Number 7

Kalin's 7th tooth has arrived!! It's his lower left lateral incisor - those are the ones right next to the teeth in the middle. He now has 4 teeth on top and 3 on the bottom. (sidenote: this picture has nothing to do with his new tooth - it's just a goofy picture.)

We had a good weekend. Kasey had lots of homework to do so we did our best to just stick around the house so he could get that done. I was really cagey on Saturday morning though and mentioned that once Kalin woke up from his nap he and I would head to K-Mart. Kasey then reminded me that the car needed gas. I could have insisted on being a big girl and just filling it up myself (sadly, something I have never done) but he assured me that he didn't mind sitting in the car reading while Kalin and I shopped. He then agreed that a trip to West Cliff after our shopping trip sounded like a good idea. It was slightly chilly but the sun was out and it was a beautiful and windy day.

Because Kalin slept in that morning ('til 8:30!) his nap had been later than usual which made for a weird schedule. I had assumed that by the time we got to West Cliff he would be ready for a nice nap in the stroller. Well, he didn't nap in the stroller and he didn't nap on the drive back home either. I just knew that this meant it was going to be a crabby evening for him and would probably result in a really early bedtime. He wasn't crabby and he didn't go to bed early. He ended up being awake for over 7 hours. That's a long time for him!!

Sunday started early (I guess he wanted to make up for letting us sleep in the day before). He even got a rare Sunday morning nap before church. During his afternoon nap I became a gardener - sort of. We had bought a tomato plant and a red bell pepper plant at K-Mart because I really, really, really want to grow some of my own stuff. The big trees that surround our house are a blessing and a curse. A blessing because they provide us with shade and keep the sun from reaching us. A curse because they provide us with shade and keep the sun from reaching us. It's hard to grow sun-loving veggies when you can't find enough sun during the day!! But we're experimenting with container growing. It's my job everyday to drag the container around the front of our house while following the sun. I've been watching where the sun hits for the last couple weeks so I have a pretty good idea when and where I need to place the container. We'll see how things go. I realize this has nothing to do with Kalin.

The rest of our Sunday was uneventful. Kalin didn't eat a whole lot today (his eating patterns are still random) but had a blast playing ball with Kasey.

Have I ever mention how Kalin helps me cook? If he sees me get out my food processor or KitchenAid mixer he automatically brings me the jar of olive oil. I had him help me once when I was making hummus - he brought me the beans and the olive oil. So he always assumes now that I need the olive oil. It's very cute. Tonight I was getting my mixer set up to make some cookie bars, the bowl wasn't attached because he likes to play with it, so I turned around to pick it up off the floor and Kalin was standing behind me, holding the bowl and trying to hand it to me - then he brought me the olive oil :-)

Some other cute things:

1. In Goodnight Moon, when the line "And the quiet old lady whispering 'hush'" comes around he whispers "hush" either before I say the word or right after I say it.

2. I randomly asked him to bring me the Pooh Bear book where it's hot and he walked over to a bunch of books sitting on the floor and came back with Pooh's Very Hot Summer Day. He's so smart.

3. At the beginning of the aforementioned Pooh Bear book, Pooh wonders if it's hot everywhere. Kalin copies my hand motion for "wondering".

4. In general he has become more imitative of my hand gestures and facial expressions.

The video I took of him saying "chocolate" didn't come out very well. He whispers it every time so you can't really hear it. I'll try to get more video some other time.

Short and Sweet

I'm going to make this blog short and sweet. Much has happened in this last week and a half. We've had several firsts and some fun experiences.

