On the Mend!

After a week of a runny nose, croupy cough, and ear infections, I am happy to say Callen is pretty much back to normal!!! He still has a little cough (1-2x vs. 10+ times per day) and every once in a while needs his nose wiped. It is so good to see Cal back to himself. He wakes up talking and giggling vs. crying (which is what he did while he was sick). He isn't so clingy, and we can leave him alone for a while to play while we get chores done around the house. I missed hearing Cal giggle and seeing him smile all the time. He did these things some while sick, but not nearly enough!

Love hearing him laugh and talk!

I kept Callen indoors most all last week. He did not go to the YMCA nursery, and we kept errands to a minimum in order to help him stay away from others. Lucky for us, the weather was pretty nice last week. We were able to go for several walks, and Callen was able to enjoy his new favorite past time...swinging! He LOVES to swing. We will come home from a walk, and he zeroes his eyes in on the swing and won't take them off of it. He starts kicking his feet in excitement. Once you put him in the swing, he looks as if he could care less about being in there. He will crack a smile every once in a while, but mainly hangs out and chews on the straps while you push him. However, when you go to get him out, he will turn snap his head back to look for the swing and often times make a grunting noise letting you know he wants back in. He could sit in there for hours; he has fallen asleep in it once already! 

The rope is my lazy way to 'push' Cal! I am able to pull it pretty far up and let him go and he swings pretty far out.

Cal is on the go...more so now than before. He cannot sit still, and when you sit him on the ground, he falls forward over his feet onto his hands and knees. He is commando crawling just about everywhere. Nothing is safe anymore!!

Heading towards one of his favorite 'toys'...the remote!

Because Callen was feeling so much better this weekend, we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather and get out of the house. Doug's cousin from Baltimore, Daniel, was traveling through Greenville on Friday. He and his adorable family stopped for lunch. This turned out to be a great break for the kids, and we all hung out at the local park for an hour or so before they got back on the road. I have only met Daniel and his wife Delphine one other time. Since the last time we met, they have had 2 kids, Liliana and Thomas. We had a great visit, and it was fun getting the kids together and watching them interact. Callen loves older kids, so he was quite content doing what the big kids were doing!

Daniel and Cal

 

Look Thomas, this is how you play the piano!

 

Thomas, you play with the wood chips...I will eat them!!!

 

On Saturday, Doug and my dad worked on the back deck for a while. Cal was a good supervisor from the back door!!

A little more to the left, daddy!

While Doug was working on the deck, I took Callen out to run a little 'errand.' What I was really doing was buying a bike helmet for Cal in order to surprise Doug. Doug has been dying to take Cal bike riding ever since we bought him a seat about 2 weeks ago. We had not been able to find a helmet small enough for little man's head. Either Cal's head has grown enough in the last 2 weeks, or we were able to fit this one small enough for him. I took him to Carolina Triathlon for the helmet. The guy there was sooooo good with Callen, and got him hooked up with a toddler helmet; sized and ready for riding. 

I'm not sure who was more excited about this bike ride. Doug was sooooo happy to get his boy out on the bike. Cal seemed to really enjoy it. He looked all around while riding and talked more than normal. At one point I looked over and he had his feet propped on the handlebars just chillin'!!!! We are going to buy an adapter for my bike so we can easily move the seat from one to another so that I can take Cal riding during the day.

Because Cal was sick all last week, I kept him away from meeting his cousin Ella. The last thing we need is a sick newborn. So, Callen finally got to meet Miss Ella last night. He was pretty much uninterested in her. There were too many other distractions for him to keep occupied. Papa, Kimber, 2 dogs, and new surroundings kept his attention pretty much the entire time we were visiting at Brittany and Michael's house. He wasn't even jealous when I was holding Ella. We were able to snap a few pics of me holding both babies.

I am so glad little man is getting back to himself. We love to getting out and about, and were unable to do so last week.  Cal is very happy to be outside and around other people; being with mom all day is pretty boring after a while!!! 

A few other pics from yesterday that just make me smile...

Cheering on the Tigers and eating a carrot stick. Of course it is more fun to play with the food than actually eat it!

Driving home from visiting Baby Ella...Cal puts the cup up to his mouth like he is drinking from it. Then he brings it down like he is taking a break from drinking. Then he puts it back up to his mouth. This routine continued several times. I had to grab the camera and grab and pic of him 'drinking' out of the cup like a big boy.