Richmond trip

Colby is doing better, but ooooh boy, this kids needs to start using the potty. Unfortunately, the withholding makes that impossible....we just need him to "go", and at this point, we give him a prize if he goes in a diaper! When we are out in public and he has to go, he must have complete privacy. That makes things very difficult...you would not believe the lengths we have gone to to clear out a private space for him. I am so over it.

Anyhoo, here are the pictures from our trip to Richmond!

This was Colby and Miller's belated Christmas present from Nan and Pop, and boy was it a hit!


Why she's trusting him to drive her around I'm not sure.


Colby LOVES hanging out with his cousins. He gets their names confused, and one day he said "I like the one with hair circles. Why he gots hair circles?"


The one with hair circles is a lot of fun.


We met at the park with my friend Mindy and her twins...


Played on the slides...(Miller has a scab on her nose from a face plant)


And threw bread to the ducks.


Meagan came over and helped with meal time...


But mostly, we just hung out with family...


And everyone had a drink or two....you're never too old!

Not again...

We had a great visit to Richmond last weekend, and Colby had a blast with his cousins, but I haven't posted pictures because Colby has had the flu all week. Or, what I thought was the flu. He's been laying around saying his stomach hurts and not eating.

Unfortunately, Lee and I figured out it's not the flu. No, it's much worse....Colby is withholding again. That explains the stomach pain that comes and goes, the laying around, and the not eating. It took us months of hard work and medication to get over it last time, so this is not good at all.

He's been home from school all week, and right now, he's laying on my bed crying. He said he wants a bandaid on his bottom. He's in pain but afraid to go....and it just gets worse each day.

Hopefully, I'll have some better news to report in a few days. I really hope this does not become the terrible issue it was last time.

**update....after an invasive and unpleasant intervention on my part, Colby was able to go (a little bit) and went to school late. Unfortunately, he missed his 3 year old class photo, which was this morning. I am so sad about that...he loves his class and his teacher this year.

Boy this post was a downer, huh!

Easter in pictures

We started out the weekend before Easter by dyeing eggs.


Poor Miller watched longingly from below.






The Easter bunny brought lots of necklaces for Miller...


And lots of Toy Story stuff for Colby.


The Toy story stickers and books are a hit.


And yes, he's wearing Christmas pajamas. They fit and they aren't too hot...I'm ok with it, even on Easter.


Overcome with emotion.


There's no such thing as too many necklaces.


Always generous, she's giving one to Colby.


The Easter bunny encourages good dental hygiene. Nothing like mixed messages.


How long does it take to get to the center of a peep?


About .03 seconds.


MUST.HAVE.MORE.PEEPS.


*It should be noted that Colby only liked one thing in his Easter basket- his chocolate rabbit. He would lick the other types of candy and then spit them out. Miller ate every morsel she could get her little hands on and begged for more. The poor girl has a wicked sweet tooth that's going to curse her for life. (and I know exactly where she got it)

Swimming

Today I took Colby to the indoor pool to practice his swimming skills. One thing we are working on is jumping to me from the side without holding my hands the whole time. He only likes to jump if he's holding my hands first, so we've been practicing at home off the bed. I had high expectations when we got to the pool, but he was still scared to jump without holding my hands.

I wasn't going to give up! I know I cannot force him to do anything, so I suggested we go jump off the side in the baby pool. We started in one foot of water, and he jumped to me without holding my hands. (that is not a soft landing) Slowly....very slowly, we made our way around the edge of the pool, getting deeper and deeper. One hour later, Colby was jumping off the side to me, no hands, in the deep end. He even told me to get further away so he could jump further! Towards the end, I was letting his head go under a little, and he went completely under about 5 times. He's working on holding his breath and not drinking or snorting the water, and he was very proud of himself. I am so happy he is making progress!!

Afterwards, when we got out of the water, we were both freezing from staying in the water so long. Normally, we are warm before we got to the locker room (which they keep at a very cold temperature), so I knew it would be an unpleasant experience. When we walked in, we were both so cold it was torturous. Colby asked me to get him dressed first, and we were both shaking as I was getting his clothes out. In a desperate and worried voice he said "I'm going to be cold forever and ever!" I've been laughing about that all day- I felt the same way and I think Colby was truly worried he would never be warm again.

After we both got dressed and warm, he asked if he could have a "prize" for his accomplishments, so I told him we'd go by McDonalds for a happy meal and a milkshake. He could not contain his excitement, and screamed to everyone in the locker room "I'M GETTING A PRIZE!! I'M GETTING A PRIZE!!!!"

Life with a 3 year old is certainly never dull.