I Want That

Boy, I'm full of videos this week!! Here is a video displaying what we think is Kalin's ability to say either "I want that" or "what's that?". I guess it's time to teach him please and thank-you. He's heard them enough from both of us that at least they won't be foreign words. The trick will be in teaching him how to copy us and how to use them appropriately. I think I'll try to teach him in both words and sign-language and see which one he picks up on first. Enjoy the video!!

Facing Forward

Today, Kalin took another step out of infant-hood and into toddler-hood.

We turned his car seat around. He now has the pleasure of seeing where we're going instead of where we've been. He'll have a better view of the cars, buildings, and trees we pass. I have a feeling he's gonna like it. I think he may be more vocal as well since there will be so much more to see and get excited about. We took a ride around town this evening and he seemed to enjoy it.

He seemed a little confused when I first put him in the seat. For one thing, it's at a different angle than when he was rear-facing. He was reclined in that position. I hope it doesn't affect how well he sleeps on long car rides now that he's upright. And I think he was confused because he's never really seen the front of the car like that.

As we were driving I found that I felt obligated to be more entertaining since he can see us now. This is just silly though because with all the new things to look at I'm sure he won't be needing me to turn around and talk to him, right? I hope so because car rides are kind of my time to relax and not entertain...at least for now. I know that as he gets older and better able to communicate I'll have to come up with all sorts of car games to entertain him on long rides. For now I think he'll be happy observing his new view of the world.

He also wore some really cute overalls yesterday.

So you think he can dance?

When Kalin first started dancing he would just move and stomp his feet. Now he's learned how to get his arms moving too. I love watching him dance and I thought maybe you would too!!

Dis or Dat

I think we're finally done with presents...at least until next Christmas. We finished up celebrating Kalin's birthday with two parties this weekend. On Saturday we hosted a small get together at our house for our friends from Bethany University. We had a wonderful time, ate some good food, and watched Kalin run around the house. I had planned the party at a time that I thought would work out well for Kalin's nap schedule. I figured I could get him down for a late morning nap and he would be good to go for 3 or 4 hours, making it through the party being happy and pleasant. He ended up only taking a 30 minute nap. Thankfully, there was enough stimulation with all the guests here that he did better than I had even hoped for. But boy was he tired by the time everybody left!! Kasey and I put him down for a nap then kind of collapsed ourselves. We knew we should probably clean-up but did not have the energy for it. We put away only what was necessary (refrigerated items) then put a movie on and just relaxed. We were so exhausted that evening that we went to bed much earlier than usual.

Even though I had specifically asked for no presents, people brought some anyway. I guess it's hard to pass up the opportunity to buy a present for a one year old. Kasey thinks that next year we should make the request for no one hundred dollar bills and see what happens :-)



Sunday was another busy day. After church we headed to Watsonville to spend time with some of my family. It was also Kalin's last party. He got some really fun stuff from both my aunt and my mom. I am so thankful for friends and family who love our little boy and who are so generous with their time and money. I'm also thankful that we won't have to go through this present overload again for almost 12 months. I guess this is the way it's going to be every year. It's a hazard of having a child so close to Christmas.

It was nice that Kasey got Monday off as a holiday. It gave us a day to just relax and let the 3 of us hang out together. We ended up taking a nice walk and stopping at the park to see if Kalin would be interested in the playground yet. It was his first time in a swing and he didn't care for it too much. He did have fun on the little springy toy and he enjoyed walking up to another little boy and grabbing his shirt. The other little boy just kept pointing at Kalin's shirt and saying "Mickey!". Apparently he had just recently taken a trip to Disneyland and recognized Mickey Mouse on Kalin's shirt.

Kalin has been a big grump today. I haven't been able to pinpoint the reason. He's got a bit of a snotty nose...maybe he's not feeling well? His drooling has picked up...maybe he's teething? He also hasn't eaten much today at all. He was refusing food at lunch. I hope we're not hitting a "picky eater" stage but I guess those usually come sooner or later. Maybe he just didn't feel like eating. This is around the age when their food intake generally slows down anyway because their growth slows down. But, again, maybe he just isn't feeling well. At any rate, this is one of those days where I couldn't wait for it to be naptime.

