The birthday.....and the aftermath

Oh man, where do I begin? I was going to make this a really long post, with lots of details, but I've procrastinated for so long that I'm going to try to keep it short and to the point just so I can finally post the pictures.

Colby's birthday party went off without a hitch....well, sort of. The party was great and we had many of our closest friends and family there. Miller (my grandmother) had barbecue shipped in from Jackson Georgia for the party. We spent every summer down there and always ate at the barbecue stand, so she wanted to have her personal touch at the party. Here are a few pictures...



Colby's smash cake






Colby and his friend Jordan


This is me, completely flabbergasted, that Colby is not eating his cake.


Opening up his basketball hoop. He is only in a diaper because we thought he would tear into his cake like last time (see Lake post) A little redneck? Maybe. Practical? Definitely!


Now, let me back up for a second. The day before Colby's party, he threw up after lunch. Luckily, my mom was babysitting. (A few posts back, I go into detail about my phobia of anyone throwing up) He wasn't himself that day and was sick again that night. We weren't sure if it was something he ate, or if it was some sort of virus. We were unsure whether or not to go ahead with the party, so we thought we'd see how he was doing on Saturday. By the next morning, he seemed totally back to normal, so we decided to go ahead with it.

Ummmm.....BIG mistake. Out of the 22 people who came the party, 15 caught a very nasty stomach virus about 24-48 hours after leaving the party. (this also explains why he did't eat his cake and wasn't smiling in his pictures- he just wasn't feeling his best) I came down with it in the middle of the night on Sunday, and Lee the next morning. (by the way, this is the first stomach virus I have EVER had!) On Monday, Lee and I were an absolute wreck and we were struggling to take care of Colby. We were bargaining with each other over the simplest of tasks.

Here's how our conversations went that day:

Lee: (begging) will you please put his food on the tray? If you do that, I'll put him in the high chair.
Me: (reluctant) Ok, I'll put the food on the tray. But will you sit there while he eats?
Lee: Ok.
Me: Can I please lay down upstairs while he eats? (Keep in mind, this is all of 5 minutes)

Colby was absolutely delighted with the things we let him do that day. He had Baby Einstein videos running all day while we tossed him actual cell phones and remote controls, along with watches and fine jewelry. Anything for a few more minutes on the couch!

We all recovered pretty quickly, just in time for Lee to go out of town. And wouldn't you know it....as soon as he leaves, Colby starts throwing up again . I am home alone, in a new town, and I don't have anyone who I can call to help. For most moms, this probably isn't that big of a deal, but for me, it is my WORST NIGHTMARE. This was on Thursday...and it's Friday night. And here I am. I survived. Colby survived. It wasn't fun, it wasn't pretty, but I'm making progress. It didn't kill me, and that's good. But I'm tired. Very tired!!!

Colby at one year

Height: 31 3/4 inches- 95th percentile
Weight: 25lbs 9 oz- 85th percentile
Head: 75th percentile

Wow, things have really reversed themselves! For a baby who has always had a head outside the 99th percentile, and a weight right at the 99th percentile, he has really changed. It's hard to believe his height has caught up to the meatball head, but it has.

Here's a little bit about Colby at one year:

Most frequently heard comment from strangers: "He's big" and "He's a happy boy".
Most favorite thing: Jumping
Favorite toys: Balls, cell phones, keys, sunglasses, electrical cords, tags
Favorite foods: Hummus and crackers, guacamole, oatmeal, string cheese, yogurt, peaches, chicken. His favorite baby food was jarred meat- EW!!!
Least favorite: Tomatoes
Favorite activities: Going to the grocery store, listening to his music in the car, putting any kind of paper product in his mouth, chasing Georgia, "loving" people with his forhead, biting
Most unusual activity: Chanting "Ya-Yah! Ya-Yah! Ya-yah!" over and over again. Lee and I have started joining in with him....we've gotten some strange looks.
Milestones: He's waving and clapping and cruising around. He crawls at lightening speed. I think he's still a couple of months away from walking. I predict he'll be 15 months or so. He was a bigger baby, so he crawled later, pulled up later, etc.

Hopefully in the next day or 2, I will post about his birthday party. It was one we will never forget, for reasons we were not expecting!!!

Birthday Boy

Colby is turning one on Saturday! We're having a party at Nan and Pop's house, so I'll definitely post some pictures. Until then, here's a little montage of Colby's first year.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Red Wagon

Colby's first birthday gift from his daddy is a red wagon. Not just any red wagon, but the biggest, heaviest, most pimped out wagon his daddy could find. We took the wagon on a test run tonight to see how Colby would like it.....

And he loved it!


He and daddy were having so much fun....


Until Colby figured out that he could stand up!


He almost did a nose dive onto the pavement, but Daddy swooped in and saved him.


