Collier LOVES the pool. He is like a little fish these days. He has been taking swim lessons at Emler Swim School in Frisco since last August. He started out in the Waterbabies class where I was with him in the water. We would sing songs and do swim activities together. However, in June he was moved up to Super Waterbabies where I am not in the water with him anymore. He has an awesome teacher, Julien, who has really increased Collier's love of the water and he is swimming really well. He has come so far in the past year where he cried for the entire 30 minute session for the first 7 or 8 weeks and I thought about quitting to now not wanting class to be over each week.
Collier and his buddy Jaxon driving their boats
Working with Julien
Collier is so comfortable now that we have to watch him even more closely at
home. Thank goodness we put the pool fence in this past spring. He is
fearless now and loves to jump in over and over. Collier is doing so
well that he is moving up classes again to X-treme Waterbabies next
week. Of course, I worked our schedules around to ensure he gets Julien
again as his teacher!
Collier loves all things construction so I decided to use a construction theme for his 2nd birthday party. I bought the invitations off of Etsy with cupcake toppers and thank you notes to match. Since the weather in Texas is so hot in June I decided a morning party would be best and it works great with Collier's nap schedule. Of course I went overboard and had to bring in Aunt Allyson a day early to help me get ready for the party.
Here are some pics of the decorations and food for the party. I also had construction vests and hats for the kids to take home.
Collier handing out construction hats to his friends
The Birthday Boy!
You can't have a construction party without a sand pit right? I bought a cheap plastic swimming pool from Walmart and we (I mean Allyson) loaded it up with sand and toys including lots of dump trucks. I also brought out Collier's sand/water table. In addition we borrowed a bounce house from some friends to give the kids plenty to keep them busy.
I also had a dump truck pinata for the kids to bust. It was filled with yummy candy, bubbles in the shape of tools, and construction truck erasers. I definitely think getting all that loot was exciting for the kids.
By the time we sang Happy Birthday Collier was ready for a nap!
I think Collier's 2nd birthday was a success! Thanks again to all those helped him celebrate!!
I recently read on Babycenter that "a typical 20-month-old has a spoken vocabulary of about 12-15 words". I was telling Jeff about the article and then we started thinking about all the words that Collier knows. Dr. Dunlap mentioned at Collier's 18 month appointment that he already had a good vocabulary for his age, but I never really thought about it until I read this article. Collier speaks WAY more than 12-15 words and he has started putting two words together like "up please" or "mommy sit." We are also working on counting to ten.....that is a work in progress. It usually goes two, three, six, eight, nine, ten. I can definitely see the similarities between Collier and myself as this child LOVES to talk.
Here is a list I made of the words Collier says frequently:
Mama or Mommy
Dada or Daddy
Bye Bye
Please
More
No
Yes
Hi
Up
Up High
Ball
Football (which he thinks all sports are football)
Paci
Butterfly
Pig
Duck
Cow
Puppy or dog
Turtle
Chicken
Cat or Kitty
Elephant
Bunny
Shark
Animal
Car
Truck
Boat
Bus
Airplane
Snack
Milk
Water
Juice
Cup
Spoon
Bowl
Plate
Cheese
Cookie
Egg
Banana
Apple
Applesauce
Grape
Sausage
Meat
Donut
Bath
Teeth
Feet
Mouth
Nose
Eyes
Shoes
Socks
Hat
Pants
Soap
Bubbles
Movie
Elmo
Snuffy
Outside
Pool
Slide
Baby
Choo Choo
Two
Three
Six
Eight
Nine
Ten
Blue
Oma (Moma)
Nanee
Papa (Grandpa)
Poopoo
Peepee
Light
Moon
Sky
Tree
Home
Star
Bright
Sit
Hot
Cold
Waterfall
Kiss
Hug
Bed
Night Night
Book
Again
Off
Towel
Sleepsack
This doesn't include all the animal sounds he knows. Plus, he will basically repeat anything you say. These are just words he says without being prompted. I am sure I am leaving out many because Collier is constantly surprising us with new words.
**Just last week when I picked him up from school I pointed to one of his classmates and said "who is that" he immediately started pointing to and naming his school friends - Isaac, Kinsley, Olivia, Aubrey....I was so surprised!
Collier's vocabulary is getting bigger all the time. He currently says mama, dada, ball, bye bye, night night, uh oh, snack, no no, nana (banana), and duck. Here are a few video clips of us practicing last night.
Collier is walking more and more everyday. Collier still primarily crawls and when he does walk he likes to hold onto one hand, but he is getting braver each day walking by himself. Here is a new video from Saturday. We were stuck inside the majority of the afternoon due to bad weather so we had lots of time to practice Collier's walking.
Yes, Collier's first birthday party was in June, but I am finally posting about it (I was having trouble uploading the video).
I think Collier's 1st Birthday Party was a hit! I decided to go with a baseball theme and I am totally blaming Pinterest and Etsy for making me go over board. I found these adorable invitations on Etsy. The creator customized the invite including the addition of Ranger's ballpark.
Fortunately, I have a great family who helped me so much to get ready for the party. Thank you to my little sister Bethany for baking the cupcakes and my Dad for figuring out how to decorate them when my original idea fell through. Thanks to my sister Allyson for picking up the balloons, entertaining Collier, and getting him to take 2 naps before the party. Of course thank you to Jeff, Debbie, Mom, Eddie, Beth, and Corey for running errands, preparing food, and listening to me loose it a couple of times! I didn't know birthday party preparations could be so stressful.
The Birthday Boy!
I had everyone who came to the party sign Collier's "game ball" so one day he can look back on everyone who helped celebrate his big day!
Going with the baseball theme we had a nacho station, hot dog station, old-fashioned popcorn machine, baseball shaped cake pops, and other yummy snacks.
For party favors I made gift bags complete with a box of Cracker Jacks, baseball lollipop, and baseball stickers. I tied a tag on each bag that said "Thanks for making Collier's birthday a home run."
I had a local baker make an adorable smash cake for Collier that matched his birthday t-shirt. However, Collier wasn't too interested in the cake. He kind of poked at it for a bit and then wanted out of his chair. I was expecting a total mess, but it typically Collier style he totally surprised us!
Here is the video of "Happy Birthday" to Collier!
A special thank you to all our friends and family who came to help Collier celebrate his first birthday!
We decided to wait until the next day to have Collier open all his presents. He got so much fun new stuff and has really enjoyed all the new toys!
