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.