Cat Acne

So I took Mr. hot and furry to the vet yesterday, and after a thorough skin check, the vet determined that the places on his chin were most likely just kitty acne (and not cancerous tumors like he had in April -- yeah!) So she sent us packing with a topical gel of benzoyl peroxide to treat his chin. So he's now a metrosexual kitty, who has topical gel for his chin -- too funny!

* For once, we are thankful for acne...it means it's not a skin tumor instead!

Happy 4th of July!

Colin Has Fun Driving his Friend's Car

What a gorgeous day and not a cloud in the sky! Summer here reaally DOES start on the 4th of July! We enjoyed an afternoon stroll through downtown Kirkland, where the parade had just ended. There were booths with various vendors -- and we were on the prowl for a really good chocolate chip cookie. At one booth we overheard the lady saying something about an ingredient that would clean out your colon -- next! Then the next booth had wheat-free, all vegetarian, everything else-free ingredients. What's the fun in those cookies? So we settled for a cold drink from our friends at Starbucks.

We then headed over to a BBQ with some friends, and Colin loved the kiddie swimming pool and kiddie toys/cars in their backyard! He was fairly tolerant of one of the toddlers pouring a cup of cold water on his head in the pool. Guess it felt good in all that heat! Our little firecracker enjoyed playing with his friends, but at 7:00 pm on the dot he was like, "Put me to bed NOW!"

So that brings me to our "other"child, Elliot. It's been SOO hot in the house lately (no AC and no trees for shade during the day), so the cat is practically begging me to shave him! Or so I imagine based on his lethargic looks at me all day long. We have been letting him come to bed with us at night, as our room has an AC unit. He happily cuddles up at my feet for 6-8 hours and then BAM...4 am hits and he says, "MEOWWUT! Let me-owut of the room!"

And of course he know who sleeps by the monitor and who is the most likely to meet his cat needs. Yes, our other child, the cat! So after several licks on the face and a few cries in the ear while sitting on the steps by our mammoth bed, I get up to let him out of the room. But he runs back under the bed. Ugh! I walk down stars and get some cat food to jingle in his bowl to manipulate him into thinking I'll feed him. Too bad Colin's Goldfish crackers don't make the same noise in the cat's food dish -- it's dark, and I just wanted something to get his attention. Always a sucker for food, Elliot runs to his dish, and I chase after him to capture him and put him in the utility room for the remainder of the morning.

I come back to bed, after my cat aerobics workout, and I am wide awake. The baby is asleep -- the husband is asleep -- the cat is hungry because I didn't really feed him Colin's goldfish, and now all I can think about is that I forgot to put the salad in a ziploc bag before coming to bed last night.

Tonight the cat sleeps in his room. But I've said that every night for a week.

* We are thankful for our freedom and for celebrating with our friends.

Peek-a-Blue Berries!

Colin @ Blueberry U-Pick

Today marks the open of the U-Pick Blueberries here in Bellevue. We have a quaint little urban farm just about a mile from our house, and we picked berries until our blue hearts were content (or until Colin decided we were moving too slow, whichever came first...) We picked enough to fill a half gallon container, and it cost a whopping $2.17! What a deal!

Though Colin didn't really pick berries, I couldn't resist this shot. You will note he has one shoe off and one shoe on. I had to go hunting for the sock he pulled off -- we lost another sock in Target for this very same reason yesterday. It's just so fun to undo the velcro on your shoes and pull your socks off down to your piggies! Fortunately no lost shoes...yet!

In typical Sunday fashion (Colin's big day of rest), he napped from 9:30am until 1:30pm today, and he's currently on nap # 2. He must be growing. Just today he grabbed onto the fridge door to indicate he was hungry. I made the mistake of feeding him watermelon with his breakfast and that was all he wanted after that. He knew the watermelon was in the fridge, and thus why he grabbed the door.

* I am thankful that Colin is sleeping so much and is beginning to use some of his signs so I know what he wants

* I am thankful for a fun weekend -- we enjoyed berry picking today and yesterday we enjoyed a day at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. Colin loved watching the dogs chase after a ball into Lake Washington in the off-leash area.

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!