Big Walk (Part II)

I know I already posted about this, but Jen shared her pictures of the day with me, and I couldn't resist passing them along to my adoring public.

In case you forgot I was pregnant, refer to bowling ball above. (That was a month ago...I've grown and inch a week since then...)

Much better action shot than I got of Justin and Colton running "fast like McQueen."

I'm pretty sure that Matt was trying to imitate Colton's run.  Either that or he was returning to his primate roots.  Kind of hard to tell which...

We made it to the "ba-ba ba"  (That is Colton's version of waterfall.  Now--a month later--it has at least developed to "wa-wa ba."  Progress.)

Pure happiness.

After playing in the water, his shorts were a little wet...so he got to enjoy Oreos in his undies at the end of the hike.  

Big Walk

Over Labor Day, we decided it was time to introduce Colton to hiking.  We were in the Shenandoahs with the fabulous Piersons, so it seemed like a good Sunday activity to get outside and enjoy the beauties of nature.  For some reason, rather than telling him that we were going on "a hike," we told him that we were going on a "big walk."  I'm not sure why we didn't just call it a hike.  But that is not the point here.  The point is that Colton was a super hiker, or big walker--whatever you want to call it.  He spent the first mile forcing Justin to jog with him "fast like McQueen" (or "bast mean" as this phrase would sound to the average human ear).  This picture doesn't really do justice to the fact that they were moving at quite a clip (especially compared to 7-months-pregnant me).

Despite how much Colton loves running, the highlight of this particular big walk was the little pool full of gravel at the bottom of the waterfall.  

Grab two handfuls of gravel.

Pull back...

Release!

Sheer delight to watch all those little rocks go plop, plop, plop in the water.

Then he realized it was fun to get in the water himself...

Smile! (He's figured out that he should make a face when we say to smile.  At least this time it wasn't his sour face.)

Sadly, getting his feet all wet led to some pretty nasty blisters--and that was the end of him going fast like McQueen.  On the other hand, it was the beginning of a great bicep workout for Justin who got to carry him the rest of the way...

Awesome new phrases

Colton is once again proving that (despite my worst fears) he actually will hit his developmental milestones.  I was convinced he'd never learn to crawl...or get teeth...or most recently, learn to talk.  Well, he may be unintelligible, but the boy's vocabulary is starting to take off.  (Today at the grocery store, he revealed that he knows how to say "want that."  It turns out that there are a lot of things that he wants at the grocery store.  None of them were on the vegetable aisle.)

Yesterday he decided to put two fantastic phrases on repeat: "Mommy pretty!"  "Mommy fun!"   I'll give Justin the credit for teaching him these phrases, but I'll tell you that nothing makes you feel better than hearing someone tell you over and over that you are pretty and fun.  Keep up the good work, Colton!

Blue Cup! Blue Cup!

Last night, as Justin and I were turning out the lights and heading to bed, we suddenly heard a wimper, then a seriously distressed cry.  I went into Colton's room to see what was going on, and I found him walking toward the door saying "Blue cup! Blue cup!"  At this point he'd been asleep for about three hours, so I tried to just send him back to bed, but he continued to insist that he needed a blue cup.  So Justin went to the cupboard and brought Colton a blue plastic Dixie cup.  Colton grabbed it, snuggled it, and settled right in to bed happily holding his blue cup.

We were on vacation last weekend, so we were using plastic cups rather than regular ones, but I had no idea that he'd developed such an attachment.  It made us laugh pretty hard.

Tool belts

Justin was in Colton's room (so that he could take apart the crib and spray paint it brown) with his tool belt.  Colton didn't want to be out-done by Dad, so he grabbed his tool belt as well.  Colton quickly discovered that a felt hammer is not as good of a tool as a real screw driver....

(And I will soon post the grand results of the spray painting and Colton (and baby's) new room...Get excited!)

Two

It's hard to believe that I have a two-year-old.  On the one hand, it seems strange to imagine a time without our little Colty-bug, but on the other hand it's crazy how fast time has flown by.  This birthday was fun to celebrate because, unlike last year, he understood two things: Birthdays = cake and presents are good.  A few days before his birthday, I started asking him, "What happens on your birthday?"  And he would immediately respond, "CAKE!!" (And sometimes he'd also throw in "Meen Yang" which clearly means ice cream...)  So I obliged my dear boy with a Bob the tomato cake.

Not too shabby for someone with no cake-decorating skillz.  You can at least see the resemblance. 

Colton waiting for us to start singing.

Colton deciding we should probably pray before digging into the cake.  He is very adamant about blessing all food before he eats it.  He also usually likes to include Bob and Larry in his prayers anyway, so praying over a Bob cake seems very appropriate.

