Random bits

Just some things that Kalin has been up to:

On Wednesday when I gave him his bath, the first thing he did when he got into the tub was to line up his squirty toys on the ledge of the tub. Kasey said that he normally will put a couple up there but never this many. I thought it was so funny that I took a picture.

After he was all dried and dressed from his Wednesday bath, he did something else that made me laugh. I was standing at the kitchen sink and I turn around to find him holding his dirty diaper (I had left it on the bathroom floor, all rolled up of course) over the trashcan trying to throw it away. Our trashcan is motion sensored and he was having a hard time getting it to open so I walked over and opened it for him and he threw his own diaper away!! I laughed and told him what a good boy he was!!
He has started trying to climb everything that he shouldn't be climbing: the oven (makes me really nervous), the chairs that keep him away from the computer, his bookshelf, the table. I'm trying to steer him towards the couch and chair and get him to climb on those instead but he just looks at me like I'm crazy. The reason he climbs those particular objects though is to see what I'm doing, which is also why he's constantly asking to be picked up. He just can't stand the fact that he's not tall enough to see everything that's going on.

Bibs aren't working out for us anymore. I think I would need a poncho to keep him clean. Thankfully, it's getting warmer which means I can just take his shirt off while he's eating (and sometimes his pants, too). It will be easier on me, on him, and on his clothes!! Plus, I have a feeling that once summer rolls around he'll be walking around in nothing but his diaper anyway.

He loves playing with magnets on the fridge. Once he's a little bit older (and won't distribute them all over the house) I think I'll get him those colorful letter and number magnets to play with.

Kasey swears he said "peaches" tonight while he was eating them. We couldn't get him to duplicate it though.

He loves it when we play "keep away" with the ball. He gets to run back and forth between Kasey and I, laughing and trying to get the ball, before we throw it to the other person. Of course, we always give it to him eventually so he doesn't get frustrated. He enjoys throwing it back to one of us.

He loves it when you tickle his ribs and neck. He laughs really hard.

We're still waiting for that 6th tooth to erupt. It's hanging out just below the gums but hasn't made it's official appearance yet.

I think that's all I've got for now!! We really haven't had a very exciting week. We did go over to a family's house that we know from Bethany for dinner on Monday night and on Friday we went to Costco and finally got ourselves a membership, but other than that, not much has happened. Kalin's getting over his cold and I'm fighting something (that I hope is just allergies).

Goodnight!!

Hi, Da

This morning Kasey said, "Hi, Kalin!" and Kalin responded with "Hi, Da!". It was really cute and fun to hear.

Before having Kalin, I never realized how exciting it would be to be a part of a child's life while they were learning some of the most basic skills that we as humans are capable of. When other parents would talk about their infant's or toddler's new skills, I didn't really understand the excitement. I mean, of course they can roll over, or sit up, or babble. But I get it now. Seeing your helpless babe change and grow and learn right before your eyes is amazing and exciting. And the joy of realizing that they've learned a new skill and are closer to becoming an individual who you are able to carry on a conversation with and really communicate and share with is a wonderful feeling. I had one of those moments today.

Kalin's been able to follow simple commands for a little while but today I got a very clear picture of how able he really is. We had been playing on his Bounce 'N Spin Pony today but he had lost interest so I had turned it off. A few minutes later, he started signing "please" and pointing at the receiver for the game which plugs into the tv and receives the signals from the pony as it moves. I thought at first that he wanted to play with the receiver but then decided to test him a little. Without pointing or motioning I said, "If you want to play again go sit on the pony". He walked right over to the pony, climbed on, and looked up at me. I was shocked and amazed. He really does understand what we say. Which brought about a couple of realizations for me.

First, now that he has demonstrated his capabilities in understanding me, I can let go of my notions that he might be too young for certain things: such as being disciplined when he has repeatedly been told "no" to certain activities and decides to do them anyway. If he can understand the instructions I had just given him, then he can definitely understand and be expected to obey, "No hitting", "No throwing food on the floor", "Don't grab the remote" and other various instructions and requests. This realization brought with it a sense of freedom for me. I can raise my expectations of him up a notch. He's not a baby anymore, he's a toddler, and with that comes more responsibility on both of our sides: him to obey and me to discipline.

