Chicago

     Dad, Delaine, Colt and I went to Chicago last weekend to see Keaton's closing weekend of his play.  This was his big hurrah- he directed this play!  We picked him up from work and went in to the city for dinner at Lou Malnati's.  Then everyone else went to the play, and I went back to the hotel to put Colt to sleep.  Unfortunately, he didn't sleep.... at all!  I could have gone to the play!  He only slept 4 hours the entire night. 
    The next morning, we did some shopping while Keaton went to do a casting for his next play.  Everyone kept stopping us on the street to tell us how cute Colt was.  Apparently, people in Chicago don't have babies or ever see them.  People just kept staring at us.  We met Keaton at his apartment and went to lunch in a little Chinatown by his place.  We had to drop him off and get on the road.  It was a short trip.  It is never enough time with Keaton, but he will be home next weekend for Christmas.  We loved our family time :)

Happy Birthday Justin!

     Justin turned 29 last week!  We celebrated with his family on Tuesday because he had work plans on his actual birthday.  We went to dinner at Outback to celebrate Justin's birthday and Josh's graduation with his Master's in Education.  We were one proud family.  Then we went back to Josh and Beth's house and opened presents. 
    On Thursday, Justin went in to work and Colt and I got busy making him more presents.  Justin's favorite cookies are snickerdoodles, and I had never made them before, so I thought it would be a nice surprise.  When he came home, we gave him his cards and cookies.  He was very happy!
Happy Birthday Justin!

Life with a 1 year old

     Life with a 1 year old is much different than just a few months ago.  Whenever I am around other kids who are even 1 month younger than Colt, I realize how much changes in a month!  Here are some of our favorite things....

• Colt loves to give huge hugs.  He just wraps his arms around our necks and squeezes.  Probably the best feelings I have ever had
• He likes to march, spin and dance.  He dances ALL the time
• He loves to listen to music.  Every morning I ask him if he wants to listen to Christmas music and he gets so excited
• He runs everywhere!
• He talks/yells all the time.  I am used to it, but in the grocery store the other day, I realized that not everyone is used to it
• He loves to race me and have me chase him
• He gets super excited when Justin comes home from work
• He does not like Sunday school at church.  He has been kicked out every week for the last few months
• He loves anything with buttons
• I have a drawer with travel size things in it, and he is obsessed with the drawer.  He picks something out and takes it with him on a tour of the house
• He loves to wave to everyone
• He likes to hoard things- he puts them in his truck and then we can't find anything
• He takes things out of our closet and puts them in other rooms
• He says"mama" "dada" "bye bye" "ball" "nana" for banana and "chicken"- kinda  But he will try to say anything you say
• He loves to kick his soccer ball and throw balls everywhere
• He LOVES the outdoors.  He just stands at the door and signs "open" to try to get out
• He amazes me with his dressing skills.  He holds his arms out for me to put on his shirts and if he has a toy in his hand, he transfers it to the other hand before putting that arm out to put his shirt on.  This is huge for me because I see so many of my kids with autism that don't do this at 7 years old.  He also holds his legs up for me to take his pants off to get in the tub.
• He is in love with Cheerios and the squeezable fruit pouches
• He points to our pictures and says mama and dada
• He loves to pet Winston and hug him
• When he gets in his truck to go for rides, he always picks a stuffed animal to take with him

I posted some videos of Colt dancing.  Justin and I are making fools of ourselves, but Colt loved it!