Blowing out his candle.

And the moment he'd been waiting for...CAKE!!!

We love you, Colton!!

Sour face

Even though Colton is currently choosing not to make the sounds of about a fourth of the letters of the alphabet, he isn't let that hold back his communication.  Case in point:

He's not really into the "s" sound, but this is the face he makes when something is sour (or more often to tell me he wants a piece of sour candy).

Apparently the "sour face" is contagious...or (more likely) they both wanted me to give them candy.

Bob-a-La

If you asked Colton who is best friends are (and if he could actually speak), he would probably tell you Bob a La.  That's Bob and Larry.  You know.  From Veggietales.  Colton loves them...and now he loves that he can hug them and squeeze them and take them for walks in his baby doll stroller.  Thanks Grandma Louise!

If you read Colton a story

If you read a Colton a story, he's going to want you to read him another one...

And when you read him another one, he'll probably want it to include a mouse in some way.

And he'll want to make sure he points to the mouse on every page  (why do so many kids' books randomly include a mouse on every page?).  And when he's found all the mice, he'll probably want you to start over and read the whole thing again.

Even if he's really tired.

 And here's a cute shot of Justin just for kicks. 

Progress

Today Colton ate his entire lunch by himself--with a spoon.  I didn't feed him a single bite.  In fact, I wasn't even paying attention.  I came back to find his entire bowl of soup gone and him making the sign for "more".  I don't think he understood why I was so excited, but he really liked all my clapping.  (I fear he may have been extra focused on this meal since I made the mistake of giving him Lucky Charms for breakfast.  I thought it would take him a while to discover that the marshmallows are the only part of that cereal worth eating, but it turns out that wasn't the case.  I don't think he ate anything but marshmallows starting with bite one.)  Oh well.  Now that he's well on his way with a spoon, maybe there's hope that he'll someday learn to say "mama".

Note: This picture is technically from several months ago.  We discovered that Colton really liked spaghetti, and clearly, he fed himself quite a bit that day as well...

Important life lessons...

You are never to young to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies.

Start out with a bowl and spoon (and some other stuff).  

Now add some vanilla.

Stir.

Sample.

(Okay, so this is technically a picture of him eating his birthday cake.  We didn't take a picture of the finished product, but I think this picture is a good representation of what you would have seen had we kept the camera out...)  We did however film him performing for chocolate:

Going in for the kiss

Colton's reaction to seeing himself in the mirror:

He's so darn cute, he can't even resist himself.  At what point in life do we stop wanting to kiss ourselves when we see ourselves in the mirror?

Daddy's Boy

We got the proof on tape...

C-dawg's sweet bangs

When your son wakes up from a nap with your same bang-style from 1989, you know it's time for a haircut.

Even in 1989 my hair was already a disaster.  We'll do our best to keep Colton from such a fate...

Still working out...

It's a little known fact that correct pull-up form includes sucking on the bar when you get to the top. I was unaware of that because I so rarely make it to the top when attempting pull-ups...

Just Because...

This little watermelon was just too darn cute not to post.

Happy First Birthday Colton (Take 1 and 2)

It's hard to believe that Colton has already reached the life-altering milestone of turning one.  Okay, maybe it isn't life-altering, but for some reason, it seems like a really big deal.  We decided not to worry about having a party (since I think a first birthday seems really important to us as parents--not so much for the kid), but I think a fantastic birthday cake is essential.  Really, that's what it means to turn one, right?  You get to go to town on a big piece of cake while everyone takes pictures of you.  

So I had big plans about the cake I was going to make for Colton, but it turned out that on the actual day of his birthday, we just plain ran out of time to make a cake--something about driving from St. George to Sandy to Provo...  My mom was kind enough to grab one for us at the grocery store so that we could at least sing to him and such, but something in my heart felt that it was just sick and wrong for him to celebrate his first birthday with a store-bought (vanilla) cake.  Granted, I think he was perfectly satisfied with his first cake experience, but I had mother-guilt.  So when we got back to Virginia, I made him another one--bug themed since we like to call him "little bug." 

So here you have Colton's first birthday celebration part 1:

The best part about this celebration is that Colton's cousins and grandparents (unfortunately not pictured) were there to sing to him and watch him attack the frosting.

Celebration #2:

The bottom layer had peppermint frosting and regular M&M's decorated like ladybugs.  The cupcakes all have chocolate frosting and peanut butter M&M's--some with coconut, some without.  Colton was intrigued by the little bugs on the cake.  He was so speedy, he managed to grab one and get it to his mouth before we could stop him.  I'm pretty sure they are a choking hazard.  Don't worry.  He survived.

And clearly, the chocolate cake was a winner!  Happy birthday little bug.  We love you lots!!