Second, we have to be really careful what we say and how we say it. Who knows what attitudes or language he's picking up on (not that we walk around cursing or speak with angry tones but there is the occasional "crap" and "sucks" which I don't really want my toddler picking up).

So even though he still doesn't communicate with us verbally (with words instead of babble and grunts) it's good to know that communication is working in the other direction.

A few other observations:

When Kasey gives Kalin a bath, he says that Kalin will make a "duck" noise when he's holding his rubber ducky. Kasey's been working on this with him for a couple weeks.

Also during bathtime, Kasey and Kalin have come up with a new game. Kasey slides him back and forth in the tub making waves and splashes. Kasey used to call it the "wave game" but then one time he said that and Kalin started waving at him. Kasey decided to come up with a different name so Kalin doesn't get confused.

Kalin is really good now at not only taking objects out of the box, pot, or basket but is also really good about putting them back in. Of course, after working for several minutes to gather all the objects together in the receptacle he ends up picking it up and turning it upside down so they all fall out again. But then he'll just start all over putting everything back in. I admire his persistence and focus. In this picture, he is putting little round pieces of paper into the pot and then dumping them all out again. He did this for about 20 minutes last week. One would think that this would be helpful when it's time to clean-up the toys. It would be except for his need to dump everything back out.

Instead of constantly knocking my tower or pyramid of blocks over, he has started participating in the building process. I'm very proud of him. This is a big step from when he couldn't stand to have any of his blocks remotely resembling order and organization. Of course, he eventually will knock it over but only after he has added on a few blocks of his own.

Sometimes he likes to walk around the house with his hands clasped behind his back. It's really cute and I hope to get a picture or video of it soon.

He's been sick for about a week now. I hope he gets better soon. He still coughs (it can get bad at night and I feel so bad for him) and now has a runny nose which is starting to get raw from all the wiping. Poor boy. It hasn't disrupted his nighttime sleeping but his naps have been really short and inconsistent. I hope once he's all better his naps go back to the way they were. I miss those 2-hour afternoon naps.

I did get to enjoy lots of extra hugs and cuddles from him for a couple days when he really wasn't feeling well. He was perfectly content to sit with me and watch tv or read...for about 20 minutes. Then it was back to playing. He has so much energy. It makes me tired. I need those 2 hours back in the afternoon.

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 :-)

Smarty Pants

Kalin is so smart. Here's a few of the fun things that he's been doing. Most of these are new skills that I've noticed just since my last post when I claimed to have nothing to write about.

1. He understands what "outside" means. When we mention going outside or ask him if he wants to go outside he'll go to the front door and try to open it.

2. He tries to repeat me when I say "hot", "off", and "on". It's hard to explain in writing what it sounds like but basically he'll whisper the "ho" from "hot" and the "o" sound from both "off" and "on". He also has developed his own way of saying "tickle" and "chicken". There's really no way of explaining that one in writing and he wouldn't cooperate when I tried to videotape him.

3. He understands when I ask him if he wants to brush his teeth. He'll go into the bathroom and point up at his toothbrush.

4. He's starting to sign "please"!!! This makes me so happy.

5. His "all done" sign is just throwing his arms straight up. I didn't actually intend to teach him that. I think I randomly did that a couple times one day and said "all done!!" and he copied me so now it's habit.

6. During the week, Kalin gets up while Kasey is getting ready for work and they hang out while I lounge in bed for a few extra minutes. Yesterday, as I opened the bedroom door, I was greeted by Kalin holding the nursing pillow. It was so funny. He knew I was in the bedroom so he was standing there with the pillow waiting for me to come out. It made me laugh and made my day!!

7. Kalin has a new tooth!! So this has nothing to do with him learning anything but it's exciting too!! This makes tooth #5. I'm hoping it's matching pair is also on it's way. His teeth come in pairs, usually within a week of each other. I think this is the first tooth since October.

8. I feel like we're getting close to hearing Kalin call Kasey "dad". He's been using the "da" and "dadadada" babblings more frequently and more often when Kasey's around and even once when he saw Kasey walk in the front door after work.

I just realized tonight that I haven't taken one picture of Kalin this week. How sad is that?!?! So here are some random, funny pictures from this month.

