We're BACK! Get Ready for a Franks Family Hoedown!

Hi Ya'll!

Some of you may remember my dancing debut last Christmas, but wait til you see this. Mommy's been keeping us up late every night for rehearsals, and Daddy's been practicing with both of his left feet (mommy said he couldn't use his own self-choreographed moves). We've been working hard, but I think it's totally worth it. We Franks really have talent on the dancefloor, don't we?! Scroll down to take a look at our fancy footwork.

Merry Christmas!!
Love,
Collin

Monkey Business

Better late than never, right? At least that's what Mommy says...and she seems to be saying that a whole lot lately. So I got to go trick-or-treating on Halloween dressed as a monkey. Boy, was I cute! I was so cute, people just kept giving me candy. Who knew? You can just walk right up to someone's front door and ask for candy. I've tried it a couple of times since Halloween, but it just wasn't the same.

I really love fall - not only did I get to dress up and ask for candy, but I also got a lot of "leaf time"! Daddy raked up a big pile of leaves and we all dove right in! It was really fun - I just needed more leaves!

And here' s a picture just to show how cute I am - don't you think so?

I'm a REAL Cowboy!

Howdy Partners,



If you keep up with my adventures, you know I really like horses. Well, today I got to ride 'round and 'round all by myself (ok, Daddy helped a little) on a pony!

Enjoy!
Collin

The Pumpkin Patch

Today I had fun at the pumpkin patch! I was really tired and ready for a nap, but boy did I love the tractor ("TRACT-TOR") ride!

We rode the TRACT-TOR all the way out in the middle of a real pumpkin patch and I got to pick out my very own pumpkin. There were SO many choices!

Me and my friend Cole looked and looked until we found the best pumpkins!

Here's me driving another tractor!

Now it's time for a nap!
Love,

Collin

Fashionista

Nothing says "cool" like a new pair of rain boots, don't you think?

All in a Day's Work

Hi Everybody!

Well, now that I'm 18 months old, I stay really busy! I decided to show you some of the things I like to do to keep busy during the day. Here we go...

I LOVE playing with my cousins - here's a picture of me with my cousins Ally & Ashlyn. Poor Sheryl - she's carrying quite a load! Thanks for the ride!

I got to go to the Museum of Discovery a few weeks ago. Check out all the cool stuff:

Here's me crawling through a tunnel:

One word: TRUCKS!! Don't you love 'em?

I've really got good piano form. I composed this piece myself.

I also got to visit some horses. Daddy says I'm a real little cowboy. Here's a picture of me riding Jack:

Thanks to Aunt Amber, I also get to ride my 4-wheeler all the time. Watch me go!

Daddy says I'm old enough to start learning some chores. Here's me taking out the trash:

Finally, after all this, I have to get ready for bed. I love to brush my teeth!

Here I am reading my book. I read several every night before going to bed.

And here I am giving my goodnight kisses. I love Mommy!

And now it's time for bed! See you tomorrow!

Vocabulary Update and Picture Catch-Up

Hi everyone!

I've been very busy this summer - having lots of fun! I've really grown up (nearly 17 months old!) and I get to do lots of "big boy" things now. I'm talking a whole lot more too - this helps mommy and daddy really understand what I mean. Here's a few of the words I like to say:

Bye-bye
Mama
Dada
Night-night (that's a new one!)
Shoes
Socks
Moooooooo!
Nose
Eye
Go
Na-na (I love 'em for breakfast!)
Baaaa (that's what sheep say)
Duck
Quack, quack, quack
Dog
Bath
Ball
Toot-toot (that's a new one, too!)
Pants
Diaper
Truck
No, no! (Ok, this one's a stretch. I actually said "doe, doe!", but I shook my head back and forth and shook my finger at Mommy when she was tugging on my toy. I think it counts.)

I'm pretty sure there's more. It's hard to think of them all at once. Most of all, I love to giggle and smile...'specially when I'm being tickled!

I've also got a few new pictures to share with you:

Here I am feeding the 3 ducks that live on our lake.

Did you know that ducks go "quack, quack, quack"?

Here I am all ready to leave for school. I love to "go" anywhere!

And here I am all ready to go to bed. I'm reading my

fun Thomas the Train book. Very studious.

Whew, it's hot outside and boy, do I love the sprinklers!

Gotta go - lots of trouble to be had!!

Later Gator,

Collin

My Buddy Cole

I got to visit Cole's house to play last week and we had a GREAT time! We played with trains, blocks, books, and lots of other toys. We even took a walk by the lake. Here's some video of me and Cole pulling our two favorite toys:

Thanks, Cole, for letting me come and play! See you soon!

Captain Collin Franks

Vrooom, vroooom - off we go! Daddy, Mommy, & I went out in the boat last weekend. I even got to drive!

Catching Up on April and May

Hey Folks,

Here are a few pictures to catch you up on the past couple of months:

Easter 2009

Playing with the big boys

Hanging out with Mrs. Paige at Brunch

Discovering the never-ending tissue box

Emergency? What Emergency??

So my new favorite "pretend play" is to pretend that everything I pick up is a phone. I like to hold things to my ear and say "o?" (Mommy translation = "hello?"). Today I managed to get the real phone from Daddy. I love pushing all the buttons and hearing the beeps. I can even make it ring all by myself. I proudly walked over to show Mommy my treasure. To my surprise, it rang right then. Mommy took the phone from me (of course!) and said "hello?". The nice man on the other end said, "Yes ma'am, this is Pulaski County 911 and we just received a hang up call from this number. Is there an emergency?" Well, did Mommy's face turn red! She explained that it was me who called the nice man (of course!) and that we did not have an emergency. I haven't gotten to play with the phone since!!

Later,
Collin

On the Move

I thought you might like to see what I've been up to lately - check out this video!

I'm a very busy boy!

See you later,
Collin

Do I look older?

Hi Everyone,

I thought you might like to see some pictures from my birthday party. We had a great time! By the way, I LOVE cake!!!

Inspecting the loot...



Me and my new trike!!

I had such a good time at the party, I decided to start walking on my own just after everyone left!!

Whew!! Home Sweet Home

Hi Everyone,

Collin here...remember me?

This is my first post from our new house! We have been very busy putting things in boxes, moving the boxes around, taking things out of boxes...it's really very exhausting.

But, now that we're here, this place is great. I have a new room, another room just to play in, lots of hallways and doorways to check out, a whole lot of cabinet doors to open, and, here's the best part, a stairway to climb and climb and climb! Want to know something else about this place? It SNOWS here! Yep, right now outside there's snow everywhere. I don't think we had that at our old house.

So, I guess we need to catch up. Mommy says I'm growing like a weed. I've also learned a few new tricks. My vocabulary keeps getting bigger. I say "hi", "bye", "mama" and "dada", but I've had those under my belt for a while. I'm working on a few more, but you'll just have to wait for those. I like to wave a lot - watch this video:

I also really like to give everyone high fives. I crawl around a lot, but I'm not walking by myself quite yet. I like to walk around the furniture, but when I come to the end, it's just a whole lot easier to sit down and crawl. I love to hear the "BOIIIING" of the door stops when I pull them. Next to my Mommy and Daddy, I love hugging my Blue Bear more than anything in the world. I also really like to rearrange my diapers - neat stacks are just not my style! I love it when my Daddy dangles me upside down over his back...that one makes me squeal because I get so excited! I just stay really busy all the time!

Speaking of busy, gotta go. Later gators!

P.S. In case you're wondering, I had meatballs in that top picture!! Mmm-mmm!