My Big 1 Year Old

Little Bear is ONE!

This post is not for his 12 month update (or his 11 month, which I realize has not been done...), or for his amazingness of a birthday party that will take place tomorrow - It is just because I can't believe my little man is ONE!

This week has been crazy... Tuesday (October 11th) was his actual birthday. I took the morning off from work so I could spend time with him and be with him on the moment he was born a year ago. We started off the day by going to Sister's school and having birthday cupcakes with her class. Then, we went to lunch with Daddy. After lunch, F had to go to school so I could go to my afternoon meetings. But, in true over-the-top-mom fashion, I had to make little favors for all the kids at school to take home on his birthday!

Tuesday evening, we went to Outback with the family for F's birthday dinner. He ate bread (with butter of course), macaroni and cheese, asparagus, and sweet potato. (Yes. He likes to eat. A lot.)

Then came the cupcake. We had the servers bring it out - singing and everything. F was so excited to dive in! I think he was surprised we were letting him have something as amazing as a cupcake, because he had a death grip on it with one hand and shoveled it in with the other hand.

It was the perfect first birthday for our little bear.

(Oh... And he totally knew it was his birthday. He clapped for himself all day!)

This weekend is going to be a blast. I have quite the Fall Festival planned for his party - complete with a s'more bar and bobbing for apples. (I realize he is only 1... Just go with it.)

Stay tuned : )

Fisher Grows! 10 Months

TEN MONTHS

Fisher Thomas: I have enjoyed every single day with you, but something about your tenth month was just amazing. You are growing and changing so much! You are absolutely brilliant, and by far the cutest baby possible! All I have to do is look at your sweet face, and any kind of day I am having is brightened. Looking at you makes me want to be a better person - someone you can be proud of and look up to. It's getting harder on me as we are getting closer to your 1st birthday. I don't handle letting go well, but I am learning more every day that parenting is the process of letting go... Little by little. You have gotten noticeably more independent - with play and trying to crawl. Your whisper conversations with your paci always crack me up! Thank you again for giving mommy and daddy's life such amazing meaning and purpose. We love you little bear!

- Going to bed at 8:00 and waking up at 7:00 consistently
- Eating five 6 oz bottles a day
- Eating baby food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Trying out some table foods - fruit, grits, meats, beans - basically anything soft enough!
- Size 3 diaper
- Some 6-9 month, but mostly 9-12 month clothes
- Drinking really great from a sippy cup
- Love to feed yourself with the bottle
- LOVE snacks!
- You have 6 teeth (top 4 middle, bottom 2 middle)
- Sitting completely independently and showing off your flexibility. You are hilarious the way you will completely face plant (with your butt still firmly planted) to reach a toy - anything to not have to crawl!
- Smile at pretty much anyone, and if someone is not looking at you - you will stare them down until they look at you so you can smile at them! LOVE it : )
- Love to sit at the table with us
- Love to go shopping - especially to the grocery store!
- Went on your first trip to Cape San Blas! Completely loved it.. LOVE LOVE the boat and getting in the water. You even try to swim - frog style
- Not crawling, but you will scoot backwards.. So funny the places we find you!
- Waving and dancing are your favorite
- You laugh hysterically when daddy tickles you
- Making the funniest sound.. Almost like you are clearing your throat repeatedly!
- You will hold your ear or whoever is laying with you's ear when you are going to sleep
- We love your curly hair : )

Watching the Handy Manny tools dance!

Where ya goin??

Whatcha doin in there?

Fisher Grows! 9 Months

NINE MONTHS

(These pictures are getting a little more difficult...)

Fisher - How in this good world are you nine months old? Time must have universally sped up the day I had you. I guess it must also be going by faster because we are having so much fun with you! You have such an amazing personality. You still LOVE your daddy more than anyone. You have actually gotten to the point where if you see him, you reach for him - and if he is holding you, and someone else tries to get you, you turn away and hug him tighter. Your daddy lights up everytime you do that (and is a little cocky that you even do it to me). But, I know you still love your mommy so much (almost as much as daddy)! You LOVE to squeal! You talk all the time and get especially loud if anyone should dare to walk by you in the store. You are getting more independent. We can just sit you in the recliner with it propped up, hand you the bottle, and you are one happy man. Fisherman - you have every bit of our hearts, and we are so proud to call you our baby boy.

