Climbing, Praying, and Teething

Kalin has become a little climber over the last couple of weeks. He still needs our help sometimes but has mastered climbing onto the rocking chair and ottoman in his room. It's pretty amazing that he can do that by himself because they both rock as he's climbing up there, but somehow he manages. The couch and recliner in the front room are still difficult for him though. He needs a boost from us to get up there. He loves sitting up there though and playing with his helicopter or reading a book. The downside to this is that when he's sitting on the couch or chair, one of us needs to be right there with him. He hasn't mastered getting down from the chairs by himself. We're working on it though.

He's learned our routine at dinner. I didn't really know we had a routine but apparently we do the same thing often enough that he's caught on. I'm usually the last one to the table as I'm grabbing last minute utensils, beverages, condiments, or napkins; I finally sit down, we hold hands (Kasey grabs Kalin's) and one of us prays. Kalin waits for the moment I put my bottom in that chair then thrusts his hand out towards his dad with a big grin on his face. He knows the routine!! He even caught us off-guard on Saturday morning. We don't usually have breakfast together, even on the weekends. So this Saturday we decided to have french toast and even set our table up so we could all eat together. We decided to just eat the pieces of french toast as they came off the stove instead of keeping them warm until they had all been cooked. Kalin was already set up in his high chair eating, and Kasey had already started in on a piece or two by the time I had one for myself. As soon as I sat down, Kalin grinned and stuck his hand out. Kasey and I just started laughing and thanked Kalin for reminding us that we should also pray for our breakfast - even if some people had a head start on eating. We'll hear him mumbling sometimes during the prayer, or he'll even bow his head and mumble after we've prayed but before he eats his first bite. It's way cute and makes us smile :-)

He's teething again. I think it may be a molar this time. While I know there's some controversy regarding teething causing fevers, I believe that was Kalin issue on Thursday night and Friday. He was not a happy camper and had no desire to be put down. I ended up carrying him most of the day (he's so heavy now!) or even just sitting with him in the chair and rocking. The fever is gone now, no tooth has erupted, but he still isn't very happy and keeps gnawing on his finger. He's also decided not to nap these past two days. He napped so well on Friday when he had the fever (even taking a 3-hour morning nap!!) but these last two days we haven't gotten more than 1 1/2 hours total out of him. It made me a little nervous to drop him off with our friends, the Meyers, on Saturday evening while Kasey and I went on a date. But I also figured that the different faces, different environment, and 8-month old Luke would probably keep him stimulated enough. I was right. It was a positive report when we got back to pick Kalin up. He was a little loopy but hadn't had any meltdowns. By the time we got home and put him to bed, he had been awake for 9 hours!! Thankfully our nights haven't been bad. It's just been the naps during the day.

Kalin has started to say "mama" a lot more often. It makes me so happy :-)

We have a doctor's appointment coming up this week. It's supposed to be his 15-month check-up but since we're running late it's actually a 17-month check-up. I really hope they don't need to do a finger stick again for blood. The shots I can handle...the finger stick I cannot.