Conversations with Collins

Collins is a great big brother! He doesn't pay much attention to Hadley a lot of the time, but when he does it's sweet attention. He has gotten better about falling and staying asleep the past few nights. I hope we are on the uphill side of that little issue. It was exhausting being up with a newborn AND an almost three year old! We ended up pretty much doing the Sleep Lady (Good Night, Sleep Tight) Shuffle with him again. Right now we leave his door wide open and stand or sit in the hallway. He can't see us, but we reassure with our voices when needed. Hopefully he won't even need that pretty soon. We also bought a behavior chart and that thing works wonders! I wasn't confident it would, but he loves earning stars!
 

• "Side side down" (upside down)
• "Cawashans" (Colossians)
• "Ooh wanna play hide and seek unda my covas?" (covers)
• One night Jake grilled an onion and had it wrapped in tin foil. Collins saw it and asked, "Is that a Hershey Kiss?" Imagine his disappointment!
• A few days before Hadley was born I was fixing the tv for Collins and must have sighed or something. He said, "Ooh tired, Mama?" I said, "Yes, I'm tired." He said, "Sit down then." Ha! Just that simple! Jake and I laughed and he said, "Das a good idea!"
• While he was visiting us in the hospital Jake helped me walk to the bathroom. Collins wanted to come in and was pulling on the door. We told him no and he didn't like it, so he called us a "dumb wizard." That would be what one of the smurfs calls Gargamel. At first we thought we misheard him, but we both heard the same thing. Jake said, "Son, did you call me a dumb wizard?" He said, "Yes sir." He had no idea he had said something wrong! Jake had to explain how that's not nice. Who knew such filthy language could come from the Smurfs?!
• His teachers said Collins did great at school after Hadley was born, which was something I worried about. MawMaw printed some pictures for him to take and show his friends. His teachers told us he stood up during chapel time and told everyone in the yellow, green, and blue rooms about his baby sister :) He typically calls her "my baby."
• Pretends to "drain" (drown)
•  Looked in my "throak" with a flash light one time and said, "I see that thing dropping." Ha! 
• When Ellen visited us to see Hadley, Collins wanted to throw his football with Jake. Jake told him he couldn't throw it with Hadley in the room. Since Ellen was holding Hadley, Collins' solution was simple: "Mrs. Ellen, will you go in my room for a minute and then come back?" So diplomatic!
• Stands on the fireplace hearth and preaches. He will say his Bible verse, then point to different people in the room which is the cue to say "Amen!"
• Has been calling my parents "MawMaw Pennington" and "PawPaw Pennington." No idea where he came up with that! There is a little boy in his class whose last name is Pennington, but no other last name gets incorporated with our family.
• Called my sister "Aunt" part of the time she was here. He likes to shorten people's names.
• Has started watching some Warner Brothers DVDs in addition to Smurfs. The them song is always in our heads now. He especially likes Bugs Bunny and Tweety. Not a fan of Sylvester. "He's a bad guy."

Not much longer before we'll officially have a three year old!