- Size 2 & 3 diapers
- 6 month and 6-9 month clothes
- Weighing about 19 1/2 pounds!
- Sleeping 10-11 hours every night
- Eating 5 bottles a day (between 5 and 6 ounces)
- Eating baby food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Talking ALL the time
- Sitting more independently
- Loves to play with toys
- Using the paci more - I think it is because of your teeth
- You have 6 teeth!
- Started wearing little shoes every now and then (SO cute!)
- Said "dada" (and now say is ALL the time!), you also say "mama" and "baba"
- Went on your first scalloping trip! You LOVE the boat and the water! You were so cute in your life jacket - you couldnt really move a lot, but would fall asleep every time the boat was running.
- Met the Talley's : )
- Auntie Amy swears you said "auntie"

What Fisher does while Mommy is getting dressed in the mornings!

Playdate with Jhett and Emily!

Sometimes, you just have to kick back...

Fisher Grows! 8 Months

EIGHT MONTHS

Fisher: How are you eight months old? Time has never gone by this fast. I am amazed by you every single day! When your daddy walks into a room and you immediately start laughing - it melts me. I love your "new" smile where you show off your bottom two teeth! You are just so proud of them! You went to Disney World this month and LOVED every second of it! It was the most fun daddy and I have ever had at Disney! (And we didn't even ride a single ride!) For the first time, you spent 2 nights away from us! We missed you so much, that I canceled my plans for Sunday and went to get you first thing in the morning! I can not get over how fast you are growing and how fast you are changing! You attempt some sort of a "wave" and some sort of "dance" when we clap for you! You LOVE Tucker (by love, I mean pulling his hair, of course)! Thank you, little man, for making our little world so much bigger. We love you more than you can imagine : )

- Weighing around 18 pounds
- Size 2 diapers
- 3-6 and some 6-9 month clothes
- Eating 5 oz every 3-4 hours
- Sleeping 10-12 hours
- Stage 2 baby food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- You love to hold your own bottle
- When you are not holding your bottle, your hands are in the "praying position" : )
- You grunt when you eat your baby food!
- You love to feed yourself with your spoon
- Started on a sippy cup (water after baby food) and do REALLY well with it!
- You never really want your pacifier, except to play with or at night time - but only for a few minutes
- You have 2 teeth on the bottom, and the top 2 will be poking through any day now
- I am noticing some curl in your hair...Just like your mommy : )
- You love to wave, dance, and to watch us wave and dance back at you like crazy people
- Went on your first road trip to Disney...We learned that we need a TV in the car for these long rides : )
- You are just the chubbiest thing - We can't go anywhere without someone commenting on your knee rolls
- You laugh at just the sight of your daddy
- You will do anything to impress PawPaw and are in love with your YaYa - maybe because she spoils you rotten!
- When you don't know someone very well you will let them hold you, but stare at me to make sure they are okay
- You only want me when you don't feel good : )
- Love to play in your jumper and with your Spin-a-Letter
- Daddy and I have daily battles on how you should be dressed...I am in to monogramming and bubbles, daddy is in to Ralph Lauren and onesies
- Bedtime is 8:00, and surprisingly you will go right to sleep when we lay you down!
- You said "ma-ma" this month - my heart literally stopped for a second!! I was SO excited! You also said "da" and "ba-ba" : )

First golf club!

Look what I can do!

He looks a bit sneaky here...

The Collins Go to Disney

The traveling baseball team that Tanner coaches took us off to Disney for Memorial Day Weekend! The boys had a tournament at the Wide World of Sports, and we were more than excited to attend! We would just throw our bags of essentials in the car and go!

But wait... This was our first trip (more than an hour or so away and overnight) with a baby. Oh. My. Greatness. When I tell you that our car was loaded down.. It is an understatement. We were fully prepared with a pack n play, bumbo, bags of clothes, food, diapers, wipes, bottles, toys, stroller... You name it, we took it. Long gone are the days of throwing a small duffel in the car and taking off!