Kalin's first plane ride went just about as well as I could have expected. We breezed through check-in and security and then had just under 2 hours to sit and wait. It didn't help that our plane was already running a little late. Thankfully, the terminal was fairly empty when we first got there so I spent much of that first hour following Kalin around. I figured it would be best to let him walk as much as possible before we had to get on the plane. We walked up and down the terminal a couple times. He had a blast climbing on the seats and over the arm rests and spent a good amount of time eating Cheerios, reading books, and drinking water. Then he started to get sleepy (it was already way past his naptime) and since it was getting crowded I couldn't let him wander around as much. Finally, we got on the plane. His favorite thing to play with was the tray table latch. He did really well during take-off. We let him have his pacifier and sippy cup and his ears didn't seem to bother him at all. He looked out of the window a little bit but didn't seem quite as interested as I had hoped. Then he started to get really squirmy. My mom did a good job keeping him occupied with Cheerios, pretzels, and some juice. The flight went really fast and before we knew it, they were cleaning up the cabin and getting ready for landing - of course, there was supposed to be lots of turbulence on our descent so they cleaned up early to give the flight attendants time to get situated. This is when Kalin started to get really, really cranky. I don't know if the change in pressure had anything to do with it or if he was just really tired and upset that he couldn't get down and play. He spent a couple minutes crying and screaming until he finally just collapsed on my chest while I rocked back and forth. He slept straight through the landing, deplaning, the walk through the airport, and then 10-15 minutes of me sitting in baggage claim while my mom got our baggage. He only woke up when it was time to walk outside and the chilly wind hit him. Overall, it was a very successful trip but I really would not want to carry a lap-infant for any longer than that hour-long flight.

My mom was such a big help while we were in Hemet. She watched Kalin a couple times while I needed to attend wedding activities. She even spent the night with him while I attended a bachelorette sleep-over. Yes, that's right, I spent my first night away from Kalin. I was away from him for about 17 hours. It was fun, refreshing, and sad. It was so nice to be able to hang out with the girls and not have to worry about being anywhere at a specific time. I was free of my normal responsibilities and obligations. Of course I called in to check on him after I knew he was down for the night and I thought about him through the evening and wondered what he was up to - but I knew that if anything happened my mom would call me. It was a good experience.

I spent a lot of time away from him the rest of the weekend too. The Priors were a huge help while I attended the rehearsal and dinner. They fed him, played with him, took him to the park (because that's what good aunts do), and bathed him. I made it home from the dinner just in time to put him to bed. Wedding day came and I was feeling reluctant about leaving him again for several hours. But I didn't really have a choice. I was hoping to make it back home in time to put him to bed but he was really tired after spending time out in the hot sun and went to bed early. Oh well. I knew that, starting the next day, we would be back to our normal schedule - where the only breaks I have are his naptimes. It's funny how much I long for some time to myself or to do something not related to Kalin, and yet when I get that opportunity, I spend a lot of the time missing him. I guess it was just a lot of time away in a short period of time. I need to space it out more.

We had a great time in Hemet and an uneventful drive home.

"Chocolate" seems to be Kalin's new favorite word. It started on our drive home. Kasey was sitting in the back with Kalin while I was up front with my dad and I heard Kalin start repeating the same "word" over and over. I looked back and he was pointing at something Kasey had. It was Kasey's Cadbury chocolate bar. Since then, anytime he spots chocolate, he says his special little word. I think it might be one of those words that only parents understand. It doesn't sound a whole lot like "chocolate" but it is most definitely what he is referring too. I think I got some good video of him saying it the other day. I'll have to see about posting that sometime soon. The bad thing about this being one of his first words is that in order to hear him say it, I have to offer him chocolate, and that's not something I'm willing to do 10 times a day just for the pleasure of hearing him say the word. I find it funny that this is one of his first words. It's not like he eats it that often. I really expected ball, or monkey, or Cheerios to be one of the firsts.

Our Week in Pictures

When I wait a week or more to blog I tend to have a hard time thinking of what to blog about. I'll think about things throughout the week to write about but forget them by the time I sit down at the computer. I usually end up going back through my pictures to remember what went on that week.

The Fort -

It rained a bit last week and on one of these days I decided that Kalin and I needed a rainy day project to keep us occupied since we couldn't go on a walk. I decided to build Kalin a fort. My sister's and I used to do this all the time when we were kids so I thought it would be fun to build one for Kalin. He was surprisingly good (not helpful, but not destructive either) while I was building the fort. I think he was just confused about why mommy was draping the front room with a bunch of blankets and sheets. He enjoyed the fort once it was built though.

Chocolate Puddin' -

I made some chocolate pudding and let Kalin lick the whisk. He thoroughly enjoyed it and ended up looking a lot like I did as a kid after eating chocolate pudding.

