joy of LOVE day 7. generations

at first, the assignment to photograph generations seemed challenging, since we live over 600 miles from any relatives....

but when miles and years become obstacles, toys can bridge the gap. here is collin playing with great-grandpa earl's whimsical birdie pull toy. thank you, grandma shirley for passing this down four generations to us. we love you!

{i downloaded this storyboard format for free at www.thecoffeeshopblog.com}

the joy of LOVE

i signed up for an online photo workshop for the month of february, called "the joy of love". every day is a new photo assignment related to those that we love, along with a helpful photo tip. at the end of the month, we will not only have 28 new photo tips, but a little day-by-day photo book collection. i am going to post my daily assignments here, as well as on the class site. hope you enjoy!

day 1. what they do


they get up close, in each others face, growl and giggle a little, then shriek with laughter.

day 2. how they look


he looks happy, nearly all of the time.

day 3. then and now

{still to come}

day 4. what they wear


his little shoes don't fit on the shoe rack yet, so until they do, it is a good thing that dad's shoes are big enough to hold both. they wear big and little shoes.

day 5. love to hate


i love playing with him & all of his toys, but at the end of the day ... i hate when pieces are missing. sometimes, i don't even sleep until they are all found. love to hate missing pieces.

day 6. who they love


no matter how cranky he is when he wakes from his nap .... as long as i bring genie, the doggie, into his room with me, he immediately turns into giggles and grins. he loves genie...

its been a long time since most of you have seen collin.... videos to come soon!!

cute things about being fifteen months old

babble, babble, babble!! it is all about what new word is going to pop out of collin's mouth lately .... last tuesday it was "clock". and he doesn't just say it, he points, giggles and exclaims "clock!!" this weekend in church he spotted the clock in the back and made sure to point it out to every one who was sitting behind us... individually. and once he learned clock, "sock" wasn't too far behind either. and you have to know that "clock" and "sock" take on a whole new adorable sound when said from a fifteen month old's mouth :). some of our other favorites are "cheese!", "doggie!", "hot!" and "shoes", and our favorite animal noise is the penguin, who says "wawawawawa" (waddle, waddle) ... oh, so cute too.

lately, he loves to sit up on "big people" furniture and just sit and take in the view. he will climb onto the living room furniture and just look around, with a big silly grin on his face. he thinks he is such a big boy!!




here are some more pictures of our snowy, snowed-in days lately...











snowed in = cabin fever = mischief...









how many silly faces can collin make to avoid eating his broccoli?









okay, here is a happy face :)





finally, some good packing snow to build a snowman!




















and then a week later, we got hit with our version of what i believe detroiters are calling "snowapalooza" .... lol ;)

view from the back...






view from the front... there used to be a street right there!





and our poor snowman...

my apologies....

mostly to the grandmas in kalamazoo who i know have been checking in often ...

blame my clumsiness for spilling coffee on my laptop, and making me take a long break from internet fun!! but i'm up and running again, and so excited to share what collin has been doing lately. he keeps getting better and better :)

cake smash tease

we were late taking these pictures and i am even later in posting them... so in an attempt to appear timely, i just added them as an october posting. to see the entire photo shoot, click on the october archives. we had so much fun with these pictures!!

cute things about being 13 months old

every month he gets cuter, and being a mom gets better!! here are some things making me and jason smile these days....

he will tell you that a cow says "mmmmmm" (bottom lip out, chin up!!); a snake says "sssss"; a sheep says "baa" and a lion says "AAAAAAAA!!!!" he does all of his animal noises with enormous, adorable exaggeration.

when asked, he will point to his ears, pat his belly, stick out his toes and point to *your* nose... he can't see his own, so maybe he thinks he doesn't have one?

he is practicing the art of imitation to a tee. some things he has picked up on lately... he will blow on his food when we set it in front of him; when i dipped my bread in my soup, he dipped his in his applesauce; he reaches in and "tests" his bath water before getting in; and the best one yet.... he tried to tickle his own knee after i tickled him and had him cracking up :).

when we eat bananas for breakfast, sometimes we sing "peel bananas... smoosh bananas... eat bananas.... go bananas!!" (you all know that song, right?) .... now whenever he sees a banana or hears the word banana, he throws his hands over his head and "goes bananas!!" and giggles.

he is an iron chef and an engineer... he could spend all day stacking, sorting, twisting and arranging strainers, colanders, tupperware, lids to pots, aluminum water bottles and a rolling pin.

he high-fives, fist-bumps, blows kisses, is "sooo big", will bring you a book or a ball if you ask, and if you tell him that he is stinky, he will go over to the diapers. he waves at absolutely everything, says hi and bye-bye to just about everything he waves at; he gives hugs to us and his stuffed animals at bedtime and tells genie "ni-ni".

we love this age, we laugh all day, and we're just waiting to see what he will learn tomorrow!