Tickle Torture

One thing I love about being a parent is being able to relive my childhood vicariously through Colden. It's fun to read him the same books that I had read to me, and it's fun to watch him enjoy the same activities that I enjoyed.

An activity that stands out in my mind as being a childhood favorite (and a favorite of my brother, Adam, as well) is "Tickle Torture".

While my dad was here visiting, he introduced Colden to Tickle Torture:

I'm glad to see someone else being "tortured"...and loving it!

Your Chariot Awaits

Uneven sidewalks...gravel paths...fallen branches...

meet your match!

The Chariot stroller can go anywhere or do anything that we want.  Want to go for a walk?  A run?  A bike ride?  A hike?  How about cross country skiing?  No problem! (with the right attachments)

Anyone who knows Mike knows that he is an exercise aficionado.  In fact, he'll be running the Boston Marathon in April 2011 (his 7th marathon). 

I'm going to be running a 10K in September (hey, I've got to start somewhere after not having run for the past year). 

Now Colden can train with both of us (and Josie)! 

If you are wondering why the stroller is so wide, it's because it can hold up to 2 kids.  But please - for now it will hold Colden and a stuffed animal
(or maybe one of us if we get tired).

Nasty Knees

Now that Colden is a big boy, he no longer likes to sleep on his back.  He'll lie on his back during story time so that he can look at the pictures...

But as soon as the story is over, Colden flips himself onto his tummy.

What a happy boy on his tummy!

And sooo cute curled up in a little ball...

...with his little tush sticking up in the air.

He is also starting to figure out how to scoot.  Granted he only moves a centimeter at a time (an inch if he is lucky), but he tries just the same. 

The only problem with sleeping on his knees and scooting on his knees, is that he gets nasty looking knees:

Looks like we are going to have to invest in some knee pads when he starts crawling! 

"Grabbing" Our Attention

Colden is now big time into grabbing things...or at least trying to.  His coordination is still a little shaky, but he loves to hold onto toys:

And he gets a kick out of grabbing onto (and playing with) people's mouths:
 

It seems like every day he is grabbing our attention by doing something or discovering something new!

Left foot, right foot...

...feet, feet, feet!  

OK, maybe we've read Dr. Seuss's "The Foot Book" one too many times - but apparently Colden has been paying attention:

Because yesterday he discovered his feet!  He hasn't learned the fun of eating his feet yet, he's just kind of noticed that they are there.

(By the way, he learned this new trick during my second day back at work.  I'm really never going back to work again now!)

Back to Work

Today I traded in diapers and burp cloths for excel tables and reports.  In other words, today I went back to work.

From left to right:  Lunch bag, pump, purse and a bag of pictures of Colden to hang up at my desk.  I'm all set, physically.  Mentally?  Well...

It did help knowing that Colden was with my mom.  Mom, who likes to be called "Nanny", truly became a nanny today.  She watched Colden, and will be watching Colden every Tuesday and Wednesday during the summer so that I can go back to work part time.  Thanks mom!

If I couldn't be at home with my little man, then I was going to make sure that my little man came to work with me.  I put pictures of him all over my cabinet...

on my window sill...

and on both of my computer monitors.

Mom was kind enough to text me several pictures throughout the day to keep me updated on how Colden was doing:

  One guess as to what the "present" was.   :-)

As much as I did actually enjoy reentering the "adult world", it was tough leaving Colden at home.  It was even tougher to find out that he rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time!!!  (He figured out how to roll from his stomach to his back last week).  That's right - I have been with him day in and day out for the 95 days that he has been alive...and he decides to roll over back to front the day I go back to work!

I knew I shouldn't have gone back to work.

3 Months Old (and Rolling Over!)

Happy 3-month birthday!

(3 days)

(1 month)

 (2 months)

                                           (3 months)

 Look at his new trick!!

                               

This is the second time Colden has rolled over from his stomach to his back (a day after his 3-month birthday).  The first time was a few days earlier, on June 28th.

Let's Do The Twist

Colden's personality is really starting to shine through.  95% of the time, Colden is a happy little guy full of ear-to-ear smiles:

He even loves to laugh:

(Nice rendition of Bonanza, mom)

However, it's that other 5% of the time when things get interesting.  Now, when Colden decides he doesn't want to do something...

He twists

and turns.

He hates when mealtime is over...

which he shows by arching his back (and screaming).

And he doesn't like being burped (because that means that mealtime is over)...

 so he pushes himself into a standing position (and screams).

Even if he is in a good mood, he makes certain tasks difficult...

Diaper changes now take twice as long with him trying to roll over the whole time. 

(He rolled over for the first time on June 28th - stomach to back.  He only did it that one time, but is working hard to master the skill).

It's fun watching him develop his own personality.  Although, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the time when his "twists and turns" transform into "Nos"!