Apple Picking- 9/21/08

We went apple picking last weekend with our friends Heather and Alissa, Mandie, Kamara and Amani, and Lilly. We went to an orchard in Oneida. We picked Macintosh apples and they were so good! Collin loved chewing on the apples and had a good time hanging out with his friends. We didn't pick too many; I wasn't feeling very motivated to make or bake anything with the apples, so we just picked enough to snack on. After apple picking we headed to Pamperin Park. After taking turns crying for the entire ride to the park, Collin and Alissa swung in the baby swings for quite a while. We had a good day with our friends that we don't get to see often enough!

Three Quarters of a Year Old

Collin turned 9 months on 9/3/08! He received a clean bill of health from his doctor. He is very long for his age (for the parents out there he's in the 97th percentile) and thin (70th percentile). I wonder where he gets that from? The doctor wants us to start eliminating some of his bottles throughout the day and she said we can completly take out his night time bottle. I don't think any of us are ready for that, but we'll start working on it! He doesn't drink very well from a sippy cup for us at home, but of course does it like a champ at daycare.

Collin is crawling all over the place now and getting into lots of trouble. We (Maurice, I should say) childproofed the house, but he still finds plenty to get into. He also has a new fascination with our big fat kitty, Astro. They seek each other out in the house and even though Collin drives him nuts, Astro still loves to be by him. Magnum, our Siamese cat now lives with Collin's Grandma Rita. We miss him, but everyone's better off this way.

Collin is eating pretty much everything these days. He doesn't get a whole lot in the way of baby food anymore. He went through a picky phase, but thankfully that didn't last. His favorite seems to be spaghetti. He's not a huge fan of fruits, but loves vegetables. (He gets that from mom).

Collin is still sleeping through the night, he goes to bed between 730 and 830 and wakes up between 7 and 8 am. He usually takes 2 naps a day, unless he's at daycare, then we are lucky to get one! He's still a super happy kid, it doesn't take much to get him to laugh or smile!

The Farm

Last weekend Collin and I drove up to The Farm in Door County with our friends Becky and Lilly. We met Mandie, Kamara, Amani and their friends Wendy and Trista up there. Collin looooved all the animals! He wasn't scared of them at all and wasn't even bothered when the goats jumped up on him. The Farm is a pretty neat place, it's like a big petting zoo with all farm animals. You can buy bottles of milk to feed the goats who roam free, and corn to feed the other animals. We saw goats, sheep, cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, and kitties. After the kids were done with the animals we all sat down to have a snack and Collin munched on Cheetos with the big kids.

First Camping Trip- Labor Day Weekend

Maurice went up north with his brother's Friday evening to go fishing. I had some other things going on (such as a girl's night) so Collin and I hung out together Friday night and Saturday, then headed up north Sunday morning. We also brought Maurice's niece, Taylor, who just turned 9, with us. Thank goodness she was with to keep Collin entertained in the car since we had a loooong drive. We camped on Star Lake, which is about 20 miles northwest of Eagle River, about 3 1/2 hours north of Green Bay. The guys were still fishing when we got up there so I took the kids swimming in the lake. The water is so crystal clear and the beach is really nice. Collin as always loves the water and Talyor had a blast collecting rocks, shells and "crab legs". Maurice and his brothers brought NO food with them so we went out for dinner to Paul Bunyans. Collin had a good time making a disaster of our table and the floor around us! By the time we got back to camp it was pretty late so we made Collin a bottle and he passed out before he even finished drinking it. We put him in his pack n play which was set up in our tent and he stayed sleeping, we were so relieved! The rest of us sat out by the fire for awhile and then headed to bed ourselves. Collin woke up screaming at about 4 am; I'm assuming he was freaked out from being in such a stange place. We layed him down with us where he slept really good until 530 am. Then he was up for the day. UGH... So bright and early Maurice, Collin and I took a walk down by the lake and around the campground. We even saw a deer walking through the woods. I went back to sleep for a little while and then Maurice and his brother John went fishing again with hopes of catching a musky. The kids and I went for a couple walks and I tought Taylor how to play Gin 13. By this time Collin was getting pretty crabby, he was quite over tired. When the guys got back from fishing we packed up and got ready to head home. Collin slept most of the way home and when he was awake he was a very good boy. Normally we camp several times throughout the summer, but this summer it was just hard to fit it in. Now that we know Collin is a camper hopefully we can squeeze in another trip or 2 before the end of the season.

Wildlife Sanctuary 8/24/08

We met some friends at the Wildlife Sanctuary one Sunday afternoon. It was such a nice day and the kids had a a good time feeding the ducks and geese. Collin had the most fun though playing peek-a-boo on a park bench.