At last...

...it's time for another post. It's probably been time for another for quite awhile. What's it been now, over 2 weeks since my last one? Yikes. Well, what matters is that I'm here now to type an update, right? Ok, so here we go.

Kalin had his 12-month check-up on February 26th which made it, technically, a 14-month check-up. All reports were good. He's thriving and growing. He was 24lbs. 11.5oz. and 31.5 inches. This makes him 75th percentile in length, 66th percentile weight-for-age and 75th percentile weight-for-length. Oh, and he's in the 80th percentile for his head circumference. The doc actually mentioned that he has a nice big head :-) Lots of good brains growing in there (we hope).

All in all, it was a great check-up. Oh wait, except the parts about the shots and Kasey and I leaving the office feeling like we deserved the Suckiest-Parents-of-the-Year Award. Kalin was scheduled for two shots at this visit, the MMR and the Chicken Pox vaccines. I figured it would be no big deal. He's had shots many times before and he would cry a little and be over it. I don't know if these needles were bigger or what but they REALLY upset him. It nearly tore my heart out. Maybe it was because it had been awhile since his last shots and since I'd seen him that upset. I don't know but it was not fun for either of us.

Ok, so the hard part was over, right? WRONG!! Next comes the finger prick. That doesn't sound too bad. A little prick instead of a giant needle? Sounds easy enough. Maybe if all they needed was a drop of blood. But no, they need to fill a vial from one little finger. My job was to hold Kalin on my lap and try to keep his shoulder and arm from moving while the lady squeezed as much blood from his finger as she could. I don't know if it was the actually prick, the lady squeezing his finger, or the fact that he was being restrained, but for a full 3 minutes he was screaming and writhing around in my lap while throwing his head back and letting HUGE tears stream down his face. One of the worst feelings I have yet to encounter as a mother. Kasey was having a rough time with it too because he was just standing in front of Kalin while Kalin would periodically look at him like, "Hey dad, why aren't you helping me?". So sad. Glad it's over and hope we won't have to experience it again anytime soon.

Kalin's been saying "dada" a lot more so we're making some progress on the verbal development.

He also waves a lot more now. He'll wave to Kasey as he leaves to work, he'll wave to people in the store and people we pass on our walks. He even randomly started waving to a fence we passed on our walk.

There's another tooth hanging out just below the surface of his upper gums. I can feel it but it has yet to make it's appearance. The other tooth took about 2 weeks to break through so I'm hoping in the next week we'll have another tooth to report. That would make #6. Oh, at our appointment I asked the doc if Kalin was about average in tooth development. He said that he might be a little below average but in his opinion, the later the better. I didn't ask why he thought that though.

One of the most fun things I have to report is his use of his cell phone. Kasey got a new phone so we gave his old one to Kalin to play with. He'll put the phone up to his ear and say "Hi" in a singsong voice. It's so cute and sometimes he'll babble with it up to his ear. He also loves to dance to the different ring tones.

We took a trip down to Hemet for Shannon Farmer's bridal shower. I've known her since we were like, five years old, or something so this is really special. I will also be in her wedding in April so I'm really looking forward to that. We had a good trip down and back up. Kalin got really grumpy about an hour outside of Hemet so I had to try and entertain him and keep him happy, which wasn't really fun since my throat was on fire and my ears were all plugged. But we managed and had a good time!! Kasey couldn't come because of work so it ended up being my mom, my aunt, Kalin and I. It made for a fun trip.

Grandma Jody (Kasey's mom) watched Kalin for me while I attended the shower. It was so nice to have a little break and be able to focus fully on the shower and on the bride-to-be. Later that evening we celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday at Kasey's parent's house. It was nice to see the rest of Kasey's family and to celebrate another year of Jerry. Unfortunately, I never once got my camera out while I was down there so I have no pictures. I do have some pictures though that my mom took while we were traveling. It was a quick whirlwind trip; we left on Saturday and came back Monday. The next time I go down there, for the wedding, Kalin, my mom and I will be flying down!! I'm excited for Kalin's first plane ride.

I think that's all the news I have for now. If I think of more I'll write another post...maybe in a week or two :-)