KK & RyRy

Brennan will be gaining an Uncle in the near future, Krista and Ryan are engaged!! The Colts are sooo excited for them. They make an amazing couple. And, Brennan LOVES RyRy, super PLUS. Let the planning begin. It looks like it will be a summer wedding, and yes, we are talking 2011!!!!

Baby Brother

Ok, Ok, it has been a while! And, almost everyone knows by now, that Brennan will be gaining a brother this Spring (April 7...maybe). It has been hard to remember how soon that will be, and, if you noticed how long it has been since I last blogged...I have been a little busy.

The pregnancy has been great, almost as easy as the last one...except for the part where I have to take care of a toddler! But, really, I forget sometimes. Although, now, it is more glaringly obvious (note my belly pic from weeks ago).

Toddler Days....

Brennan is truly the little toddler, now! Active as ever, full of personality, and knows just what he wants. As these recent days are marked by some of the cutest memories: singing ABC's, getting in hitting stance with the baseball bat, saying all kinds of words (bubbles, whats that, bowl, please, and many more), cheers-ing, dancing to the beat, playing hide'n'go seek, going down the big slide all by himself, to name a few....Brennan also has his moments of 'expressing' himself ;). Brennan has gotten himself into a few 'time-outs' for aggressive behavior and has experienced natural consequences for being the dare-devil that he is (as if that stopped him, anyways!). What a BOY!! He is pretty good about telling us what he wants, whether it is sign language (he knows a few, mostly 'more'), words, sounds or pointing...but patience hopefully is around the corner (ya, right!).

Growing up!

Yes, I know it has been a while. I am down to the 'every-other-month' blog, no more monthlies. And, lucky for you, I am maxed out at work and can't do one other thing besides blog about my son!! He is so funny now. He is talking it up and starting some obsessions, bananas and toothbrushes are his latest! He says, nana, gentle, bye-bye, gigi, medicine, moon, all done, and probably others I have not understood. And for those multi-syllabic words like 'medicine' and 'gentle' they are only clear enough to the care-givers ear :) Brennan is starting to interact with the kids at daycare more, hugging them and even plopping himself on the 3 year old's laps! He climbs (time to take him out of the crib), runs and re-arranges furniture just how he likes it. He is also an eater. 1/2 banana is NOT enough, must be a whole. He wants to try all of our food and is working on using a spoon...it is like a battle zone when he gets finished serving himself. Thanks to all the eating he has put on quite the belly, and is growing out of the 12 month clothes.

These last months, Brennan went to Arizona for Spring Training. He was a great little traveler, even when he got really sick with a fever. We had a layover both ways and that always made it a long day! Easter was a lot of fun, we went to family friends and had a hunt for the two 1-year old babies. Baby Charlie got the Golden Egg ;(. We have had many trips with the bike trailer to the park for some fun on warm days. Can't wait for summer!!!

more party pics

First Birthday Party!

After a bit of preparation, family arriving into town, and a pre-party nap, the moment arrived for celebrating Brennan's big birthday! March 6 (a few days early) we celebrated Brennan's 1st birthday. Both sets of Grandparents, Auntie KK, and 30 guests joined us for the mid-day celebration. Good food, a bounce house, cupcakes, TONS of presents, lots of smiles AND 60 degree weather in early March made for a fun-packed day. When it came to the cake-eating moment Brennan was VERY apprehensive, but after one taste of that sugary frosting, he was ALL in!! When it came to present opening, Brennan had a lot of little helpers. Thanks to them we did not have to sit there for 3 hours opening gifts, they reduced it to about an hour...thank goodness ;). To say Brennan is now spoiled is an understatement. And, although it was a perfect day, there were of course those things that made it even more memorable, like: Brennan falling out the back door at the beginning of the party, and 1/2 of our family getting the violent stomach flu we had earlier in the week!

The Coast

We had a great weekend, spending time near Depot Bay with a group of 5 couples. Three of the couples have babies under 1, so it made for an exciting weekend! We rented a house that was perfect for everyone and had access to the beach. Despite the tsunami warning and a flu bug that spread to almost everyone, we had a relaxing time with some great memories.

Brennan and the other babies sure loved the beach. Brennan really wanted to sample a taste of the sand, and so he did...multiple times. And, Cj wondered why he had sand in his diaper even though we had not been to the beach ;)

The Park

When Brennan was born last spring, I could hardly wait until he was old enough to take to a park and PLAY. Well, that time has come! And with the weather just warm enough and no snow on the ground we took Brennan down to the Farewell Bend Park for some playtime. He loved climbing the rocks and, particularly, picking up the bark chips and attempting to eat them!

Photo Shoot

Mom decided to go crazy with her new camera, of course Brennan was the subject! These were taken in downtown Yreka.

Family Time, and a little Mommy/Daddy time!

Valentine's weekend we headed to Yreka for some Colt family time. Uncle Unc, Aunt Jody, and cousin Judah were visiting from Solvang. It was amazing to see how much Judah has grown and changed since we last saw him. Saturday Cj and I snuck off to Ashland for a night away at the Ashland Springs Hotel. Brennan had a great time hanging with Gigi, Popo and the fam. Sunday he even got to go to church, his favorite part was the singing. Then, he got a little restless and he and Popo went exploring!

1, 2, 3 Grandpa! Play with me!

Brennan's early walking days...

Graduation Celebration

CJ and two other husbands helped to put on a graduation celebration for the Lesley Masters Graduates (their wives). They did an amazing jobs. Most of us had our parents and families there and even a few friends. The boys did all the cooking, decorating and even gave a speech (with the help of my dad)!

Stair Climber

11 months

Brennan is quite the little personality. We are starting to see how Brennan likes to laugh and make us laugh. He will often do something that he thinks is "funny" (like banging toys together), then wait for us to laugh and then follow our laugh with a big giggle. He is very social and is always drawn to other kids. He will go right up to them and interact. Daycare has been great for that. This month has been full of watching Brennan explore the world! Now that he is walking, everything has changed. He always manages to find the most unsafe thing to play with, like my curling irons and the toilet lid! Toys just aren't that interesting. Christina, his daycare "lady" has taught Brennan how to go up and down stairs safely (see the video). It is amazing to see him take such care in doing something cautiously. We almost don't need a baby gate. Swimming just wrapped up yesterday. he loved getting in the water and splashing around, he even got his first certificate. He got all "checks" in each area, except blowing bubbles. I of course demanded to see the rubric for the expectations on receiving a "check" ;) He still loves his little book corner. He will sit for 10 minutes "reading" (turning pages). Brennan continues to love eating. He gets very excited to sit in his high chair. He now eats all solid foods: frozen veggies, soft fruits, crackers, meats and cheeses. He really likes to "do it himself", so he much prefers self feeding to being spoon fed. But if we are spoon feeding him something, he likes to have his own spoon which he is allowed to occasionally attempt to serve himself. He laughs so hard when he actually gets some in his mouth!! Our favorite is hearing Brennan's big giggle. He IS ticklish, so we can always get a giggle with a little tickle. In one month Brennan will be 1 year! We are planning a little party for the big day.

Happy New Year

We rung in the NY 2010 NYC style. We celebrated with friends, the ones with babies! Our friend Jo hosted a fun night, toasting to the New Year at 9:00. Somehow we made it until midnight, anyways!

Finished...almost

Mommy is almost done. Finished last class and thesis is due Feb. 10th.