Lull

I would love to tell you how my lack of posting is due to the fact that we've been extremely busy doing all sorts of exciting things and that I just couldn't find the time to sit down and type. In reality, it's just been kind of boring around here. There really haven't been any new skills or major developmental milestones reached in the last week. Things definitely have slowed down in that department since Kalin turned one. He changed and developed so fast in that first year. In Kalin's first couple months there were all sorts of milestones reached - smiling, holding his head up during tummy-time, tracking objects with his eyes. Not to mention that his little face and body were changing every day. Here we are, 6 weeks after his first birthday, and he's basically the same as he was on December 31st, 2008. I know that there are still some really exciting things to look forward to in the next few months but there's really no telling when he'll hit those milestones. He's been drooling up a storm for months so I'm hoping one of these days 5 teeth will pop out (it'll make all the drooling and crankiness worth it if more than one tooth comes out). I've been labeling every item he comes into contact with hoping one day he'll say the name of the item back to me. I know his little brain is absorbing all this information and that it might still be awhile until it gets translated into words coming out of his mouth. But for now, our days are very predictable (which is nice) and kind of boring. We play alot. We walk when the weather is nice. We read lots of books. We laugh. We say "no" a million times a day. Here's a little look back on our last week or so:

1. We watched Luke on Wednesday while his mom met with students on campus. We had a wonderful time! Kalin and I were looking at pictures of Luke on his mom's blog today and I kept pointing at Luke and saying his name. I think it would be fun if Kalin can learn to say Luke's name. It will probably sound something like "uke" or "yuke" but I'm excited for when that day comes.

2. Kasey and I had our Valentine's Day date on Friday. We took Kalin to my parent's house and headed to Gilroy. We had discussed doing a dinner and movie (typical) and then running some random errands which are just easier to do without a baby. We decided, as much as we love movies, that we wanted to do something a little different (and cheaper!). So instead, we went to Barnes & Noble. We used to do this when we were dating and had nowhere else to go. We would find a bunch of books or magazines and then sit for hours reading. It was so much fun and such a flashback to our pre-Kalin days. I don't even remember what we did last year. Considering Kalin was only 6 weeks old I doubt we even thought about doing anything. Our lives were pretty much consumed with Kalin and squeezing sleep in wherever we could. Anyway, so my mom watched Kalin for about 6 hours while we were out and about enjoying our baby-free selves. We spent the night at my parents and spent all day Saturday there visiting. Kalin did very well with my mom and apparently learned how to drink from his sippy-cup and like it. He also was much more obedient for her than he is for us. How does that happen?!?! We say "no" he smiles at us and continues what he's doing. Or he just keeps going back to whatever the forbidden activity is even though we've said "no" and pulled him away. My mom says "no" and he stops what he's doing. I'm so happy that he wasn't a big pill for my mom but where's the respect for your parents, kiddo?

3. I finally scheduled his 12-month appt. with the doctor. I had been waiting for an insurance situation to get resolved and it finally did on Thursday. I immediately called the office and scheduled his appointment. Unfortunately, they can't get us in until the 26th. So his 12-month has become a 14-month appointment. Oh well. At least we're finally getting that done.

4. We had some fun weather on our drive to my parents. We were driving along the 1 in Aptos and it started hailing!! It was so crazy and fun.

5. Kalin's getting cagey. It's been raining off and on all week so our walks have been a little sporadic. Today it hasn't stopped raining which we love but I think that it may have contributed to Kalin's grumpiness.

6. We cut Kalin's hair. I did the front on my own but was too nervous about doing the rest without help. A couple days later Kasey and I did the back. It...umm...turned out alright :-) It really isn't that bad...if you don't look too closely.

7. Kalin likes to stand on things. His bike, his pony, and the little rocking chair at my parent's house.

8. He had his first taste of a smoothie from Jamba Juice. He enjoyed it.

9. He ate cereal. Not baby cereal, but Cheerios in a bowl with milk.

10. He got into my flour canister.

11. I got him a silly songs Sesame Street DVD from Netflix. He actually sat on my lap for 10 minutes and watched part of it. I figured since he likes to dance maybe he would enjoy the songs.

I know little by little he's growing and learning and that someday soon I'll be writing about how he looked at me and said "Mama" or pointed at a book and said "book" or that he has 5 new teeth!! There were these lulls in developmental milestones in the first year and then all of a sudden 5 amazing things would happen in a short period of time. I guess we're just in one of those lulls. I need to sit back and enjoy where we're at...even if doesn't make for good writing material.

