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.