Focusing In

Can't help but feel that this is a time of transitions. Not only are we expecting our second little one, but we are in the process of transitioning between a 'baby' and a 'toddler/big kid'. I'll admit Colin has been a toddler for some time, but he is definitely honing his 2-yr old (terrible two) behaviors - both the good and the bad. The good is that he does like to 'help' with almost everything we do: cooking, washing dishes, folding laundry, fixing things around the house, etc. He really can be helpful if he's listening, or he can be a real handful if there are things that he's destroying more than helping. His speech skills have also taken off lately. Just in the past week he's added "bubble", "dough", "ding dong", "noodle", as well as versions of "please", "cookie", "school", "blue", "green", "hammer", and some others that i'm just not recalling at the moment. It is sure nice to be able to communicate more with him. He will try to say almost anything (as long as he's in a comfortable setting), and we're hearing a lot less "aaaaahh...?" which is a relief. The bad behaviors are pretty typical 2-yr old tantrums. If he wants something or wants to do something which shouldn't happen (for his health or safety) he can really go from happy to seriously pissed in 0.2 seconds. The worst are when something occurs that he wasn't expecting - either something spills or in other words is an unfortunate occurrence. He gets really upset and it is usually compounded by our initial reactions which aren't always neutral or happy when such things occur. But in general, we are lucky so far. He is easy going and does well in most situations.

Trains, lights and a snack - It's a good life!

Colin is also receiving a toddler bed for christmas. This is not only so that we will have the pack n' play (his crib since he was born) for the new baby, but also so that it will be easier on my back. Lifting a 28 lb boy in and out a couple of times of day wasn't a big deal until this pregnancy and my hips/pelvic bones decided to start spreading. I'm a little worried about the transition to the big boy bed, mainly because he'll be able to get out of bed on his own, but he shouldn't be able to open his bedroom door without help, so it should be just a matter of making sure he can only get into things that we would like him to inside his room. Any advice is always helpful!

Other transitions include transferring to a new medical insurance come Jan. 1. That means finding a new OB, finding Colin a pediatrician, and working out locations, etc of new clinics, hospitals, etc. While I'm not that sorry to be leaving my current OB care, it will be an adjustment. I will be excited to get a doctor for Colin - his 2 yr appointment is coming up! Can't believe he's almost 2 already.

In more current/holiday happenings, I'm so excited for one of my best friends April, who had her son yesterday! Welcome to the world little Owen! I'm also excited for my family christmas date this weekend. Bob and I are going to Handel's Messiah by the San Francisco Symphony. We booked a sitter and made dinner reservations - should be a good night out! I've also been prepping for our holiday visitors just after christmas. The house is decorated, linens are changed, and tickets are purchased. One of the events I'm most excited for will be a trip to the Monterrey Bay aquarium :)

Colin has also been helping us celebrate the season. He gets really excited by fire lately, whether he sees a fire in a book or sees our empty fireplace in our living room (he tells us it's hot!) - so we actually got some firewood and had a holiday fire the other night. Colin was pretty excited. We'll have to repeat this again soon :)

He's also been pretty enthralled by some bead garlands that I bought (based on his enjoyment of them last year at Nana's). He totes them around, and uses them in his many investigations. Below is a picture of him pairing them with his other favorite 'toy', the salad spinner.

Bob has also been working hard on an outside enclosure for our turtles. Colin and I have been 'helping' when able, which just means not destroying what he's trying to do while sharing the time outside. The enclosure is almost finished and it will sure be nice to have a permanent home outside for our turtles. It is quite strange to be in CA for the winter. Some of the trees are bare outside, but more still have leaves that are changing. It kind of looks like September outside (to me), but then you'll walk by a magnolia tree that is busy blooming, you realize that spring is practically here.... strange.

Colin is decorating his wagon (with chalk)

A great activity to keep a toddler busy :)

Bob's 'wagon' a.k.a. turtle enclosure partially built (he's trilled about his photo being taken)