Round and round the garden....

I remember my babysitter used to recite all sorts of nursery rhymes to us when we were little.  My favorite was "Round and Round the Garden"  (goes the teddy bear, one step, two step, tickle him under there!).  It would appear that Cal enjoys it, too!

 

I finally caught a small clip of Cal's babbling.  He usually goes on and on, in a thorough conversation, but today he became mute when he saw the video camera!

We hope you had yourself a Merry little Christmas!

The Walter family decided to celebrate Christmas in Topeka before heading west to Larned,  Cal was so infatuated with the lights on the tree that we were lucky to snap a pic of him looking at the camera and not oggling at the plastic branches and the entrancing lights!  He loved opening the presents and occasionally resorted to using his new little shark teeth to assist. 

Case in point....

Cal sure was spoiled by his grandparents this year.  He loves to bite the wheels on his new truck from Gma & Gpa Walter!

He loves the outdoors so his new swing from Gran Belle will be perfect come springtime!

Thanks for the Woobie (as it has now been dubbed), Grandma & Grandpa Walter!

Look at this perfect present!   Christmas was so special this year.....what a beautiful blessing we have to be thankful for!



His shark teeth assisted in opening this gift from Gma & Gpa Gatt!

Great Gma Gatt wants a blue eyed great grandson so badly!  She inspects them each time we're together and insists that she still sees the blue in his eyes.....do you??  One hour we are sure they're brown, then the next hour they're hazel.....then green'ish, then green'ish blue.  You get the idea!

 

"Look at how big I am!!"

I'll end this posting with a few pics by the tree....Cal picked the location.  His infatuation with counterfeit conifers provided us with an opportunity for an excessive photo montage. 

The season is upon us!

Cal had his 6 month/Christmas photos taken recently and they turned out so beautifully!!  He was extremely smiley that day, so each picture was a winner (in his Mama's eyes!).  Here are a few of our favorites.

 I think he looks like such a little man in this picture.  Maybe it's the lumberjack shirt....or his adorable receding hairline, but I think that he definitely looks older than 6 months in this photo. 

This one is my FAVORITE!!!!!  I sat about a foot to his left so that I could grab the lights that he kept trying to shove into his mouth.  I didn't research it, but logically saliva and electricity didn't seem like a good combo.  I'm no Ben Franklin, but it seemed best to avoid this scenario. 

 He sits up so well and has become increasingly sturdy while playing with his toys on the floor, or in this case the ornaments.  His favorite ornament was covered in glitter, which led to some necessary photoshopping by the photographer.  Had she not removed the glitter from the picture, you would've thought he'd been to a little girl's birthday party...or a rave. 

Mitch finally caved to my persistent begging and we gave Cal an early Christmas present.  Apparently the phrase, "He isn't being stimulated...we're inhibiting him intellectually" really struck a cord and he agreed to just ONE early gift.  :)  Cal truly is bored with his toys and actively seeks out things that make noise or light up.  So we decided it was time to awaken his musical side and we broke out the piano.  He loved it!   



I know we seem to post a lot of videos of Cal laughing, but seriously.....can you blame us?!  To us, it's the best sound in the world.  Watch this video and see how comical he finds his Daddy.

Rainy Saturday

Cal and Mommy opted out of attending the KSU vs. ISU football game today, which turned out to be a good idea.  It was very rainy and cold, but Mitch braved the elements and watched our beloved Cats improve to 10-2.

Since it had been decided that Cal and I were staying home, we declared it a PJ Day!! 



This lasted for a few hours until he spit up on himself, the chair, the carpet, and Mommy....in one fell swoop.  Once Cal, and our upholstery, were cleaned up and he was sportin' some Purple Pride, we snuggled up on the couch to watch the game.  Of course, "we" isn't limited to just Mommy and baby.....the fur babies are always included.

Hey Ollie, don't look so thrilled that you have a 21 lb baby laying on you right now. 

"Oh, K-State just scored?  Yippee!!!"  Notice the dogs aren't too riled up....rough life!

After a short nap, as most naps are in Cal's world, he decided he needed a bath.  After he was all cleaned up, we were able to resume our PJ Day and he celebrated the KSU victory by banging on pots and pans, which was his version of couch burning or flipping cars over.

After his victorious drum session with my cookware, it was time for dinner.  Up until tonight, he's only been eating cereal.  We upped his big boy status and introduced sweet potatoes tonight! 

He wasn't sure about those first few bites, but as expected, he didn't want to turn down a meal so he polished them off!

When Mitch got home from the rainy game, Cal wanted to play his favorite game with his Daddy!

Videos from October/November

I'm too lazy to get up to turn on the light, so I plugged in the Christmas tree that's right beside me instead!  This decision inadvertently improved my mood, on this early Thursday morning.  There is something about Christmas lights that soothes me.  I hope you follow this tangent, but this connection reminds me of a study that shows how petting your dog calms you down.  Maybe we should leave the tree up all year round:  Lindsay is stressed.....plug in the tree!  Ok, I didn't get on here to post a note about my stress levels.  I did, however, get on the blog to post a few videos that we've taken in the last month.  These are all of Cal during his 4th month.  He started "talking" a lot last month and making raspberries!

Disclaimer:  The parents in this video now realize that they should refrain from talking on camera.  This includes using dog voices, speaking in high pitches, and making funny noises. 

Please enjoy the next few scenes.