Easter Eggs -

I know that this wasn't Kalin's first Easter, but it was the first Easter that we could actually do something fun for him. He was only 2 1/2 months old last year so I wasn't really worried about trying to make it a fabulous first Easter. Plus, I wasn't really in a state of mind that would have allowed for that much forethought and planning. So this year I was excited to buy him a special Easter outfit (which my Aunt Nise ended up buying for him - Thank you!!), color some eggs with him, and put together an Easter basket for him. We colored eggs on Good Friday since Kasey had the day off of work and we were going to be busy on Saturday. After a first failed attempt in which my entire bowl of hardboiled eggs fell off the table and broke (two could be salvaged for coloring purposes), making some more eggs and giving Kalin a nap, we finally colored our eggs. I think I enjoy the thought and anticipation of coloring eggs more than the event itself. My creative abilities get tapped out after two eggs and I no longer find it enjoyable. The same thing happens when decorating cookies. Kasey is much better at this stuff than I am. But we had a good time and Kalin even got to join in the fun. I think he liked the brightly colored eggs and tried to eat more than one of them.

Grandpa Stan's B-Day -

We celebrated my Grandpa's birthday on Saturday so we headed out to Watsonville after Kalin's morning nap. Kalin once again got to lick some beaters. This time it was whipped cream. My dad was able to capture a picture of the funny way Kalin walks sometimes. Usually when he does this it's with his hands clasped behind his back but this time he was sticking his hands in his pants. He's such a boy.

Easter -

On Easter Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday service (earlier than usual) then an Easter Brunch with our soon-to-be church family (we should be officially accepted into their membership next Sunday). We then headed off to my parent's house where Kalin received an Easter basket full of clothes and fun stuff from my mom (it was like Christmas again!) and took a much needed nap. I had to go wake him up after two hours because it was time to head to my other grandparent's house for Easter lunch with my dad's side of the family. We took a short little walk and took some pictures before having a mini-Easter Egg Hunt for Kalin. He didn't really care too much about it. He wanted more to squeeze the eggs, eat the eggs, or bang them together than anything else. We spent the rest of the day back at my parent's house then headed home when it was time for Kalin to get to bed. It was a busier than usual weekend.

And now I have one more day left at home before it's time to head to Hemet for Shannon's wedding!! I have a feeling things might be a little crazy while I'm there. I have no idea how balancing my motherly duties with my bridesmaid duties is going to work. Especially since I won't have a car of my own. Thankfully my mom will be there to help out.

Kalin's first plane ride is coming up on Wednesday!! I'll let you all know how that goes. I'm slightly nervous about the whole check-in thing. I'm always afraid something will go wrong and they won't let us on the plane. I've got his birth certificate though so we should be fine. I also have no idea how he'll actually do on the hour flight but I'm very thankful that it's only an hour. He can't sit in my lap for 2 seconds much less 1 hour but maybe if we get a window seat and can look outside he'll be ok. And he might be a little timid being in this new experience and just want to stay close to me.

Kalin's eating has still been off and on picky. I don't think he really ate much of anything on Saturday or Sunday except some bread and yogurt. Then tonight at dinner he surprises me by eating a banana, several pieces of chicken, and some steamed vegetables. I can't figure him out. He also never really nursed this weekend. He would take a sip and then just bite me (oh the biting!! That's a whole other issue!) And boy was I feeling those effects by this morning!! I was starting to wonder if he was just wasn't interested and if this was the end of our breastfeeding relationship. He nursed twice today though without too much trouble so I don't know what's going on.

The Biting -

He'll just randomly start biting us. Sometimes he's frustrated but most of the time we're just playing or not really doing much at all. He'll come at our knee caps with his mouth open, or while we're holding him he'll bite our shoulders. Kasey did some research today and found some articles. They give several reasons why toddlers bite. It seems the main reason though is an outlet for their feelings. They don't know how to express themselves and how to release the tension that they may develop through their daily activities. He's past the experimental biting phase where, according to the article, it's appropriate to respond loudly with an "Ouch, that hurt" and other such things. But it seems that what the articles are saying is that those reactions now aren't helpful. He needs our undivided attention and willingness to listen to whatever tension or feelings he needs to express. Of course, this will be much easier once he can verbalize it but it gives us a good starting point in dealing with this. Some of the instances of biting that they talk about in this article are exactly what we've experienced. The biting that occurs when we're cuddling. The wiggling or laughing that occurs when I'm trying to let him know that I'm there for him after he's tried biting is apparently a good sign that whatever tension he might have had is starting to get released. It's been enlightening. Kasey and I both noticed that he isn't biting out of anger or biting because he's trying to be mean. It's just kind of random (to us at least) and has taught me to be more aware about what might be going on that he's feeling this need to bite. Maybe my attention is on something else and he's feeling lonely, or maybe he's been overstimulated. This is some of the same stuff I've come across with my research on toddler's hitting themselves too. Lots of things to think about.

