Summertime Fun

It is hard to believe this is the last week in July. You know what that means...we will have a one year old in the house at the end of the week! I always hear.. enjoy the time with your kids because it goes by so fast. SOOOOOO true. Luckily, I have been able to stay home with Callen and enjoy the summer. Cal is taking only a morning nap, so we don't get out of the house until about 1:00 or 2:00. It is usually too hot to do anything outside, so we have to wait until at least 4:00 before we can enjoy the outdoors without dying of a heat stroke. We try and make the most of our days and weekends when Doug is home. Here is just a little snapshot at what Cal has been up to!

I try and take him swimming at least once a week. He is becoming quite the little swimmer. I don't have many recent pics or video of him in the water, so here are a few from the pool we have in the backyard.

At the Y with one of the aerobics instructors...loving it!

He has eaten the classic summer foods of corn on the cob and watermelon...too many times to count!

Watermelon popsicle

We have been to the lake, beach, and camping.

Uncle Dave came to visit. He was able to take Cal to the park and on a bike ride!

We have been to the park so many times this summer. Cal enjoys going more and more as he becomes more confident with walking and getting around the uneven terrain. 

Cal has been on lots of new rides this summer. He's been on a trolley ride in downtown Greenville. He was pretty excited about taking in all the scenery and watching EVERYONE we passed!

He took a stationary ride on this sweet motorcycle!

Cal now has 2 new rides of his own...the coupe and station wagon as we like to call them around here!

He has helped Doug build the deck and made several trips to the hardware store for supplies!

Finally...Cal's new adventure this past weekend was running through the sprinkler. He had a good time walking up to the water and putting his hands in it, crawling under the spray, and just walking through it. 

11 Months

This pretty much sums up Callen at 11 months...standing and wanting to touch everything!

Wow! Time flies when you are having fun!! I can't believe our little guy is going to turn one in less than 2 weeks. I thought I better get in an 11 month update before it is too late, and Callen is on to the next age!

I think the biggest change for Callen is his mobility. He started walking about a month ago, but we had to coerce him to take 3-4 steps at a time. Gradually, he increased the number of steps he took before falling down. Once he fell, he was crawling to his destination (or stopping at whatever caught his attention on the way to his goal!). Now, the boy prefers to walk EVERYWHERE. If he falls down, he gets right back up and keeps on going. He is getting to be so fast too. When he sees something he wants, watch out, because that boy is going to run for it! Thank goodness for his cloth diapers...they add extra padding for the increased number of times his bottom hits the floor. 

Loves walking from place to place. No more crawling for this little guy

Callen is 'talking' more and more. He jabbers non stop...at home, in the car, at restaurants, and anywhere else where someone will listen to him. Watch out world when his jabbering becomes real words. I am not sure he will stop talking. He still only says a few 'real' words (namely ma-mom), but is saying da-dad as well. He loves his cousin Ella, and will say her name and then kiss her or the phone screen if he is looking at a picture of her. It is too cute to watch his face light up when he sees her. He has also started signing please, which Doug and I have worked very hard to get him to learn. The little guy needs to learn his manners! 

 This is what we hear pretty much nonstop throughout the day

Making sure Aunt B strapped Ella into the swing properly!

He wants to be as close to Ella as possible!

Playtime still revolves around taking everything out of the kitchen cabinets. He loves the spice rack and the rolling pin. If you open the pantry or refrigerator and don't close it fast enough, Cal will be there to take out as much as possible. He loves reaching into the fruit drawer of the fridge, taking out an apple, and eating it. We have several apples with little bites taken from them. He is practicing his 'ninja' skills daily, and loves to play with a yard stick or some other leftover piece of wood from the deck project. If we are able to get Callen to play with his toys, he loves his standing toy in his room. He enjoys the music and starts to dance anytime he hears the songs playing from it. He also loves push toys and larger cars that he can push around the house. Playing ball is another fun activity for him. He tries to throw the ball and raises it up to his ear like Doug and I do. However, he can't release the ball forward, so it either drops down beside him or lands behind him. He gets so excited when he 'throws' the ball, and starts clapping for himself.   

Stealing daddy's jellybeans

He'll get into anyone's drawers and cabinets...not just his own!

Riding in the wagon with his rolling pin

Ninja man!

He hardly played with this toy...until we took it apart. Then he played with all the components until I finally took them away from him.

Cal has 2 top and 2 bottom teeth. One of his incisors is about to pop through on the top, so we have lots of drooling right now. He continues to do well with his eating. When we go out to a restaurant, and even at home, we feed him the same things we are eating. I feel like we are going to have to start ordering him his own meal because he can eat!! His favorites are still watermelon and raisins. However, he is eating his fair share of corn, raw or cooked carrots, and cherries right now.

