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.