well. The pool was a big hit for Colin -- he spent several hours a day floating around in his turtle floatie, watching people. We also fed him his lunch there (at the pool edge). He must have been on a growth spurt this week, as we kept packing in the food -- just amazing!



The beach was not a hit with Colin. We were all geared up with eagerness and a vast quantity of sand castle building supplies. Once he got the sand on his hands, they went to his mouth to "check it out," and then he used his other (sandy) hand to try to remove the sand that the other hand had just introduced...a vicious cycle that gets worse with each attempt to clear it!



His favorite afternoon activity was joining Mom and Dad for an early dinner at Leilani's, a beachfront patio restaurant with a band playing and plenty of people to watch. Colin made friends with the people from Michigan seated next to us, and we all enjoyed the band's Aloha rendition of "Boot, Scoot, Boogie" (bet you didn't know that country music could be put to a Hawaiian type of tune!)



Our other big food outing for the day was early buffet breakfast. We even walked one morning down to the Hyatt's buffet (and checked out the penguins in the lobby of the hotel). Their food was better quality, and we enjoyed a water front view of a pond with swans -- it was like something from a fairytale and very gorgeous. Of course Colin's favorite birds at each meal were the little outdoor tweetie birds that would hop under his highchair just waiting with certainty for the food he dropped -- smart birds!



During Colin's naps (he's still taking 2 a day), Mom and Dad took turns going on mini outings. Sarah shopped at Whalers Village, snorkeled at the north end of Kaanapali Beach, and enjoyed a massage as her Mother's Day treat. Matt enjoyed a few days of snorkeling and boogie boarding. One day a turtle hung out nearby as he snorkeled -- the picture captures the majesty of these primitive creatures.



On the flight home, by the grace of God, we had a row with the one seat not taken on the entire airplane! Yeah! Colin curled up in the seat and slept and then curled into Dad's lap to continue sleeping the remainder of the flight. We are slowly adjusting his schedule back from Aloha time, though we like this part where he sleeps in a bit longer.