Rufus Love

This is from today and it shows just how much they love each other!

Kitchen Talk 2

Kitchen Talk 1

Box Play

My Birthday!

I had a fantastic time hanging out with Eric this weekend! For my birthday weekend Aunt Sharon and Gramma Meyer came into town to babysit Colin while we went to the National Harbor Gaylord Hotel for Saturday evening fun! Friday the gals arrived and we all had a good evening hanging out at the house and having Pizza for dinner. Saturday morning Eric made pancakes for everyone and we spent the morning watching Colin crawl all around. In the afternoon we headed to Vivi's birthday party and we ate lunch at Apple Spice Junction. Eric and quickly packed our things and headed to the hotel. Once we arrived they told us our room was no longer available to us so they would "up grade" us to another room, which turns out to not be a suite, and a credit of $150 to spend on property. At first I was a bit disheartened, but we changed our dinner plans and ate at the hotel. With the rest of the money of the credit Eric suggested I get a spa treatment. After we finished dinner we took a dip in the pool while they played "Over the Hedge", and then at 9:30pm there was a great fireworks display in the harbor just for my birthday. After the pool closed we headed to the room and sat on our atrium balcony with some people watching and dranks. Then in the morning we got to sleep in, which was amazing! I head to the spa for my refresher massage and enjoyed the amenities of the spa, whirlpool and steam room. Eric and I then headed out to the Capitol Skyline Hotel near Nats Park and attended a swanky pool party. As we headed home it was bittersweet, we looked forward to seeing Colin but we're sad to see Gramma Meyer and Aunt Sharon head home. I had an amazing birthday! Thanks to everyone for the great wishes and the gifts!
Love you all,
Amanda

New things happening

Colin has been working on his palate and so far he has dined on carrots, butternut squash, peas (which he doesn't like), green beans, sweet potatoes, rice cereal, and oatmeal cereal. I am hoping to work in apples, bananas, and pears. He has really enjoyed it all, just not the peas! Thankfully he is a good eater. He seems to be growing so fast now that I don't get to spend the whole day with him. Right now he is working on getting around and he does that by getting up on all fours, twisting, and sitting on his butt. It is so funny to watch him move around. We have been capturing some of these moments and will post more videos soon. This past weekend we went to Nolan and Annie Walton's wedding. It was a fabulous time hanging out and celebrating. We were able to see Matt, Angie, Steve, Nana, and Poppa Drennan. Colin and Steve played well together. Nolan gifted us some hot wheels and a really sweet race track! Congrats to Annie and Nolan! Work got hectic since the students are back too. It seems that our gifted program grew so much that we are packed to capacity. I am going to have my hands full helping to manage all the classes. Eric and I are looking forward to some true alone time! I hope this week flies by at work and in the evenings it crawls so I can soak up all the CJ that I can!
Take care,
Amanda

News for now

Hello everyone! I have been trying to post some videos to the blog from my camera but it is just too much for the blog. I am now using a Flip and seeing if that will help out with the video situation. Now there is one more way for the world to get a dose of Colin, FlipShare Channel! I am also trying to share the videos on YouTube, we have a channel there too... Amandimeyer1979
Bounce Babble
Bumbo Wave
On the Move 1, and On the Move 2
Colin turns 7 months tomorrow and I go back to work. I am still sad that he goes to daycare everyday, but I think he enjoys hanging out with the other kiddos. This past weekend I hung out with Nicole at her surprise party/wine touring. Eric hung out with Colin, they were both working on getting a bit better. Those daycare germs are vicious! Sunday we spent some family time together cleaning the house and trying to get Colin to crawl. We are looking forward to hanging out at Nolan Walton's wedding this coming weekend. It should be a blast! And for my birthday, August 28th, Eric and I will be having a getaway to the Gaylord National and hopefully some other fun times without our little guy. Aunt Sharon and Gramma Meyer are coming to visit and watch our little monster! We are in the process of finalizing the details for Colin's baptism, and potentially looking at Sept. 12th!
Hope everyone else is doing great and having as much fun as they can before the summer is over.
Love,
Amanda
P.S. More pics tomorrow!

New photos to see!

I have updated the Picasa Web Album for month 6! We have had a lot of changes, Daycare has begun and Colin is working at adjusting to being away from mommy and not being able to nurse on demand. It has been a disruption to his sleep schedule at night, but it seems things are now getting back to a routine. We are fluctuating between getting up at 1am, 3am, 4am, and 5am for comfort and reassurance. I am doing my best to stay away from the night feeding, and so far it has worked. It seems that he has developed more sensitivities in the diaper area, a little bit of rash and rawness, and hopefully we can get the daycare teachers to be more attentive to his needs during diaper changes. He went through the first week coming home in the same outfit we left him in! We have learned that it is crucial that he has a pacifier available at all times and that he will allow other people to help get him to sleep which has carried over into bedtime routines with Daddy!

As you know Colin has been feeding on Rice Cereal for 2 weeks, and he is now up to 2 feedings of solids a day. We just incorporated carrots and oatmeal, next up is peas and squash! I am praying he doesn't have any allergic reactions to any foods! In his daycare class there are 3 other boys and 1 girl. Of those 3 boys, one is crawling all around. Colin has become more adventurous with his mobility, I attribute that to watching RJ crawl around the classroom. Colin has mastered rolling over both ways, sit unassisted, scooting, stand while we hold his hands. He is now working on the rocking forward in a seated position to lean supported on his hands. It also seems as though he is trying to figure out the army crawl. We have noticed a lot more movements covering distances. It is exciting to see his growth! He also loves studying things and figuring out how they work. I am struggling at times with the separation, but I am glad I have this transition time happening before I go back to work. I miss my little guy a lot! If you follow on Facebook you may have seen that I went to Marry Poppins the musical yesterday at the Kennedy Center with my friend Theresa. We had a blast, it was so wonderful! I left in such high spirits and I feel like singing everything everywhere! :P As a family we have been going, going, going still. I don't know how much longer this can continue, at least for now, since Colin seems to need a more consistent nap/sleep schedule at home in his crib. I can't really think of anything more I need to share, so until next time! Love, Amanda

Day Care Blues

Well, today is Colin's first day at daycare. The whole family got a late start so we hit the road around 8:20am which means I will sacrifice my time and pick Colin up from daycare earlier than Eric will be able to. ;) Just kidding, I don't think I could last a whole day without Colin. I didn't think that it would bother me to drop him off and say goodbye, but as soon as I got back to the car I started to tear up a bit. Colin looked totally comfortable hanging out, playing with new toys, meeting new friends and teachers. I left and he was smiling! I broke some rules on the very first trip, whodathunk. I wasn't aware that you couldn't add anything to the bottle, ex. vitamins or cereal. They said it causes problems when they warm the bottles, and I tried to explain that CJ doesn't need his bottle warmed. I hope he doesn't need all the extra outfits they asked us to bring. Hopefully I can make it till 3:45pm. Wish me luck!
Amanda