Vintage!

Doug and I have been adamant about people not buying a ton of toys for Callen for several reasons. Here goes...

1. He doesn't need a ton of things. He is fine with the few toys we have, reintroducing them as he grows and has a like for new things. For example, he was given a cloth book before he was born. I have shown him this book and tried to get him to play with it numerous times. It has a variety of objects that flip up as well as 'crinkles' when you grab it. Within the last few weeks, Cal is all about stuff that crinkles. He loves this book now. We take it most everywhere we go because we know it will keep him occupied for a while. There are several toys like this...one week he could care less about them, and the next week they are his favorite. We keep trying current toys to see what his current development stage likes best.
2. Callen could play with my water bottle all day and be completely happy!! Not only my water bottle, but anything I hand him that is not his. I have gotten where I will hand him a spatula while I am cooking and let him chew on it. Anything with a rubber end that he can put in his mouth is a favorite around here these days!! 
3. We have been very fortunate to have been given toys from neighbors and friends. Most of them are interactive toys with lights, sounds, music, etc. They are a little advanced for Cal at this time, but we have put them aside and plan to add them to his collection when they are age appropriate for him. 
4. Our house just isn't big enough to have tons of toys. I don't want someone to buy/bring Callen 'something small' every time he/she sees him. He comes to expect it when he sees that person and is not excited to see the person, but only excited for the toy. Also, before long your entire house is taken over with those 'small toys.' I know he is going to have lots of toys in the future, but the more we can control it now, the better. Plus, we would rather money go towards his education fund than a toy that he will play with for about a week before moving on to something else. 
5. Doug and I have some of our toys saved from our childhood that we would really like him to be able to play with as well. I used to babysit for a family where the kids only played with the dad's toys from when he was a kid. I thought it was so cool to see all the old toys, and how much the kids enjoyed playing with them. They had very few of the newest and latest toys, and they got along just fine!!!

I wasn't sure of all the toys we had in the attic, and didn't want to miss the chance for Callen to play with any of them so we went through all of the toys being stored over the weekend. There was a large bag of Doug's toys that we had fun going through. There were several vintage Fisher Price sets that look like so much fun...can't find those on the shelves of Toys R Us anymore! We cleaned them, took inventory, and even went on eBay to try and complete some of the sets. We have decided that some of these play sets will be Cal's birthday presents in the future! It will be fun to watch him and his imagination go wild with all these toys. I am excited to get the eBay shipments of the people and accessories to finish out the sets!!! 

Love the RV! Bought all the people and accessories today (including a toilet!!) on eBay

Circus train; we have a few animalsm but trying to win the ring master and clown on eBay

Love this record player

Shhhhh! Don't tell Cal these are his presents!

We did give some of the baby toys to Callen to play with...but you will notice where they all ended up...
It is so fun to watch Cal explore and play with his toys. Each day is a change in what and how he plays with the toys. He is constantly learning and exploring everything around him.

Shape sorter...Doug and I both had this toy. Must have been a classic!

What? I am supposed to play with the toys and not eat them? Yeah Right!!

As you can see from these pics, he is doing a great job of sitting up tall. He is going for about a minute on his own before falling to the side or backwards. 

Here are a few other pics from the week...

We have discovered our feet! Favorite snack for sure

Trying to climb out of the bouncy seat!

Building a fort with daddy

A Fun Filled Weekend

I have decided that Cal and I are pretty boring during the week. Most all of my posts revolve around our weekend activities as a family, and not many have anything to do with us during the week! We are pretty set in our routine...get up in the morning and eat, either get ready for the day or go for a walk, eat again at 11:00am, nap around noon, eat again at 2:00pm, go for a walk if we didn't go in the morning, and wait for daddy to get home between 5:30 and 6:00. Somehow, the day scoots away from us and before I know it, it is 5:00!
So, here is another post about our weekend activities! Doug and I tried to go hiking a few weeks ago, but weren't able to because of timing conflicts and the arrival of the Clemson Tigers to Death Valley after their Orange Bowl Victory. Because it was going to be nice on Saturday, we decided to try again to get out to a new hiking spot I found on AllTrails.com. We really like this site; plus I get weekly emails on trails near us. We get into a rut of going to the same areas to hike, so it is nice to find a new spot and adventure. We decided to go to Yellow Branch Falls outside of Walhalla, SC, because there was a 50 ft waterfall at the end of the hike, and the hike was only 3mi total. We are trying to stick to shorter distances right now in case Cal has a major melt down and we need to escape quickly!! We are so glad we went on this hike. It was super easy to get to, fairly easy trail, and a great waterfall at the end in which to sit and enjoy a quick lunch. 