And to end this blog on a completely different thought. I've been missing watching him sleep recently. I used to watch him for hours every day and night sleep in my arms. Last night when he feel asleep in the car on our way home, I spent most of the time watching him in my visor mirror - until it got too dark to see him. A couple nights ago, when it was chilly, we opened his bedroom door to let some of the heat from the house into his room, and I snuck in to cover him with his blanket (which he had thrown on the floor). I wanted so badly to stand there and watch him, but he stirred so I had to get out of the room before he woke up. Maybe some day I'll be able to go stand over his crib again and watch him sleep.

Playground Fun

This weekend was wonderful. Most weekends tend to go by way too fast, but this weekend had a nice leisurely pace to it. Saturday started out much the same as a typical weekday. Kasey had a meeting at 9 so Kalin and I were on our own for a while. In the afternoon, while Kalin was napping, I took a trip to the dollar store and grocery store by myself. I love the dollar store. So many fun things for so cheap!! I bought some stuff for Kalin's Easter basket and some bunny ears for him to wear. It's hard to say "no" to things when they're only $1. Around 3:30 my dad called and asked if we wanted to have Mexican food for dinner. I would have been crazy to pass up seeing my parents and having a free meal! While I waited for them to arrive I took a walk over to the yard sale that Bethany University was having. I found a heater fan (we'd been looking for one) and a book. We ended up having to wake Kalin up from his 2 1/2 hour nap to meet my parents for dinner. After dinner my mom suggested going to the playground to let Kalin run around and play. He had a BLAST!! The slide is his new favorite thing. We couldn't get him off of it.

Sunday was a relaxing day. We all took naps in the afternoon (Kalin took a 3 hour nap!!), ran to the laundry mat to wash a load because our washer is broken and has been for over a week now (grrr), then ate some pizza for dinner. It was a fabulous weekend and the week hasn't started off so bad either!! I hear there's even some rain in the forecast. Yippee!!

That upper tooth has finally broken through his gums and I think I caught a glimpse of another bottom tooth just about to come through. Hooray for more teeth!!

Kalin has started nodding his head. He used to just shake it but he's figured out how to nod. Quite honestly, I'm not sure if this really is a new skill or if it's just the first time I've noticed it.

Everything is "dada" or "ga" these days. I'll repeat a word over and over and he just keeps repeating either "dada" or "ga". This was one of our conversations on our walk today:

Me: Bird

Kalin: Dada

Me: Bird

Kalin: Dada

Me: Bbbirrrrddd

Kalin: Dada

I think you get the picture.

Something disturbing that he's been doing is hitting himself on the head. He does it when he's being silly and when he's excited but most often when he's frustrated or mad. He'll just start hitting his head with both hands. Does anybody know if this is normal? I thought I'd ask the doctor about it at our next visit. I'm wondering though if he just doesn't know how else to express himself so that's how his emotions manifest themselves. I really don't like it though. It makes me sad to see him hitting himself.

We like to find lizards on our walks. Kalin likes to watch them run across the sidewalk in front of us.

That's all the news for now. Here's a video of Kalin's first experience on the slides at the playground. I had to rotate the first two clips 90 degrees so that's why they look a little funny.

Picky

Kalin turned into a picky eater this week. Not only did he become picky but his food intake drastically reduced. I had heard that this happens around this age because their growth slows down. I've had a hard time adjusting to his current food intake though. There were a couple days where I wasn't sure if he ate enough good, healthy foods. And that frustrated me. I have to pay a lot more attention now to when he eats certain things (like Cheerios) in relation to mealtimes. And I need to make sure he eats his veggies and protein before he gets a taste (or even a glimpse) of the bread or cheese. Once he sees certain foods that he's in love with, there's no going back to the stuff that's already on his tray. Now, I know that there's nothing wrong with him eating bread and cheese - it's better than potato chips or sweets - but it's a problem when that's all he wants to eat for the day. Besides his milk, I think the only major source of protein he had this week was eggs. He rejected most of the turkey burger, the salmon and all the chicken I tried to get into him. Maybe he's a vegetarian - I'll send him your way, Sarah!! He also started rejecting peas. He'd pick through the carrot and pea medley on his tray and only eat the carrots - then either mush the peas in his hands or drop them one-by-one onto the floor.