We've noticed sometimes when he points he'll say the same thing over and over. It usually sounds like either "dis?" or "dat?". We're thinking it's his way of either asking for "this" or "that" or he's asking what something is. I think it's very exciting!! He is definitely a vocal little boy now. I'm hoping to capture it on film soon.

I got so excited last night!! He actually played with the same toy for over 10 minutes!!! I believe that's a new record for him. That's the first time he has focused on one activity (besides eating) for any length of time. I know it's normal for toddlers to be extremely active and have very short attention spans but I'm really happy to know that he is capable of concentrating and focusing on one thing.

Not ready

I'm not ready for another child. Today I had the privilege of babysitting Luke, a sweet 4 month old baby boy. It was only for an hour but when Sarah e-mailed me yesterday asking if I would be available I jumped at the chance!! Literally. I actually bounced up and down in my chair with excitement. I figured we would be fine, especially since it was during the time that Kasey would be home for lunch. And it really was just fine, we made it through unscathed without any meltdowns but then again, it was only an hour and Luke was happy for most of that time. When he did get sleepy I left Kalin with Kasey and closed the door to Kalin's room and put Luke down for a nap. When we do have two kids, I won't be able to just shut the other child out like that...unless he's old enough and responsible enough to take care of himself for awhile. At one point, while I was entertaining Luke, I turned to Kasey and said, "Don't worry, when we do have another baby I won't totally ignore Kalin like I'm doing right now." It only made matters worse that Kalin was jealous of the attention I was giving Luke (which only makes sense at this age). Suffice it to say, WE'RE NOT READY!!!

I'm starting to wonder now if training Kalin to go to sleep without nursing is working too well. My original plan was just to have it apply to naptime. I'm perfectly fine nursing and rocking him to sleep at night...in fact I look forward to that time. However, 2 out of the last 3 nights he has not wanted to be nursed to go to sleep. It's not that he's weaning himself, he still enjoys nursing and asks for it several times a day. But it's not necessary anymore for bedtime. On Monday I nursed him expecting him to go sleep, instead he decided he needed to play longer (it didn't help that we let him nap until 6 that evening). Finally, at 8:30 I decided that I was just going to put him in his crib because he wasn't acting tired but I knew he needed to go to bed. I put him down, walked out of the room closing the door behind me and waiting to hear the screaming. It never came. In fact, he didn't make a sound - not even a little whine. Tonight it was much the same. He asked for milk at 7 just after his bath so I decided it would be alright as long as he didn't fall asleep at that time. He did fine but at 8 when I was going to nurse him again to put him asleep, he just wanted his pacifier. So I obliged and decided to just put him in his crib to see what would happen. Again, not a sound could be heard coming from his room. Weird, I thought. I'm not sure what to do with this new revelation. Quite frankly, I don't think I'm ready to give up nursing him to sleep at night. Maybe he is though. It got me thinking. Will I be ready to send him off to his first day of school? Will I be ready to send him off on his first date? Will I be ready to see him graduate from high school? College? At this moment in time - no. When those times come - maybe. As with most things in life, you learn to adapt and adjust. If you don't, you end up living in the past and missing out on what's happening right here, right now. Sure, I may get nostalgic, thinking back to those moments that meant so much and are now gone, but how exciting to see him growing up before my eyes and take these steps towards becoming an independent adult who may one day experience some of the great milestones in his own child's life that we've witnessed in his.

And now for some observations:

Kalin has a new fascination with light switches. He loves to point (which he's almost an expert at now!!!) at them and when I get close enough he practices switching the lights on and off. I let him go through about 5 rounds of "on/off" before pulling him away. I'm glad that he's not tall enough yet to reach it on his own. It means I still have all the power in whether or not he gets to play with them.

