Laughing at Daddy- Aaron's really good at getting him to laugh out loud

Here are some current photos of my little man at 14 weeks. Rather photogenic, no?

Collin's cousin Micah gave him this little sleeper.

Aaron's "Uncle" Trevor from Zimbabwe was visiting and got to meet Collin for the first time.

Chillin with Mimi

Trying to cram this entire ball into his mouth!

Lookin sweet

Hanging out with Miss Anna (who just got engaged!

Trying on his new hat

He's so tired in this picture but just cannot bring himself to drop his key toy or stop staring at that funny little elephant

See the bruise on Collin's arm? That's right, it's a hickey.... and he gave it to himself!!! He sucked his arm while he was doing tummy time one day and gave himself a bruise! I was mortified!

Granny kept Collin one day while I went downtown to get his birth certificate.

 

Spotlight on my Baby Boy!

 

I know I'm biased, but this has got to be one of the most adorable faces I've ever seen!

Every morning and almost every evening, Collin and I read together. Sometimes Aaron reads to him at night, but usually, it’s me who does the story time. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. Right now, Collin has 2 books that he really responds to: The Shaky Elephant and Brown Bear. The Shaky Elephant book has a vibrating rattle tail on the Elephant, so he likes that because of the noise. And I think he likes the big vivid colors of Brown Bear. He smacks at the book as I read it and kicks his legs. That’s Collin-language for “I like this.” 

Collin loves hanging out with his books!

I was reading my Bible to him there for a little while, but he has now ripped two pages out of Genesis. At the rate he is going, we might never know if the Israelites make it out of Egypt or not. We have switched to a hard back cardboard version of the Bible until he gets a little more control over his wayward fingers.

Collin also loves to be sung to. For baby gifts, several people bought him some Christian kids CDs or silly song CDs. Oh how he loves to listen to those and be sung to. I make up hand movements to some of the songs and he loves it. I know you think I’m crazy, but he tries to sing along too and it is so adorable. This week Aaron was singing “Rocky Top” to him and making him dance and he begun laughing out loud! I joked Aaron that Collin was laughing at his singing, not at the dancing. But actually, now Collin laughs everytime you sing and dance around with him. It’s so cute. I tried to get it on video today, but since apparently I cannot hold the camera and sing/dance with the baby at the same time, I ended up videoing the carpet instead.

And yes, if you are in disbelief…. Aaron DOES sing to his son. It is really quite endearing.

The only bad side to Collin’s new obsession with singing is that I lay in bed most nights tossing and turning while “Do your ears hang low?” is going round and round in my brain….

For those of you that don’t know, my little sister Catherine (we call her Ellie) is a budding photographer. She has a unique way of visualizing scenes that most people can’t. A few weeks ago she came over and took some pictures of Collin around the house. The pics turned out amazingly well. You can see some of those pictures here. For anyone out there that wants to hire her to take some pics, she would probably love to do it, but you will have to buy her a camera too because she always uses my dad’s. 

Taking a break during his photo shoot to play with Aunt Ellie

 

Today I finally truly realized the meaning of the verse that says, “my cup runneth over.” I was laying with Collin on the bed and I was singing to him as he was looking around and smiling at everything. Then he turned his head at me, gave me the most beautiful smile, and laughed. Tears of joy just sprang into my eyes. I am so in love with my son that words cannot even express the depths of my love for him. And for the God who gave him to me. I cannot for the life of me, figure out what I did to deserve the lavish blessings that God has heaped upon my life. When He gave me Collin, He blessed me in a way that I will never understand. I am truly filled with joy unspeakable when I think of my little man. My mom told me that 4 months old was one of the best months for a new baby. I cannot imagine life getting any better, because 3 months has certainly been one of the most wonderful months of my life. My cup truly runneth over.

Today was game day again for the Tennessee Volunteers. Collin decided to get into action today as well to cheer on Daddy’s favorite team. Here are some pics of the cutest little volunteer on the block.

The last two mornings in a row, when I went to pick Collin up from his crib, this is how I found him:

Why, you might ask, is this significant? Because Collin goes to sleep on his stomach every night…. Surprise!

Collin spent some time with Max, David, ad Harper this past ewekend. He wasn’t really in a good mood though for his playdates, as he was coming down with a cold and ear infection. David, Max, and Collin are all currently under the weather. Surprise surprise! Collin is 12.5 weeks here, Max is 16 weeks, and Harper is 6.5 weeks.

Here are some funny pictures of the grumpy babies.

Max is trying to find an escape route...

 

Harper is trying to escape too! Why is everyone running from Collin? Does he have a messy diaper?!?!?!?

 

I certainly hope it's Collin's toy Harper is admiring...

 

Mr. Aaron holding his little girl. Aaron is 1,562 weeks in this picture.

I’ve been a little down today and yesterday. I’ve been thinking a lot about the world that Collin was born into and it just makes me so very sad. People these days are so very wicked and there are many ills of society to fear. Even amongst Christians, it is sad to say, the world has definitely wormed its way in. I worry that no matter what we teach Collin, the powers of the world will be too strong for him. I was praying as I was rocking him today that he would not be swayed by the things of this world. Actually, I prayed he wouldn’t even be interested in the culture around him, but that he would have eyes only for the Lord. I have no idea how to teach him these things. I know so many people that have brought their kids up to know and fear the Lord, but that their kids have turned. Who is to say that if Aaron and I do everything right, that Collin will follow Him? And how in the world do I bring up a young man who knows Jesus and loves Him in a world like this? I feel so overwhelmed and a little helpless. I do know that Collin has to have his faith grounded in the Word, or he will have nothing to stand on. I pray to God that even as a young boy, he will want to memorize the Word and hide it in his heart. I truly believe that verse that says “hide thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” It is only with the Lord’s words written on our hearts and soul can we resist the powers of the world around us. I pray Collin will be a man of the Word. Oh, how I long to teach him these things, but I fear I do not know how.