The Quicker Picker-Upper

I could have used some Bounty today. Unfortunately, I'm too cheap and buy the 89 cent rolls of "Basic Red" from Safeway. Let me back up...

I've been thinking recently about weaning Kalin. Maybe not completely but about half-way. He just doesn't seem that into it anymore...and I'm starting to feel that I may be losing my love for it as well. I guess it's a good sign though if we start to lose interest at the same time. It will probably make it less painful for both of us. He still asks me for milk but more than half the time he'll take a sip then get distracted by looking around or talking to me. It's sweet until it gets annoying. He ends up twisting all around like he's a contortionist while still trying to take a sip here and there. It's rare that nursing Kalin is relaxing or fun anymore. It turns into a wrestling match. He typically nurses 4 times a day - in the morning, around 11 am before our walk, around 3:30-4 after his afternoon nap, and then 30 min. before his bedtime. I'm thinking about cutting out the middle sessions.

So to prepare him for this change, we've been trying him out with some good 'ol cow's milk. His little body has been handling it just fine (for which I'm thankful). It took a few days for him to get used to the taste and not just let it dribble out but he seems to have warmed up to it alright. He usually gets his liquids by cup - not bottle and not sippy cup - just a plain old cup. However, he's not coordinated enough to hold it himself without spilling it so we end up holding it for him. But if I'm going to be giving him several cups of milk a day I don't want to have to hold the cup for him all the time. We tried the sippy cup back when he was 6 or 7 months old and he used it for about a week. He just didn't like it so he has actually gotten really good at drinking from a regular cup. I don't really want to go backwards though and teach him how to use the sippy cup when he's almost mastered drinking from a cup. I thought I'd give him another go at it and see what happened. I put the sippy part in his mouth and he just looked at me like he was saying, "And what would you like me to do now, mom?". So that wasn't going to work (I was secretly thankful for that). There is a removable valve in the lid of the cup that is used to control the flow of liquid. I took that out, knowing that I could still end up with a mess if it got tipped over, but also realizing that it would be a much smaller mess than if there wasn't a lid at all. This seemed to work alright and I finally got him to hold onto the handles of the cup and do it himself. Of course, then the inevitable shaking of the cup occurred along with tipping it upside down. He created a nice mess on his tray, the floor and on his head. I also found out that he preferred the milk warmed rather than straight from the fridge. So, tomorrow, we'll try cutting one or two nursing sessions out and practice some more with our cow's milk and cups.

It makes me feel good knowing that I'm not forcing my kid into things he's not ready for. When we taught him to fall asleep on his own at night it wasn't traumatic and he took to it really well and quickly. That showed me that he was physically and emotionally ready for that step. And now that we're taking "baby steps" in the direction of weaning, it's comforting to recognize the signs of nursing-disinterest on both of our sides. Most of you know that even a month ago, I was dead-set against weaning him just yet. I wasn't emotionally ready and I wasn't catching any signals from him that he was ready either. I think the process that has led us both to this point was teaching him to fall asleep without nursing. He realized that there are other ways to find comfort and rest that didn't require nursing.

I might still be sad when he's completely weaned but I know that it will also be freeing. With every step and process we've taken and gone through I've had to let go of a lot but I've also gained a lot. I've gained more time to myself, more time for Kasey and I as a couple, more time to catch up with friends, and more time to rediscover my passions. We'll see what this next phase may bring.

Long Time No See...or Write

There just hasn't been much to write about recently. Plus, I had posted, like, 3 videos in a row the week before and it wore me out. But I'm back to give a little update on what's been going on in our lives.

1. The other day I heard Kalin wake up from his nap and thought that I would go in and rescue him from his crib. He wasn't crying yet and I wanted to catch him before he got upset. I walked in and found him sitting in his crib holding his stuffed sheep by one leg. He turned and gave me a look that I interpreted as him saying, "Excuse me, I was having a private conversation with my sheep. Who invited you?". Apparently I had interrupted something.


2. We had fun stacking cans the other day. Kalin had fun unstacking them.

3. He likes to turn our stool upside down and stand it.

4. He can get on his pony all by himself.

5. We had spaghetti tonight. Kalin liked it.

See, there just isn't anything exciting going on. We are excited though that it's supposed to rain at the end of this week and we're looking forward to spending time with baby Luke tomorrow.