Cheeks full of watermelon

Stuffing his face with something!

Cal has a few tricks. If you ask him 'How big is Callen?', he will raise his arms over his head with a big grin while you say 'So big!' If you ask him 'What does an elephant say?', he blows his mouth and makes a pretty good elephant sound. He also gets very excited with these tricks and claps and laughs at himself. 

I think his favorite game right now is 'I'm going to get you!' As soon as you start to say those words, he crawls into the lap of whoever is closest, or starts crawling or running in the opposite direction as fast as possible. Sometimes Doug will hold him and run him through the house while I chase behind them. Doug will throw Cal on the couch and I will start tickling him and saying 'I caught you!' Cal laughs a big belly laugh with this game. It is sooo funny to watch how excited he gets when both Doug and I play with him.

Cal loves to dance. He will stop what he is doing when he hears any kind of music and start dancing!

Callen gets more and more fun each day. I honestly thought I would miss the previous stage, and feel sad that he was moving on to the next stage. However, I have truly loved each stage and don't even realize he's moved into the next stage. He is so much fun and so happy. (He does take a few minutes to wake up from sleep, so beware if you get him out of the crib before he is ready!) He loves being outside and surrounded by people. He is constantly learning and exploring everything around him. He really wants to know how things work, what something is made of, and what you do with the different toys he plays with. We can't help but laugh everyday with this kid around.

Fourth of July Fun

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We enjoyed ourselves with lots of outdoor activities. It was so nice for Doug to have a 3 day weekend. It's always good knowing you can play for a day and then work on house projects the other days. I vote for 3 day weekends every week. There are so many little day trips we want to do as well as lots of ideas for long weekend camping and adventure trips. Having an extra day every week would help us be able to do more of the things we want to do. I'm pretty sure Doug just enjoyed being off work and being able to spend extra time with his little buddy!

I had read some info on rock slides around the area. We were pretty excited to try out a few of these places...big bust! One was a swimming hole right off the side of the road. Then there was the 160ft rock slide. Nope...just a big rock with a small waterfall off to the side. There were big Danger signs posted warning not to climb on the rocks. So, our idea of cooling off and having a picnic by the water's edge pretty much ended as soon as we saw the 'rock slide' we were coming for! However, we were able to get in a small hike up to the area and enjoy the beautiful weather. It wasn't too hot at that point in the day, and it was good to just be together. We did see a small waterfall that was the perfect size for Callen. Doug took him close to it so he could put his hands and feet in the water. At first Cal reached for the water and then quickly snatched his hands away (not sure if from temp of water or speed of the water over the rocks). After a minute or two, Callen couldn't stay away any longer. He wanted his hands and feet in the water! Doug would walk away, and Callen would turn his head back so he could see the waterfall. He did not want to move away from it! This boy loves the outdoors and water.

 

He wants to be in the water as much as possible

Future Rock Climber?

After the hike, we headed to Herdklotz Park in Greenville close to the Farmer's Market. I happened upon this park earlier in the week while Cal and I were out running errands. There is a smaller area for little kids, and an awesome playground for older kids. We just went for a quick swing the day I took him, so I was super excited to go back with Doug in order to play on all the big kid equipment (I couldn't quite manage it with Cal in my arms the first time around!). We had a picnic lunch under one of the many tables (in the shade!) before playing on the playgrounds. Cal had a good time on the slides, swing, and riding toys. However, I am pretty sure Doug and I had a much better time on the big kids' toys! This park is great, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

He loved crawling through the tunnel all by himself!

How big is Callen? 'So big' with arms raised overhead...love that game!

Daddy, please don't fall!

Heading down the slide...this one was pretty steep, so I took Cal

Later that evening we went to a cookout at our friends' house. There were lots of little kids to play with, and Callen had a big time. He was nonstop. Between swimming, eating, playing, and walking; the boy did not stop the entire night. We had him dressed and ready for bed before we left. He literally did not make it out of the driveway before crashing!

My little twin for the day!

He carried his corn on the cob EVERYWHERE!

Cal and Wyatt

Cruisin' in the Cozy Coupe

Of course...not riding in it the way he should!

Checking out the chickens. He wanted to pet them...until they came close

Another great weekend for us. We love getting outside and exploring as much as we can. It may not be the big trips and adventures Doug and I have done in the past, but what we do is just as much fun now that we have Callen. Seeing him laugh and smile at all the new things is so great. It really is awesome to see his excitement and how much joy he gets from new activities. We hope he continues his excitement for new adventures!