Holy smokes! My kid is 3 months old now! He turned 12 weeks old yesterday- I can scarcely believe it! Here are some new pics and updates on what Collin is up to in his “old age”. Collin wanted to narrate,  so here we go!

I continue to love my tummy time and I am getting better at it. I can even grab some of toys now. Sometimes though I get so excited I swing them around and wack myself in the face and then I don’t love tummy time anymore.

Mommy’s friend Megan sent me a really cool tool: the O-ball. I think that is what it is called. It is supposed to help me learn to hold onto things. I’m pretty good at it already and knew immediately how to put it to my mouth so I could lick it. Sometimes Bailey licks it too, but my mom always washes it.

The ball is really easy to learn to grab onto. Sometimes my mom thinks I am really smart and advanced when I’m holding it, but really my fingers are caught and I don’t know how to let go yet.

I still love my bathtime. Now I can sorta sit up in my bathtub though. Daddy lets me sit in the warm water and kick my legs around a lot. I like splashing him and peeing in the water.

On Fridays, Mrs. Sallie and Max and Mommy and I always have a play date. We went to the mall a few weeks ago. Max and I just had to chill in our strollers while Mrs. Sallie and mommy looked at a bazillion scarfs. This Friday we are going to go to Mrs. Jenn’s house for lunch and Max and I are going to fight for Baby Harper’s attention. I hope I get that chick!

I bet Harper would like these pictures of me in my shades. I know, I look hot!

I’ve been going on more walks now that I have stopped screaming when in my seat. It’s pretty cold though at night (for NC anyways) so mom bundles me up pretty good. I love wearing my long johns.

 

 

 

My mom’s friend Leslie gave me this really warm coat thing. My limbs are too short to fit right now, but it’s so warm and cuddly anyways. One time I slid way down into it and it was covering my head when my mom was carrying me. She didn’t even notice until I started to cry!

Sometimes my mom lets me chill in my Bumbo. I’m able to sit by myself in it now cause I’m a strong boy and I’ve got serious head holding skills. I tire in it pretty easy though because even though my head is shrimpy, it’s pretty heavy. I think I’ve got a really good brain in there.

When my dad was 1 month, he got his pictures made in the outfit you see below. My Nana saved it for all those years, and gave it to me! Here are some pictures of me in the same outfit. I’m finally out of all my newborn clothes and wearing 3 months clothes now. I’m getting big!

My daddy always makes me smile at him.

One of my favorite things still is my Magic Table. That’s what mom and dad calls it. Any time you lay me on changing table, I just love it. I start smiling and cooing immediately. Sometimes my mom just lets me hang out there while she folds my clothes. It’s such a great place. My mom thought I just like being there naked, but really, I just like laying there and looking at all the pictures on my walls.

Look at my leg rolls!

Sometimes in the morning my mom lays me on her bed and she puts my playlist on the IPOD. She sings to me and I love to watch her as she sings. I’m getting pretty good at singing as well. Well, I think it sounds like singing, but my mom must not because she always laughs and smiles when I sing. Sometimes I think my mom gets annoyed by my music because she says she dreams silly songs at night like “The B-I-B-L_E” and “10 little monkeys jumping on the bed”. I just love that song.

I’ve been dying to wear some jeans and I finally got to wear my first pair. I love to kick my legs in those things!

I’ve started really loving to look at my mom and get held by her. Don’t get me wrong- I love everyone, but my mom is my favorite since she always feeds me. And she hangs out a lot with me during the day.

I’ve starting sleeping through the night. Well, I’ve been doing it for about 2-3 weeks now. My mom is such a better mood and I feel better too when I am well rested. I miss seeing my mom at 1 am, 3 am, and 5 am, but she is always there when I do get up.

Well, I have to go take a nap now. All this spelling has me worn out. Thanks for reading about me. I’ll close with one of my mom’s favorite pics of me.

Bailey has really started to interact more with Collin these days. She always wants to know where he is and what he is doing. When he gets in the car, Bailey runs to his door and looks in at him. And when Collin is crying, Bailey is always right there. She’s ALWAYS gentle and sweet with him.

Collin and Bailey sharing the Boppy

Bailey is a loyal companion. She’s such a mild and meek animal, it’s weird. Around Aaron and I, she has had a lot less attention the past few months, but she still loves us the same and begs for our attention. When we ignore her or can’t get to her right when she wants it, she just sits around and waits for her turn. She’s so loyal. I think she’s a little sad that she doesn’t get loved on as much, but she sure does enjoy it when it is her turn. I feel guilty sometimes because she gets on my last nerve sometimes, but I know she doesn’t know any better. She literally follows me from room to room all day long, right at my heels. It’s kinda cute.

This is how I found Bailey one day this week- lounging on Collin's playmat. I came in the room with Collin so he could lay on it, and this is what we found. Crazy dog.