We have a baby gate blocking Colin from the kitchen area. Until recently he has never really wanted anything to do with the kitchen. It started innocently enough. I let him play with the magnets on the fridge so I could make dinner one night. Then it became a daily need. Quickly the magnets didn't hold his attention for long and he started roaming. I noticed him do something sneaky one time. I have no clue how he knew WHAT it was or even that they were there. He simply spun the lazy susan and dipped his hand in. I told Mike about it. The next day, we were both in there and he did it again. So the following time, I came prepared with my camera to catch him in the act.


This is how he looks afterwards

We threw a shower for Merridith at my mom's house for my mom's side of the family.

Details:




Momma-To-Be

Dear Colin,

Happy 19 Month Birthday little man.

I think we finally really hit Toddlerhood this past month. While we had more than our fair share of fun this past month, this was probably our most difficult. It was a long month of teething (2 year molars! that still haven't poked through!). You transitioned down to only 1 nap per day. There were countless temper tantrums. There were tears. There were toys thrown. Worse of all, you hit. Hard. Often. Usually at your father's face. Many times this month, my patience was stretched, my cool was lost, and I'm sure I spoke firmer than I wanted. For all of that, I'm sorry. The reality is you are just a baby. You have such a large vocabulary for your age that I forget sometimes you still don't understand everything and heaven knows I don't understand everything you say or want. You are a baby in pain. A frustrated toddler who wants to be independent but still needs his mommy and two naps.
You developed an obsession with Sesame Street. It started with loving your Sesame Street ABC books. We spend countless hours reading them. From Diddly Diddly D to Jeans and Jacket Day, you grew to not only love the books but the characters. We bought Sesame Street cups which you love to drink out of. You have little Ernie and Bert dolls that you love to play with. On occasion you will even sit and watch Elmo on the teebee so I can have 3 minutes to do something productive.
Aside from Sesame Street, there are a few other things you have really fallen in love with. You adore airplanes just like your Daddy. You love listening for them and flying them high in the sky. When you can't hear the airplanes anymore, you ask for more and get mad that I can't magically make them come back. Big trucks, racecars, boats, and trains are fun to play with but make even cooler sounds! You love to say your prayers and much to my delight have a great love of singing. I'm amazed how you can learn the motions to songs after only a few times and ask to sing it the next morning. A few of your favorite songs are: "This Little Light of Mine", "Deep and Wide", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "The Wheels on the Bus", "Jesus Loves Me" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." Ohhh how I love that you love to sing with me. I don't think Daddy as is excited though :)
At work the other day, my boss implied something was my passion. I've never considered it my passion but rather something that needed my attention. It lead me to think of you. You sweet pea are my passion. Yes you require attention and yes you act out for attention but temper tantrums and all, you are my passion. When you wrap both of your arms around my neck, when you tell me "I love you", or when you shout "NO!" about hiding it under a bushel, I am reminded how deep that passion runs and how quickly I forget about the hardships. I love you Mr. Isaac.

Love always,
Mommy

Our church is in the process of building a new larger church. A few Sundays ago they invited everyone to the construction site to not only view the progress but also to write Scripture verses on the floor. I, of course, had to work but Mike and Colin went along with my parents, Tim and Leah. Thanks Leah for the pictures!
Tim and Leah by their verse. (Proverbs 19:21)
Leah and her verse (Joshua 1:9)
Tim and his verse (Deuteronomy 30:11)
My mom's verse
{I'll add more including my parents prayer for Colin once I get my mom's pictures}

How cool that the church's foundation is truly built on Scripture.

Merridith and I have been trying to hit the zoo almost all summer and everyday hasn't worked for some reason or another. We both had Thursday off along with my mom and although the weather was iffy but we decided to chance it anyway.

Colin choking the little girl. Possibly in hopes of not always having to take his picture next to the funny looking people. Colin being a flamingo Wallaby Grandma and Colin in the barn (I love this picture!) Grandma and Colin in the bird cage What you can't see well is the bird landed right on Colin's arm. Freaked him out a little at first but now he keeps talking about the tweet tweet on his arm. Colin and Aunt Merridith looking at the Pengiuns Colin loved the Tiger. He kept pacing by the window He loved ROOOOOOOOOOARING at it. Short video of him roaring at it.
My little drummer boy
Colin laughing with Aunt Merridith and Grandma.
After the zoo, we headed to McDonalds to grab some lunch where Colin had his first happy meal.

Thanks Mom and Merr for a great morning. Colin and I had alot of fun!

Colin is obsessed with airplanes, so we took him to observation park to watch them.

Colin being an airplane.

Colin playing while he waits for the next airplane.

There's one...

there's another...

and another

Self Portrait

Rare family picture

I typically don't post more than one post in one day but I'm behind in posting pictures.

Mike and I took Colin to a local park that has a small splash pad. Colin was in heaven. He absolutely loved it -- threw a world class hissy fit when we had to leave loved it.






My favorite of the day:

Here are some of the pictures from Saugatuck from the other night.