My aunt recently told me this story: A co-worker walked in to my aunt's office and saw the picture of Kalin she has hanging up and said "It's just impossible to have a bad day after seeing that face!!" A little bit later that same co-worker came in with a nurse who had been crying and pointing at Kalin's picture said, "There, now look at that. Doesn't that make you feel better?" I told my aunt that it's like Kalin's ministry to people. He has such a sweet smile that people can't help but to smile back.

Kalin's favorite book to pull off the shelf right now is The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. He kept bringing it to me like he wanted me to actually read it to him. Sorry kiddo, maybe in a few years.

I was recently reading that somewhere around this age they start "jargoning". According the definition in the book that means they start to "talk" but it sounds like a different language. I think it's safe to say that Kalin is "jargoning". What I had always deemed as "babble" somehow crossed the line into "jargon". It's really amazing to listen to Kalin as he "talks" (or jargons) away. He'll use inflection and actually tries to have a conversation with you. I feel so bad that I don't know how to respond because I would really like to give him the response he's looking for so he continues "jargoning" and doesn't become frustrated at our lack of understanding. Of course, this is assuming that he actually is trying to tell me something and isn't just practicing sounds. Either way, I think it's really exciting that he's trying to communicate and is working on learning how to speak. And I think the word "jargon" is my new favorite word.

A Little Bit of Life

Kalin and I have been on our own tonight. Kasey is in Marin tonight with the Junior High youth group from our church. Tomorrow they will be exploring a few places in San Francisco. If Kalin weren't sleeping through the night there is no way I would stay home alone with him. I think I would probably have run off to my parent's house. Thankfully, my parents are coming to visit tomorrow afternoon to ensure that Kalin and I don't go insane.

After dropping Kasey off at the church Kalin and I headed to the grocery store to pick up some soda and some batteries for my camera. We got home and it was time to make some dinner. We had a wonderful fare of scrambled eggs, toast, juice, banana, and to top it off, a little bowl of Life (Kalin had a few Cheerios). There is nothing like having breakfast for dinner. We had a blast together sitting at the table, eating, and listening to my Josh Groban station on Pandora. I had to put the camera on it's timer setting to get the pictures of us together and Kalin got a big kick out of the flashing light as the timer counted down.

After dinner, Kalin was gracious enough to let me get the dishes done. He entertained himself by wandering around the house finding different things to play with while spending most of his time in the kitchen pulling things off of shelves. After dishes it was bath time!! This is usually dad's thing with Kalin but tonight I had the privilege. We had a blast!! At one point, I was afraid he was going to poop. His bottom was in the water and all of a sudden there was a noise and a big bubble of air in the water. He made the funniest face then started laughing. It was priceless.

Before Kalin went to bed I made myself a bowl of air-popped popcorn from my new popper that Kasey gave me for Christmas!! After I got Kalin down I grabbed Kasey's laptop, poured myself some soda, and grabbed my popcorn. Then I hopped into bed ready for a fun evening of eating popcorn and watching something on the laptop. It's been fun but I must say, I miss having the presence of Kasey in the house. Now I only hope Kalin sleeps in tomorrow morning!! Goodnight!!

P.S. This picture is of Kalin walking around in his new big boy shoes. They have hard soles and it's been funny watching him try to walk around in them. He's used to going barefoot, in socks, or in his soft-soled shoes. He fell alot the first time he wore them but I'm making him practice every day and he's getting better. He looks like such a big boy in his shoes. He's a toddler, not a baby anymore.

This other picture is of the toy pony that I finally put together last night. We haven't hooked it up to the tv yet but we've put him on it to see what he thinks. His feet don't quite reach the ground yet so he might need our help with the bouncing and spinning but he's all smiles while he's on it.

