Memorial Day recap

Colby had a great weekend in the mountains visiting with all of his family and cousins. He loved all of the attention and especially loved the ongoing game of "Peep Eye" with Miller.

However, the first 24 hours had a few minor snags. The first evening, Colby swallowed a 10 inch piece of nylon dental floss. We weren't too concerned at first, until we hopped on the internet and read about children having dental floss surgically removed because it caused harm to their intestines by wrapping around something. (I'll be collecting my M.O.T.Y award later, as I am the one who gave him the dental floss. He sometimes tries to imitate flossing but has never actually put it in his mouth....oops) We placed 3 calls to our pediatrician's office and they never called us back, so 2 hours later, we called a family friend. He basically told us not to worry because it would make it's way through his system. However, he did tell us to look for it in the next 24-48 hours. That was fun.

We also learned that a bedroom containing both our bed and Colby's crib is a bad idea. Colby had a 3:30am wakeup time the first night, so we put him in our bed. Big mistake. He played in our bed for the next 4 hours and never did go back to sleep. (He woke up again the next night at 2 am for more play time, and Lee and I ended up sleeping downstairs on the couch. We cut the vacation short so as not to go through it again on the 3rd night.)

The next morning, Colby started out the day by falling on his face and busting his lip open. All I could think is that bad luck comes in 3's right? It seems that was the case, because the rest of the weekend was great!

Here are a few highlights...

Colby and mom (30 weeks pregnant)


We've tried to tell him that there's a baby on the way, but I'm pretty sure he just doesn't get it.


We tried to put Colby in the pool, but he was not having any of it. Any time we got him close to the edge, he would say "All done! All done!". (He was having flashbacks of swim lessons with daddy, which he did not enjoy.) He did enjoy playing in this stream of water, but that was the extent of it.


On Memorial Day, our town had a carnival complete with rides, bands, vendors, food, etc. Colby absolutely loved all the rides and said "more more" after each one.

Someone sure is enjoying the horsey ride.



Colby was a brave little guy and went on a couple rides by himself. This wasn't the original plan, but Lee tried to ride one with him and they kicked him off. We didn't have the heart to pull Colby off. In hindsight, I don't think we'd do this again because we were both nervous he'd try to escape...but he loved it.

School's Out!

Today was Colby's last day of school. It's amazing how much he has changed from the first day.

Here he is on the first day of school...)


And here he is today....




Here's his class (He does not win "most photogenic" for this one)


Colby absolutely loved school, and hopefully he'll enjoy next year just as much. Until then, we will have lots of mommy and Colby bonding time...I just hope my 30 week pregnant self can keep up with him.

Bliss

One of the things that I *need* in life is a good gym. I am one of those people who, before having kids, rarely missed a day at the gym. I much prefer to work out in a gym verses outdoors, which is totally the opposite of Lee, who has never in his life joined a gym. I love to just get on a cardio machine, listen to music, read a magazine, and zone out. I can't do it nearly as often now as I used to, but I still try to make it there a few days a week. (Thanks to Lee, who usually lets me go on both Saturdays and Sundays!)

Since moving here a year ago, I've tried out 7 different gyms, and I've been a member of 4. I just cannot seem to find the right one, and each leaves something to be desired. If the gym is good, the childcare is terrible. If the childcare is decent...wait, that hasn't happened yet.

The most recent gym I belonged to was brand new and very nice by most gym standards. Each piece of equipment had it's own tv set, and one of the channels was to the childcare room. This was not so fun, however, because I spent most of my workout watching Colby sulking while clutching Ducky for dear life. I never made it past 20 minutes....he just didn't like it there, and I didn't like the set up for him. It has been frustrating, and I just haven't found the right fit for us.

Until now.

*cue angels singing*

One week ago, I found the mecca of all gyms. It's absolutely amazing, and I am so excited about it.