As in previous hikes, Cal did great. We layered him up for the outing, knowing it was going to be chilly. The boy had on 3 shirt layers, 3 layers of socks, and was put in the carrier on my chest for extra warmth. He stayed awake to enjoy the first part of the hike, and only fell asleep a few minutes before reaching the waterfall. At the waterfall, he woke, and stared at it the entire time. He loved it! We climbed around on the rocks for a bit before finding a place to eat lunch. After about 15 minutes of sitting still, it started to get pretty chilly. Soon after that, Cal started crying from a combination of cold and being tired. We packed up and got out of there as quickly as possible. Once we were back in the sun and moving, Callen was asleep within 5 minutes. Poor thing had C-O-L-D hands, so I put his little mittens on them after he fell asleep (he doesn't care for them when he is awake because he can't use his hands). It didn't matter what I had layered on his hands and feet; they were both ice cubes when we got back to the car. Have no fear...he quickly warmed back up and never complained after his meltdown at the waterfall!! We loved this hike, and have already made plans to return in the late spring/early summer when the rhododendron and Mountain Laurel bloom and to take a swim in the water. 

Nerdy family photo of us all wearing long sleeve shirts under our short sleeves! (Before the hike and being bundled!)

Crossing the stream by walking from walking over rocks

Walking on the tree trunk to cross the water this time!

Just chillin'!!

At the falls

Chubs! He looks so fat in this pic

Enjoying our lunch

Passed out in this pic...he literally slept with his face to the sky and me holding his head the entire time!

After our hike, we headed to Clemson for the basketball game. Cal has been to several football games, but not a basketball game. He did really well, and loved all the new sites and sounds. He stared at the big screen for most of the first half. He stayed busy and awake until about half way through the second half before he snoozed. Doug was holding him, and he just fell asleep sitting up; loud noises, people cheering/screaming did not bother him one bit. 

Cal and the Tiger Cub

Staring at the lights on the big screen!!!

Sound asleep!!

Cal has a new trick...he started rolling from back to belly last night. He only did it 2x and we wanted to enjoy it, so we did not try and film it. I will post a video as soon as we catch him doing it! Full mobility is coming sooner than we want. Time to baby proof!!

Brrrrr!

Last week's cold spell kept us indoors for most of the week. At one point I heard that the average temperature across the USA was 17 degrees! I know many places were in the negatives. Thankful for us, the worst I saw was 9 degrees one morning when I went to the YMCA to exercise. Callen and I took advantage of the cold weather to stay inside and have a good ol' time together! It was great hanging out in our PJs or comfy clothes all day without anywhere to be or anything specific to do. We spent the days playing with toys on the floor, working on rolling from back to belly (almost there, but can't quite get it on his own), and doing a little reading. We took it easy for sure!

If a toy isn't in the mouth, the hand will find its way there

Catching up on our reading!

Trying to decide which toy to play with! He looks like such a big boy in this picture.

Callen is so much fun these days. His little personality is sooooo cute. He smiles and laughs at most everything. When he goes somewhere new, he stares at everybody and everything in order to take it all in. Once he feels comfortable, he starts talking, laughing, and smiling nonstop. Right now, he is going to everybody I give him to without a fuss. He does look around for me, but so far doesn't get upset that I am leaving him with someone else. We have taken him to the church nursery the last 2 Sundays in order to get used to other people watching him, and to be around other kids. There is only one other baby in the nursery at church, so he has a good time watching the older kids play. I also took him to the Y nursery once last week. I want to take him more often to become familiar and used to 'playing' with other kids. However, they didn't take him out of his carseat. Next time I will carry him in so they have to make him interact with the other kiddos.

Happy Boy! Loves sticking out his tongue while smiling

I could listen to this laugh all day long. It makes me smile so big every time I hear it and see the big grin it brings to his face. We are so blessed with how good of a baby he is. Such a joy to be around! (Thanks to my friend Kim for her help in figuring out how to post videos. I should be able to add videos whenever I want now...and they will play for more than 1-2 seconds! We will really be able to capture his personality for everyone reading this blog.)

Not too much going on here other than enjoying time with our growing boy. We are super thankful for warmer temps and a bright sunshine to warm things even more. We plan to get out and hike this weekend to enjoy the great weather.

A Victory Celebration

Everyone knows we are big Clemson fans. Callen has been to several games already, with his first tailgate at only 4 weeks old. I am pretty sure Callen has more orange and Clemson outfits in his wardrobe than I do. So, we were pretty pumped about Clemson making it to the Orange Bowl! Because the BCS games don't come on until after 8:00pm, poor Callen wasn't even able to make it to see the Tigers run onto the field with his 7:30pm bedtime. But, the little guy was dressed in his tiger PJs with tiger feet and a tiger on the bootie. Even if he couldn't be awake to watch the game, he was going to 'dress for success!' Needless to say, we were super excited for a Clemson win!!!

The football team was scheduled to return to Clemson between 2:30 and 3:00pm the next day. Doug and I met the team in Clemson several years ago after they won the ACC Championship game in Charlotte. We had such a good time taking pictures with the players, and seeing the excitement of Dabo and all the staff, we decided to do the same this year. We got ourselves all bundled up (and were going to go hiking, but were unable because of time conflicts), and headed to Clemson. We met my dad, brother, and sister at the West End Zone. Before long, the buses were arriving, and the crowd of about 1000 or so fans started cheering and welcoming home the Tigers. The players unloaded from the bus and were immediately attacked by fans wanting autographs and pictures.We were some of those fans!!

Waiting for the Tigers!