Back on the Road Again

I just couldn't wait to get back on the road again. After almost two weeks of practically no excercise (well, no big long walks, taking care of Kalin is exercise all by itself), I have finally gotten back out on the road, taking my almost 5 mile walks. The first day started off great. I felt alive, I felt my muscles rejoicing, saying, "Thank you for letting us work out again!!". Then I got tired really fast and wondered if maybe I should have taken it a little slower or made my walk a little shorter. But I persevered (mainly because I didn't want to have to call Kasey asking him to come pick me up because I couldn't make it up the hill) and made it up the hill (thanks to some distraction in the form of some Bethany students losing some shelving out of their truck...it diverted my attention for long enough that before I knew it, I was up the hill!). My second walk felt easier and I could feel my muscles getting back into shape. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would feel this way about exercise. I told Kasey that the only thing that would surprise me more would be if I became a runner. I've always wished I enjoyed running because I know that it is just awesome excerise...but I hate it. Well, at least I used to. Maybe that was because I was so out of shape that it just made me miserable. Maybe I should give it another try now that I'm in better shape. I know that I originally started this blog to talk about Kalin's milestones but getting into shape is a big milestone for me so I felt it worthy of discussion. Plus it's my blog so I can do what I want :-)

So what has Kalin been up to? We're working on language skills. He babbles an awful lot but I still can't pick out any "words" he may have for particular objects. I know that he recognizes the names of objects when I say them (which is amazing!!) but he hasn't been attempting to say them. Or at least I haven't picked up on his attempts. We read ALOT these days. Since we got so many new books for Christmas and his birthday (plus all the books the Priors have been supplying us with) we have a wide selection to choose from, and yet he enjoys handing me the same books over and over again. I'm willing to comply with his wishes up to a certain point. After he wants me to read Goodnight Moon for the 10th time in a row I start to hide the book from him. Now, I know that sacrifice is part of parenthood but come on, we all have our limits, right? All joking aside, I love that he is developing a love of books, and music!! He has started his own version of dancing now. His favorite songs seem to be tv show theme songs: King of the Hill, The Simpsons, and yes, NCIS makes him smile (don't worry he doesn't actually watch NCIS, he's just heard the music). He also loves this puppy that his Grandma Jody let him bring home. You can push different parts of the puppy's body and she says things or sings songs. He knows that the button to push to get songs is the puppy's right, purple paw that has the music note on it. He presses it over and over and over again. I have the songs memorized by now.

In other news, Kalin has diaper rash. It's so sad. I don't know why he got it this time. It might have been because I didn't realize he had pooped and ended up sitting in it for the duration of our walk, or it could have been something he ate. Last night as I was changing his diaper to get him ready for bed he was screaming and crying and his face was bright red. Thankfully the Lord granted me mercy and Kalin wasn't trying to roll over or get away. When he does this it requires two people to change him and Kasey was at youth group. So as I concentrated on gently cleaning him up, I also had to concentrate on being the soother. The first songs that popped into my head were the silly songs from the puppy - not very soothing. So I ended up humming Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. He ended up going to bed an hour earlier than usual (I guess he was just too tired and too hurt to stay up).

On a happier note, Kalin's nap times this week have been delightful. I started to realize that most of the time, he gets nursed to sleep. Once I start to wean him (time still to be determined) he won't have that anymore. We needed to figure out other ways to put him to sleep. I could rock him but the motion of standing up and putting him in his crib tends to disturb him and wake him. I tried standing in his room with his sound machine on and just rocking with him, but he's much to heavy to be able to hold for too long that way - and he woke up when I put him down. I ended up just leaving the room, closing the door behind me. He cried for a couple of minutes then "sang" himself to sleep. So for this week, when he gets tired and tries to hand me the nursing pillow signing "milk", I say, "You need a nap, not a snack.". I go into his room, get it ready for his nap, let him relax in my arms for a minute then put him down and walk out. The most he's cried is 3 minutes I think. I think he feels it's his duty to complain a little but he knows he's tired so he lays down and goes to sleep.