First of all, when you walk in, it feels more like the lobby of the Four Seasons Costa Rica (where we went on our honeymoon) than an actual gym. There are beautiful bamboo floors, large tropical plants, stone fountains, stainless steel fixtures, dark wood accents....and it has a eucalyptus aromatherapy type of smell to it. To check in, they do not require one of those bulky gym cards or a key chain thingy. Oh no. They scan your fingerprint, of course. (It's the wave of the future I hear)

Once you go down the stairs to the main area, it's an endless sea of cardio equipment, fitness balls, flat screen tv's, rooms for classes, large stretching areas (what many of the gyms seem to lack) and trainers. Oh....and the dress code. Silly me wore a pair of running shorts, which I quickly learned was a fashion faux pas. Anyone who is serious about working out apparently wears black leggings- didn't you know?? (full length must be boot cut, but capri length can be either boot cut or fitted...don't forget)

I have taken 2 classes so far, and they were both great. It isn't crowded at all, and in fact, seems much more empty than any other gym I've been to. The women's locker room is much like a fancy hotel bathroom- there are free lotions, mouth wash, q-tips, hair spray, shampoos, towels, hair dryers....you name it. And it smells good! I think that's one of my favorite things, because most gyms do NOT smell good.

While you are working out, it isn't unusual for have a trainer come by and ask if you need anything, or hand you a towel. Or ask if you'd like to be stretched afterwards. (never in a million years would I say yes to that...just...weird)

Oh, and the BEST part about this gym (besides the fact that it's less than 10 minutes from our house)? I took Colby 2 days ago, and he LOVED it. The childcare room is great, and unlike other child care areas with nasty carpet, it's a hard surface that can be cleaned. VERY important. (I tried out one place last summer that had 80 kids at one time- can you imagine the germs???? That's how Colby got a horrible stomach flu that he spread to his entire birthday party) Anyway, Colby was upset for the first few minutes, but when I checked on him 5 minutes later, he was running around the room with Ducky just as happy as he could be. I worked out for an hour and when I picked him up, he didn't want to leave!!!! Now that's a sign that he had a good time. I was so happy I almost cried.

However, this gym is missing one thing. One thing I have seen in every other gym....and I've belonged to many in my lifetime. What could it be?

*cue angels singing*

MEATHEADS. Tank top wearing, muscle flexing, loud grunting, weight lifting, mirror admiring, women stalking, vein popping, self-tanning, protein powder drinking, chest shaving meatheads. Somehow, there's not a one to be found in this gym. There are men there, but the women out number them, and they aren't strutting around flexing their muscles in the mirror like in most gyms.

Of course, there's a price to be paid for all this fabulousness. But...when you consider the cost of sanity, it's really not that bad. And I am SOOOOOO happy!!!!

Fun with Pop

Well, I hope I'm not disappointing all my readers (all 5 of you) with my sparse updates. Things have been busy, but all is well. Our weekend at the beach was great, and Nan and Colby had a wonderful time together. He did great the entire weekend, and although he was very aware we were gone, he didn't have any major breakdowns.

I'm very very sad about the fact that he only has 2 weeks of preschool left! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! He loves it so much, and I really love (and need) the break it gives me. Oh well...I guess the month of June will be an interesting one. I'm guessing there will be many many trips to the park in our future.

Things that Colby is doing:

If you ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do (such as go upstairs, change his diaper, take a bath, etc) he lays on the floor, covers his head, and says "nite nite". It's pretty funny.

His vocabulary is growing each week and he now has close to 60 words! (yes, we actually wrote them all down....there's a story behind that involving the preschool teacher that I'll write about in a few weeks)

Current favorite food: raspberries and french fries. (He has decided he really isn't interested in any other fruits and prefers the $5 per small container kind)

I don't have any recent pictures worth posting, but I do have a pretty cute video. Here's a little clip of Pop and Colby having some fun. You can hear Colby saying "gin" for again, and when Pop says "that's enough", Colby signs "more please" by putting his hands together and rubbing his stomach.