Trying to stay warm. Callen is a little heater!

Getting a better look at the buses driving in

They're here!

I would take Callen and push through the masses of people...and then place him in the arms of the players for pictures. The guys were so good with Callen, and had big smiles on their faces while holding him. Callen just hung out in their arms and allowed us to take pictures of him. It was pretty cool for Doug and me, but I am sure Callen will appreciate the pictures in the years to come. We were able to take pictures with some of the big name guys, many of whom will probably be playing on Sundays in the future.

Corey Crawford (#93)

Stephone Anthony (#42)

Shaq Lawson (#90)

Roderick McDowell (#25)

Vic Beasley (#3)

Chandler Catanzaro (#39)

There were also several news stations there reporting live. A group in front of us was being interviewed by WYFF News 4. Kim held up Callen so he would be in the background. He made it on the video! (I can't find a link to this newscast...Boo!)

Fox 21 was also there and had several of us start a cheer. Callen made it on this newscast as well. We have a popular little fellow!
Fans welcome Clemson players home

Dabo, Tahj Boyd, and Sammy Watkins all stayed back in Florida. We were kind of bummed they weren't there, but it was still a great time. I hope we have more chances to do more of this type activity in the years to come...that will mean we are playing some great football!

A Very Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

We had a wonderful time the last 2 weeks. I have been hanging out with my 2 favorite boys and soaking up all the fun times. Doug took almost 2 weeks off of work, and it has been so nice having him at home. Enjoying our day to day routine with him is great, as well as having an extra set of hands to play with Callen is pretty nice too!

The Friday before Christmas, we left for Charleston, and spent until Christmas Day with Doug's mom's side of the family. We had lots of down time there, swinging on the veranda, reading magazines on the couch, and just enjoying the beautiful weather. We took Callen on his first beach outing as well as to a local park for more sliding. 

We are outside, so he must be sound asleep!

Bundled in daddy's coat

My favorite thing we did with Callen was taking him on his first boat ride. I had suggested we just ride up the creek at a slow pace and allow Cal to take in the fresh air and see the scenery. Too bad he slept for most of that! Oupa needed to drain the water out of the back of the boat, so he took us back to the dock so they could go fast. Cal had woken up by this time and was quite content riding in daddy's lap, so we decided to take him for a 'fast ride!' Cal just sat there and looked around at everything. He loved it! He even drove the boat back to the dock for Oupa! You may ask if they make life jackets for babies that small. If they do, we don't have one (our dear friends gave us one to use but it is still a bit big for Cal, so it is hanging in his closet for now.). Uncle Dave got clever and tied a line of rope to a buoy and then tied the rope around Cal. It wouldn't keep him afloat if he fell in, but it would let us know where he was in the water!! (Please no one call DSS on us. I promise we are fit parents!!!). 

Safe and secure!!

Ahhhh! The wind is in my face!

This rope is extra yummy!

Driving the boat is serious business

Uncle Dave also took Callen out into the marsh. They walked out along the tree roots/limbs to find a great sitting spot. Once again Cal seemed pretty content; he was outside and enjoying the warm sunshine!

Doug was sick almost the entire time in Charleston with a version of the flu. No fun for him. He finally got the flu knocked out, but that turned into a head cold. Poor Callen caught something of what Doug had, and developed his first fever, cough, and runny nose. He was still as happy as he could be, although a little more tired than normal and sleeping longer periods of time. You would never know the boy didn't feel well. Both of them were troopers!

Catching some extra zzzzz's

Christmas Day was just as much fun. We spent the morning in Charleston and then left and headed back to Greenville to spend the afternoon and evening with my family. Although Callen didn't quite understand what was going on, he did enjoy helping unwrap gifts. Most of the paper and presents ended up in his mouth. Sorry if your gift has a corner missing or is extra soggy!!

Uncle Dave got me an ABC book

How did I end up in this box?!

A book about my favorite toy. WOW!!

Snuggling with my Kimber

Uncle Scuba...you are scary!

Love my Papa

Big smiles for Mimi Malinda

Photo Bomb by Uncle Michael!

Aunt B wearing the sweatshirt my mom made years ago. Hand glued every sequins on the sweatshirt.                   She loved that shirt!

My Clemson helmet bank!

Peek A Boo Elmo! He's cute, but I am not so sure about him yet.

After all the Christmas family celebrations, we finally made it home Christmas night (after Cal's bedtime). Lucky for us, Santa had written a note telling us that he had misplaced Callen's gifts on his sleigh and would return Christmas night to deliver them. So, the next morning, Cal was able to have his Christmas from Santa!! Santa knew Callen didn't need much...he knew he would be starting solid foods in February, so bowls, bibs, and spoons were brought along with a sippy cup. He also figured Callen would like a swing since he loves to be outside so much.

Wow, more stuff for me to put in my mouth!

Come on! Let's go swing.

Where's the water? I need something in this cup.

This is so much fun!

Sorry for such a long post with so many pictures. But, a lot went on in the last 2 weeks since I last posted. We had a wonderful first Christmas with Callen and look forward to the years to come when he is more aware of what is going on and into EVERYTHING!!