And that was the end of the wagon ride

The Lake

We are back from our vacation at the lake and we had a wonderful time. Colby spent lots of quality time with Nana and Granddaddy, and he thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. Here are just a few pictures from the trip.

Colby and Nana


Colby and Granddaddy


"Loving" cousin Sarah


Up to something sneaky....


Unable to move in his straight jacket/life preserver



Scaring away the fish


His cute little pool that Nana and Grandaddy bought



A little pre-birthday party and his first taste of sugar!



Do you think he likes it?


This pictures scares me a little

Swim lessons

We had our first swim "lesson" today, and it was an interesting experience. We headed to the local community center for the class, which consisted of about 15 moms and babies. The pool was HUGE....2 olympic sized indoor pools as well as a separate section for kids, and another area for water aerobics.

This would be Colby's first pool experience, so I wanted him to enjoy it. However, my internal mommy alarm went off when I saw the instructor. She looked to be about 16....and not very professional....meaning, she might have been in a gang. I know, I'm being very judgemental. But that's ok- I'm getting old and that's what old people do. The most alarming thing about her was that she had large safety pins through each ear. No, not earrings that looked like safety pins, but actual tetanus carrying safety pins. I'm thinking she's not the sharpest tool in the shed, so I file my observations in a safe place as the class begins.

First, we ease the babies into the water. We are sitting in the shallow part of the pool, and Colby is getting used to the idea of it all. All the babies look a little surprised and/or cold, but they are doing well. Within 2 minutes of sitting in the water, the instructor says this:

"Ok, I want you to do something that the babies don't really like. I want you to lay them back in the water until they get water in their ears. It's important when they get older for them to know that it's ok to get water in their ears, so we like to start them as babies. They will probably get upset when you do this."

Ummmm....excuse me?? You want me to dunk my baby? Who has never been in a pool? To get water in his ears? Because I'm sure he won't get his ears wet in the next 45 minutes, while we are splashing around in the water. I just kind of sat there and looked at her, and then chose to ignore everything she said. Surprisingly, most of the moms did the exact same thing and just continued to ease their babies into the water. The lady next to me actually did dunk her 8 month old little girl until she cried, and I felt bad for both of them.

So, for the next 45 minutes, Colby and I continued to ignore most of the requests of this instructor and played in the water. Colby was supposed to hum to himself while I eased his head under the water, so that he could blow bubbles out of his nose....but something told me he would take a gigantic gulp of pool water so we skipped that. (he had already taken several large gulps at this point)

About halfway into the class, Colby discovered something very cool. The echo. The very big and LOUD echo. He spent the next 25 minutes squealing at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS. Somehow, once again, he discovered how to become the center of attention. Everyone was looking at him! Everyone was laughing! Oh, he knew this was good. So he kept going. My ears are still ringing and we've been home for an hour.

Something tells me this baby is going to give me a run for my money in every way possible. Not only is he becoming a professional wrestler, he demands and attracts attention, and he'll do anything for a laugh. Where did he come from? Lee and I were never like that. I was afraid of anyone looking at me when I was little. I'm feeling the gray hairs already.

Uh-Oh

In the past week or so, I've really started to notice that Colby is beginning to....assert his independence. Yeah, that's it...that's all it is. He's not being bad or anything. (insert weak smile here) He is teething, and there's a tooth that's going to pop through any day now, but I'm not sure if that's all that's going on here.

Along with his new-found independence, he has made some decisions about his life.

Here they are straight from Colby's mouth:

1. I will not tolerate diaper changes any longer! If I have to twist and squirm my way out, night after night, day after day, by God I will do it.

2. No more clothes!!! I do not want to be dressed in the morning. I do not want to be dressed at night. Clothing is torture! And pulling a shirt over my head is as close to hell as it gets.

3. I want the spoon! Not the one in the drawer, I want the one you are feeding me with. No, I don't want all the other ones you put on my tray to distract me. I want the one heading towards my mouth and I'm going to grab it every.single.time.

4. Your computer is the absolute best toy in the house. I love that little green button and I'm going to try and push it every time you turn your head.

5. Please give me boxes and boxes of electrical cords for my birthday. I just cannot stay away from them.

So, if any moms are reading this, I need to know: Is this normal behavior? Will this go away? Is the anti-diaper thing just a passing phase? Please don't tell me it gets worse....I'd hate to get kicked out of the Little Gym because I brought him in naked.

So, in order to relieve a little stress and help Colby find his "center", I decided to start Baby Yoga. We put on some music and began working on some beginning breathing exercises. Then, we moved on to poses. Here he is working on his first pose, the one-arm inverted baby triangle.



I'm kidding!

We were playing with bubbles today and I thought this really did look like a yoga pose.

Saturday we are headed to South Carolina for the week and we're really excited. It will be Colby's first trip to the lake, so I hope to take a lot of pictures. Maybe he'll forget how much he hates diapers and clothes!