That's another thing he's started doing - throwing his food that he doesn't want on the floor. I do not like that one little bit. And being the smart little toddler that he is, he's realized that when he starts doing that, he gets taken out of his high chair and away from the food REAL quick. So when we're all sitting at the table for dinner and he's all done but Kasey and I are still eating, he starts throwing things on the floor hoping that it will get him out of his chair. He's sneaky.

So not only has he started rejecting previously desirable foods, but his little body doesn't need as much. I used to be able to set him in his high chair with a handful (or two handfuls) or Cheerios and some milk while I made dinner and he would still have plenty of room left for a full dinner. Now if I do that, the Cheerios and milk will end being his dinner instead of just the appetizer. I've also had to adjust what I give before and during our late-morning walks otherwise he won't have any room or desire for lunch. So this week's meals have been a bit frustrating with lots of wasted food. I hate wasting food.

In other news, he's getting better feeding himself with his spoon and his fork. One of my tools to get him to eat another bite or two is to give him big cheers and lots of clapping for feeding himself, using his utensils. He loves the praise and will dig right in to pick up more food and show me what a big boy he is becoming.

Earlier this week I noted to Kasey that Kalin hadn't been drooling much the past week or so. The next day he started drooling again. I didn't notice the cessation of drooling in time to enjoy it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the stubborn upper tooth will finally break through his gums. The matching tooth that came in about a month ago is getting big enough that it's noticeable sometimes when he smiles really big and quite frankly, it looks a little goofy not having the pair. He's got 3 teeth on top and it looks a little lopsided.

Today Kalin grabbed my oven mitt (which isn't unusual, he likes to play with it) and walked over to the oven and grabbed the handle. For safety reasons, I'm trying to teach him not to touch the oven or worse, hang on the handle (he's been known to do that). So I turned around to tell him not to touch the handle, but then I looked a little closer, and noticed that he actually had the oven mitt on his hand and was trying to open the oven. I guess he's seen me get things out of the oven often enough and he was trying to imitate me. I just started laughing and then he handed me the oven mitt and wanted me to open the oven and pretend to pull things out of it. I though it was very clever of him.

Last weekend I started something new. Kalin is not allowed to have his pacifier while he is awake. I just got so fed up with it constantly being in his mouth when I knew that he didn't really need it - he just wanted it and if he could see it then he had to have it. So when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning, I gather his pacifiers (or take them out of his mouth) and put them away - out of his sight. There's been some protesting when I actually have to take it away from him but for the most part, he's perfectly fine during the day. Although Kasey and I have noticed an increase in biting, or attempted biting. That could also have something to do with the drooling and teething.

We've been working on climbing this week. He enjoys standing on our stool but has a hard time climbing onto it. It's a bit too tall for him still. He did successfully climb onto it once with Kasey sitting behind him to help him if he needed it. We can't leave him alone on the stool though because he has a tendency to forget that he's not standing on the ground and will either step off the stool or dance off the stool. He loves being taller though while standing up there.

Sarah and Luke came by on Wednesday. I ended up only have Luke for a half hour but we still had fun. It was fun to watch them check each other out once Kalin woke up from his nap. Luke was sitting and Kalin would just stand next to him and they would reach out and touch each other's hands or Kalin would grab (gently!) Luke's upper arm or pat him on the head. At one point Kalin stared at the front of Luke, then walked around behind him and stared at his back, it was like he was trying to figure out who or what this strange little creature was sitting on the floor of his house. I had just recently read that at this age, toddlers have no sense of empathy. They don't understand that what they do can hurt others. Other people are just toys to them - to be poked, prodded, pulled, and pushed. I'm wondering if he thought Luke was a new toy I had gotten for him. At any rate, it was fun to see them interact. I couldn't get Kalin to cooperate for a picture though.

I got Kalin to draw his first picture!! What do you think it is?!?! And yes, it's hanging on my fridge. Those five minutes of coloring time were filled with me saying, "Crayons are not for eating.", "Crayons are not for throwing!", "Kalin, don't eat the Crayons!" We've already had two crayon fatalities. Two broken crayons and we've only had them for a week. I guess I better get used to it!!