Still Christmas

It's still Christmas in our house. The tree is still up and decorated and the other decorations I had managed to put up are still in place. Not to mention when we got home from our trip we had to unpack our presents and it felt like Christmas morning all over again!! We had fun playing with Kalin's toys and reading his books (we came home with a lot of new books!!) and sorting through his new clothes. Sadly, the tree and decorations will come down in the next couple of days - but first I need to get the laundry folded and put away. One motivation for getting the tree down is there will then be room for one of Kalin's fun new toys...his Smart Bounce and Spin Pony!! I'm excited for him to try it out (I'm excited for me to try it out too - too bad there's a weight limit). It's a little pony that he sits on and there is a receiver that hooks up to the tv and as he bounces and spins he'll be learning shapes, colors and numbers. I'm excited that it's a 3-stage game meaning as he grows and learns he can move up to a different stage and learn different and more complex things. But before I can even think about putting it together I need to get the tree out of here. We don't have a whole lot of room and the tree takes up a good portion of our available floor space.

We had fun on our trip down south. We relaxed, saw friends, and just had a chance to hang out. But boy is it good to be home. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I walked in the door. Granted, having a grandma and grandpa around to get Kalin up in the morning is nice (as is finally getting out of bed myself to find Kalin already sitting in his high chair eating breakfast). I didn't realize it until last night that I don't play with Kalin as much when we're at another house. I guess it's because there are other people around to entertain and I could always use a break. I actually woke up this morning, ready and eager to play and have fun with Kalin today. It helps that after he went to bed last night I organized and opened the accumulated mail, update Quicken, and paid necessary bills so that isn't hanging over my head today. Sure there's piles of laundry still to be folded (and the floor desperately needs to be vacummed) but it was time for Kalin-mommy playtime. We've had fun with his new Legos and reading his new books (well, I've had fun reading his new books, he gets distracted a couple pages in).

Kalin has now gone down for a nap (fairly easily) and I decided to treat myself to a bubble bath. Thanks to my husband for buying me some bubble bath for my stocking. I usually have the baby monitor turned on when I get in the shower, but as I was getting my bath ready I decided to switch my end of the monitor off. If I was truly going to relax I didn't need the constant sound from his sound machine (if it had been real rain I was hearing I wouldn't have minded, but it's the fake sound of rain) and possibly him waking up to distract me. I knew that if he did wake up anyway, I would hear him through the walls when I had the water off. I had a marvelous time relaxing and reading. Now I am lounging around in my Eeyore shower wrap/towel/robe thing (I don't know what it's called) that my husband also got for me for Christmas. I love it!!

Some fun facts about Kalin:

One of his new things is to spin in circles. We're not sure where he picked up on this but it's really funny. He'll just start to walk and spin in circles. He makes himself really dizzy and usually ends up just falling down. I guess he'll be good at playing Ring Around the Rosy.

He has become much better at pointing. He can almost get his index finger out. Most of the time he still uses his whole hand to point but we're getting there. And thanks to Grandma Jody, he knows where to find lights. We'll ask him, "Where's the light, Kalin?" and he looks up at the ceiling and "points" searching for the overhead light on the ceiling.

He is such a big boy that he can use a toothbrush. Up until now we would just use a washcloth to wipe his teeth (which he didn't really enjoy). For Christmas he got a toothbrush from Kasey and I and also from my mom. At first he didn't really like it, it would make him shiver like it was tickling his gums, but today he loved it!! I carried him into the bathroom and let him watch in the mirror while I brushed his teeth. He willingly opened his mouth and soon grabbed the toothbrush to do it himself!! Now if only I could remember to do this on a regular basis for him. I'm so bad at remembering to brush his teeth and I know that it is so important even though he only has 4 teeth right now. Maybe the fact that he enjoys it now will make it easier to remember. I also need to figure out when it will best work into our routine which will also make it easier to remember.

He's a big boy now!!

We've had a great time down here in Hemet these last few days. We've been able to see some old friends and also spend lots of time just relaxing. It's been refreshing.

We had our Christmas "South" with Kasey's family on Saturday night after we got into town. We had breakfast for dinner (my favorite!!) and then opened presents.

On Sunday we were able to make it to church where I got to see many people that I have not seen in a very long time. It was fun to introduce Kalin to them. Some had seen him at Easter so they had fun seeing how much he had grown. One of my really good friends, who lives in Mississippi (and soon Hawaii!!), I hadn't seen since last Thanksgiving when I was still pregnant!!

