Busy Season

Fall is our busy season here at the McCollum House.  Mike is crazy busy with work stuff, especially relating to Army football.  When he's not working, he can frequently be found outside doing yardwork.  That leaves Thomas, Ryan and I to our own devices.  So far, so good.  But since we're pretty much out straight, there's been little time to sit and do a blog post.  So while I have hit the jackpot today of nap times overlapping, I will just dump pictures of our adventures, our shenanigans, and our fun en masse.

For the next month, we will be in constant battle with the leaves in our yard.

Leaves don't phase this rider!

Thomas basically goes from one sport to another to another to another.  Hockey is the current front runner.

Thomas' new bike has catapulted biking into the top three sports.  He's especially fond of riding in circles around my car.

We recruit Ryan as a spectator and fan.   He's a champ about it, he really is.

Asleep, but not for long, in the garage while we play hockey

Bottle propped...so we can play hockey while he eats

Ball time for Ryan too

Getting cooler here!

Not only is Ryan a good sport about spectating, he has a super disposition to boot.  He's pretty chill until it's time to eat or move on.

Playing on Thomas' "soft, soft covers"

Looking and feeling like 17 pounds and 3 months old!

 

Just So You Know...

Ryan appears to be getting the hang of sleeping during the night.  9:00pm-4:00 was wonderful the first time it happened.  And the second.  And every time thereafter.  Sunday night, Ryan pulled out all the stops and slept from 9:00pm-7:34am!!!  Last night was back to reality, 8:30pm-4:00am.  I'll take that every day of the week.

Naps in a swing, but sleeps straight jacket-style in a swaddler in the crib

It's crazy hard to keep a straight face sometimes.  Thomas is always trying to make sense of the world and keep things right in his mind.

T: Mama?
K: Yes, Thomas?
T: Mama, maybe one day when you're a little bit bigger you can get a penis too.
K: Maybe, Thomas, but I doubt it.

K (to Mike at dinnertime): I am four pounds away from my ideal weight.
T: Me too.  I am four pounds away.
M: Oh yeah, Little Buddy?

Ryan is the best sport.  He takes just about everything in stride.  He does a lot of hanging out in what we call "the backpack carrier."  In reality, it is a carrier, but on the front.

Hanging out at pre school at the Fall Party

He also tolerates having his picture taken.  A lot.  By me, by his brother, the budding photographer, by his dad, and occasionally, by a stranger whose help we've enlisted.

Photo by Mama

And other by Mama,

And another,

And yet another photo by Mama

Photo by budding photographer, Thomas

Photo by Dad

There are hidden tools all over the place.  I've become creative at finding other uses for things like blankets scrunched up-turned-makeshift feeding props.

Thomas is still a huge fan of anything outdoorsy.  His love for yardwork is still apparent, but it seems that sports are starting to edge their way into being his favorite outdoor activity.  Thomas tries all sports we can get our hands on.

Blowing the back deck

Raking into a pile worthy of jumping into

Go Sooners!

Soccer

Zonked out after an Army football game

Big time golf in the back yard

Riding the bike at pre school

Thomas' brand new bike

Footballs, footballs everywhere!

 Ryan is not quite as much of a fan of the outdoors as his big brother.

Having two kids instead of one certainly has its challenges.  Who to attend to first when on rare occasion, they are both crying or who to feed first when they are both hungry.  Who to put to bed first so I can manipulate the other's nap or bedtime to have a few precious minutes to myself.  But in the end, Thomas and Ryan are the best decisions we've ever made.

A Letter to My Son

Dear Ryan,

As your mother, I feel that is important to warn you.   After nine weeks of life with us, you have likely figured some of this out on your own, but I will begin to outline what you should expect from life here at our house.

We are an active family.  Your father and I were active people even before your big brother Thomas showed up on the scene.   He slowed us down a little at first, but we quickly whisked him into the fun and we'll do the same with you.

We will expose you to many sports and activities and hope that you latch on to some.
Recently, we took our family to the West Point Golf Course driving range and putting green.  Thomas loved hitting tons of balls.  You, my dear boy, slept most of the time in our favorite tool, the backpack carrier.

You will be dragged to many sporting events.  Hopefully you love attending, just as Thomas does.  In addition to the many Army athletic events we attend, we'll seek out other cool sporting things to attend.  The Pittsburgh Penguins held a practice at West Point last weekend.  We were thrilled at the opportunity to see Sidney Crosby and the NHL players.  Thomas Sidney was excited to see "Thomas McCollum Sidney Crosby" and you, Ryan, watched for almost an hour before eating and zonking out.

"Sid the Kid"---incidentally, that's a dasher board Dad sold

We let you try out highly supervised tackle football.  Thomas loved letting you tackle him.

We will likely sway you toward the frugal (and sometimes cheap) way.   Two examples of recent note are collecting balls at the driving range when no one was there instead of buying a bucket and attacking the raspberry bushes at an orchard that were "closed" that day.

The Culprit: Dad

The Ringleader: Mama

I'll enlist your help in our kitchen.  Your brother is a ready and able sous chef and has set the bar high.

We will take you to fun places.  Two weeks ago, we all loaded up and went apple picking at a local orchard.  We took turns pulling you around in a wagon, but we'll look forward to the time when you can enjoy the experience and run around yourself.

Thomas insisted on pulling you first

Two thumbs up for the Empire State's apples!

I will dress you up in crazy and cute clothes and take picture after picture of you.

I'm sure that you will enjoy learning other things about what it means to be part of our family.  For now, I will only assure you that the most important thing you know is that we will continue to love you like crazy.

Love,
Mom