Normally, Fisherman loves to ride in the car. He will play quietly, talk to me a bit, then take a little nap. Well, those days are long gone as well. He was happy as pie until we hit I-75. Then he woke up. No bueno. Between I-75 and the Turnpike we stopped 5 times. He cried, we cried, we sang, danced, sat in silence, and prayed. (Remember I am not a fan of crying it out) He FINALLY cried himself to sleep. Praise God. I had never been so happy to be in Orlando.

Well, once we were out of the car, the demon that had possessed my angel was gone. Fisher was thrilled (as were mommy and daddy)! Thursday night we just had a low key dinner from the food court at the hotel and hit the sack - we needed to rest up for our fun-filled weekend!

Friday was quite the busy day. There were 2 baseball games, pool time, nap time, and finally - dinner at the Celebration Town Tavern. I am not sure what to think of this...But, Fisher was totally in his element. He sat between Tanner and me in his highchair - laughing, talking, linking arms with us (adorable, yet it was a bar...). I, on the other hand, was in heaven. If you have not been to downtown Celebration...Please go. I already picked out the house that we will live in (obviously with a picket fence - complete with ivy and yellow flowers growing on the front of the fence). I also found the place I will work - of course I can walk there from my ridiculously cute house. So, we are moving asap. I love you all and please come visit : )

He has a fan base.

Going to the pool!

Saturday was by far my favorite day. There was only 1 game, so we had the majority of the day to do what we wanted. Mickey Mouse made a special appearance at the game and Fisher was able to meet him! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! Mickey walked up to him to say hello, and Fisher got so excited that he reached out and grabbed his face, pulled him in and bit kissed his nose! Unfortunately, I was holding Fisher and was not able to get a picture - but luckily one of the team moms was there snapping away! I am working on getting a copy of that priceless moment! After the game, we went back to the hotel so we Fisher could nap. Of course, napping is not cool, so it was a rather short experience. Instead of the leisurely nap we had anticipated, we went ahead and got ready for our Magic Kingdom evening! I was a little nervous about how this would play out - I had been warned that taking a 7 month old to a theme park would not be pleasant. I was expecting Fisher to be hot and fussy and for Tanner and me to be irritated and ready to go home. Well, I could not have been more wrong! I had NO idea that a baby could have SO much fun at Disney! Fisher was laughing, squealing, reaching for everything, and jumping on our hips in pure excitement. We did not ride any rides, but walked into all the shops and had a lovely dinner. We arrived about 6 pm, and stayed long enough to see the beginning of the parade. Fisher got a little extra excited when the parade started - babyman loves him some drums and lights! We finally decided it was time to get him in bed, so we left the park with some of our best memories yet : )

Mickey in the park!

I love this.

Sweetest boy in the world : )

On Sunday it was clear that Fisher needed a break, so Tanner went to the game while we stayed at the hotel and napped. After the game we went to Downtown Disney and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Fisher LOVED it! Then, we walked around to the stores and went to Disney Quest - where I was able to take an animation class that taught me to draw Mickey Mouse! (I thought I did okay, but Tanner informed me he was not proportionate...Thanks!)

Morning nap! Sooo tired!

Best picture in America. Just watching some baseball!

Monday brought the Championship game. The boys made a great run at it and ended up coming in 2nd place. After the game, we packed up (exhausted) and started our journey home. Well, again Fisher was an angel until we hit I-75... Then he cried all the way to my parents driveway. When we pulled in, my parents were waiting for us in the drive (they are still laughing at how frazzled we all looked!), grabbed Fisher and gave us a little break! (THANK YOU mom and dad!) We took a little bit to regroup, and decided we were ready to be home. We loaded our sweet baby boy and our crazy little dog (which had so much fun at my parents house that weekend - bringing the havoc to their house for a bit) in the car and went home.

 

Tanner and I were ecstatic to be home. It took Fisher a few days to become friends with the car seat again...But they have made up. Looking back, every second was worth it. I would not trade the amazing memories we made for anything. Gotta love my boys : )

So happy to be home : )