On Monday, we relaxed and took a long walk around the neighborhood. Kasey and I also did something that we aren't able to do at home; we went out after Kalin was in bed!! We went to Marie Callendar's for a piece of razzleberry pie (yummy!!) and to Wal-mart.

On Tuesday we headed to Murrieta to spend time with the Priors (Kasey's sister and her family). I also went out with a friend to try on my bridesmaid dress for her wedding in April!! We had a really good time (and really good pizza) except Kalin would not take a nap!! So he went the whole day with only about 20 minutes of sleep. Needless to say (so why am I saying it?), Kalin was very cranky and very ready for bed by 6:30. Kasey and I again went out after he was in bed!! This time though it was to get groceries for Kalin's party the next day!!

Wednesday was my sweet little Kalin's 1st birthday!! It was fun in the days leading up to his birthday and especially the night before to look at the clock and say "What was going at this time a year ago?" I woke Kasey up when I heard Kalin making noise in the next room. Apparently he wakes up kind of early but will talk and "sing" to himself for awhile. It's nice because he's not upset and crying so we can go in and get him while he's still happy!! So when Kasey and I decided to get up I grabbed my camera and we went to wish Kalin a happy birthday!! I took a picture of him right when we walked into the room then Kasey and I sang Happy Birthday to him. It was a fun way to greet him and to celebrate the day of his birth. I burned his special candle (that his Grammie bought for him) through year one and family came over around 12:30-1 and we had spaghetti and meatballs for Kalin's birthday meal!! Kalin was past ready for a nap by the end of lunch so I put him down for a nap that lasted over 2 hours!! He would have kept sleeping except some family members needed to get going for their New Year's Eve plans (I have a feeling we'll run into these issues every year) and I really wanted some cake!! So we woke him up, opened his presents (he wasn't too thrilled about this part) and then had cake (he loved that part)!! We had bought some party hats (surprisingly hard to find) that the family had fun wearing but Kalin wouldn't leave it on for longer than a couple seconds (not surprising). It was a very fun day that ended with Kasey and I going out (again!!) after Kalin was in bed. We went to my sister's house where she was a having a little get together. We made it home just in time to welcome the new year. We laughed when we realized we haven't stayed up this late in a really long time and also when we realized that last year we went to bed around 7.

Kalin has had some big boy moments this week. As I was putting him to sleep on Saturday night, we had his noise machine and projector on. The projector was rotating through stars, moons, sheep, and a cow and projecting it onto the ceiling. Kalin and I had fun watching it go round and round as I pointed out and named the different objects. I had stopped doing that and was concentrating on getting Kalin to nurse when he looked up at the ceiling, did the closest thing to a "point" that I've seen him do and said "Baaa". I looked up and sure enough, there was a sheep being projected on the ceiling!! I told him what a smart boy he was then turned the projector off so he would stop being distracted. I was quite proud of him though.

Another "big boy moment" has actually happened two separate times. Kalin has pooped in the toilet. Not really on purpose though. Kasey was giving him his bath and he started to poop in the bath tub so Kasey, being the quick-thinking person he is, grabbed Kalin and held him on the toilet. I didn't find out about the first time until Kasey came out of the bathroom with Kalin and told me. The second time though, Kasey called for my help and when I walked in and saw what happened I told him to wait a minute so I could get a picture. It was really funny.

So we now have a one-year old and we are looking forward to what the next year may hold while enjoying this fun age and stage of learning and exploring. As I was putting him down for a nap on his birthday I spent a few minutes just staring at him, memorizing his features, marveling at how big he is and thanking God for the last year and all that it held. In the dimness of the bedroom, I realized that his sweet, sleeping profile looked exactly how it looked as he laid in his bassinet in the hospital the day he was born. I then prayed for the year to come and all the milestones and exciting adventures we're sure to have. His Grandpa Ken gave him two things that he should accomplish in this coming year: learn to talk, and learn to climb a tree. I'm not so sure about the tree climbing but the learning to talk is an excellent goal for this year.