Music and babes

Since I last posted, we've been to 3 more concerts, and the outcome has been the same each time. Colby dances and plays his guitar at the front of the stage, and the band introduces him as a guest guitarist.

Although tonight had a new twist. He was introduced as the guest guitarist and even given a special pic for his guitar from one of the band members. However, something pulled his attention away from the music about 30 minutes into it.

What could that be?

Girls. Colby has a thing for girls. I can't believe it has started this soon, but it has. He loves to give them hugs, but he doesn't really understand the whole "release" aspect of a hug. If the girl is willing, his hugs usually last well over a minute. It's not often that a little girl can withstand that kind of lovin', but tonight he had more than one willing participant.

Bluegrass boogie

Colby kicked off the eve of his 23rd month in a big way. We took him to the town square for a blue grass concert, and he really put on a show. Imagine the same dance he did for the Wiggles, only in front of 100 people for about 30 minutes.

We arrived a little late, so we pulled up a blanket towards the front of the crowd and sat down.

This is a view of a small section of the crowd that the band took and later e-mailed us.


Colby walked right up to the edge of the stage and didn't hesitate to jump right in. He was playing his guitar, bouncing, swaying, marching, and tapping his foot (something he picked up from watching the band). Lee and I were laughing so hard we both had tears in our eyes.



At one point, the band brought him up on stage and asked him his name. (Thank goodness he didn't answer, because right now he pronounces his name "Poopie". We're working on that.) Lee yelled out his name and they showered him with attention before taking pictures with him.

As silly as it sounds, we were so proud of him. So little, yet so fearless. We had lots of people pull us aside to say something about him, and most were just amazed by how into the music he was. Unfortunately, I only had my small camera with me so I did my best to take a video. It's not very good quality, but here it is.



Oh, and happy 23 months, Colby!

Dreams do come true

Ever since the concert last week where Colby played with a toy guitar, he has been OBSESSED. Every object in our house has become a guitar. Usually, it's the toy broom or mop. However, he's not too picky. It's also been sticks in the yard, giant legos at the park, and (unfortunately) the toilet plunger. I once thought Colby was obsessed with doorbells, but that pales in comparison to his guitar obsession.

So, as any decent mother would do, I got on the internet and hunted down a toy guitar. I wanted a very small wooden one that did NOT play music or take batteries....for obvious reasons. It also had to be very small and light, so I ended up searching for a toy ukulele. This was not easy to find! I finally tracked one down on Ebay, bid on it, won, and it was shipped last week from Hawaii.

It arrived today, and I honestly have never seen Colby's face light up like it did when Lee handed it to him. He was so excited!! He has not let go of it and actually cried when we made him put it down to eat dinner.

Here's a little clip of Colby's very first guitar session- jamming to the Wiggles, of course. (in case you're wondering, he's looking back and forth between Lee, who was jamming on the broom stick, and the tv. The volume is really low so you may need to turn it up all the way to hear the music.)

Food Wars

The good news: We've discovered that Colby will eat just about anything if it's covered in pasta sauce.


The bad news: It ain't pretty

Silly Me

I've always thought that my biggest concern with Colby in the future (if I'm lucky) is that he'll follow in his dad's footsteps and venture into extreme sports. (mountain climbing, rock climbing, month long summit expeditions, etc...Lee's crazy, y'all)

I still think that's a valid concern, but I've been blind as to what I should *really* be worrying about.

Colby is going to be in a rock band.

It's pretty much inevitable. Everyone I know...from his preschool teachers, to his music teacher, to friends and family...has remarked about how much Colby loves music. He FEELS the music, and it's pretty obvious when you see him anywhere music is playing. His music teacher even told me (sorry, I know this is obnoxious coming from any mother about her own child, but don't shoot the messenger) that she thinks he is musically gifted. She has been teaching 3 music together classes a day for 10 years, and she told me that she doesn't say that to very many parents. She suggested I enroll him into a keyboard class when he turns 3. To be honest, I don't think he's necessarily talented....I just think he loves music.

Last night on the way home from dinner, we stopped by a local outdoor concert to see who was playing. We thought we'd be there maybe 5 minutes (with Colby running up on stage and forcing us to leave) but he was absolutely enthralled with the music. He stood at the edge of the stage the entire time and just listened and danced. To add to the excitement, a little boy let Colby play with his guitar, and Colby spent the entire time trying to mimic the musicians. He was in heaven, and it was pretty funny to watch him up there, oblivious to all the onlookers.



The guitar was a bit cumbersome, but he tried his hardest to make it work.


I guess there's always the chance that Colby could end up a rock climbing guitar player....please check on me in 15 years years and make sure I'm ok.

House guests

I have some very exciting news- we have a new addition to our family. Only this new addition doesn't require any work on my part, which is the best kind of addition!

A few weeks ago, there was a bird who was determined to build a nest on top of our front door. She worked day and night building it, and each morning, we had to sadly take it down. As much as I wanted a nest up there, Lee convinced me it wasn't a safe place for any momma bird to lay eggs. The door would be constantly slamming and it just wasn't a good location. I think we must have knocked it down about 10 times, and each time, I felt terrible about it.

Thankfully, she found a nice safe place under our deck, which we discovered last week. When we looked in there last weekend, we saw a bunch of little blue eggs!

And yesterday, when I peeked in there, I found this (click for a close-up):


My pregnancy hormones must be in overdrive, because I had really had to restrain myself from picking one of them up. They were snoozing away, all snuggled up on each other. SO CUTE!!!

On another note, we've really been enjoying our back yard this weekend. Colby's finally at a stage where Lee and I can sit back and let him play independently for a few minutes, and that's something new to us. He enjoys the sand and water table, his new beach ball sprinkler, and playing with the garden hose attachment. He is obsessed with spraying water for some reason, despite the fact that he's terrified of the pool. He also never seems to tire of his playhouse.



Just like his daddy, he takes great pride in maintaining his house. Here he is doing a few small repairs with his hammer. We train em young around here.